Silver Creek Bodyguard – Excerpt 2
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Wes tightened his grip on Sara’s arm as they closed the distance to the grove. He felt her fear rising, saw it in the set of her mouth, the stiffening of her spine as she pushed through the knee-high grass. His mind spun with scenarios. Was this her half-brother’s assassins after her? Sending his father’s Mafia soldiers to do his bidding? Or maybe some other tourists? Their truck was a mile away, parked on a barely discernible rutted road, most of it washed away by winter rains. This was not an area that people routinely hiked.
Dana and Colin had given him directions to the road, and he’d gone to the Forest Service and gotten a map of this little-used or -known area of the mountains. It had been a fire road, to be used only if a forest fire was in the area. There were no trails built by the USFS around here. It was completely wild and left to Nature, not to humans. They were out in the middle of nowhere.
He’d already checked his cell phone and there was no coverage. Twenty miles away from this spot was the main highway. He was keenly aware of the lack of communication and help. They were dependent upon their own knowledge of survival. He had to protect Sara. He’d been able, so far, to separate business from anything intimate or personal with Sara. Until now.
He heard a THUNK from the left. Shock slammed into him. Cursing, he jerked his head in the same direction as the foreign noise. There was a rocket-propelled grenade coming their way!
Stunned by the military weapon being fired at them, he yanked Sara to a halt.
“DOWN!” he yelled, shoving her headlong into the grass.
Would it hit them? He knew the explosive power of such a shoulder-held device. As Sara hit the ground with an oomph, he threw himself on top of her, his larger body flattening and fully covering hers. Within less than a second, a massive explosion occurred behind them. The
earth convulsed. It moved upward. Fire and smoke belched outward. Rocks and dirt vomited toward the sky, then rained down upon them. Wes tried to shield Sara completely from the blast. But the worst of it was the violent, disruptive pressure wave, which could literally tear a man apart if he was standing too close to where the grenade had landed.
Hot air, flames, and dirt rolled over them. Wes buried his face next to Sara’s, breathing through his mouth, praying that she too, had her mouth open. As the pressure wave hit them with stunning force, he grunted, feeling like a thousand fists were beating up his head, back, and legs.
Pain was instantaneous. Eyes tightly shut, breathing harshly, he held on to Sara, who sobbed out of fear. Holding her down, because he had no idea of what was to come next, he kept her protected.
Another THUNK!
Wes couldn’t believe it. They were firing one of these monsters at them again? The first landed behind them. The second one hit somewhere out in the middle of the meadow, the earthquake tossing them into the air and hurling them feet from where they had been. The roar was ear splitting.
THUNK!
Sweat ran off him, mixing with dirt. “Keep your mouth open!” he yelled above the roar and near her ear. If a person didn’t, the pressure wave would hit them and destroy their lung tissue, turning the lobes into Jell-O, instantly killing the person.
How many more to come? His mind spun with disbelief.
Who the hell would fire three RPGs at them? Whoever it was, wanted them dead, no question.
The third RPG landed to his left, farther away, but still too close. The meadow was green and therefore, would not catch on fire. That was the only thing that had gone right for them. How many men were shooting at them? His mind clicked off possibilities. The pressure wave rolled
over them and he held Sara tightly, taking the brunt of the invisible force once more. Once it had passed, he rolled off Sara. She lifted her head, her eyes dazed looking, blood running out of her nostrils, scratches on her face where he’d forced her into the earth to save her life. Without a word, Wes looked around, grabbed her by her left upper arm and hauled her to her feet. They were surrounded by heavy dust hanging in the air along with black and gray smoke hovering malevolently across half the meadow where they stood. Right now, they were hidden inside that triangle of smoke from fired RPGs. There was no way they could be seen by their enemy. At least, not yet.
“Come on!” he yelled, hauling her forward.
Sara stumbled, caught herself and began to run brokenly next to him. Wes kept his hand tight around her upper arm in case she fell. The grass was thick, and it curled and swirled around their boots and ankles. Heading for the Oregon grape grove, he moved parallel to it, making sure they were still hidden from their enemy by the smoke, dust, and debris hanging like a thick, dark cloud in half of the meadow. Rounding the end of the grove, he hauled her into the darkening woods on the other side of it.
“Okay, we’ve got to hide in that grove, Sara. They’re going to start looking for us,” he choked out, coughing violently as more smoke rolled slowly around them, continuing to hide them. “If they find out we’re alive? They’ll run us to ground and kill us.”
Sara nodded jerkily. “Where?” she stammered, automatically coming into his arms, tears making tracks down her taut features.
Looking around, Wes saw an opening low to the ground and into the thick, tangled bramble smothered in prickly, shiny leaves that could hide them. “There! Come on, get down on your hands and knees and dive into it! Crawl toward the center of it as fast as you can. I’ll be right behind you.”