Daredevil’s Run

“The thing is,” he went on, after nudging her back, “I think there’s got to be some sort of balance-you know, offsetting measures of strengths and weaknesses.” He paused, and his gaze found his brother again before it moved on to where Alex was engaged in conference with Tahoe and Booker T down by the river’s edge. “I don’t think either of those two would be happy if it’s too one-sided.”

“True…” She turned her head to look at him along one shoulder. “You don’t think Alex has any weaknesses? Vulnerabilities?”

He gave a dry laugh. “Except for having some ambiguous feelings for my brother, I sure haven’t seen any so far.”

Sam’s gaze drifted back to the trio by the water’s edge. “Everybody’s vulnerable about something. Some people just hide it better than others.”

“That’s true.” Cory shaded his eyes with his hand. “What do you suppose is going on down there? Does that look right to you?”

She shook her head, shading her eyes, now, too. “Huh-uh. Appears to be a problem of some kind.”

“Well,” said Cory, getting to his feet, “I don’t know about you, but I’m for finding out what.” He offered his wife a hand up, grinning slyly.

Sam grinned back as she took it. “Hey-I’m not too proud to show my weaknesses.”

“How could this happen?” Alex had one hand clamped to the top of her head, as if doing that might help keep a lid on her temper. So far it wasn’t working. “The equipment was checked-thoroughly. I double-checked it myself. You know I did. How could the damn thing not be holding air?”

Down on one knee beside the slowly deflating oar boat, Tahoe tilted his head to give her an inscrutable look. “Looks to me like the valve’s damaged, boss.”

“What?” Alex added a second hand to the one already attempting to keep the top of her head from flying off. “How?”

Tahoe shrugged and rose to his feet, dusting off his hands. “Pretty much had to be deliberate. Must have happened last night, after the equipment check.”

She opened her mouth, but all that emerged was a wordless squeak of incredulity. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Sabotage? Why? Who?

As if she’d uttered the words out loud, Booker T said mildly, “At a guess, I’d say somebody doesn’t want us to make this run.”

Her mouth clamped shut as she realized both men were staring at her. She stared back at them in utter silence for a long moment. Then, “Good Lord, Booker T, you can’t think I-”

Booker T shrugged. “Honey, you’ve been throwing a hissy fit over this trip ever since you booked it.”

She uttered another outraged squeak and looked at Tahoe, who was carefully not looking at either one of them. She closed her eyes for a quick three-count to get a grip on her temper, then said slowly and carefully, “Look. I was against it to begin with and I’m still not happy about it, but I’d never sabotage my own equipment just to get out of a run. Hell, I’d just cancel it, if it came to that. Booker T, you know me better than that.”

“Yeah,” said Booker T, “I do know you.” He jerked his head toward the three people approaching. “I’m just not so sure they do. You know how this is gonna look to them.”

Oh Lord, Alex thought. Matt. He’s going to think I did this. He knows what I think about making this run.

“The other boat seems okay,” Tahoe offered. “And we’ve got the kayaks.”

“Yeah…I guess. We’ll have to leave some of the gear behind, though. You guys-”

“Is there a problem?” That was Cory. He’d reached them first, those inquisitive, see-everything eyes intent behind his glasses.

Alex glanced at Tahoe, then Booker T. Carefully avoided looking at Matt, who was just now rolling up behind his brother, the going being a bit slow for his chair on the riverbank sand. She looked at Cory and Sam and offered them a bright gung ho smile. “Nothing we can’t deal with. Seems one of the boats doesn’t want to stay inflated.”

“That can’t be good,” Sam muttered.

Alex gave a chortle of laughter and tried not to think about the intent and curious stare Matt was giving her as he joined them. “Definitely not. Which is why we always bring backup. We have a couple of kayaks, just in case something like this happens. Sam, you think you can handle riding along with Tahoe?”

“Sure. No problem.”

No hesitation, no looking at her husband first. She had her chin up, fingers tucked in her back pockets, confident and ready for anything. Alex decided she liked this woman.

“Okay, then. Gather up your gear, folks. Meet back here in ten minutes for your final safety briefing. We’ll be putting in in fifteen.”

Cory and Sam nodded and headed back up to the campsite. Booker T gave a little salute and went off to see to the horse and mules. Tahoe was already unloading one of the two-man inflatable kayaks from the other oar boat. Which left Alex to face Matt, whose eyes were steady and full of questions, and who wasn’t showing any inclination to leave without answers.

“You want to tell me what’s going on?” He asked it softly, for her ears only.

She looked at him, then away, telling herself she didn’t need to tell him anything more than she would any other client.

“Alex?”

Maybe she didn’t need to tell him, but oh, how she wanted to. In the old days I would.

But how could she tell him about this? Sabotage? It was just too crazy. And Booker T was right. Matt would probably think she’d done it herself in some sort of desperate ploy to get out of making the run.

She let out an exasperated breath. “Look, it’s just embarrassing, okay? How do you think I feel, having something happen on this, of all runs? I mean, you, of all people…and your brother… Jeez.”

“Hey, I know the feeling.” He gave her his crooked smile and leaned into the job of turning his chair in the sand.

She watched him, words clogging up her throat. He’d made a few yards progress before one broke free. “Wait-”

He paused and looked at her over one shoulder. She took a step toward him, then another. He waited patiently, not saying anything.

“Matt-” God, why is this so hard? “-hey, look, I’m sorry about…” She made a helpless gesture, then tucked her fingertips in her pockets to keep from doing it again. “You know-back there. With the mule.”

He tilted his head. “Why?”

“Why? Because-” There was a lump in her throat. She swallowed, but it wouldn’t go down. “I shouldn’t have stayed. I mean, I should have given you some privacy. I wasn’t thinking. And I’m sorry.” She let go the breath she’d been holding.

He lifted one shoulder. “Hey, you were there in rehab. It is what it is, Alex. It’s been five years. I’ve learned to deal with it.” His look lingered, and there was no accusation in his eyes at all.

So why did she feel so guilty? And why did the words he hadn’t said echo so loudly in her mind?

Five years, Alex. And if you’d shared them with me, maybe you’d have learned to deal with it, too.

He’d tried to explain to the shrink they’d sent him to, those first months after the accident, what it was about running the river. He thought the doc was probably hoping to help him find some equally enjoyable hobby to occupy him, something more suitable for a man with his physical limitations. Matt had tried to make him understand-there wasn’t anything else like it. Not even close. It wasn’t all about the adrenaline rush, either. He still got that, in other ways, like at the start of a race, in those frozen seconds waiting for the starter’s gun, when his focus narrowed down so he could hear his own heartbeat, feel the blood surging through his arteries. And then the shot…the explosion of energy through every cell in his body, even the ones he no longer felt. There was challenge there, too, him against the field, man against man.

But man against the river. That was something else.