Chapter 11
The two plainclothes officers spun around, drawing their sidearms as Leo emerged suddenly from the dense pine thicket behind the blocking vehicle. The teenager moved with explosive speed, his maroon hoodie soaked through with rain, the heavy wooden mallet raised high in his grip.
Before either officer could raise their weapon to fire, Leo brought the wooden mallet crashing down onto the hood of the SUV with a deafening clang that echoed through the silent forest. The unexpected noise and ferocity of the attack startled the officers, causing one of them to stumble backward over a exposed tree root and crash hard into the muddy ditch.
"Hey! Drop the weapon!" the second officer shouted, swinging his service pistol toward Leo.
"Don't you dare!" Clara screamed, bursting out of the passenger side door of the sedan with a sudden, fierce energy that caught everyone completely off guard. She rushed the remaining officer, slamming her shoulder directly into his chest and knocking his arm upward just as he pulled the trigger.
The gunshot rang out sharply into the night sky, the bullet punching harmlessly through the canopy of the pine trees above.
Father Thomas didn't hesitate. He kicked open his door, lunged out of the sedan, and tackled the officer to the wet earth, pinning his arms beneath his knees with surprising physical strength born of sheer desperation.
Deacon Miller spun around from the sedan, his face twisted in rage as he realized the situation had completely unraveled. He reached quickly into his jacket, finally drawing his concealed firearm, and pointed it directly at Clara, who stood defenseless a few feet away.
"It ends here," Miller snarled, his finger tightening on the trigger.
Leo saw the movement out of the corner of his eye. Dropping the wooden mallet, he lunged across the gravel road like a sprinter bursting from the blocks, throwing his entire body weight directly into Miller’s side just as the deacon squeezed the trigger.
Another loud gunshot cracked through the air, the bullet embedding itself deep into the asphalt of the road harmlessly. Miller staggered under the impact of Leo’s tackle, losing his footing on the wet gravel and tumbling backward down the steep embankment beside the logging road, disappearing into the dark brush below with a heavy crash.
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Silence descended upon the forest once again, broken only by the steady hiss of rain falling on the damp earth and the ragged, exhausted breathing of Leo, Clara, and Father Thomas standing together on the road.
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