Page 2 of Caught in the Axe
Instead, my racing thoughts had taken over and consumed me for every single mile.
My stomach rolled as I crossed the border into the stateof Maine. I’d been mainlining Tums for the last hour, watching as the exits grew farther and farther apart and the trees and mountains got taller.
In the civilized world, April meant spring. But up here, winter still reigned, as evidenced by the snow piled up on the side of the road and the forty-degree midday temperatures.
“You need to get here,” Gus repeated. “Chief is threatening to come back with a search warrant.”
Aw, fuck. The feds had already thoroughly trashed the place, and we’d been searching for all kinds of key documents since. The local police playing Sherlock Holmes would only set us back further.
“I left at five,” I spat, wishing I’d stopped for a third coffee before I’d left more populated areas. I’d forgotten just how long these country roads felt. “Canceled all my meetings, rescheduled important events, and jumped in the car. I’m doing the best I can.”
I made my way through town, down Main Street, headed toward route 106 and the forest. Lovewell, Maine, was just as I remembered. It had been frozen in time.
Same thick forest, same neighborhoods of modest homes, same streets riddled with potholes big enough to sink the Titanic. This place had always maintained the small-town atmosphere, which felt like such a strange contrast against the wild majesty of the mountains and the forest backdrop.
As I put downtown in my rearview, my anxiety worsened. The narrow, winding road was bordered by thick pine forest and led up to the mountains, and with every minute that passed, I was coming closer to the place I’d spent so many years avoiding.
My heart was lodged in my throat, and I’d broken out into a sweat, but I forced myself to continue on.
A looming shape appeared suddenly in the middle of the road, and I all but jumped out of my skin.
“What the fuck?” I slammed on the brakes so violently I was thrown forward, and my chest hit the steering wheel as my car skidded to a halt.
“Owen?” Gus yelled through my car’s Bluetooth as I fought to take in air. “Are you okay?”
My hands shook, and all the energy drained from my body. I put the car in park and dropped my head, continuing to focus on breathing without responding to my brother. I didn’t think I could form the words even if I tried.
When I finally forced my head up, I startled again. Because standing at the bumper of my Audi, practically staring into my soul, was a moose. A massive moose, literally longer than my damn car.
“Owen,” Gus urged, sounding frantic.
“I’m okay,” I said, resting my head on the wheel. “I almost hit a moose. It’s just standing here in the middle of the road.”
“Fuck.” He huffed a breath. “A moose will kill you.”
I sat up again, and I swore the motherfucker was making direct eye contact with me, sensing all my darkest thoughts.
Breathe. I just had to breathe. It would move eventually, and then I could continue on my way to deal with the endless shit show at Hebert Timber.
“It’s not moving,” I said with a honk of my horn.
The damn moose was standing sideways in the middle of the road. The forest was dense here, the trees growing rightup next to the road, which meant there was no way to drive around the beast.
And the creature didn’t even flinch when I honked. That didn’t stop me from trying to scare it away, though.
“Don’t antagonize the moose!” Gus yelled through the Bluetooth. “Do you want it to charge you?”
“It’s blocking the damn road.” I honked again, yet it continued to stare. Though its nostrils were flaring. Had they been doing that before? Was it going to attack me? “How do you move a moose?”
“You don’t, you moron. It’s a fucking moose.”
Gus was so absurd. It was just an animal. “Yeah, but I need it to move. So what do I do?”
“You wait until it moves on. You were born here, right? It’s not a fucking dog. You can’t distract it with a treat.”
I unbuckled my seat belt. Okay, so I couldn’t tempt it away, but maybe I could run it off.
“Go around it.”
