Page 44 of Scent of Evil
Then he realized Trevor may have moved the SUV off the two-track. Was that what Logan was trying to tell him?
He spotted a creek and turned Blaze toward it. Water would be good for multiple reasons—or the animals and to give Raine and him a chance to wet down their clothing. They’d need to have damp fabric over their noses and mouths to filter out the worst of the smoke.
Stone jumped over a log and reached the creek first. He led Blaze around the fallen tree, then swung out of the saddle. Blaze eagerly moved toward the creek to drink.
Raine dismounted, too, leading Timber closer to the creek so he could drink as well. “I think the smoke is getting worse.” Her hoarse voice bothered him. Breathing in the thick smoke wasn’t good.
“I have an extra shirt.” He rummaged in his pack and pulled it out. Kneeling at the creek, he submerged the shirt, then wrung it out. Standing, he held it out to her. “Tie this over your nose and mouth.”
She frowned. “What about you?”
“I’ll use mine.” He stripped off his shirt and knelt at the creek. “Get in, Stone.”
Stone looked at him for a moment, then jumped into the water. Good thing labs liked to swim. When he had his shirt dampened, he retrieved the sat phone. The last call had been from Griff, so he quickly returned it.
“Logan has eyes on Decker but can’t tell if the guy is alone on the ATV or if he has a fellow traveler,” Griff said.
“Glad Logan sees Decker,” he repeated for Raine’s sake. “I hope he can watch him for a while longer, before the smoke from the fire gets too bad.”
“Afraid not, the firefighters are at the cabin, but the blaze has started to spread to the trees. I hope you and Raine are getting out of there.”
“We’re trying.” He wasn’t surprised the fire was spreading. “Did Trevor get to the SUV and horse trailer in time to prevent them from being damaged?”
“Yes. He wants you to know he’s heading east on the highway you took to reach the Kluck cabin since the wind is coming from the west. He wants you to know he’ll be on the highway for as long as possible waiting for you and Raine to get there.”
Justin understood his brother was worried about them and would likely stay longer than was safe. “Tell him thanks and that we’ll get to the highway as soon as we can, but if the fire gets closer, he needs to bug out of there.”
“I will, but he probably won’t listen. Be careful, Justin.” Griff sounded concerned too. “I know there was a storm last night soaking the trees and brush, but that doesn’t mean the fire won’t spread quickly.”
“We will. Thanks.” He ended the call and shoved the phone back into his saddle bag. Raine had the shirt tied around her face, and he quickly did the same with his own shirt. Then he took a moment to double-check their coordinates. They had made decent time so far but still had several miles to go before they’d reach the highway. Especially since they’d need to take an angled approach to stay ahead of the fire.
Pocketing the GPS, he turned to his K9. “Come, Stone.” The lab came out of the water and shook himself to get rid of the excess moisture.
He was about to help Raine get up on Timber when he noticed she’d used the fallen log as a stepping stool to manage the mount on her own. He swung up on Blaze, turned the horse from the creek, and nudged the animal with his heels. Blaze shook his head again in protest but then settled down.
Stone followed their path as he led the way across the rocky mountainous terrain. He tried to go faster but had to slow down to navigate around boulders and other fallen trees. Several times, Blaze shook his head and sidestepped in protest. His horse did not like their situation.
He wasn’t a fan of it either. He mentally kicked himself for heading out to track Decker. He should have anticipated the fire would rage out of control.
It was too late for regrets now. All Justin could do was to push forward and pray for God to guide them to safety.
The roar of the flames grew louder, and when he glanced to his left, he saw the flickering flames traveling along several half-dead trees. Then the smoke began to obscure his vision. Breathing through the damp fabric of his shirt wasn’t easy, but it kept the worst of the soot from going into his lungs.
He angled the horses away from the smoke, but even changing directions didn’t work. He turned even farther, knowing the path would take them parallel to the highway rather than toward it.
His chest tightened as the temperature around them rose. Sweat slicked down his chest and back, but he ignored it.
“Stone, are you with us?” He panicked when he momentarily lost track of his K9. Blinking hard to clear his watering eyes, he scanned the ground until he finally caught sight of the dog.
Of all of them, his K9 seemed the least affected by the fire.
Blaze stumbled. “Easy, boy.” The last thing they needed was for one of the horses to be injured. Blaze moved forward without favoring one leg over the other, but Justin knew they couldn’t keep going for long.
Blaze fought his grip on the reins, wanting to bolt through the forest to escape the smoke and fire. He glanced back to make sure Timber wasn’t giving Raine any trouble. They seemed to be doing okay, but that was when he noticed the fire jump from one set of trees to another.
His breath caught in his throat as he realized they were surrounded by flames on two sides now. He urged Blaze into a trot, desperate to put more distance between them and the burning trees.
How much longer would it take for the fire to engulf the area around them? He was very much afraid they were about to find out.
