Page 31 of SEAL the Deal
Rick laughed. “Because I know how to avoid getting lost?”
“No, I didn’t think you could read. Now go get some wood before this fire burns out.”
Rick grinned. “Asshole.”
He pushed his way through the bushes then waited for his eyes to adjust before searching for dry wood. With so many trees it shouldn’t be that hard. He found a large dead log and started pulling pieces from it. The rotten wood came away in his hand. It was damp and moldy.
Walking another twenty yards up the hill he remembered back to the survival course he’d attended in fleet. One of the instructors had mentioned something about dry bark on the leeward side of trees.
He picked a large elm and searched around the trunk. Sure enough one side of it was completely dry. It took him a few minutes to collect an armful of the thick bark. Then he made his way back to their makeshift camp.
As he got closer he heard voices. He stopped and listened; someone was talking to the Chief. Voices carried in the cold night air. It was two men and they sounded angry.
He lowered the bark and crept forward until he could see the figures in the glow of TJ’s fire.
“Are you alone?” snapped a deep voice.
“My friends went for help. They should be back soon.”
If TJ was lying about Rick being nearby, there was a damn good reason for it. TJ had identified the men as a potential threat.
“What happened to your foot?” asked the voice again.
“I already told you. Our raft flipped and I got caught in the rapids. Look, I don’t know what your problem is, but where I’m from you offer an injured stranger help. Not threats.”
“There’s no help coming for you. We’ve already got your buddies,” said another in a nasal voice.
“Shut up,” the deep voice ordered.
Rick’s heart sank as he realized Mike and the others had been captured. He caught a glimpse of a shotgun in one of the men’s hands.
The deep voice barked again. “Get on your feet. You’re coming with us.”
“I can’t walk.”
“It wasn’t a goddamn question.”
Rick crouched in the darkness with his fists clenched, watching as one of the men hauled the Chief to his feet. The other stood with his weapon held ready.
The way he saw it he had two options. One, he could attack the men and risk them killing TJ, or two, he could follow from a distance and look for an opportunity to free the Chief and the others. He opted for the latter.
* * *
Rick tailed TJ and his captors from a distance. Thankfully the woods were damp and he was able to move silently through the bushes and vines.
They pushed the Chief into a thick grove of plants. It wasn’t till he was among them that the pungent smell of marijuana filled his nostrils. “Holy shit, pot growing rednecks,” he whispered.
He crept through the field, following the voices of the men as they yelled for the injured SEAL to move faster. Soon he saw lights from a dwelling.
Lowering to his stomach he crawled forward till he spotted a low-slung cabin. There was a large metal cage to one side of it and in the glow of the single bulb under the verandah he spotted Ernie, Dean and Mike. They were locked inside. “Fuck.”
The two men directed the Chief to sit on the cabin’s deck. Then the front door opened and a horrendously overweight man waddled out. He reminded Rick of a redneck version of theStar Warscharacter, Jabba the Hutt.
“What the hell, another cop?” the man bellowed. “Carter is going to lose his shit.”
Rick made a mental note of the name.
“Put him in the cage with the others.”
