Jack’s eyebrows rose. Good. He was confused.

Robert felt Lacey’s back relax and she swayed gently to one side. He’d cut off her air and she was passing out. No! She had to be conscious for this. He loosened the rope several notches and tried to straighten her with his knees.

Abruptly she flung herself to the left, yanking the rope out of his relaxed grip.

He never heard the shots.

Lacey thought Jack had gotten her message. She’d looked into his eyes, then swung her gaze to the floor at her left five times. He’d slightly dipped his chin in a nod.

She took a deep breath and swayed as if the blood was cut off to her head. She felt Bobby relax the death rope and she dived to the side.

Jack’s gun roared twice and the cabin walls flashed as the charges instantly exploded, and the ceiling burst into flames with a deafening hiss.

“Go, Jack! Get out!” There wasn’t time for him to get her out. She was still tied to the ring by a mass of knots. Sobbing, she curled up in a ball on the hard floor. She hid her face between her arms and prayed she wouldn’t feel too much pain.

“Jesus Christ!”

Jeff Cordova jerked his eye away from the scope on his sniper rifle. Flames had simultaneously flared behind every cabin window and would have blinded him if not for the safety feature in the night vision.

He’d been idly listening through his earpiece as his commander bitched about the dumbshit civilian when the crack of two shots pierced the quiet forest. Before Jeff could pass on that information, the cabin exploded in flames.

“It’s on fire! He set the place on fire!”

In his earpiece, he could hear the other snipers yelling, drowning out any instructions from Pattison.

Jeff took two steps toward the inferno and halted. He wasn’t prepared to enter a burning building. Scanning the surrounding forest, he searched for the two entry teams who’d been standing by, waiting to storm the place. He yanked out his earpiece. The panicked yelling was deafening in his ear. He couldn’t think.

“Noooo! Jack, no!”

At the shout behind him, Jeff swung around. A tall man was racing toward him, his gaze locked on the flames. Jeff brought up his weapon, simultaneously registering the man’s black knit hat and jacket. He jerked his rifle down. The other civilian.

The man sprinted past, but Jeff leaped on him, taking him down in the snow with an illegal football tackle. The man fought, kicking Jeff in the face. “Let go! Let me go! I’ve got to get them out!”

Jeff threw his bulk on the man’s back and pulled back on the thrashing arms.

“Get the fuck off! I’ve got to get in there!”

Jeff gave the man’s arms a rough jerk up and pushed his face in the snow. “You can’t go in there! It’s too late!”

The man abruptly stopped fighting, his chest heaving. He slowly raised his face in the direction of the fire. He mumbled, his words sounding wet.

Jeff looked to the fire and his stomach heaved. In fifteen seconds, the flames had already broken through the thin cabin roof. The clouds of black smoke mixed with the falling snow.

No one could live through that.

The eight-year SWAT veteran had never felt so powerless.

Two shots rang through the forest. At base camp, every head jerked toward the trees in the direction of the unseen cabin.

“That your sniper?” Mason shouted at Pattison, who shook his head. A look of fear slashed the commander’s face, shocking Mason with its vulnerability.

“It’s on fire,” Pattison whispered, his eyes wide. He connected astounded gazes with Mason.

“What’s on fire?” Lusco yelled.

“The cabin. The fucking cabin. Team one, get your asses in there!” Pattison’s face flushed with rage. He was back in charge. “Cordova! Black! Ellison! What do you see?”

Mason ran toward the trees, only to have Ray grab his arm. Angrily shaking him off, Mason whirled on the younger man to lash him verbally, but the furious look in Ray’s eyes stopped him.

“What the fuck can you do? You’ll just get in their way!”

Mason couldn’t speak, his heart in his throat.

Ray was right.

Instead, he stared at the growing golden glow in the forest, closed his eyes, and silently prayed.

Lacey coughed and gagged.

The smoke was thick, painfully drying out her mouth and throat. Just a minute more. Another minute and the smoke’ll knock me out and I won’t feel the flames. She ground her face into the floor and shuddered. The room heated rapidly, the orange flames feet away.

She wailed. She was going to burn. Like those girls in the morgue. Like her most horrible nightmare.

“There you are.” Lacey felt strong hands try to lift her. Something was thrown over her face. Jack!

He couldn’t move her; she was still tied to the ring. She heard him curse and yank at the ropes. She went limp, crying. He couldn’t untie her in time. “Get out! Put me down and get out!” she screamed. She felt him jerk the ropes again and she pushed at him with her tied hands, her vision blocked by his jacket on her face. Get out!

He dropped her shoulders to the floor and pain shot to her brain. She felt him move away and she exhaled. Good! He was leaving. He’d be safe.

Lacey felt a vibration at the rope attached to her ankles. Jack had a knife and was sawing at the rope. The tension on the rope vanished and her legs jerked. The knife clattered to the floor and he scooped her up.

Stupid bastard! There wasn’t time to grab her! She kicked and thrashed in his arms, tossing her head to get rid of his jacket across her face.