Running Wild

With her foot propped up on the fender of her truck, Lila finished tying her shoe, popped in her earbuds and pushed off the fender. She turned around to the head of the nature trail and couldn’t help but smile. Being outside, surrounded by nature was her favorite spot to be. Hopping in excitement, she checked that her smart watch was tracking her and she started her run. Her thoughts drifted from focusing on the run to settling into a peaceful state of mind while enjoying the woods and the fresh air. She loved her job as a Police Officer in the city, but she always felt so trapped there. The city was crowded, loud and she always loved her escape to the trails; quiet, serene. The woods in this part of the country were evergreen and always teeming full of life. Birds, rabbits, raccoons and occasional bears and wolves. Everyone that lived anywhere near the woods knew to leave the animals be. There had been many attacks by wolves over the past fifty years, and everyone wanted to avoid any more. Oddly enough, it always seemed to be that the wolves would attack or kill people with a criminal background. It was either the oddest of coincidences or the Animal Instinct was a real thing. Lila chucked at this thought, settling her thoughts back on the run, gravel crunching under her feet. After a while, she realized she had long since passed her normal turn around point, but something compelled her to keep going. She slowed her run to stop and catch her breath. She looked around her and she spotted a new clearing she hadn’t seen before. ‘Huh.’ She thought as she decided to investigate. Stepping cautiously off the trail, she watched her feet to make sure she didn’t trip on or run into any roots. Instead, she ran into someone. “Oof!” She said, bracing herself for a fall. But much to her surprise, a hand reached out and grabbed her wrist to keep her from falling. She looked up to see a disheveled woodsman carrying some logs in the arm opposite of her, neither the logs nor her seeming very heavy at all to him. “I’m so sorry!” He smiled, “Glad I caught you! Are you all right miss?” “I’m fine, thanks to you,” Lila admitted. She pulled her headphones out and draped them around her neck. She steadied herself as his hand withdrew and she got her first good look at him: His long and rugged beard matched his long, unkept dark brown hair. Despite his disheveled appearance, he was quite handsome. She adverted her gaze for a moment, glad that her cheeks were all ready flushed from the run as to hide the blush at her thought. “You’re welcome,” he said. “You must have really been enjoying yourself to not notice a guy like me.” He joked. She placed her hands on her hips to catch her breath and laughed gently. His tall and muscular figure would have been otherwise hard to miss. “Yeah, I’m sorry about that. I was distracted.” “By what?” He inquired. “Oh, by the clearing. I’ve never noticed it before so I wanted to stop and investigate it further,” she motioned weakly with one hand to the land behind him and beyond the old wooden fence. He followed her hand and smiled, turning his gaze back upon her. “Very observant of you, miss. But yes. I must say I have been working very hard to clear more of my land. You’re welcome to come look if you’d like.” He sounded proud about the work he had done, and turned a bit, holding out a hand towards the fence line. She peered around him and walked, carefully this time, to the fence. Across the creek, a couple hundred meters away, sat a large wooden cottage with smoke billowing from the chimney, and a small bridge led down to a good half an acre field, cleared and currently being grazed by several dozen cows. Passed them and not far from the cottage was a large red barn; from it, came the sounds of chickens clucking and a couple goats bleating. She had such an expression of shock on her face, he chuckled. “It’s beautiful! You must have cleared a lot of it! I never even knew there was a house out here; even with all my searching in the woods.” “Searching, miss?” “Oh, yeah… sorry. I’m a Police Detective in the city, and we end up in the woods a lot looking for victims or criminals,” she paused. “And despite all that negativity, I still find myself drawn to these woods.” He raised a brown in subtle surprise, but smiled. “Well, I’m glad you still see the beauty in it, Detective. I sure do enjoy living in it.” He looked past her and smiled gently whilst looking at his farm. He must have really loved his property. Lila couldn’t blame him: it was a stunning scenery, secluded and in one of the largest forests in the state. An awkward silence fell between the two of them, and she shifted suddenly. She stretched out a hand, “I’m Lila, by the way. Lila Himmel.” He shook her outstretched hand, his own rough, large hands offering a surprisingly professional and firm handshake. “I’m Tobias Schmidt. It would appear we both have German origins.” “Yes, indeed.” She pulled her hand from the shake and looked at him. Her gaze met his and she saw the most brilliant amber-colored eyes. They seemed for glow for a split second, but she played it off as the light coming through the branches above glimmering on his eyes. ‘He would be incredibly attractive if he cleaned up a bit,’ she though, distracted by the notion. “Would you like a tour?” She snapped back to reality and thought for a moment. A quick tour wouldn’t make her late. She nodded and told him, “Sure! Just from the fence line would be fine.” His smile was almost too excited for Lila’s liking, but she was letting her curiosity get the best of her. She leaned against the fence, her body welcoming the support as it told her she did too much. She knew she was going to be sore tomorrow. He began pointing out the wooden cottage, the creek winding through his property, his handmade bridge, and naming off some cows and said there was a huge garden just on the other side of the farm house. She smiled and nodded politely, but she checked her watch. Her shift at the police station started in a couple hours and she could really use a shower before hand. “Tobias,” she interrupted politely. “Thank you so much. But I have to get back for work.” He nodded, offering a gentle smile. “Of course, Detective. Perhaps we’ll run into each other again.” She laughed politely at his double meaning and nodded, playing along. They waved their goodbyes and she headed off back down the nature trail. Her body collapsed as soon as she slid into the cab of her truck. She relaxed into the seat, taking a breather and checking her smart watch, before starting the drive back to the city. 7.6Km. She blinked in amazement, she had never run that far before, at least on this trail. ‘Maybe that’s why I had never seen his clearing before,’ she thought to herself as she started up the truck and pulled out of her spot. — Later that evening, she settled into her office chair and set her coffee next to the keyboard, flipping on the computer. As soon as she began to put her gun and badge in her desk, a large pile of paperwork got dropped on her desk. “Wha— what’s this?” She asked, genuinely confused. She looked up at her partner, Jacob, and he was smiling knowingly at her, to which she responded by rolling her eyes. “Gotta write our reports tonight, detective.” She smirked, leaned back in her chair and slowly scooted the pile back towards him on her desk top. He had a perplexed expression. “Correction: you have to write your reports, I finish them at the end of every shift.. Detective.” Jacob had only recently been promoted to be her partner and she knew he still liked to hear his new title. He looked at her half amused, half annoyed and plopped down into his seat, mocking her words while mouthing them silently. She smiled and winked. “Well all right, Miss Over-achiever,” said Jacob opening the first file, much to his chagrin. “What did you do today?” She grabbed her coffee and took a sip, “I went for a run on my favorite trail.” “You go there all the time! I’ll have to come along one day and see what the hype is.” “That would be fun!” He nods and begins to write his reports. Her thoughts drift back to Tobias. That rugged mountain man had been on her mind since she had left him. Particularly, his almost glowing amber eyes. Had they really glimmered? Or was it just the light? Were they really that golden? Jacob noticed her and waved his hand in front of her face to snap her back to reality. “Earth to Lila, are you there?” “Yes, sorry,” she apologized quickly. “It’s just.. i ran into a gentleman out there today who owns a lot of land.. I had never seen that clearing before. Which is odd..considering how often we are in those woods searching for people.” One of her co-workers, notorious for his eves-dropping, must have been listening in as he shoved off his desk and rolled it back to place himself between her and Jacob. “What’s his name,” Drew asked. He smirked and she shook her head gently. “It’s not that kind of run-in, Drew.” “Suuuure it’s not. No. Seriously. What’s his name?” He had this unbeatable talent for making his words drip with sarcasm or cynicism. It was a skill to be envious of. She knew there was no point in trying to drop the matter. “Schmidt. Tobias Schmidt.” Drew shoved off her desk and rolled back to his, typing the name in his database, pulling up any information he could find. He let out a low, quiet whistle after reading for a few quiet moments. “What is it?” She asked, standing and walking over to lean on his desk. “Trust fund baby and sole inheritor of the Rembrandt Family.” He leaned back in his chair and sipped his coffee looking up at Lila. “Like the artist?” Jacob interjected. The two looked over at him. “Yes, Jacob. Just like the artist who’s FIRST name was Rembrandt.” His sarcasm amused Lila and she hid a grin behind her coffee cup. Drew dramatically turned back to his desk to keep reading. “No. The weapons development company owned by his family based in the city. His father just passed away a month ago, and his mom died in a car crash ten years ago along with his younger sister.” “Damn…” Lila said thoughtfully. “Why did he tell me his last name was Schmidt?” “‘Cause it is,” Drew retorted, shortly. “The company was named after the artist.” “See! I wasn’t entirely wrong!” Jacob defended himself. “Shut up, Jacob.” The banter between these two always amused Lila. She had hoped at one point they would just express their fondness to each other and be the amazing couple she always imagined they’d be. But right now, there was an air of confusion around the man she met in the woods this morning and how he could possibly be the same person. Glancing over at the old press photos, her suspicions were correct: he was a very attractive person. She quickly adverted her gaze and spoke. “Well, he didn’t really look like “rich boy” material. I don’t think he’s shaved or gotten a hair cut in quite some time. Do you think it was his father’s death that drove him to the farm?” “Good evening, Detective.” She froze, the voice familiar.