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Gritting her teeth, May followed, slipping and sliding down the muddy bank. Tree branches clawed at her jacket and arms.A root thwacked against her foot, almost tripping her up. Down the bottom of this small gorge was a trickling stream with thick, caked banks of mud on either side. Taking a deep breath, May leaped for it, straining to clear the stream, and as much of the mud as she could.
She landed and it splattered around her. Grasping a sapling trunk to stop herself from sliding back into it, May hauled herself up the hill.
"Damn!" She heard Owen curse from behind her, followed by a loud splash. Her deputy hadn't been as lucky with the timing of his leap and had landed in the stream.
There wasn't time to stop and help him or give him a hand up the steep, slippery slope. All she could do was keep running, knowing that for the moment, she was now solo.
This pursuit was messy, tough, and difficult. And if she took her eyes off the suspect for one moment, May was very aware it might also be futile. They couldn't let him get away!
"Stop!" May called out, her voice cracking with the exertion. "Stop right there!"
But Jacob didn't stop. He was as fast and wiry as a deer. His long legs stretched out in front of him, he leaped over fallen boughs and smashed through underbrush. The rain was still falling steadily. The woods were misty and dark.
However, even though she was starting to get exhausted from this cold, wet chase, May saw that Jacob, too, was starting to take strain. He was tiring. His footsteps were starting to thud down. As she watched, he stumbled over a tree root, and instead of getting his balance immediately, he sprawled down, landing heavily on his outstretched hands. That gave May the impetus she needed to put on another burst of speed. She knew that if she could just close the gap between them, if she could get a hand on him, she could try to wrestle him to the ground. She would at least have a chance.
Still yelling, still running as fast as she could, May drew closer to the fleeing man. He glanced back, and he was now close enough for her to see the strain on his face. His eyes were wide, his mouth set in a grim line.
"Stop!" she yelled again. "Stop right there!"
It was clear, though, that even though she was now yelling at him at close quarters, he was not going to stop. He wasn't going to give up. She saw the direction his head turned. He was going to make a break for it for the last time and head into the denser, darker part of the woods, and from there, who knew where he would go!
With a burst of speed, May closed the gap between them, desperate to catch hold of his jacket. She made a grab for it but missed. With her own strength running out, and a slight downward incline now briefly tipping things in her favor, May decided there was only one thing she could do now. Only one way she could stop him before he regrouped after his fall and got away. It was a risk, a desperate one, but she had to do something.
She tackled him from behind, throwing herself at him with all her weight, leaping ahead with outstretched arms, and hoping that this surge of forward movement would allow her to reach him.
And it did. Her hands made contact with the back of his knees, and the force of the tackle knocked him off his feet. Jacob tumbled headfirst down the last few feet of the slope. His breath whooshed out as he landed on his back in the muddy, leaf strewn ground.
He hit the ground with a thud. May landed on top of him, scrabbling to get a grip on him, to keep him down.
Jacob struggled and hit out at her. He was strong and agile, and although she had all her weight on top of him, he didn't seem inclined to stay there.
"Hold still!" she gasped at him as he fought and wriggled, trying to get out of her grasp. "Hold still, dammit!" A lucky punch almost caught her in the jaw. May dodged the blow itself, but not the fountain of mud, which splattered across her face and got into her eye, a rough, stinging hindrance.
But thankfully, even as she worried that he was going to wriggle right out of her grip, she heard the pounding of footsteps behind her and knew with a rush of relief that her deputy had gotten out of the ditch and was back in the fight again.
Owen grabbed Jacob's flailing arms and pinned them down while May tried to get hold of his legs. It was no easy job. It was as if he'd realized he was going to be caught and was determined to struggle free and escape before they managed to haul him off.
Her hands slippery with wet mud, May struggled to keep hold of him as he bucked and kicked. Owen wrestled with him briefly, before Jacob, his face a mask of rage, tried to head butt him. Owen dodged the lunge, and Jacob spat out a mouthful of mud.
That allowed Owen to grab a chunk of his hair, holding it tight so that Jacob yelled in anger. And together, with Owen holding his hair and May still hanging on for grim death to his legs, they managed to wrestle the suspect onto his front, and pull his arms behind him.
A moment later, the handcuffs clicked closed.
May stood up, breathing hard. They all looked as if they had taken part in a mud wrestling competition—well, she guessed they basically had. She was filthy dirty, smeared and streaked with mud, wet to the bone, and exhausted. Owen looked the same way she felt.
But they had their suspect subdued at last. Owen hauled him up onto his feet.
Now, finally, they could question this clearly guilty man, and find out why he’d fought so hard to escape them.
CHAPTER NINE
It took ten long, cold minutes for May and Owen to retrace their steps back to the yurt, grasping their suspect firmly so he couldn’t try to make a run for it again.
By the time they reached it, May had cooled down from the headlong chase and was shivering. At least some of the mud had come off her shoes and jacket during the walk back. But even though she felt as if her own condition was slightly improved, Jacob was still as mad as a snake.
"Why did you do that?" he hissed at them while Owen shunted him in the direction of the yurt. "Why did you tackle me like that?"
"Why didn't you stop when an officer of the law requested it?" Owen replied in reasonable tones.
