Fatal Descent

by Beth Groundwater

“Yep. Anyway, the four of us argued back and forth, with Les saying we should continue downstream and get help rather than go back. Cool backed him, but I insisted on going upriver and Gonzo backed me. Finally, Les gave Cool a strange look and unzipped his dry bag. He pulled out a gun and held it on me, then he tossed the bag to Cool and said, ‘They aren’t buying it. We’ve got no choice.’ Cool pulled another gun out of the pack and pointed it at Gonzo.”

  Mandy could barely believe what she heard. “Cool’s in on it?”

  Rob nodded. “I couldn’t believe it either. I asked Cool how he got mixed up in a murder scheme. He said he agreed to help Les for a share of the inheritance. The total of the three kids’ shares that Alice would get is almost ten million. Les promised him a tenth of it.”

  “Cool’s probably dreaming of spending all of his time climbing and rafting while he lives off that.” Mandy thought for a moment. “When did Les recruit him?”

  “Not until this morning. Apparently, Les eavesdropped on our meeting this morning and learned that we knew Alex’s death and Elsa’s fall weren’t accidents, that we knew a killer was in the group. With his secret plan unraveling, he figured he needed a guide on his side and chose Cool.”

  “And we unwittingly helped him choose Cool when we didn’t include him in our talk this morning. It showed we didn’t trust him. But why did Les cut Elsa’s harness? What did she have to do with anything?”

  “I don’t know. There’re still some parts of all this that I don’t understand.”

  “Me, too,” Mandy said. “So, what’s his plan now? To kill the rest of the group and have Cool get him out of the canyon? I can’t believe Les would go that far. And I can’t believe Cool would agree to help him kill everyone!”

  “No, Cool told Les he wasn’t doing any killing. And Les is smart enough to realize they’d have no hope of getting away if they left so many dead bodies. Instead, he said he’d take one guide hostage and make that person return to Nebraska with him. As long as the rest of us guides kept quiet and didn’t tell anyone, including the other clients and the police, about how Alex, Amy, and you really died, Les said he would put the hostage back on a plane to Colorado once he had the inheritance and could leave the country.”

  “That scheme sounds lame. And it could take weeks, especially if Hal takes a long time to die from the cancer.”

  “Les plans to use some of the sedative to help that along, figuring if Hal dies in his sleep sometime in the next few days, no one would question it since he’s terminal anyway.”

  “Man, he’s one cold-hearted bastard, to plan to kill his wife, his brother-in-law, and me, and to woo his sister-in-law into marrying him to get his hands on her millions. Does Alice have any idea what’s going on?”

  Rob shook his head. “As far as I know, no. Neither do any of the other clients.”

  “And Cool believed Les would do what he said and not just kill the hostage guide?”

  “Either he did, or he didn’t care,” Rob said with a shrug. “All he had to do was help Les get the hostage and get out of the canyon and keep it all a secret.”

  “So you’re the hostage?”

  “No. Kendra is.”

  “Kendra! Why’d he pick her?”

  “Les decided that Gonzo and I would be more cooperative if he chose Kendra, because she’s both Gonzo’s girlfriend and my employee.”

  “You agreed? I can’t believe either of you thought that Les wouldn’t kill Kendra when he was done with her.”

  Rob cracked open the sleeping bag to let in some fresh air, then covered them again to mute their voices. “No, I didn’t believe him, and Gonzo didn’t either, but we agreed to keep quiet to buy some time. I was hoping we could figure out something before the trip ended and Les left with Kendra.”

  “Where’s Kendra now?”

  “She and Gonzo are both tied up in Gonzo’s tent. After Gonzo and I agreed to the plan, Gonzo and Les hiked upriver to the rest of the group. Les hid his gun under his PFD then but kept his hand on the trigger. The two of them pulled Kendra away from the others and filled her in on Les’s plan.”

  “I bet she was shocked.”

  “She was ready to fight,” Rob replied, “but when Les drew his gun, Gonzo convinced her to cooperate. In the meantime, Cool held his gun on me until the others made their way downriver. Believe me, I tried to talk him out of helping Les, but the asshole wouldn’t listen.”

  Rob fisted his hands, then he let out a breath and eased them open. “After we regrouped, Diana had a meltdown about Amy, insisting we go back for her. She pleaded with me, too, asking how I could leave you, knowing you might be hurt.”

  Mandy squeezed him. “That must have been hard for you.”

  “Damn right. I had to pretend that wasn’t our way, that the best strategy was to go downriver and meet our extraction boat, then radio for help. Les and Cool chimed in, and Les made a convincing show of saying he was worried about his wife, too, but he realized that getting to civilization and sending help for you two was best.”

  “Which we’ll need to do for Amy,” Mandy said, “if we get out of this alive. I left her with a space blanket and a fire, but I’m still worried about her. What happened next?”

  “After that,” Rob continued, “we made our way downriver with no incidents. Les sat in my raft, holding a gun hidden in his PFD on me, and Cool oared your raft. Then we made camp and fixed dinner with Les watching us like hawks the whole time. After the rest of the clients went to sleep in their tents, Cool tied up Kendra, Gonzo, and me while Les kept his gun on us so we wouldn’t try anything.”

  “I don’t see how Les thinks he can pull this off.” Mandy worried her lip. “What is he going to tell Hal, Diana, and Alice? I mean, about Kendra coming with them?”

  “I asked that question, too. Now that his careful plan has been shot out of the water, he seems to be making it up as he goes along. And he’s getting more and more desperate. He said he’d tell them a story about Kendra needing to visit a dying relative in Omaha and offering her a place to stay.”

  Mandy flashed to a mental image of Alex and Amy’s bodies in coffins and shivered, which made Rob rub her back and arms.

  “I’m not cold,” she said, “just creeped out. Okay, now that I’m caught up, we’ve got to figure out how to stop Les and Cool. And we’ve got to do it before the launch meets us tomorrow morning to take us to the Hite Marina. Once Les is off the river with Kendra, we lose our chance and seal Kendra’s death sentence.”

  “I agree.” Rob shifted. “They have the two guns, most likely in their hands or next to their heads, but we have the element of surprise. They think I’m tied up and you’re dead. If we can sneak over to Kendra and Gonzo’s tent and untie them without waking anyone, then we outnumber Les and Cool. We can creep up on them, overpower them, and grab the guns.”

  “There’re a couple of big ifs in that plan,” Mandy whispered grimly. “First it’s going to be tough to untie Gonzo and Kendra without making any noise. Then, if whoever we attack first gets a chance to shout, whoever has the other gun can come out shooting.”

  “One thing in our favor is that they’re sharing a 2-man tent. But it’s also risky since we’ll have to attack them both at the same time. On the other hand, what choice do we have?”

  “None.” Desperation roughed Mandy’s voice, and her heart revved up as she realized how slim their chance of success was. “We’re risking getting shot, but if we do nothing, we know Kendra’s going to die, and Amy might, too, from hypothermia. This whole situation sucks.”

  Gripping her arm, Rob said, “All we can do is try our best.”

  Mandy put her palms on his cheeks and kissed him, hard. He responded in kind. If their plan failed, one or both of them could wind up dead.

  “I love you,” Mandy whispered hoarsely.

  “I love you, too, mi querida.”

  Mand
y squeezed his hand. “Let’s do this.”

  sixteen

  Nature cannot be tricked or cheated. She will give up to you

  the object of your struggles only after you have paid her price.

  —napoleon hill

  Mandy crawled out of the sleeping bag and slipped her cold wet river sandals onto her feet. Rob put his on, too. Then she peeked out of the tent and observed the camp for a while. The half moon finally had risen over the canyon wall, so she could make out the shapes of the other tents and of the rafts tied to sand anchors on the shore. Waves from the rapids upstream lapped at the shore, but otherwise the camp was quiet and still.

  She slithered out of the tent and Rob followed. Slowly and carefully, they picked their way around the backs of other tents. They crawled on hands and knees in the dark, trying to avoid sticks that might crack or rocks that might tumble.

  When they reached Gonzo and Kendra’s tent, Mandy led the way to the front. She slowly unzipped the door flap while Rob cupped his hands around the zipper to muffle the sound as much as possible. Thankfully, Kendra and Gonzo were sleeping with their heads toward the flap, so Mandy placed a hand over Kendra’s mouth and Rob did the same with Gonzo. That startled both of them awake, their eyes wide with surprise and fear.

  Mandy put a finger to her lips and waited for the pair to recognize them and nod before she removed her hand from Kendra’s mouth. She and Rob cut Kendra’s and Gonzo’s ropes with their pocket knives. Once they were freed, Kendra gave Mandy a spontaneous hug and whispered in her ear how glad she was to see her. Mandy whispered back to get dressed and follow them. Rob signaled the same to Gonzo.

  Kendra and Gonzo slipped on shoes and fleece jackets. Then the four of them made their way quietly to the other side of Paul’s tent. The farthest tent downriver, it lay well past Les and Cool’s tent. Mandy hoped Paul’s sonorous snores would mask their conversation, and being the sound sleeper he was—how else could he

  sleep through his own noise machine?—their conversation shouldn’t wake him either.

  Rob took off his jacket and put it over their heads to further mute their whispers. He quickly told Kendra and Gonzo their plan, which wasn’t much of one—basically, to surprise and overpower Les and Cool before they could get their hands on the guns.

  “You all shouldn’t be risking your lives for me,” Kendra whispered. “I’ll just go quietly with Les and he’ll let me go.”

  Gonzo took Kendra’s hands. “You know that’s not what’s going to happen, given what Les has already done. Once he gets what he wants, he’ll just kill you, too, because you’re a witness. Then he’ll hightail it out of the country before we figure out you’re dead and spill the beans.”

  Mandy nodded. “We aren’t going to let that happen—or let him get away with killing Alex.”

  Kendra shook her head. “But—”

  “No buts,” Rob said. “We’re doing this and we’re doing it together.”

  They sealed the pact with a fierce clench of each others’ hands. Then Rob slid his jacket back on, and the four of them crept slowly toward Les and Cool’s tent.

  Mandy thanked the river gods for Paul’s loud snores—and for the waves from the rapids lapping against the shore. Both helped mask the sounds of their progress. But when Gonzo put a foot down on a twig, snapping it, they all froze.

  In front, Mandy peered at Les and Cool’s tent and counted to sixty while her heart hammered in her chest. When she detected no sound or movement, she gave a forward wave to the others. They continued their slow creep.

  Once they reached the tent, Mandy and Kendra stood on either side of the tent door as they agreed earlier, while Rob and Gonzo bent down in front. Kendra grabbed the zipper pull. With her heart hammering against her rib cage, Mandy held up a hand and ticked down three fingers.

  Three-two-one. Go!

  Kendra yanked down the door zipper and pulled the flap aside.

  Les and Cool lay with their feet nearest the door. Rob and Gonzo each grabbed a sleeping bag and yanked hard, hauling the bags and their startled occupants out of the tent. Mandy and Kendra fell on top of the bags, pinning Cool and Les under them.

  The two men yelled and flailed, trying to escape from their bags.

  Mandy groped through Cool’s sleeping bag, hunting for the hard metal of a gun. Kendra did the same with Les’s.

  Gonzo and Rob pummeled the sleeping bags while the two men inside squirmed and clawed to get out. Then Les rolled, pitching Kendra off him.

  Rob yanked the sleeping bag off Les and leapt on his chest. He pinned one of Les’s arms under a knee. While Kendra scrabbled into the tent to look for the guns, Rob punched Les in the face. Les flailed back with his free arm, but Rob managed to block his punch.

  Holding onto the foot of Cool’s sleeping bag, Gonzo yelled, “Clear.”

  Mandy rolled off Cool.

  Gonzo jerked Cool’s sleeping bag off and fell on top of him. He landed a couple of punches in Cool’s sides before Cool kneed him in the gut. With an “oof,” Gonzo buckled over, holding his stomach, but he fell on Cool’s chest, trapping him.

  Since Kendra hadn’t found a gun yet, Mandy desperately searched the two empty sleeping bags for one. They had to find the weapons before Les or Cool grabbed them.

  “Gun!” Kendra yelled from where Les’s and Cool’s heads had been inside the tent. She backed out of the tent and stood up, aiming it at Les. “Stop now!”

  Les threw a couple more punches at Rob until Kendra shoved the gun in front of his face. “Stop, I said!”

  Finally getting the message, Les stilled. Rob started tying him up with the ropes they brought with them that had been used to tie up Gonzo, Kendra, and him.

  Mandy still hadn’t found the second gun in the sleeping bags. She helped Gonzo pin down Cool and frantically felt all around Cool. When she came up empty-handed, she said to Gonzo. “Hold him while I search their gear for the other gun.”

  She went to the tent, pulled out the men’s gear bags and started pawing her way through them.

  Suddenly Gonzo yelled, “No!”

  Mandy whirled in time to see Cool buck Gonzo off of him and leap up. He ran downriver.

  “Stop,” Kendra yelled and shot at him, but she missed.

  Mandy realized two things in rapid succession. Kendra had never fired a gun before, so she couldn’t be counted on to hit Cool. And, the sand shelf behind the tents dipped down toward the beach downriver, giving Cool easy access to an escape route back into Waterhole Canyon.

  “Help me get him, Gonzo!” she yelled. She took off running after Cool along with Gonzo.

  “Don’t shoot, Kendra,” Rob yelled behind them. “You might hit Mandy or Gonzo!”

  Mandy and Gonzo were fast, but so was Cool. He sprinted to the other end of the beach, but since he wore no shoes, the rocks there slowed his progress. He winced and clawed his way through them.

  Mandy and Gonzo reached him just as he clambered up on to the sand shelf, which was only a couple of feet high at that end of the beach. Gonzo grabbed Cool’s leg and pulled, but Cool kicked free, knocking Gonzo on his rear.

  Mandy jumped onto the shelf and grabbed Cool. They rolled into the brush away from the lip. Mandy grimaced as the low-lying prickly bushes raked her skin, adding to the scratches and scrapes all over her body.

  Gonzo scrambled up, leapt onto the sand shelf and ran after them. He aimed some quick kicks into Cool’s side, barely missing Mandy, who was stuck under Cool.

  When Cool rolled off Mandy and stood to face Gonzo, she snatched him around the knees and yanked. He flopped down on his chest in the sand, and Gonzo leapt on his back. Gonzo pulled Cool’s hands behind him and held them while Mandy grabbed his legs. Finally, the two of them had Cool pinned to the ground.

  Mandy only had one concern at this point. “Where’s the other gun?”

  Cool just loo
ked back at her and grinned.

  Uh-oh.

  “Gonzo, let Cool go,” Rob yelled. “They’ve got guns on us.”

  “They? Who’s they?” Gonzo asked.

  The question was answered when Alice hollered from the dark camp, “Get back in your tents and stay there!” Presumably the ruckus had awakened the other clients. “Fucking idiots,” she yelled at Les. “The whole plan is shot to hell now. Everyone else knows what’s going on.”

  “Alice,” Mandy hissed to Cool. “She was in on this all along, wasn’t she?” She couldn’t see the camp, but she realized Alice must have snuck up on Kendra with the other gun and made Kendra drop hers.

  Cool snorted. “She’s the one in charge, came up with the whole plan in the first place. And she has the other gun.” He bucked against Gonzo’s weight. “Now get off me.”

  “Call your boyfriend, Kendra,” Les yelled, “or you and Rob here get it.”

  “Come back now, Gonzo,” Kendra shouted. “Or Alice and Les will shoot us for sure.”

  That was the second time they had called for Gonzo and not Mandy. She glanced at the sky and saw a cloud was blocking the moonlight. The whole beach was plunged in the cloud’s dark shadow.

  “They aren’t using my name,” Mandy whispered to Gonzo, “so maybe Les didn’t see me in camp. And they can’t see us now, just like we can’t see them. Les and Alice may not know I’m here, and Rob and Kendra are trying to tell us that.”

  Cool sucked in a large breath and opened his mouth.

  Mandy lunged forward. She clamped a hand on his mouth and put his whole head in a lock hold with her other arm, muffling his yell. “Tell them you’re coming,” she said to Gonzo.

  “Don’t shoot! I’m coming!” Gonzo yelled toward camp, then turned to Mandy. “Now what?”

  “We’ve got to knock Cool out,” Mandy said, “so he doesn’t tell them. There’s still a chance if I can sneak away.”

  Cool’s eyes widened. He struggled harder to get out of Gonzo’s grasp and get Mandy’s hand off his mouth.

  Gonzo scanned the ground around them, found a hefty piece of driftwood and walloped Cool in the head with it.