Daredevil’s Run

Her own heartbeat slowed to its normal rhythms and the prickles faded from her skin. But she wasn’t quite ready to let him off the hook. “Why would you mention it, then?”

“Because it sure does seem like somebody doesn’t want us to make this run,” Cory said quietly. “And I can’t for the life of me think why-or who.”

There were no more incidents, no more mishaps that day.

Because of the wait for the chopper, it was later than normal when they put in for the night, so everybody volunteered to help Alex with the food prep. She’d warned them it would have to be a wilderness camp, since a lot of their gear had had to be left behind with the malfunctioning oar boat. They’d have to make do without the folding table and chairs and tents. Nobody seemed to mind.

Cory and Sam unloaded supplies from the boat while Alex got the fire going and set up the camp stove and oven. She had baked brie, toasted sourdough bread and fresh raspberries ready by the time the unloading was done. Meanwhile, Matt made margaritas for everybody. Alex thought it was probably a toss-up, which was appreciated more.

It may have been partly the fault of the margaritas, but Alex realized she was actually enjoying herself. It was weird, but it felt almost like being part of a warm family gathering-at least, the way she’d always imagined that experience would be. Cory and Sam were telling stories about each other, affectionate or hilarious, embarrassing, maybe, but never mean, cracking each other up and making it impossible for anyone listening not to laugh along with them. Matt and Alex listened and laughed, and it felt so good to her, watching Matt laugh. Seeing that smile she remembered. So good.

Meanwhile, potatoes roasted in the coals and an apple pie baked in the Dutch oven, and Matt tended the grill, waiting for the right moment to put on the thick, lean beef tenderloin steaks. Fresh green salad stayed cold and crisp in the cooler, along with plenty of tequila and margarita mix and whipped cream for the pie. A few yards away, the river chuckled peacefully to itself on its way down the canyon, and an owl hooted in the gathering dusk.

I’m happy, Alex thought in surprise. Here, tonight, with these three people, I…am…happy.

And it came to her, because she knew at this moment how it felt to be happy, that she had not been for a very long time.

After dinner, Alex adamantly refused Cory and Sam’s offer to help with the cleanup.

“Okay if we go for a walk?” Cory then asked with studied innocence.

“Sure,” said Alex, wondering why they felt they had to ask.

He and his wife exchanged a secret look and went off, holding hands. Alex called after them, “Watch out for rattlesnakes. And don’t get lost…” Their laughter drifted back on the twilight breeze, and Alex felt a sharp pang of envy.

Then it hit her. That secret look. Could it be, that the reason for this whole crazy run…Could it be?

No.

But she hadn’t imagined it.

Her chest prickled. Her heartbeat quickened and heat flooded into her cheeks. She glanced sideways at Matt, wondering if he’d caught the look. Wondering if he had any idea what his brother and sister-in-law were up to.

“What?” he said, and she looked away quickly.

“Nothing…” She hitched in a breath. “They’re sure being good sports.”

“What’d you expect?” Matt’s smile was crooked. “None of this was your fault.”

“Yeah, but not everybody would have been so understanding.” She paused. “They even seem to be enjoying themselves.”

He bent down to open the cooler…dropped in a foil-wrapped package of leftovers and closed it again. He gave a short laugh as he straightened. “I imagine they’ve been in worse situations. A helluva lot worse. I mean, steak, margaritas and apple pie? Jeez, Alex.”

She felt the warmth leave her and a chilly disappointment take its place. She looked away and said distantly, “I just meant…Sam getting dunked…Tahoe almost-”

“I know what you meant. Sorry.” Matt’s voice was gentle. Then, in a different, almost conversational tone, “My brother’s seen some stuff. Did you know he spent several months in an Iraqi prison?”

“No!” Her braid snaked over one shoulder as she jerked her eyes back to him. “Really? Good Lord.”

“Yeah. And Sam’s kind of closemouthed about what it is she does, exactly, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s been in a hairy situation or two herself. You know she’s a pilot, right?”

Alex shook her head. She was remembering Cory’s words, that day in the office, when he’d come to ask about Matt. “…I almost lost her, trying to keep my secrets.”

“Cory told me there were stories there-about her, the way they got together.” But she hadn’t asked. She hadn’t been able to think about anything except the fact that Matt was back in her life. After five years…

“Probably more than one,” Matt said dryly, and Alex smiled, remembering his brother had said almost the same thing. “What?” he demanded, seeing her smile.

Again, she shook her head and said, “Nothing.” Because there was so much she wanted to say and knew she never would.

She finished packing away the remains of dinner, silently handing things to Matt to put in the cooler. Securing the camp, setting up for breakfast. Doing things she’d done hundreds of times before. Things they’d done together, she and Matt, so many times before.

The ache inside her came from nowhere and quickly became intolerable.

Just before it turned, in self-defense, to anger, she heard the crunch of wheels on the hard-packed earth and felt the nearness of Matt’s body in the growing darkness.

“Alex.” His voice came barely above the whisper of the breeze in the pines. “What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong?” She said it more loudly than she meant to, turning to lean her backside against solid rock and fold her arms across her middle. “Jeez, Matt, I wouldn’t know where to start. You, this crazy run, Tahoe almost getting-”

“Yeah, look, why don’t you forget about the stuff I already know, and just tell me what it is you’re not telling me?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You’re worried, and it’s not just about me, or making a Class V run you’ve made dozens of times before.” He listened to her silence. Finally, sheer frustration made him add, “Come on. You used to tell me everything, Alex.”

“Yeah,” she shot back, breathless and angry, “used to.” She shifted restlessly, and in silhouette he saw her look up at the deepening sky, at the stars just winking on up there.

“Back there at the put-in,” he gently prompted, careful not to push too hard, “you were upset, and it wasn’t-” he held up a hand to forestall her retort “-just because the boat failed. Booker T and Tahoe weren’t happy, either. What happened, Alex?”

She hissed out a breath, unable to stop herself. “Somebody-” Her voice caught, and she cleared her throat and went on, tense and edgy. “Somebody filed the valve fitting.”

“What?”

“Just enough so it had a slow leak. Couldn’t have happened before we packed up the bus yesterday, because we’d have noticed it during the safety check. So it had to have been later. Last night sometime.”

“Wait.” He held up a hand now because he couldn’t seem to get a grip on the words he was hearing. “You’re telling me you think somebody deliberately…”

“Sabotaged the boat. Yeah, that’s what I’m telling you.”

“Come on, Alex. Who’d do such a thing? Why?”

“You think I haven’t asked myself that at least a hundred times?” She lifted her arms and let them drop. “God. It’s just not possible.”

“Okay, you know what they say. If you eliminate the impossible, the alternative, no matter how improbable… So, what’s the alternative? You missed the damage when you checked it-you all did.”

She didn’t reply. He couldn’t see her face, but he could hear misery and self-blame in her silence.

“Don’t beat yourself up,” he said softly. “It happens.”

“Yeah.” And she muttered something under her breath as she turned her head away.