Chapter 36
Upon the request of the two law men the team had continued to search with a few hundred feet of each other, far enough apart that the pairs of men had to use radios to communicate back and forth. In any case it was a good idea in order to not give away their positions to the bad guys if they were close by, they formed a horizontal chain, sweeping the mountain side in hopes of locating their loved ones.
The other advantage seemed to be that following Johnny's instincts was paying off, he had quickly located a trail leading away from the site of the vehicle crash that was invisible to even the former soldiers. It was inconspicuous because Wolfie was purposefully leaving subtle clues that only a experienced tracker could detect.
His eyes were trained on every single piece of foliage in the dense woods; the smallest clue could be the one that lead them to their treasure. He sense of foreboding hadn't let up even for one second since this nightmare had begun, if anything it had only gotten worse. His connection to his Tehila was tense but strong; it was the one lifeline he was holding on to. He was 'feeling' her physical pain which had developed into a numbing yet searing sensation centered in his hands. Her emotions were now subdued, almost nonexistent; a phenomenon that he too was familiar with. In dire emergencies such as this or in their careers, the ability to do that was critical; he was doing it now. If any of them allowed their fear and other emotions to cripple them, they would be useless.
Roy had been glued to Johnny's side through the urgent hike, for his own sake as well as that of his best friend. The intuition of his partner had saved both of their lives many times in the past and his prayers were that the streak would be continued. His thoughts wondered to that of his children; they were far more intuitive than most adults gave them credit for, they would know that something was wrong. How could he possibly survive with out her? How could his children? Despite his own turmoil Roy knew that his brother was feeling the same anxiety; only his experience was in full living color. In one respect his envied the connection his two best friends shared, however he didn't think he would be able to deal with 'feeling' his wife's terror through out this.
His feet froze in their tracks as his eagle eyes focusing on something that was out of place; dark crimson stains creating a dotted pattern on the forest floor. He lowered himself to the ground, resting on his haunches; his fingers dipping into the dark, sticky substance. As he raised his hand up towards his face, the coagulating material glistened in the sunshine. There was no mistaking that it was blood and he knew with out a doubt who it had belonged to.
"Oh GOD....Johnny is that...." Roy didn't bother finishing the question that he already knew the answer to.
"It's hers....please...Tehila.....where are you?" Johnny's voice cracked with a whirlwind of emotions circling in his mind.
"How do you know it's A.J.? It could be from one of the bad guys or one of the others..." He silently calculated the pool of blood into how many liters was laying on the ground. Although the site was alarming, it didn't appear to be a lethal amount.
Johnny pointed to the ground in front of them and what looked to be designs scrawled in blood. "It says 'danger' and 'hunting ground'" He used his finger to trace over the delicate symbols.
"What does that mean?" Any other time Roy would have taken the time to be impressed but now he just wanted answers.
"Traps....they laid out Booby Traps...." A small grin swept across his face; the tables just may have turned in their favor.