Heart pounding, I braked and took a few deep breaths. After that close call, I was really awake.
Once my pulse slowed, I set off again, soon reaching the state park. In the parking lot, Ian and Madison were standing at the rear of Ian’s truck, both with arms full of ropes and clipping things I couldn’t begin to name. With a wave, I took the next slot, noticing a couple of other cars in addition to the truck and Madison’s Mini Cooper. Probably other rock climbers or early walkers.
Holding my coffee, I got out of the car and went to join them. “Good morning,” I said. “Or is it still night?”
Madison snickered. “Glad you made it.” Then she sobered. “Seriously, you’re going to love it.”
“That’s what you keep telling me.” I moved closer to Ian, who greeted me with a kiss, a webbed contraption in his hands. “Hey, sweetie,” he said, handing me the mysterious item. “Put this on.”
I set the coffee cup down on the tailgate. “What is it?”
“A climbing harness,” Madison said. She came over and helped me put it on, which involved putting both legs through loops and tightening it around my hips. “The rope is attached here,” she explained, showing me a carabiner clipped in front.
My chest tightened and my pulse began to race as images flashed through my mind—climbing a sheer rock face, slipping, falling … splattering on the ground.
Madison must have seen the panic on my face because she patted me on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, Iris. If you fall—and that isn’t likely since it’s a really easy route—the rope and harness will stop you immediately.”
“I’ve fallen dozens of times,” Ian said, which was comforting. Not. “Never got more than a scrape or two. Oh, there was the time I swung out and banged into the cliff. But that’s why we have these.” He handed me a neon yellow helmet.
I strapped it on, sincerely hoping it wouldn’t be needed, then took the small pack he handed me next, which held drinks and snacks. He slung the ropes over his shoulder as Madison hoisted another pack with our shoes and climbing hardware. We set off for the cliff.
A path through the woods descended gradually to the rocky shore, offering occasional glimpses of the bay. The light was like gray powder, sifting lighter every moment, and along the watery horizon, the first hint of orange appeared.
At the bottom, I sat on a flat rock and took off my sneakers, then tugged the climbing shoes on. They were oddly snug and flexible, like heavy-duty ballet slippers. Madison and Ian consulted about the route, which from here looked like a jumble of jutting rocks, cracks, and ledges.
We are going to climb UP that. Panic rumbled in my belly and I froze, not able to make myself stand up.
Ian came over and hunkered down beside me. “You know, Iris, if you really don’t want to do this, you don’t have to.”
I gazed into his eyes, which were warm with tender understanding. What was I afraid of? Both he and Madison were experienced climbers and they’d never put me into any danger. A burst of courage and determination rushed through me and I jumped to my feet. “I’m going to do it.”
Ian ascended first, slotting climbing gear called nuts and cams into cracks, then clipping the climbing rope to them. This gear would hold us if we fell. Meanwhile, Madison belayed him, making sure to keep the rope taut. At the top, once secure, he set bolts for a top rope anchor—the safest form of climbing, she said. Once he was finished with the anchor, Madison lowered him.
“All right,” he said with a grin. “Who’s next?”
I didn’t move. Madison stepped forward. “Me. Iris, I’m going to call out my every move as I go up, okay? Then you can copy me.”
That made sense. “Perfect.” I moved into a position where I could watch more closely. Behind us, the sun broke the horizon, spreading an orange glow over the sky and water. Sunbeams painted the cliffs gold and created stark contrasts of light and shadow.
“Isn’t it awesome?” Ian asked me, watching the sunrise. He stood ready to support Madison as she climbed.
“It sure is,” I said, taking in the spectacular scene. Islands solidified in the strengthening light, as did the old lobster boat puttering around offshore and the people moving around atop the cliffs, windbreaker hoods up against the chill.
“On belay,” Madison said, her signal that she was ready to climb. After dipping her hands in chalk, she approached the cliff and, with several agile and assertive movements, was standing on the rock face. As promised, she called out every move, instructing me where footholds and handholds could be found. I began to see the small features that could support a climber.
Madison reached the top with a triumphant cry, then demonstrated how to descend, explaining how important it was to keep my feet on the rock, like walking backward down the cliff.
Now it was my turn. Madison helped me figure-eight the rope through my harness. I dipped my hands in chalk, hoping the dust would wick away the perspiration. As a last step, she pointed out a less-challenging route for me to try, to the right of where she and Ian had climbed.
“All right.” I took a deep breath, flexing my fingers. “I’m gonna do this.”
“One move at a time,” Ian said. “Focus on where you’re going to put your hands and feet next.”
The first few steps were easy, big blocky rocks. I’ve got this. My hands found tiny ledges to cling to, and it felt perfectly natural to stretch out a foot, make sure it was secure, then push off and stand. Rinse and repeat.
“You’re doing great, Iris,” Ian called, echoed by Madison.
Halfway up, I paused for a moment to catch my breath and look around—not down. That would be a mistake. On top of the cliff to my right, someone in a blue windbreaker was taking photographs. Of me? When sunlight hit his curly head, I recognized Theo Nesbitt, the teaching assistant. That’s right, he was staying at Shorehaven. Maybe there was a path into the park from there.
My fingers were cramping. Time to move. “Use that crack right over your head,” Madison called from below. “It’s nice and wide.”
I saw the feature she meant and reached for it. Soon my feet were resting on a nice ledge. Another three or four moves and I would be at the top. That knowledge gave me a burst of adrenaline and I moved fast.
When I stopped again to rest, I noticed Theo was gone. The sun was strong now, warming the rock under my hands, radiating toward my body. I basked for a moment, breathing deeply and looking around. Seagulls cried as they swooped overhead. On a shelf-like ledge down to my right, something fluttered. Squinting, I took a closer look.
Hair. The fluttering object was a length of long blonde hair. To my horror, a woman dressed in a T-shirt, shorts, and rock-climbing shoes lay sprawled faceup on the ledge. Even from this distance, I could tell she was seriously injured or dead. And I recognized her.
Hailey Piper.
CHAPTER 6
I shrieked, my fingers slipping painfully from their grip on the rock. My feet were next, one, then the other. I was falling. “Help!” I cried. “Help!”
“I’ve got you,” Ian shouted. The rope jerked and I was dangling, having only fallen a couple of feet.
“Put your feet flat on the wall,” Madison yelled. “Sit back in the harness.”
Shaking all over, I managed to follow her instructions. Had I really seen Hailey Piper lying dead on the rocks? The sick heaving of my belly said yes.
Next Madison instructed me how to walk backward down the cliff as she gradually let out the rope. Under other circumstances I might even have enjoyed it, found it fun. But right now I felt as if I were watching myself from a distance. My real self was contracted and cold, shivering in a ball inside a shell that somehow managed to move.
Finally I reached the bottom, jumping the last few feet to land with a thump and a sigh. “What happened?” Ian asked. “You were doing so well up to that point.”
I wrapped my arms around myself. “I saw Hailey Piper up there. She’s lying on a ledge.”
A crease appeared between Madison’s
slender brows. “Doing what? Sleeping?”
I shook my head violently, my teeth beginning to chatter. Why was the ocean breeze so cold? “No, she’s dead. She must have fallen.” An image of the young woman slipping off the cliff flashed through my mind.
“What?” Ian’s voice was a bark. He leaned his head back and studied the rock face. “Show me where.”
I pointed out the spot best as I could remember. From the ground, the top of the ledge wasn’t visible. It looked like an outcropping.
Ian studied the terrain. “It’s strange that I didn’t see her. Or you, Madison. But we climbed over to the left, didn’t we? And it wasn’t quite light yet.”
“That must be it,” Madison stared at the cliff, frowning. “But I was focused on the climb, not looking around at the scenery.”
“Theo taking a picture of me caught my attention,” I said. “Or I might not have noticed.” If I hadn’t, how long would she have lain there without help?
“Come on, let’s go,” Ian said, bending to unlace his shoes. “It will be faster from the top. We’ll leave the equipment up in case I need to climb down to reach her.”
Galvanized into action, I helped them pick up and stow everything except the rope, which was dangling loose against the wall. Then the three of us charged up the path.
At the top, the anchor Ian had set earlier provided direction in finding Hailey. We trotted along the path a short distance and easily found the spot where she must have gone in. A series of blocky rocks and ledges made obvious lookout points. We made our way down the ledges, to a drop-off edged with stunted bushes and trees.
“There she is,” I said. She hadn’t moved. Which probably meant …
Ian studied the terrain. “I can free climb this. Call nine-one-one, okay?”
I grabbed his arm. “Use the rope. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“It’s all right,” he said. “See those big rocks? They’re more like stairs than a sheer cliff face.”
Madison already had her phone out and was calling 911 to report a climbing accident. Without wavering, I watched Ian descend, as if my gaze could protect him. When he reached the floor of the ledge, I let out a huge sigh and collapsed onto a rock.
As he made his way to Hailey’s side, a tiny red backpack next to a dwarfed pine caught my eye. Hailey’s? Whoever it belonged to, it was tipped over, the contents strewn around on the pine needles. A candy wrapper danced in the wind, and without thinking I picked it up. One of Patrick’s seaweed bars. I put a rock on top of it to hold it, figuring the police would want to reconstruct the accident.
Had Hailey fallen while trying to free climb? Or had she slipped from the top? I moved back a few steps with a shudder, imagining how a foot could slip on the pine needles.
My rear foot landed on something that moved backward, startling me even more in my fragile state. When I turned to look, I saw it was a cell phone. When I picked it up, it flashed on.
A text from Theo was on the screen. See you soon. Dated an hour ago.
“The police and an ambulance are on their way,” Madison said. Her gaze landed on the phone I held. “What do you have there?”
“Hailey’s phone, I think.” Holding it gingerly by the edges, I set it next to the red pack. “And I think all this stuff belongs to her.”
Madison frowned. “Why is everything all over the place? Did an animal get into her bag?” She glanced around the ground as well as up at the sky. Seagulls were pretty bold, and they’d been known to actually rip open a sealed bag of chips.
Ian whistled to get our attention. But when he had it, all he gave us was a headshake. No need to say more. My knees began to shake. “Oh, Madison.” She gathered me into an embrace. I didn’t know Hailey, but I was stricken by her tragic death. All that promise, gone in a moment.
The huffing of breath announced Ian’s arrival. Madison released me and I hugged him, leaning into his warm strength. “How awful,” I whispered. As I inhaled his distinctive Ian scent, I was grateful he hadn’t fallen too. Why did anyone free climb? It was so risky.
He pushed back my hair and gazed down into my face, frown lines etching his tanned forehead. “I hate to say this, but it might not have been an accident.”
I pulled back. “What do you mean?”
Ian plucked at my windbreaker sleeve. “She’s holding a piece of nylon cloth in her hand. As if it ripped off someone’s clothing when she fell.” Madison gasped, a short, sharp sound of dismay.
A chill ran through me. “You mean she was pushed?”
He pressed his lips together and shook his head. “Hard to say for sure. But if she did slip and fall, and someone else was here, where are they now?”
Good question. I hadn’t seen or heard anyone else while climbing. Except Theo, perched in another spot on the cliffs. When I saw him, that is. Had he witnessed Hailey’s fall?
An uneasy silence fell over the three of us, while out in the bay, a boat engine rumbled, and above, squawking seagulls rode the air currents. The same wind that continued to ruffle poor Hailey’s hair.
Madison’s phone rang, a discordant jangle. “Anton,” she told us. Blueberry Cove’s chief of police. When she answered, he spoke loud enough that we could hear, asking directions to our spot. “I’ll come meet you,” she said. To us, she said, “I’ll be right back.” Still holding the phone, she hurried off.
Rustling sounded in the nearby bushes, followed by the thump of footsteps. Acting on instinct, I moved closer to Ian. Was it Hailey’s companion, come back to the scene of the crime? Or misadventure?
The foliage parted and Lukas de Wilde emerged from the bushes. He wore a blue windbreaker and a pair of khaki nylon shorts, hiking sneakers on his feet. A blue windbreaker. I studied his garment for signs of damage, but it looked intact. “Farming the Sea” was embroidered in script on the chest.
“Hi, guys,” he said. In any other circumstances, the colloquialism would have been charming in his accented English. “What is happening?”
I swallowed, not wanting to be the one to break the news. He looked so relaxed and peaceful, exactly like someone out for a carefree morning hike along the shore.
Ian crossed his arms, his gaze examining every inch of the other man’s face. Last night it seemed that he and Lukas got along, were on their way to becoming friends, even. But today Ian was dead serious. “Did you see Hailey Piper this morning? Your teaching assistant?”
Lukas shook his head, confusion creasing his face. “Not since last night. Why?”
Ian winced. “I hate to break this to you, but she’s met with an … accident.” Ian pointed to where Hailey lay. “She didn’t make it. And the police are on their way.”
“I’m so sorry,” I added.
With a cry, Lukas lunged forward, disbelief and horror warring on his features. At the edge of the cliff, he came to a halt, every muscle straining, eyes fixed on the young woman’s body below. He rubbed a trembling hand over his face. “Oh, no. This is awful. What are we—” With a shudder, he turned away. “What happened? Did you see her fall?”
“No,” I said. “I was climbing the cliff when I looked over and saw her. We’re not sure how long she’s been lying there.”
Comprehension dawned on Lukas’s face. “That’s why you asked me if I saw her. To figure out the timing. I wish I could help you.”
Ian nodded. “Yeah, I thought you might be able to fill in some blanks. Like maybe you saw her talking to someone else.”
Lukas’s eyes narrowed at Ian’s last comment, but he didn’t question it. “As I said, I didn’t see her today.” He glanced at his watch. “I got up about forty-five minutes ago and decided to take a walk. I haven’t seen any of the others yet.”
“You mean Ruben or Theo?” I asked to clarify.
“That’s right. Eleanor said breakfast starts at eight, so I thought I had time for a nice stroll along the cliffs.” His grimace was rueful.
Voices drifted from the direction of the main trail. I recognized Anton’
s deep, rumbling tones, joined by Madison’s higher-pitched voice. “Oh good, the police are here,” I said, my shoulders sagging in relief. We could hand over responsibility for Hailey’s death to their competent hands.
Two officers and two EMTs toting a stretcher accompanied Madison down the path. Besides Anton, the other officer was Rhonda Davis, a young mother about my age. She was married to a lobsterman, a good friend of Jake’s. Which reminded me, I really needed to check in on Sophie this morning and find out how she was doing. But right now everything beyond this clearing on the cliffs seemed fuzzy and far away.
Anton’s intense gaze flitted from face to face, taking us all in. He gave Ian and me tiny nods of acknowledgment before pulling out his badge for Lucas to see. “I’m Chief Ball and this is Officer Davis. You are?”
“Lukas de Wilde.” Lukas ran a hand through his hair. “I am, er, was Miss Piper’s supervisor.” He pointed to the wording on his windbreaker. “She was working with me on the Farming the Sea project.”
“Oh yeah,” Anton said. “I heard about that.” He glanced around. “Where is Miss Piper?”
Ian showed the officers and the EMTs where the stricken woman lay. Then Ian led the foursome as they picked their way down to the ledge. The three who remained above stood in silence for a long moment. Then Lukas spotted the red pack and started toward it. “Don’t touch,” I said. “I think it might be Hailey’s.”
Lukas stopped short. “Oh yes, it does look familiar.”
I studied him closely, wondering if he really had forgotten. The memory of the heated discussion between Lukas and his assistant at the Lobster Grille flashed into my mind. His grief seemed genuine but that didn’t mean the pair didn’t have conflicts. But that begged the question of why he wanted to look at her pack. If he’d known it was hers, that is.
He moved a little closer to the edge, studying the cliff’s terrain. “What do you think happened? Hailey was an expert climber.”
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