Rocky Mountain Mayhem

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Rocky Mountain Mayhem Page 18

by Joan Rylen


  The girls finished their lunch and helped to clean up.

  “Back to business,” Kendall said, pushing his raft off the bank. “Big water awaits.”

  The groups got into their rafts, Vivian making damn sure she and Lucy were in the back, with Shick and Smith up front. Fast Eddie shoved them off and explained what was next.

  “We’ve got a little bit of calm followed by a few rapids, but then we hit the Narrows. We have to hit it on the left side to enter the Boat Eater in the sweet spot. It’s fast, it’s furious, and it can be a total fuck-up if you fail.”

  Lucy lifted her paddle for a high-five. “To no fuck-ups!”

  The rafters slapped paddles and turned their attention to the task ahead.

  Eddie slapped his paddle on the water. “Make sure you smile real pretty for the camera. He’s usually sittin’ on a rock in the middle of the Boat Eater. Gets paid the big bucks to sit on his ass all day. Works his index finger real hard, snapping pictures of you folks trying not to die on the river.”

  36

  THE canyon walls closed in and the water moved faster as the rafts approached the Narrows. Crazy Kendall maneuvered into a calm spot behind a rock, giving Fast Eddie’s crew first shot at this set of rapids.

  “It’s time for the ride of your life, so listen up, folks,” Eddie said, then called, “Everyone forward three.”

  The raft rode the waves and everyone paddled forward per instructions. Vivian’s paddle struck a rock, but she got back in rhythm on the next stroke. The raft bounced off boulders, and they continued to paddle through whitewater. They maneuvered through two more sets of Class IV rapids and then cruised underneath the Royal Gorge Bridge. Spanning more than 1,000 feet above, it signaled they were within the national park.

  Halfway up the cliffs on the left, a gondola descended to the scenic overlook. People milled about on the platform and at the railing. I wonder if Craig is up there, Vivian thought.

  Shick watched the overlook as they coasted swiftly past it. The whitewater started again and Eddie yelled more commands to keep the raft going left, toward the mouth of the Boat Eater rapids.

  The group paddled in sync, and Vivian felt good about making it through. After the first drop, a curtain of water washed over them and unhinged that feeling, but their momentum and the continued paddling carried them forward. Next drop, they hit a rock on the left side but kept moving. A minute later, the right side of the raft slammed up against a boulder. Pop! Air hissed out the side below Vivian. She screamed as she lost her balance and fell in. Wendy also fell backward into the water, grabbing Smith, taking him with her.

  Damn, this is cold! Speeding downstream out of control, Vivian’s leg smacked into a boulder underneath the surface. Ouch, that hurt! Don’t panic, don’t panic. She remembered to face downriver and put her feet out in front of her, like Eddie had showed them. She tried to turn and look for the raft and the rest of the group, but the force of the water was too much. She tumbled over a three-foot drop and got sucked under, breathing in the Arkansas River.

  I’m going to drown.

  She churned, flip after flip, in the falls, unable to get above water.

  No! I can’t die, the SPS cannot raise my children.

  A tug on the back of her life vest had Vivian’s head above water. She sputtered and coughed, lungs burning from the influx of water.

  “Swim left!” Shick was in her face, yelling above the roar.

  Vivian kicked her legs and gasped for air. He hauled her up onto the bank and she collapsed on the sand. She heard a scream and saw Kate whiz past, holding her paddle. Wendy wasn’t far behind, still clinging onto Smith.

  Shick scrambled back into the water, yelling for them to swim over. He tried to reach them, but the current pushed them downriver too quickly. Kate crawled onto their side of the bank 30 yards down. Wendy and Smith wound up on the opposite bank even farther down.

  Vivian sat up, still coughing up water. “Where’s Lucy?” She scanned the river but didn’t see her. “Luuuuuccccyyyyyyyy!” She looked for a yellow helmet to pop out of the water but didn’t see one. She stumbled back into the river. “Luuuuuuccccyyyyyyyyyy!”

  “There, over there!” Shick pointed across to the other bank. Lucy stood on top of a rock, paddle in hand, waving it furiously.

  Vivian fought off tears of relief and waved back. Then realization sunk in. How the hell were they going to get off this river?

  Kate picked her way along the boulders, making her way to Vivian.

  “You okay?” she asked.

  “I’m going to have a killer bruise on my leg, but I’m okay. You?”

  “I’m fine, and look, I saved my paddle!”

  Vivian looked across the river and heard shouting. Fast Eddie hung off the side of Crazy Kendall’s raft, yelling at the group to paddle over to his crippled raft, which had wrapped around a boulder. Mike grabbed the rope of the semi-deflated raft and hauled it with them as they pulled to the right bank by Wendy and Smith.

  Eddie went to work transferring what was left of the supplies from his dead raft to Kendall’s.

  Kendall called to Vivian, Kate and Shick, “Just hang tight. Another raft will be coming through soon. They’ll pick you up.”

  Vivian pointed to Lucy sitting on the boulder. “What about her?”

  “We’ll get her. Eddie’s gonna stay here until you’re picked up.”

  Wendy and Smith crawled into the raft and sat on the center section.

  They shoved off and went back for Lucy, who leapt off the boulder into the center of the raft, landing on the burly guy. Smith helped her up and she took a spot next to Wendy on the center tube.

  As they floated past, Lucy yelled, “Are y’all okay?”

  “Yes!” Kate said. “Guess we’ll see ya later!”

  Vivian sat down on the bank, the adrenaline wearing off and the freezing cold seeping into her bones. She wrapped her arms around her knees and started to cry. “I can’t stop shaking. And I think I might throw up.”

  Kate sat and hugged her. “It’s cold.”

  “Actually, she’s most likely experiencing the effects of adrenaline,” Shick said. “The body produces adrenaline in a fight-or-flight situation, releasing dopamine as a natural painkiller. It allows the muscles to perform respiration at an increased rate, which improves strength. Unfortunately, the post-adrenaline affects include nausea and emotional responses as well. Crying, anger…”

  “Plus it’s cold as shit,” Kate said. “Adrenaline, yes, but she’s probably hypothermic.”

  Vivian started to laugh. “I watched this show on TV where the guy fell into a frozen pond, so in order to survive he got completely naked.” She reached for the buckle on her life preserver.

  Shick stopped her. “I think he was most likely wearing regular clothes and not a wetsuit, which is designed to help you maintain warmth.”

  Vivian shook her head. “Well, this shit ain’t working.”

  37

  VIVIAN and Kate huddled together for warmth on the left bank of the Arkansas River while Shick did jumping jacks, pushups and sit-ups to keep warm. On the opposite bank, Fast Eddie passed the time by inspecting their deflated raft.

  Vivian kept her eyes focused upriver, waiting for the first sign of a raft coming to their rescue. She didn’t know how much longer she could stand Shick’s exuberance, much less the cold. She looked away for a few seconds to check on Eddie and his progress when Shick ran splashing back into the river.

  He had grabbed a paddle and used it to wave at an oncoming raft. This caught Eddie’s attention, and he pointed vigorously toward his stranded rafters. The guide raised his paddle in acknowledgment.

  Thank God. We’re going to be rescued!

  They all watched as the raft made it through the Boat Eater without taco-ing, tumping or taking on too much water. Their guide steered toward Shick, who waited in the water to pull them ashore.

  “I see you showered today,” the guide said as he pulled up.

  “
We went for a little swim, but the hot water was out,” Shick said.

  “Pile in, river rats.”

  The four other passengers moved aside to make room. Vivian’s teeth chattered as Shick helped her into the raft. “Thank you for picking us up,” she said to the guide.

  “Gotta share the river love.”

  “I’m all about the river love today,” Kate said as she sat down in the middle of the raft by Vivian. “But I’ll be happy when this love affair is over.”

  “But the fun was just getting started,” Shick said as he pushed off and then jumped in the raft.

  “Sorry ’bout my freeloaders, Jessie,” Eddie called as they floated past. “Here’s my dry bag.” He tossed it over and Jessie caught it.

  “Chicken Hawk is on the loose, he’ll take you to the prom,” Jessie responded, hitchin’ his thumb over his shoulder.

  Eddie gave a salute and the rafters turned their attention to the next set of rapids coming up, Lion’s Head. Vivian braced her feet under the bench in front of her and was glad she didn’t have to paddle anymore. Her arms ached from paddling and swimming, and her leg throbbed where she had whacked it. Her frayed nerves just weren’t up to the task. The new crew performed like champs, and they were out of the rapid in no time.

  “Suck it, Lion!” Jessie said, then slapped his paddle flat on the water. “Yeah!”

  “I think he has his own way with words,” Kate said with a laugh.

  Shick shook his head. “He might be under the influence of a substance or substances.”

  “Whatever,” Vivian said. “He’s getting us where we need to go.”

  Jessie guided them through one last Class III rapid and then coasted a short jaunt to the exit point. Shick jumped out to help pull the boat ashore, and Jessie said, “River rock stars!”

  Vivian was glad to out of the raft. The last few steps in the water brought fiery stabs of pain shooting up her leg. Craig spying on her was a faraway thought. All she wanted was warmth. Fast. And a couple of ibuprofen.

  Crazy Kendall met them at the bank and led Vivian and Kate directly onto the waiting bus. Smith greeted them as they stepped on, and Lucy and Wendy cheered. Mike gave them a wave from the back row. Brian was behind the bus talking on the phone.

  Vivian sat next to Lucy and asked the driver, “Is there a heater? I think I might die from exposure.”

  The driver shook his head and said, “We’ll get you back to the shop soon.”

  Lucy looked even paler than normal, and Vivian didn’t know that was possible. “You look almost translucent. I’m going to start calling you Casper.”

  “I’ll start calling you Big Blue then, since that’s the color of your lips.”

  “If I don’t get warm soon,” Wendy said from the seat behind them, “I think I’m not going to make it. I’m so cold that it hurts the blood vessels in my elbows to move my arms. They might shatter and I’ll bleed to death.”

  Kate sat hunched in a ball. “Thank goodness I’m not pregnant. My body temperature over the last several hours would have been detrimental.”

  “It could have been your baby’s first brain freeze,” Vivian said. “But not in a good, ice-cream lickin’ kinda way.”

  Shick hopped on the bus and sat down in front of Vivian and Lucy, slapping the seat back. “Hot damn, that was fun! You girls ready to do it again?” His smile looked like he genuinely wanted to get back on that freezing-ass, melted-snow river and raft again. Hell, maybe even swim it.

  “It was fun until the raft deflated,” Vivian said, “but there’s no way you’re getting me back out on that river today, or any other day, until the weather warms up at least 30 degrees.”

  “The cold is all part of the fun.”

  Okay, this guy might really be insane. Cold is part of the fun? Not this cold!

  Lucy looked at Shick and laughed. “I’m all for rafting in cold water, but this was too much. If I don’t get warm soon, I might start losing fingers and toes. I could really use some hot soup right about now.”

  “I could go for some dinner,” Wendy said. “The stress of the raft deflating and subsequent swim has made me ravenous.”

  “I could go for a drink, or three,” Vivian said. “A cup of hot chocolate spiked with peppermint schnapps and Baileys sounds perfect right about now.”

  “Chocolate,” Kate said with a faraway look in her eye. “Yes, chocolate.”

  The bus bumped into the rafting company’s parking lot and lurched to a stop. The girls got out and made a beeline for the door.

  Kirsten met the girls and led them to where they could get out of their wet clothes and rinse off. Vivian wanted all of the above but fumbled with the Velcro on the splashguard and zipper on her boots because her hands were so cold. She managed to get down to her bathing suit and rinsed off with the hose. The water wasn’t warm, but it was warmer than she was, so she went for it. She grabbed a towel and headed to a changing room. Finally in dry clothes, she ran her fingers through her curls, put on her necklace and slapped her cowgirl hat on her head. Done.

  Vivian walked into the gift shop area and saw Shick, Smith and Mike outside examining the deflated raft with Fast Eddie.

  The other girls had finished changing and were at the photo counter with Brian, scrolling through the shots at Boat Eater.

  “That’s where you fell out,” Kate said, pointing to Vivian in the photo.

  “And there went Wendy!” Lucy laughed at the next photo that popped up. “I love that you took Smith with you. That was hilarious!”

  “It was an impulse grab. I didn’t mean to drag him down with me.”

  They watched the progression of the raft deflating and everyone falling in. Brian asked Kirsten to stop on a few of them.

  “We gotta buy these,” Vivian said. “They’re fantastic!”

  Brian set his wallet on the counter. “I’m going to need digital and print copies of all these photos. How quickly can you have them ready?”

  “I’ll do it right now. Give me 10 minutes.”

  “You have that much fun today?” Wendy asked as Kirsten went to fulfill the order.

  Brian gave a quick smile. “Yes, had a great time.”

  Mike came into the shop and pointed at Brian. “Need to see you.”

  Brian followed Mike out the door and they joined the other guys looking at the deflated raft.

  “Wonder what’s going on?” Vivian said.

  Kirsten set a CD on the counter. “I talked to Kendall when y’all first got back and he said it was weird the raft popped. They’re made to withstand slamming into boulders on the river.”

  Lucy headed toward the door. “Let’s go see what this is all about.”

  The girls walked outside and the men quit talking.

  “What’s going on?” Vivian asked Kendall, who looked at Shick.

  Kendall slipped away and Shick looked at the other guys before answering. “It wasn’t a boulder that popped the raft.”

  “What do mean?”

  “You’d better talk to Agent Nelson.”

  38

  VIVIAN’S head swam and she wasn’t sure she’d heard Shick correctly. “Did you say talk to Agent Nelson?”

  “Yes, it’d be best for you to speak to him directly.”

  “Who are you?”

  “Agent Galvin Shick with the FBI.”

  “I knew it!” Lucy said. “You were too excited about the cold-ass rafting to be normal.”

  Wendy looked at Smith, Brian and Mike. “I presume you are agents, too?”

  Smith nodded. “I’m Agent Freddie Smith, and you’ve met agents Finck and Hayes.”

  Brian and Mike nodded.

  Kate, hands on hips, asked, “Where is Agent Nelson?”

  “Will somebody please tell me what the hell is going on here?” Vivian cut in. “Has Craig done something? Why didn’t you tell us you were with the FBI? And yeah, where the hell is Agent Nelson?”

  Shick turned her toward the door of the rafting company. “I think we’d bet
ter get you inside.”

  Vivian stopped. “I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what’s going on.”

  Smith gently touched her shoulder. “It really would be best, ma’am, to get you inside.”

  Hayes held the door open. “Nelson should be here any minute. He was coming from the Fremont County Sherriff’s office close-by.”

  Vivian and the girls went inside the shop. A few minutes later Nelson arrived. He conferred with Shick in the parking lot and inspected the raft, before walking to the shop.

  Vivian met him at the door. “What’s going on with the raft? Why are you here?”

  Nelson let the door close before explaining. “I know you’re surprised to see me, but I wanted to make sure you would be okay. Your raft did not deflate due to a rock or boulder.”

  “It didn’t?”

  “No. It was shot. Twice.”

  Vivian’s eyes grew wide and she took a step back.

  “Once on the right rear and again, eight inches farther back. The trajectory was angled, indicating the shooter was in front of the raft at approximately 45 degrees.”

  She was having a hard time comprehending all of this. “Shot?”

  “I understand one bullet’s entry was very close to where you were sitting.”

  “I…I don’t understand why…”

  “Craig is wanted for more than credit card and wire fraud. He’s wanted for a high-profile burglary.”

  Vivian reached for the bumblebee pendant dangling around her neck.

  “Exactly.”

  39

  VIVIAN’S knees almost buckled, and she grabbed the counter for balance. “I’m going to pass out.”

  Wendy walked Vivian to a chair by the register and leaned her forward. “Here, put your head between your knees.”

  Nelson stepped closer to Vivian. “Craig stole several pieces of jewelry, estimated at more than a million dollars, from a Thai diplomat three years ago.”

  “How was he able to pull off a theft like that?” Kate asked. “This is unreal.”

 

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