Page 27 of Healing Love

Glancing into the back seat, he pulled out an old hand towel. “Hold this over your head—it’ll help to keep the rain out of your eyes.”

Nodding she followed his directions as he slowly backed up and then pressed on the accelerator, hurling them down the road. With the towel protecting her eyes she glanced around again, seeing no one.Oh, my God. I think we did it!

Cam spared a glance at the woman sitting next to him trying to hold on as the jeep bounced on the slick, muddy road; he could see her slight smile even in the black of the night. They had a long way to go, but if they could get to the river unnoticed, then…just then…they might have a chance.

11

The jeep traveled quicker than the large dump truck, but with the storm and the dark of night, Cam knew they were not making very good time.Still…no one’s around.A glance to the right and he saw Miriam holding the towel over her head with one hand and grasping the dashboard to steady herself with the other. While the towel was as soaked as the rest of her, the slight covering deflected the rain from hitting her face. He could tell nothing else about her until a flash of lightning illuminated their surroundings for a second and he saw her grip on the dashboard was tight.

“We’ve got about five more miles!” he called out, needing to be heard over the storm.

“Where are we going?” she asked, turning toward him for the first time since the jeep had lurched into action.

“I found a place near a river where I would come and dump rubble. I’ve got a contact that said the name is the Fuerte River. Or at least a tributary of it.”

“What’ll we do when we get there? Is that where someone will meet us?”

Even over the storm, he heard the hopefulness in her voice. Sucking in a deep sigh, he said, “No. ‘Fraid not. We’ve got to get down the river until we can come to a place where he can land.”

“Land what?” she called out.

“He has a plane, but he’s got to find a landing strip close enough. He’s checking out some of the plantations along the river and as soon as the storm’s over, I’ll contact him to see where he’ll meet us.”

“How will you know where we are?”

“Got a chip in me. A tracer. The boys back home will be able to give him my exact location.”

At that Miriam became quiet.A chip? Who has a chip in them?She wanted to ask more questions, but the rain was coming down harder and she did not want to scream over the downpour.

The last mile took forever since Cam had left the main road, following the rutted path toward the river. The lights of the jeep bounced with the ruts in the road but gave off just enough illumination that he saw the rubble he had dumped yesterday. Driving around to the back of the enormous pile, he pulled the jeep into the woods close by.

Miriam watched as he drove straight into the woods, tree branches reaching out to claw at her. Suddenly, his large hand pushed her down in the seat and the limbs moved over her head. Finally, he came to a stop, and she leaned up cautiously.

“Why are we here?”

He twisted his body toward hers, grinning at the beautiful face peeking up at him from under the sopping towel. “You got a lot of questions,” he stated.

Embarassed, she said, “I’m sorry?—”

“Hey, don’t ever be sorry. Just know I’ve got a plan even if it doesn’t always make sense.” Leaning down to catch her eyes, he said, “Here’s the deal. I’ll always answer your questions if I can, but you need to do something for me.”

“What is it?”

“If I tell you to do something, you’ve got to do it immediately. No questions. Our lives may depend on you obeying, okay?”

She nodded, completely aware that they were far from out of danger. “I promise.”

“That’s my girl,” he said. “Now, I pulled into the woods to help hide the jeep. It’ll be at least a day or so before anyone comes to look for us, depending on how long the storm lasts. They’ll know I drove around and will know this area so this junk pile is a place someone will be coming to. By then the tire tracks should be washed away and they’ll have to go looking in here to find the jeep. And, hopefully by then…we’ll be long gone.”

He was turning to get out of his side of the jeep when he felt a soft grasp on his arm. Turning back to look at her, he leaned in to see her face more clearly.

“Thank you,” she said, her eyes pleading for him to understand. “I know you didn’t have to do this.”

He grabbed the back of her head in his large handand pulled her toward him, kissing her forehead. “My pleasure, babe. Now let’s get a move on.”

Literally sliding out of the sopping Jeep seat, Miriam made her way around to the front where she met Cam. Snagging her hand, he led her deeper into the woods, but closer to the river. Her eyes were unable to penetrate the black night, but with the shelter of the trees, the rain was less intense. Keeping her focus on the man in front of her, she tried to keep up without slipping on the forest floor.

He stopped, bent over and she had to halt quickly to keep from running into him. Peeking around to see what he was doing, she could make out a canoe. He grabbed one end and began dragging it toward the sound of the rushing water.

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