Smash_ A Stepbrother MMA Romance(102)

I reached up and grabbed the closest sign. I yanked twice and managed to tear it off the tree it had been nailed to. I grinned down at it as I wound up and threw it into the river. The sign spun in quick circles, rotating along its central axis, flying high over the water, glinting bright sunlight off its reflective face.

It sank with a satisfying plop.

As I looked up, I suddenly froze. There was movement on the Canadian side. Without thinking, I melted back into the woods, farther away from the water. I hid behind a tree, unmoving, and listened.

My heart hammered in my chest as I stayed completely still. I didn’t move for what felt like an hour, but really was probably no more than thirty seconds.

I heard the unmistakable sounds of human voices and people moving through the brush. They clearly weren’t trying to be quiet, and as they got closer I could begin to make out what they were saying.

“—told you, I heard something,” one man said.

“No way. It was just a fish.”

“Fish don’t make sounds like that.”

As I watched, hidden behind a tree and some bushes, two guys appeared next to the water. I could hear the blood rushing through my skull as I stared at them.

Slowly, I realized what was happening. They weren’t dressed like border guards or Mounties. They weren’t carrying rifles.

“See, told you,” the taller guy said.

“Maybe it was farther down?” the other one said.

The two men were dressed in brown clothes, wide-brimmed hats, and were carrying fishing rods. I sighed and relaxed slightly. They were just some local Canadian guys out fishing for the day, though why they wanted to fish at the actual border was a mystery to me.

“You’re crazy. Let’s just cast here, see if we can’t get a bite.”

“It’s lunch for those suckers,” the other guy said. “They’re busy having a snack.”

“Well, we can feed them more.”

They laughed together and began to set up their little spot. I watched for another second as they unfolded chairs and began to bait their rods.

I didn’t wait around to see if they would catch anything. I moved on as quietly as possible, heading deeper into the woods before resuming my trek along the riverbank, well away from the fishermen.

It took me a few minutes before I caught my breath. It was the first time I had ever seen people near the border, and it was a harsh reminder that I wasn’t absolutely alone out in the woods. I wasn’t actually invincible.

I felt a little shaken up as I moved east, putting more distance between me and the fishermen. Throwing the sign had been stupid, a stupid and immature mistake. What if they had been border patrol? They would definitely have followed up, and I doubted I would have been able to hide from trained professionals.

I was lucky. I hated to admit it, but I was incredibly lucky, and had been for a long time. Falling and losing a single shipment was nothing compared to the sort of shit I could get into out there. Every time I made it back alive and with the shipment intact, I was beating the odds.

And suddenly I was making runs way more often.

I checked the sun and decided that I had gotten far enough away from those guys. The actual meeting spot was another mile or two back toward them, but I would be deeper into the woods on the Canadian side by that point. They’d never know I was there.

Resigned, I hid in some brush and waited. The spot I had chosen was relatively shallow and slow moving, so I knew I could just walk across.

There was no sign of life aside from the animals. Nothing moved on the other side.

After a few minutes, I slowly began to slog out into the open river.

The water was cold and refreshing against my legs as I walked. It went up to the middle of my thighs, just under my pack, at the deepest part of the river. I felt exposed, incredibly exposed, and anyone within a mile of me could easily spot me there. I moved as fast as I could without being too loud.

And when I made it to the other side without incident, I quickly collapsed behind some bushes, willing my heart to calm down.

What would Becca think if they suddenly got a call from the border patrol? I’d hate to let down my mom, but on some level she had to already know. Truthfully, I was most afraid of disappointing Becca, perfect fucking Becca.

After a minute, my heart rate came down and I started my hike back toward the meeting place. I checked my GPS unit, looked at my compass, and knew I was going to make it just in time. The fishermen had put me back longer than I’d realized.

Canada, oh Canada

, I thought.

Not long later, I emerged into an empty campsite.

I didn’t know how the local mobsters knew about it, but from what I could tell it had once been a popular spot. But over the years, because of economic factors I couldn’t begin to understand, people moved away and stopped going to it altogether.