Chapter 11 #2
Blowing out a breath, he turned to scan their surroundings.
Imagining the worst-case scenario wasn’t helpful.
He needed to be alert for any sign of this guy being nearby.
The other reason he’d chosen this particular route was because the wind was coming out of the southeast. If the guy tried to follow them through the woods, Royal should easily catch his scent in time to warn them.
Yet the way the gunman had been one step ahead of them from the very beginning ticked him off, big time. He could not underestimate this guy again.
So much for promising to keep Trina and Ben safe. He’d barely managed to help them escape certain death.
Shaking off the depressing thought, he turned to check on Trina and Ben. Royal was stretched out beneath the shadow of the rock, not showing any sign of concern.
He bent to scratch the dog behind his silky ears. “You’re going to find that gunman before he finds us, right, boy?”
Royal’s tail swished back and forth across the ground in agreement.
He straightened and shouldered the pack. “Time for us to go.”
“Okay.” Trina looked tired but didn’t complain. She stood and smiled down at her nephew. “Are you ready, Ben?”
“Yep.” In contrast to Trina’s wan expression, Ben looked raring to go. Apparently, getting a good night’s sleep had helped Ben.
That still wasn’t an excuse to ignore Royal’s alert.
“I need you to alert us to danger,” he told Royal in a low voice. “Either from the bad guy or the bear, I need you to help me, okay?”
Royal lifted his snout and took in the various scents. After a moment, the dog moved forward. Joel rested his hand on the butt of his weapon, setting an easy pace for Ben and Trina’s sake.
They walked in silence for several minutes. Birds chirped and the sky beyond the towering tree branches lightened as the sun rose. The temperature would soon get hot, but under these circumstances, that was better than being in a blizzard.
He wished again that he’d asked Justin to stay with them at the cabin. So what if that meant taking them out of the search and rescue rotation? Trina and Ben’s safety was more important than strangers who got lost in the woods.
“Auntie Trina, did you remember to bring my video game?” Ben asked a few minutes later.
“I’m afraid not.” She shot him a look of remorse. “But don’t forget we still have your original game at my house. I’m sure we’ll be able to get that sometime soon.”
“Okay.” For once, Ben didn’t whine or argue about the game. “Let’s play I spy with my little eye.”
Trina hesitated, glancing at him as if asking permission. Voices could carry in the woods, but he was trusting Royal to alert them to danger. And maybe talking would keep the wild animals at bay. He nodded. “That’s fine.”
“Okay, Ben. I spy with my little eye something blue.”
“That’s easy, there’s a bluebird sitting up in the tree.” Ben grinned as if he’d won the lottery. “I spy with my little eye something red.”
Joel tuned out the game, keeping his concentration on the path before them and on Royal. His K9 was doing a good job of sniffing the ground as they walked. By Joel’s estimation, they’d reach the creek in another twenty minutes. There they could take a break and enjoy some fresh water.
Thank goodness they’d already eaten breakfast. He had granola bars but hoped to hold off on those for a while. At least until lunchtime. If Ben could last that long.
He had his satellite phone and hoped to reach his family soon. Although even then, he wasn’t sure how long it would take them to get there. Especially since he didn’t intend to stay in one place for long.
Keeping an eye on his watch, he decided to keep going for a while longer. Best to be far from the cabin before making the call.
He lifted his gaze to the sky and silently begged God for strength and wisdom to keep Trina and Ben safe.
His prayer didn’t instill the level of confidence he’d hoped for, but he reminded himself he needed to do his part in this.
God would come through for them when they needed Him the most. With that, Joel concentrated on pushing forward.
Reaching the creek would help. First, they needed fresh water.
Then he’d call his family. When he had a timeline for their potential rescue, he’d think about their next meal.
Maybe rainbow trout. He had a fishing line with him, along with a fishing license. Although if he ran across a game warden, he’d be thankful for the escort out of there.
He heard the creek before he saw it. Following Royal’s lead, he used his forearm to push the tree branches aside.
The creek water ran at a brisk pace. Royal bent his head to drink. He turned back to see Ben and Trina lagging a little behind.
“Break time.” He smiled. “We have fresh water.”
“I’m really thirsty,” Ben said, jumping over a fallen branch to join him. “Look at Royal! Can I drink like that?”
“Go ahead.” He and Justin had done that plenty. The creek water wouldn’t hurt them; its source was snow melting from the highest part of the mountain.
Ben dropped to his stomach beside Royal and used his hands to drink.
Trina joined him a moment later. Without a word, she did exactly as Ben, stretching out on the ground and drinking deeply from her cupped hands. Then she stuck her face in the water, staying submerged for a solid thirty seconds before lifting her head and swiping water from her eyes.
“Feels so good.” She sighed. “I never thought I’d be so happy to see a creek.”
Joel smiled faintly as he shrugged out of his pack, then took a turn at the creek. The water felt amazing against his hot skin, but he didn’t linger. He filled the water bottle with water, then rose to his feet.
Carrying the bottle to the pack, he set it aside until he’d found the sat phone.
He made room for the water bottle, then stood with the bag.
Scanning their surroundings, he gestured to the clearing that was on the opposite side of the creek.
“See that spot over there? I’m going to head there to make the call, the trees are too thick here.
I’d like you to stay here with Ben and Royal. ”
“Okay.” Trina sat with her back pressed against a tree trunk. Ben splashed Royal, and the dog responded by shaking himself to get rid of the excess water from his coat.
He found a spot to cross the water, using a rock as a stepping stone. In the clearing, he pulled out his sat phone and searched for a connection.
It took a minute for the device to find the closest satellite. When the signal finally connected, a wave of relief hit hard.
“Sullivan K9 Search and Rescue,” Anna’s cheerful tone filled his ears.
“Anna, it’s Joel. Is Justin or Trevor around? I need help, and fast.”
“Justin is here, but Trevor and Kendra are out on a call.” Anna’s tone turned serious. “What do you need?”
He hesitated, unwilling to tell her the gruesome details about the SUV being bombed. “We need a ride. Let me talk to Justin, okay?”
“Of course. Hold please.” He imagined Anna using her cell phone to let Justin know to pick up the landline.
Thirty seconds later, he heard Justin’s voice. “Joel? What happened? I’ve had a bad feeling about you all morning. Especially after I left you several messages without hearing back from you until now.”
Justin often claimed to have twin telepathy, and sometimes that was true.
Joel had experienced the same sense of dread right before Justin was in trouble.
“We were found at the cabin, not sure how. Royal alerted near a creek late last night. It didn’t seem possible he’d picked up the gunman’s scent, but he did.
Sometime during the night, the guy planted a bomb beneath the SUV.
It exploded, but we were able to get away. ”
“A bomb?” Justin’s voice rose in alarm. “That’s crazy!”
“Tell me about it.” Joel continued scanning the area as they talked. “I’m going to send you my current coordinates, but I don’t feel safe sticking around for long. We need to keep moving.”
“Understood. Send them to me,” Justin said. “I’ll head out ASAP to meet you.”
“Thanks, bro.” He read off his GPS coordinates, then said, “I know it’s going to take you forty minutes just to reach Cody, not to mention heading even farther north.
I was thinking we should turn around to make our way back down the mountain.
I came this way so we’d be far enough from the cabin to avoid running into him. ”
“Maybe you should wait on that,” Justin advised. “I’ve pulled up your coordinates, and there’s a small campground less than three miles due west from your current location.” Justin read off those coordinates. “I’ll meet you there.”
He hadn’t known about the campground, although the mountains were full of such places. Memorizing the location, he put his GPS and compass away. “That sounds good. But, Justin, ask Anna to pack lunch. We’re going to be hungry.”
“Will do. But keep your eyes open, bro. I don’t trust this guy not to find a way to track you down.”
“Trust me, I’ve been concerned about the same thing.
” He had to assume the gunman had somehow tracked Trina’s internet connection to the cabin.
It was the only option that made sense. That wouldn’t be a problem now, so they had that much going for them.
Yet he also knew the gunman might anticipate they’d head to the campground.
If he knew about it.
Either way, Joel would approach the campsite with caution, using Royal to scout the area for them prior to getting too close. “We’ll be fine. The good news is that Royal knows this guy’s scent.”
“Always helpful to have a solid K9 on board. Stay safe, Joel.” Justin paused, then added, “Anna is packing lunch for you now, and I’ll be on the road in ten.”
“Thanks. See you soon.” Joel disconnected the sat phone connection. Help was on the way, but they weren’t out of danger yet. Three miles with a woman who didn’t especially enjoy the outdoors and an eight-year-old would not be a piece of cake.
He quickly crossed back to the other side of the creek. “Are you ready to keep going?”
A flash of disappointment darkened Trina’s gaze, but she quickly nodded. “Sure. We’re ready, right, Ben?”
“I guess so. But how much farther do we have to go?” Ben’s face turned pouty, showing the first signs of his being tired of the hike.
Joel didn’t dare mention the three miles they had to cover, which would seem like a lifetime to Ben. And likely to Trina too. “Not too far. My brother Justin is going to meet up with us very soon.”
“Oh yeah?” That cheered Ben. “He’ll have a car, right?”
“Right.” He shouldered the backpack. “Come, Royal.”
His K9 stood, stretched, then trotted after him. Joel set out following the most direct path possible to the campground. Trina fell behind Ben in their usual formation.
“I’m hungry,” Ben complained.
“I have granola bars here.” He had put them in the side pocket, anticipating this. He pulled one free and handed it to Ben. Then he stretched out to give Trina the second one. “This should hold you over until we meet Justin. He’s bringing lunch.”
“That’s nice of him,” Trina said with a smile.
“Nice of Anna,” Joel corrected. “She’s the glue that holds our ranch together.”
Ben was quiet as he ate his snack. Joel pushed their pace as much as possible. Now that he had a destination in mind, he was anxious to get there.
Hopefully before the gunman.
They walked for fifteen minutes straight, before Trina called out, “Joel, I can’t go that fast.”
He stopped and turned to see she and Ben were lagging behind. “Sorry about that.”
“Where are we meeting your brother?” Trina asked after a few minutes. “I don’t see anything but trees.”
“There’s a campground close by.” He forced a smile. “We can eat lunch there if you’d like.”
She glanced down at Ben, who’d found another stick. “If Ben’s hungry, we’ll eat if that’s okay.”
“No problem.” He wished there was a way to make this hike through the woods easier for them.
Joel checked their coordinates often, and when they were within a quarter mile of the campground, he stopped. “Hold on for a minute.”
Trina looked happy to stop, as did Ben. He bent near Royal. “Search, boy. Search bad guy.”
Royal sniffed the air. The wind had shifted a bit so that if the gunman was nearby, Royal should be able to alert on his scent.
“Why is he searching the bad guy?” Alarm tinged Trina’s voice.
“I just want to be sure he’s not around. Stay back near the trees with Ben, okay?” Joel moved forward as Royal began his usual zigzag pattern.
This was one time he prayed his K9 would not alert.