Chapter 11
T he explosion knocked Trina to the floor. Ben cried out in alarm as he, too, fell to the floor. She frantically crawled toward Ben, her ears ringing. Reaching her nephew, she drew him close, trying to ascertain if he was hurt.
He was crying, but it took her a moment to realize she couldn’t hear him. “It’s okay, Ben,” she shouted, despite knowing he probably couldn’t hear anything either. “I’m here! It’s okay!”
Strong hands gripped her shoulders. She lifted her gaze to see Joel standing over her.
His lips were moving, and he gestured toward the back door of the cabin.
Understanding he wanted her to get out of there, she pushed herself upright.
Ben was too heavy for her, but she pulled on his arm to let him know he needed to stand.
Then Joel bent and hauled the boy into his arms. He snagged a large backpack from the side of the counter and headed for the back door. She was tempted to grab her computer but didn’t. Thankfully, she always emailed a copy of her book to herself, so she wouldn’t lose her current work in progress.
The other files on her laptop were another story. But there was no time to worry about them now. She staggered after Joel and Ben. Royal stayed close to Joel’s side.
Outside, the air was thick with acrid smoke. Much like when her house had been set on fire. She glanced back over her shoulder, seeing dark plumes of smoke rising above the cabin.
She could hardly believe a bomb had been set near the cabin. Reeling from shock and horror, she followed Joel, Ben, and Royal into the woods. For a brief moment, she thought about the mama grizzly, then forced the panic away. They had bigger things to worry about.
Like whether the bomber was waiting for them in the foliage, intending to finish them off for good.
Why was this happening? How had the gunman found them there?
She tripped over a fallen limb, barely managing to stay upright. Questions that had no answers could wait, this was the time to pay attention. Joel glanced back at her, clearly impatient with their lack of progress. Putting on a burst of speed, she quickly caught up to him.
Her ears were still ringing from the blast, and she had no idea how long that would last. Her gaze dropped to Royal who was sniffing the ground intently. Had Joel given him the search command? The last thing she wanted was for the three of them to walk straight toward the gunman.
Joel continued to push forward, the backpack dangling from one arm, as he held Ben. Her nephew rested his head on Joel’s shoulder, and she was deeply grateful for Joel’s strength and determination to keep them safe.
After twenty minutes of walking, Joel came to a stop near a fallen tree. He bent to set Ben on the ground, then turned to look at her. “Are you hurt?”
Grateful she could hear, she shook her head. “I’m fine. But what happened?”
His grim expression was hard. “Royal alerted near the SUV. I grabbed Ben and came inside the house just to be on the safe side, then the car exploded.”
She stared at him. “How did he find us?”
“I don’t know, but we need to keep moving.” He turned to Ben. “Can you walk on your own?”
The boy nodded, wiping tears from his face. “I’m scared.”
Her heart broke for him. Ben didn’t deserve this. None of them did, but he was the true innocent victim in this nightmare.
“Hey, I’m going to do everything possible to keep you safe, okay?” Joel held Ben’s gaze. “Royal will let us know if there’s a reason to be afraid. The sooner we get away from the cabin, though, the better. That means I need you to follow my lead, okay?”
“Okay.” Ben sniffled loudly.
Joel glanced at her, and she nodded as well. “Don’t worry, we’ll keep up.”
“Good.” He took a minute to shoulder his pack, then stepped forward. “Stay close.”
“Go ahead, Ben.” She nudged the boy in the back, urging him to follow Joel. “I’ll be right behind you.”
Ben didn’t argue, seeming to understand the seriousness of their situation.
She was both glad for the fact that he was going along with the plan and concerned about how the little boy would ever bounce back from this.
As if the gunfire and house fire weren’t enough.
Now they were heading into the woods where the mama grizzly may not be too far away.
She fell into step behind Ben to better protect him. Royal had moved ahead of Joel, his nose either sweeping the ground or sniffing the air around them. Reassured, she tried to relax her tense shoulders.
They walked for what seemed like forever.
Mosquitos and gnats buzzed around her. She swatted at them half-heartedly.
Joel and Royal took them up an incline, making her groan under her breath.
Her thigh muscles burned as she strove to keep up as promised.
Her attempts to hike the trail near her home were pathetically laughable compared to what she’d been through the past twenty-four hours.
She really needed to get in better shape. Not that she ever wanted to be in danger like this again.
When they reached a rocky outcropping, Joel stopped and shrugged out of his pack. Grateful for the opportunity to rest, she sat on the edge of the rock, brushing her hot sweaty hair away from her face.
“I don’t have a lot of water.” Joel sounded apologetic as he rummaged through his pack. He pulled a water bottle out and passed it to her. “You can have a sip and so can Ben. I need to save some for Royal.”
“I understand.” She took a sip and passed it to Ben. “Only a little bit, okay?”
“I know.” Ben took a small sip from the bottle, then handed it to Joel. “Thank you.” His tone was subdued. Her heart ached over the lingering fear in Ben’s brown eyes.
She couldn’t help glancing up at the partly cloudy sky above the trees. She opened her heart and begged God to keep Ben safe. To heal his wounds, especially his grief over losing his mother.
Surprisingly, she felt better after the prayer. Maybe Joel was onto something. Hopefully, she’d be able to learn more about God and faith when this nightmare was over.
“We’ll have more water if we can find that creek again.” Joel’s comment interrupted her thoughts. He took a sip of water, then poured some into a collapsible bowl for Royal. The black lab lapped at the water, then looked up at Joel as if waiting for his next command.
“Take a break, Royal.” Joel slid the water bottle in a zippered pocket.
Seeing the backpack up close, she realized it was huge.
Hadn’t Joel mentioned having a tent and a sleeping bag?
Hard to imagine all of that stuffed inside, but then again, she was certain Joel was more than prepared for anything they might face.
Including the gunman? Yes, she decided. Especially him.
Joel pulled out his phone, stared at the screen for a moment, then tucked it away.
At her questioning look, he shook his head.
“No service here. We must be far enough away from the cabin that we can’t get a signal.
I’ll try in a while with my satellite phone.
For now, I’d rather keep moving, just in case. ”
She swallowed hard and nodded. She understood what he was saying. Moving forward was the best way to avoid the gunman following them. She’d trust his judgment on this.
If anyone could keep her and Ben safe, it was Joel and Royal.
And they had God on their side.
Joel was kicking himself ten ways to Sunday for his failure to take Royal’s alert last night at the creek bed seriously. What had Maya’s trainer repeated over and over again?
Trust your dog. Always, always trust your dog.
Well Joel hadn’t done that, and if not for Royal’s keen nose alerting them mere seconds before the explosion, his lapse in judgment would have gotten them all killed.
He couldn’t afford to make a mistake like that again.
Swallowing hard, he checked his compass and GPS coordinates.
By his estimation, they’d come across the creek at a higher altitude if he continued along these coordinates.
He’d decided to head in the opposite direction from yesterday for two reasons.
He wanted to be sure he avoided the area where the gunman had been yesterday and to avoid the mama grizzly.
Not that he could guarantee his strategy would work on either count.
Grizzlies roamed for miles, especially around fresh water where they could find an adequate supply of fish. They preferred salmon, but trout would do just as well. Along with the assortment of wild berries.
Worse than that, though, he had no idea where the gunman had been last night.
Royal had alerted near the creek but hadn’t caught the scent heading back to the cabin.
Maybe the gunman had walked for a while in the creek to throw off the scent.
As it had been cooler last night, the gunman may not have sweated enough to provide an additional scent source either.
But then where had the guy been? He’d taken Royal out last night before bed, using his K9 to clear the entire area. Royal hadn’t alerted once.
The most likely scenario was that the gunman had camped a good couple of miles upwind of the creek where Royal alerted.
From that point, the gunman could have waited until the dead of night to approach the cabin and to plant the bomb beneath the SUV.
Royal hadn’t raised the alarm, but the dog had been wiped out from the long trek.
He didn’t blame his K9 for Joel’s mistake.
Had the guy watched through binoculars, waiting for the opportunity to trigger the explosive? Or had the device been put on a timer of some sort? He hadn’t taken Royal out as early as he normally did because the dog hadn’t needed to go out.
A chill snaked down his spine by what may have happened if he’d taken Royal out earlier. When the dog alerted, he’d have gotten Ben and Trina out of the cabin and into the SUV, heading back toward Cody.
If the device had indeed been on a timer, they’d have died in the explosion.