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“If it was in front of her, she would’ve seen the fire coming and turned around,” Ben said finally.

Mac stared through the windshield. “Yup.”

Jodie wasn’t stupid. She had driven out here alone, but she knew how unpredictable a fire was in dry country. She would have gotten out.

She would have.

The thought lasted about three seconds before his brain supplied the obvious problem.

Then where the hell is she?

The other side. She’s got to be safe on the other side.

Something low to the ground moved in the haze ahead. Ben eased off the accelerator as Mac leaned forward. At first it was only a dark shape running crookedly through the smoke. Then a pair of ridiculous ears appeared.

“Goblin.”

Ben hit the brakes. Mac had his door open before the truck completely stopped.

Goblin ran straight at him.

“Hey. Hey, buddy.”

Mac dropped into a crouch and the dog slammed into him hard enough to knock him back against the open door. Goblin whined, barked once, coughed, then tried to climb into Mac’s lap while twisting around to look back down the road at the same time.

“Easy.” Mac caught him around the ribs. “Easy, I’ve got you.”

Ash coated Goblin’s fur. His paws were black. His eyes streamed from the smoke, and every breath came too fast. But there was no blood that Mac could see, nothing obviously broken.

Then he noticed the bandana tied around the dog’s neck.

Mac’s fingers stopped scratching Goblin’s ears.

He knew that bandana. Jodie had been wearing it that morning.

For a second he could only stare at the dirty cloth before he touched it.

She’d done this. Jodie had taken the time to tie her bandana around the frightened stray dog. Mac closed his hand around the fabric.

“Where is she, buddy?”

Goblin answered by twisting in Mac’s arms and barking down the road. He planted both front paws against Mac’s chest, scrambled halfway free, then turned and tried to go the other direction before Mac caught him again.

“Okay. Okay.” Mac looked past him into the haze. Nothing moved except drifting ash. “How did you get out here? Why aren’t you with her anymore?”

Ben came around the front of the truck. “At least he came from ahead. She must be on the other side of the burn.”

“Yeah.” Mac rubbed a hand over Goblin’s ribs, checking again for anything he might have missed. The dog was filthy and scared, but he’d made it through the burned ground on his own. If Jodie had put the bandana on him, she had been with him after the fire started. Maybe she’d sent him away from danger. Maybe he’d bolted. Mac didn’t know, and guessing was starting to feel like chewing broken glass.

He opened the rear door. “In you go.”

Goblin resisted until Virgil reached forward from the back seat and took hold of him. “I’ve got him.”

Mac climbed back into the passenger seat. Ben put the truck in gear, and Goblin immediately began pacing across the rear bench, whining under his breath.

The road curved through another stretch of burned grass. Ahead, a stone chimney rose out of the haze with part of a wall beside it, blackened timbers collapsed around what might once have been a foundation. Mac frowned as they approached.

“Was that a house?”