Deep Woods

And then I burst through a line of trees and saw the logging road below me. The slope leveled out a little and I veered to the side and managed to slow myself down. Even so, I didn’t manage to stop until I hit one of the huge piles of logs, and that damn near finished me off. My shoulder slammed into a log full force and the only reason I didn’t unleash every curse I’d picked up in the Corps was that every scrap of air was knocked out of my lungs. I slumped to the ground, panting. Rufus skidded to a halt beside me and nudged me with his nose, worried.

Then, in the distance, the roar of an engine.

I heaved myself to my feet. I was in time: just. Now I needed a plan. I was outnumbered and they had guns. If I ran down to the road and tried to stop them on foot, they could just drive past me or straight over me. I had to force them to stop, somehow.

I looked at the log pile. There were maybe twenty logs, each as thick around as my waist and twelve feet long, stacked on their sides in a triangular pile, ready to be loaded onto a logging truck. The road was maybe sixty yards below, down the slope.

The engine noise grew louder. Through the trees, I saw a flash of black paint. It was them.

The log pile was held in place with wooden chocks to prevent exactly what I was planning. I heaved the first one free, then the second. But the logs didn’t move. Combined, they weighed thousands of pounds. They were going to need some help.

Just raising my arm to push made me want to throw up with pain, and when I actually leaned against the pile and heaved, I got spots in front of my eyes. But the roar of the car was getting closer. I pushed.

Nothing happened. It was like pushing against a mountain. They’re going to drive right past. They’re going to drive right past and I’m never going to see her again.

I growled and turned around, putting my back against the logs and digging my boots into the mud. Push. Push! The noise of the car filled the valley. I let my fear flood through me, let it fill my veins and surge into my heart, and I growled. Push, you fucker, push, or she’s on her back under that Russian bastard and—

The logs creaked and rocked. My shoulder lit up in agony and I let it out as a guttural yell, pushing even harder, giving it everything I had—

There was a rumble like thunder as the first log started rolling. Then the second log, freed by the first, rolled after it and the noise grew and grew. The logs higher in the pile crashed to the ground, bouncing off each other and arcing through the air. All of them were on the move, now, rolling downhill and picking up speed.

I didn’t time it exactly right, but with twenty of them, I didn’t have to. The SUV braked hard when the driver saw the first logs cross the road, but it was too late to stop and a log slammed right into its side, knocking it across the road. More logs spun it around and it came to a stop facing the wrong way, dented and battered.

I raced down the slope to the road, my heart thumping. It had been the only plan I could think of, but what if she was hurt? What if she was dead?! I ran over to the car but the windows had shattered and I couldn’t see through the frosted safety glass. I wrenched open the door—

Bethany was in the middle of the back seat, wedged between two of those guards from the mansion in the black combat gear. The big guy who’d shot me was in the passenger seat and another guard had been driving. Everyone looked stunned from the crash and the driver was bleeding from a cut on his head. But Bethany, thank God, seemed to be okay, probably because she’d been in the middle of the car. She was awake and blinking up at me in disbelief.

I grabbed the nearest guard and hauled him out of the car, dumping him on the road. Then I reached in and pulled out my girl. My shoulder screamed in protest but I ignored it, refusing to stop pulling until she was pressed up against me. Then I grabbed her cheeks in both hands and kissed her again and again, my fingers sliding deep into her hair. I’ve never needed anything in my whole life as much as those soft lips. I had to know she was okay, that we were back together. I filled my soul with the sweet, warm softness of her, my chest rising and falling as I breathed her in. Then I hugged her to my chest, my voice ragged with emotion. “From now on,” I told the top of her head, “you’re staying with me.”