Lawfully Matched, Justified, and Redeemed

by Lorana Hoopes

  “I guess,” Dani replied. She was actually enjoying the quiet peacefulness, but he didn’t need to know that.

  The further they walked into the forest, the darker it became. Dani glanced up to see where the sun had gone, but it was obscured by the thick branches covered in snow. Some of them were bowing under the weight of the white powder.

  “Um, Aaron, do you think it’s safe walking under all these trees?” she asked. Her question was punctuated by a creaking sound, a crack, and then a branch falling off to the right.

  “It’s fine,” he said, “just keep your eyes open and pay attention to the sounds.”

  Dani nodded, but the easy, peaceful feeling was gone. With every creak and groan around her, she glanced wildly up at the tall trees that now looked like menacing giants encircling them.

  “Looks like only another quarter mile to go,” Aaron said.

  Dani shivered, both from the cold and from the eerie feeling that had blanketed her. Suddenly, a loud crack sounded. Dani’s gaze shot up, but her feet froze. A large limb was hurtling down toward her.

  “DP, move,” Aaron shouted, but her feet wouldn’t obey.

  Dani threw her hands up to shield herself and closed her eyes. Pain like she had never felt seared through her, knocking her to the ground and stealing her breath.

  “DP.” Aaron’s worried voice carried over to her.

  Dani opened her eyes and blinked a few times to try to get rid of the stars blurring her vision. Sydney’s nose touched her face and then Aaron’s concerned face came into view.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  “I’m not sure,” she wheezed. Every breath hurt. “I think I broke a rib.”

  His eyes scanned from her head to her toe. “Anywhere else?”

  “My back,” she said. “And I’m cold.” The snow was piled up around her and quickly sinking in through her BDUs.

  Aaron pushed against the large branch pinning her down, but it didn’t budge. He tried squatting and lifting, but that did nothing either. “It’s too heavy. I’m going to have to go get some help.” He shrugged off his coat and pushed it against her. “Try to stay warm. I’ll be back with help as soon as I can.”

  Dani’s teeth chattered, but she tried to clench them together to keep Aaron from worrying. “I’m not going anywhere,” she joked and then cringed at the pain.

  Worry clouded Aaron’s eyes and she knew he was assessing to see if there were another option, but there was none. Him returning to the closest town to get help was their best option.

  “Okay,” he said finally. “I’ll be back. Stay with her Sydney.”

  Sydney looked up at him and then replaced her nose in the crook of Dani’s shoulder. As Aaron walked away, Dani tried to think happy, calming, warm thoughts. But the truth was, it was cold out here and if Aaron didn’t get back quickly, she would become hypothermic.

  Chapter 7

  Calvin was just about to fire up the chain saw when a German shepherd bolted into view. The black K-9 band around its chest grabbed his attention. Was this one of the dogs from his house visit yesterday?

  The dog sat at his feet and looked up at him. “What is it? Where’s your officer?” The dog stared at him a moment longer and then gently bit his pant leg and began backing up. “Do you want me to follow you?” Calvin asked.

  He had only been joking, but the dog wagged its tail and then turned toward the deeper part of the forest. Calvin followed, not sure where the dog was leading him, but curious all the same. His curiosity quickly morphed into fear when he saw the female officer from the day before pinned beneath a large tree branch. Though a jacket was shoved up against her, her lips were blue, and her eyes were closed. Calvin was glad he hadn’t left the chainsaw back at the clearing though he had no idea why he hadn’t.

  Calvin bent down and checked for a pulse. There, but just barely. He needed to get her out of the cold and warmed up. Though not an EMT, he knew moving a victim was not the best idea. However, with the surrounding elements, Calvin had little choice. He fired up the chain saw and began cutting as close to the woman as he could while still making sure he didn’t hit her. The dog sat watching a few feet away.

  After a minute, he freed one side of the large limb. Calvin pushed the piece of wood off the woman and glanced around. He didn’t have anything to carry her back with, and he wanted to move her as little as possible. He wished he'd brought the sled with him that he planned to load the firewood on. Unfortunately, it still sat in the clearing, and now he wasn’t sure he should take the time to go get it.

  A few feet away, lay a large leafy branch. If he could strap her to it with the jacket, maybe he could pull her back to the cabin. It took a few minutes of scuffling to get the branch situated behind her. He squatted, hooking his arms under hers and walked backwards, pulling her onto the branch. As carefully as possible, he tied the jacket around her hips and the branch to help secure her. Though it would probably have been more secure if he had tied it higher, he feared her ribs were injured from the fallen limb and he didn’t want to make it any worse.

  “Okay, dog,” he said to the K-9. “Let’s get out of the cold, shall we?”

  The trip back to the cabin was long and arduous, but Calvin finally reached the front door. He whispered a silent prayer of thanks for the snow that covered the steps enough to make a ramp he could hoist the woman up. Once inside, he maneuvered her near the fireplace where the last of the logs burned. The dog sat down at her side.

  “I have to get more firewood, but I’ll be back.” Calvin shook his head as he realized he was talking to the dog as if it were a person. Or maybe he hoped the woman would be able to hear him.

  After a final glance at her - she still hadn’t moved - he exited the cabin and picked up the chain saw from the porch where he had dropped it. With a hastened step, he returned to the grove of trees he had been in when the dog found him. After firing up the chain saw again, he cut down one and made short work of the wood, placing it on the sled he had originally brought with him this morning and forgotten when the dog showed up.

  Calvin stacked the new wood against the side of the cabin and stepped back, regarding the pile. It should be enough to last another few days, and he hoped to be home after that.

  Now, it was time to scour the ground for some dead wood for the fire. The freshly cut wood would smoke like mad if he could even get it lit, but if he could find a few good pieces that were dry inside, he should be okay.

  The pickings were slim, but he managed to find an armful he thought would burn well and brought it inside where the woman still lay on the floor. After stacking it up beside the fireplace, he sat down on the couch and waited. The woman’s skin was no longer pale, her lips no longer blue. His gut told him she would be stirring soon, but he wanted to take no chances. He turned his face upward and began praying for the safety of the woman.

  Chapter 8

  Dani’s eyes felt heavy and glued shut. A forced effort opened them, and she looked around. The first thing she noticed was the lack of cold. In fact, a small fire burned from a fireplace a few feet away, warming her. The realization no snow surrounded her came next. She was no longer out in the elements, but inside. The question was - inside where? Had Aaron come back for her already?

  Sydney’s wet nose poked her cheek, and instinctively she reached her hand up to pet the dog, but a searing pain through her chest stopped the movement.

  “Ugh,” she groaned.

  “Where does it hurt?” The voice was not one she recognized, but a moment later, a slightly familiar face appeared in her vision. The man from the previous day.

  “You,” she wheezed. “Where’s your brother?”

  “Not here,” the man said with a shake of his head. “But really is that your biggest concern in your condition?”

  “I’m fine,” Dani said and grimaced as the pain pounded again. She didn’t know this man, but she hated that he was seeing her in this condition. Dani learned long ago as a woman in a male-dominated care
er, she needed to be tough, even when she felt like death. It was one reason she opted to shorten her name to the more masculine form.

  “Yes, I can see that,” he said, a smile tugging at his lips. “Still, we should check you out to determine the extent of your injuries. I don’t want to move you any more until we determine there won’t be lasting damage.”

  “What are you, a doctor?” Dani asked.

  “No, but I interned with EMTs one summer. I don’t know much, but I’m all you’ve got right now.”

  “My partner will be back soon, so you better not think of trying anything,” Dani said. She hated that the pain kept her from standing and arresting him herself.

  “I’m not your enemy,” the man said and ran a hand through his brown hair. A woody, smoky scent drifted to Dani’s face. “Look, why don’t we start over. I’m Calvin, and you are?”

  Dani paused, weighing her options. She was basically at the mercy of this man until she healed. In her current condition, she could barely move. There was no way she could give chase and apprehend a suspect. Besides, her gut told her he wasn’t involved in whatever his brother was, and she had learned to trust it a long time ago. “Dani,” she replied.

  “Okay, Dani, I’m almost positive your ribs are bruised if not broken since the tree was across them, but do you hurt anywhere else?”

  Dani performed a mental analysis of her body. Her head throbbed slightly but probably only from the fall. She could wiggle her toes, so she didn’t believe she had injured her back. “No, I think it’s just my ribs. I imagine I’ll be sore, but I can probably sit up if you can help me.”

  Calvin bit his bottom lip and his brow furrowed, but he reached out a hand. “Okay, if you’re sure, but let’s take it slow.”

  As his arm slipped under her neck, a tiny jolt of electricity shot through Dani. Her eyes flicked up to his, and from his widened gaze, she believed he felt it too. She didn’t have time to think about it long though as the pain increased as soon as she moved. Darkness clouded her vision, and she forced her eyes shut to try to combat the wave of nausea erupting in her stomach.

  With slow steps, they made their way to the couch and Calvin helped her lie down. Dani tried to control her breathing as every breath hurt and the short walk left her winded. “Thank you,” she said, holding her chest.

  “Let me get you some ice and see if I have any Tylenol,” Calvin said and hurried into the kitchen area. He searched for the pain medicine first, finding an old bottle in one of the cabinets. The ice pack, however, proved to be trickier.

  Though one resided in the freezer, it was only slightly cool now due to the lack of electricity. After a little more rummaging, Calvin found a ziplock bag big enough to hold the ice pack. He shoved the pack in and then opened the back door, scooping up more snow and filling the bag around the pack. It wasn’t perfect, but hopefully it would help. With the bag in one hand and the bottle in the other, he returned to the living room.

  Dani took the bottle first, opened the lid and shook out two pills which she downed without a drop of water. Then she took the pack with a slight smile and placed it on her ribs. “How come you didn’t become an EMT? You seem good at it.”

  Calvin’s face fell, and he rubbed a hand across his chin. “I wanted to, and uh, then my dad got sick. I took some time off to help my mom with him. He was a fighter, but the cancer got him in the end.”

  Dani’s heart ached at the pain etched in Calvin’s face. It was clear he had cared greatly for his father.

  “After that, I went back to it, but it was harder. I kept thinking I should have been able to save him, you know? Then, my mom was killed in a car accident a few months later. I wasn’t on shift, and I couldn’t have done anything even if I had been, but I couldn’t stay in it. Just didn’t have the heart anymore. Plus, Chris was still in college, and I needed a better paying job to help him out, so I fell back on computer programming. It paid well, and I didn’t have to be around people.”

  “Is that when Chris turned to drugs?”

  Calvin sighed. “Yeah, I turned to work, and he turned to drugs. He’s no killer, though.”

  “You should have told us about the cabin, Calvin.”

  “I understand,” he said, “but I wanted to hear Chris’s side myself. He’s my brother, you know?”

  Dani didn’t really know what that was like. She had been an only child until about the age of six when her mother first remarried. Then her half-sister, Gabby, had been born. A few years later, Dani’s mother had divorced Gabby’s father and married Ray. She’d had twin boys with him, Derek and Eric. The next year, they had divorced. So, while Dani had siblings, she wasn’t especially close to any of them, as they often spent time with their fathers and apart from her. Gabby was probably her closest sibling and that had more to do with their shared gender than anything else.

  “So, he hasn’t been here?” she asked, avoiding his question.

  He shook his head. “No, I thought he might come here, but there was no sign of him when I arrived. I planned to give him a few days to see if he showed up.”

  “If my partner doesn’t find us first, we should head out tomorrow to find him. We can have someone watch the cabin in case your brother shows up.”

  Calvin raised his brow at her. “I doubt we’re going anywhere tomorrow. Didn’t you see the snow out there?”

  “Yes, but my partner won’t know where I’ve gone. I can’t just disappear.”

  “Your partner might not even be able to get back. There’s another storm expected tonight, and it will probably close the road in.”

  Dani’s eyes widened. “You mean I’m stuck here?”

  Calvin laughed. It was a deep timbre sound. “You don’t have to make it sound so awful. You need time to heal anyway. Though from what I remember, you shouldn’t spend too much time lying down. I seem to remember the suggestion was to try to continue normal activity and take as deep of breaths as you can so that fluid doesn’t build up in your lungs.”

  Dani blinked as her mind raced through options. Her radio had been broken when the tree fell on her, and she had left her cell in the SUV. “Phone. Do you at least have a phone, so I can call and let someone know I’m okay?”

  “Sorry,” he said with a shrug. “No service right now. I think the storm knocked down some power lines. It’s why we don’t have electricity either.”

  “Smoke signal?” Dani asked, but she was only half kidding. If Aaron came back and found her gone, surely, he would continue to the cabin. But what if he was caught in the snow? What if he never made it back to the closest town? Or what if he did and couldn’t get back? Was she going to be stuck with this man she didn’t know for days? She had no change of clothes, no toiletries.

  “How about I make us some dinner?” Calvin offered, breaking into her runaway thoughts.

  Dani nodded absentmindedly. She wasn’t really hungry though she knew she needed to eat to keep her strength.

  As Calvin turned into the kitchen, Sydney laid her head on Dani’s lap.

  “It’ll be okay, girl,” Dani said, stroking the top of Sydney’s head. “We’ll figure something out.”

  Chapter 9

  “Can you make it to the table to eat?” Calvin asked Dani when the dinner was ready. It wasn’t much, just hot dogs and canned beans. He wished he had brought better food, but in his hurry to find Chris, he had simply grabbed what was in his fridge.

  “Yeah, I think I can,” she said, though the grimace that crossed her face said otherwise.

  Calvin leaned down and snaked an arm around Dani’s waist. As he did, the intoxicating flowery scent of her perfume or shampoo filled his nose. His eyes flicked to hers, and his heart sped up as he realized her face resided only inches from his. From here, the tiny flecks of gold and green popped in her hazel eyes. He dropped his eyes for a moment as the intense urge to kiss her filled him.

  “Easy,” he said as she groaned and pinched lines of pain etched across her face.

  “I’m okay,” s
he wheezed.

  Once upright, breathing became easier for Dani. Easier, but not perfect. Her breaths still came in shallow gasps. When she dropped her arm from his waist, he followed suit though he didn’t want to. How long had it been since he had held a woman in his arms?

  There had been no one serious since his parents’ death. He had dated a few women he had met at church, but every time he felt himself getting close, he would pull away. Too much pain still remained in his heart.

  After Dani was situated at the table, Calvin brought the plates of food to the table. “Sorry it’s not more,” he said, “but I wasn’t expecting company.”

  “It’s fine,” Dani said. “I’ll eat just about anything when I’m hungry.”

  Calvin bowed his head as she picked up her hotdog. He had once felt awkward praying in front of people, even when he prayed in his head and they couldn’t hear him, but the last few years, prayer had been all that had kept him going.

  “You still pray?” Dani asked him when he opened his eyes.

  “What do you mean?” he asked.

  “I mean after your parents dying and your brother turning to drugs, how can you still believe in a God?”

  Calvin took a deep breath as he debated his next words. “When my dad first got sick, I thought like that. Why would a loving God take my dad when he was still so young? I did a lot of soul-searching and talked to a lot of pastors. The conclusion I came to was this: I’m not God, and I don’t have all the answers, but I believe He knows what He’s doing.

  “See, I don’t believe this is the end. I believe there will be a better place after this in Heaven. My dad was a Christian, and if I truly trust in God, which I do, then I know my father is in a better place. Why did he get cancer? I don’t have that answer. Why was my mother killed so soon after? I don’t know that either. But either I take solace in the one thing I do know - that God is in control - or I go crazy and lose my faith in everything.”