First Surrender (Chance Encounters #3)

Chapter Forty-Nine

Natalie

“ R ight here. I told him to jump and run until his legs gave out,” I explain to Jackson from the passenger seat. The cool air is starting to give me the chills, my body going from one extreme temperature to the other.

I was close to passing out in my car but Jackson arrived just in time. Now, Declan is dead and I’m going to have to figure out how to tell my baby brother that his dad is gone forever just like our mom.

“Stay here. Keep sipping the water,” he suggests as he gets out. I scoff loudly, following suit. I was helpless before, I’m not going to be helpless now.

“I’m going.”

“Nat, please. I don’t know how this will go. If you’re here, I’ll focus better out there,” he pleads but it falls on deaf ears. I don’t give a shit. I’m going to help find my brother.

“I’m going.”

He blows out an exasperated breath and looks to the sky, a move he hasn’t done in quite some time. I can only hope he’s adding a prayer in for my brother.

“Fine. Stay behind me and don’t argue with me. Listen to them, too.” He points to Jesse and Nathan.

“Fine.”

“Just like that?” He asks, bewildered, always expecting boxing gloves from me.

“I trust you, Jackson, but it doesn’t mean I won’t be a pain in your ass,” I mumble the end part almost to myself.

He steps toward me suddenly and wraps me in his arms. My body melts against his in exhaustion or relief, I’m not sure. I take a deep breath to stop the tears welling in my eyes.

“I love you, fireball. You’re my favorite pain in the ass.” He kisses the top of my head and I push him off to break the vortex between us. He’s about to ruin the hard shell I’m faking to get through this.

“Stop being sweet, please.” My eyes bore into his, begging him to understand. He smirks softly because he gets me.

“Alright, get your ass in gear. Time to hike.”

We trudge through thick underbrush for what seems like a mile, Jackson in front, Jesse and Nathan flanking behind me on either side, putting me at the center of their makeshift macho man triangle. I’d normally be rolling my eyes at them but I’m too weak to care.

My body is slowing down, the fatigue is far overshadowing any lasting adrenaline that I might’ve been storing in my body. This is probably why Jackson wanted me to stay in the truck but I’m too stubborn to admit he might’ve been right.

He throws a hand up suddenly, halting Nathan and Jesse in their tracks. I, however, am slow to react and smack right into Jackson’s back. He doesn’t budge at my collision but raises two fingers and points straight ahead, speaking some secret language I’m not privy to.

“What the hel-” Before I can ask what he’s signing, Jesse’s hand wraps around my bicep, gently but firmly.

“Sorry,” he whispers before he tugs me back a few feet and plants me behind his back. All three of them are suddenly standing in front of me with weapons pointed forward. I don’t know what the hell is happening until two men come stumbling through the brush.

Zeek and one of his loser friends.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” I remark at the same time Jackson speaks.

“Hands up. Don’t move or I’ll shoot,” Jackson commands with thundering authority, making me shiver. Both the idiots are taken off guard and luckily, comply immediately.

“We don’t have guns,” Zeek whines and that finally gives me enough strength to roll my eyes. I’m at my limit for this bullshit today. Too bad Jackson doesn’t have a reason to shoot him.

“On your stomachs. Hands behind your back. Now.” Another demand followed through and within a few minutes, both Zeek and his counterpart are handcuffed together around a tree.

“Dispatch, I’ve got two in custody. Ping my location and send the closest available units to pick up.” He looks back to check on me and then nods to Jesse. “Let’s keep moving.” Nathan gives the handcuffs one final tug before we continue forward.

“Good luck! You’re gonna need it!” Zeek quips at us as we begin walking even deeper into the woods. Whatever that means, it doesn’t sound good for Dec. I turn around and give him a quick kick to the shin making him wail in pain.

Jackson quickly pulls me back into position behind him making my feet fumble while Nathan and Jesse smirk at me.

The sun is getting low in the sky and we only make it another half mile before Jackson mumbles a curse under his breath.

“What? What is it?” I peer around him and see tall metal fencing with barbed wire at the top. “What is this?”

He hasn’t responded but his eyes find mine and I see clear apprehension. “What is it, Jackson?”

“This is Second Chance Sanctuary.”

“So?”

“This fence probably goes on for miles. Dec had to have gone through here.”

He’s the Sheriff, why would that matter?

He’s not saying something because even if it’s private property, this is clearly extenuating circumstances.

I glance at Jesse and Nathan and realize they’re both in on the inside information.

“It’s an animal sanctuary,” Nathan explains.

“What kind of animals?”

“Bears. Black bears,” Jackson utters, drawing my attention again. I stare at him for a long time, waiting for it to click in my brain but my mind is trying to convince me that I heard him wrong.

“My brother might be in there.” I point to the woods beyond the fencing. “He might be trapped in there with bears.”

“He’s small. He could have gotten through any hole in or under the fence line,” Jesse explains. My gaze whips to his and I see the worry under his cool exterior. “Means he could get out just as easy,” he adds.

“Jackson. I’m about to lose my fucking mind. What are we going to do?”

“I need to make a call but you have to trust me.”

“You know that I do.” I can’t look at him, I can only stare into the trees beyond me while he makes his call.

“Lochlan, I need your help. Bring anyone you can.”

We stand around for ten minutes, wasting daylight, until I hear the sound of small engines approaching. Multiple quads and a side-by-side appear within a few seconds and I’m suddenly surrounded by seven more men I’ve never seen before.

One of them steps off of a four-wheeler and my jaw drops. He’s the largest man that I’ve ever seen in real life. He’s taller than Jackson, who previously held the record in my mind. He’s almost terrifying to look at.

I don’t know if it’s the furrowed brow or the aura of dark clouds around him, but it makes me saddle closer to Jackson on instinct. His ruggedness is dark and filled with disdain as if he belongs on the other side of the fence with the bears.

Jackson is as manly as they come in my eyes but he’s a calm and stable force, totally opposite from this person. I never realized how much I preferred to gravitate toward stability until now.

“Sheriff,” he greets, deeply.

“I have an eight-year-old boy. He’s not mine by law, but he’s my kid, Lochlan. I think he’s in there.” Jackson points through the fence and a few people around us curse under their breath. However, Nathan and Jesse are both stiff as a board, paying more attention to the new strangers and not the conversation between Jackson and this man. “He was running from bad men, he probably doesn’t even realize where he is.”

Lochlan scrubs a hand over his face, sighing deeply, and that’s when I notice the long scar traveling from his temple straight down to just below his cheekbone. “The bears are peaceful, they don’t want to be bothered. We haven’t had any attacks in over a decade. If he’s a smart kid, he’ll be fine.”

“He’s smart but he’s probably terrified. I didn’t even know what I was sending him into, this is all my fault.” I cover my face to hide my distress because I can’t contain it anymore. My poor baby brother.

“He’ll be fine, we’ll get him,” Jackson whispers against my head, kissing me just above the ear.

“Cut the fence here, we’ll patch it later.” A few of his guys make their way forward with wire cutters to cut the links of the fence. “Listen to me, we move in groups. No one wanders off. Make noise so you don’t surprise them. If they hear you coming they’ll most likely move away but if one gets curious, don’t fucking shoot it.” He looks at Jackson, Jesse, and Nathan dead in their eyes.

That’s when I realize that no one else is armed. None of these other men are carrying anything more than normal tools.

“Do not shoot one of my fucking bears unless it already has your neck in it’s teeth, you hear me?” He asks this time, expecting a response. Jackson might be Sheriff but this guy is definitely in charge. “This is their home. We respect them.”

“We’re only here for Dec. No one wants to cause any harm, Lochlan.”

He looks at Jackson closely and then nods his head, turning his attention back to the guys working on the fence. I tug on Jackson’s arm to get him to lean his head toward me. “Why don’t they have guns?”

He sighs. “They’re felons. Most of them anyway. They don’t keep guns on the property. They can’t.”

My eyes bulge. We’re about to go into bear territory with a bunch of felons. Great. What could go wrong?

“Trust me?” He asks, watching the panic work across my face.

His eyes are filled with as much hope as he can muster in this situation and I see the truth in them. There’s a reason he called these guys to help us, he’s confident that they won’t screw us over. “Yeah, I do.”

A dog’s bark echoes through the trees suddenly making me jump, I’m too on edge being this close to the bears. The drawl of a hunting dog continues getting closer and I look around to see if anyone else is concerned but all I see are a few guilty faces.

“I thought I told you to keep the strays locked up in the barn?” Lochlan asks one of his guys, the one that looks the guiltiest.

“I did, Boss. He must’ve escaped.” A hound dog comes barreling into the clearing where we’re standing, happily seeking attention, and pats on the head.

“What kind of dog is this?” I don’t know why I ask, I need the distraction I guess.

“A mutt. Bloodhound and coonhound most likely. Someone dumped him and three others at the gate. We haven’t figured out what to do with them yet. Boss doesn’t want them near the bear enclosures until we know they won’t bother them,” one guy says. He has tattoos visible below the collar of his shirt and short cropped hair, but much kinder eyes than Lochlan.

As if the dog sensed my inquiry, he nuzzles up to me and starts sniffing my hands. His curious snuffs turn manic suddenly, snorting inhales until his reddish brown body goes taut. I barely have a chance to ponder his strange behavior when his nose hits the ground and he starts toward the fence line, whining and scratching at the metal caging until his paws meet the earth and he starts digging, rampantly.

“What were you doing before everything went down?” Jackson asks suddenly, everyone’s attention is on the dog and me.

“Dec and I got ice cream.”

“He’s got the scent,” Lochlan speaks up. “He’s a hunting dog, he might be able to lead us to the boy. Let’s go before he loses it.”

We all take turns entering through the narrow opening, and once we’re all through, Lochlan lets the dog loose. He takes off before anyone can blink.

“Spread out, stay in groups,” Lochlan instructs and we make a wall. I stay right next to Jackson while Nathan and Jesse move ten feet off to my right, always keeping me in the middle.

It’ll be dark soon and all I can think about is my brother being stuck here with these bears. It’s all I can do to keep moving forward when my body wants to collapse, exhausted with worry.

We’re coming, Dec. We’re coming.