Truth Avenged (Green Division Series Book 1) Read Free Page B

sedate.
    “ Do you remember anything else?"
    “ I gave you the cliff notes…” 
    “ How about you give me the full novel.”
    “ Has there ever been a…plane crash in these woods…?” 
    “ Uh, no, none that I know of.”
    “ You wouldn’t believe…me…”
    “ Try me.”
    “ I went off the trail to investigate something…I heard in the woods…while I was wandering…I saw the poachers shoot a deer.  The damn…deer ran toward me before it dropped…and that was when the skinny guy…saw me…”  She stopped mid story.
    “ What happened when he saw you?”
    “ He started taunting…me…and he had a sick…grin on his face…I ran, but he got a shot off…when I fell to the ground, he caught…up to me and put the shotgun to the back of my head…”   Her voice grew weak and she paused.  “I didn’t think…my life would end…due to a poacher of all…all the dangerous things I do…”  She stopped.
    She was so lifeless next to him.  “ What happened next?”
    “ Something must have scared them…because they ran away…I don’t know how…the fat one could run.”  
    “ What scared them?”
    “ I didn’t see anything.”  That was the truth.  But she didn’t have to see what it was to know.  She rested and calmed down.  
    “ Chance, you aren’t telling me everything.  I need to know exactly what happened.”  He broke the silence.
    She contemplated whether to tell him.  It would be harder to fill in the gaps with the truth than to omit it, but she trusted this man.  Hopefully he wouldn ’t have her committed.
    “ I found a…plane crash…I don’t know much about aviation…but, it has to be World War II era.”
    “ You found a plane?”  His voice conveyed his disbelief.
    “ I swear…I did…the bag I wanted…you to get…was one of the crewman’s…has the name Squirrel on it…its where you found me…that’s why I need you to make…make sure you get it for me, please.”
    “ I will.”  Maybe this woman was crazy.  Perhaps this poaching incident was trumped, or maybe the plane crash was a delusion caused by the shooting incident.  It was likely the second.
    “ I know you don’t believe me…I’m not crazy.”
    “ I never said you were crazy.”
    “ But you were thinking it.”
    “ No, I wasn’t.”  He denied, but thought the opposite. 
    “ It’s okay…warden…I don’t blame you.  Maybe I’ll get to prove it to you someday.”
    “ It’s Tuck.”
    “ What?”
    “ My name.  It’s Tuck, not warden.  And you’re going to be okay.”
    “ You requested LifeFlight…that means this is life…or death…I’m a journalist…give me some credit.”
    “ It means I don’t want you to have a two hour ambulance ride to a decent trauma unit when you can take a helicopter and be there in thirty minutes instead.”  Silence lingered in the air, no immediate response to his explanation of why she’d be transported by LifeFlight.
    “ I feel like I’m going…to pass out.”
    “ No, no.  You’re in this with me, stay awake.”  As he reached down to grab his cell phone, she put her hand atop of his.
    “ I’m scared.”  The words fell out of her mouth broken.  Her hand lingered.
    “ I know you are.”  Tuck silently sighed.  She made it impossible to check his personal feelings and keep this encounter strictly professional and detached.  The song “Good Life” played lowly on the radio and the significance wasn’t lost on either of them.  He turned his hand over to accept hers, lacing her hand in his and gave it a gentle squeeze. 
    “ Focus on me.  Talk to me.  If you can do that, I’ll take care of the rest.”
    “ I’ll try.”  It was a miracle she’d lasted all the hours she had.  Tuck tried to reassure himself that since she’d lived for more than seven hours with the wound, it was likely she would survive for another few.  But at the memory of the amount of blood she’d lost, that hope was stunted.  Her grip