I climbed into the passenger seat as Emma and Gigi piled into the back.
“What about yours?” I asked, motioning to Beth’s Nokia flip phone in the center console as she sped down the narrow gravel road.
Beth pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose before opening the phone. A bead of sweat dripped down the side of her round cheekbeneath the bright-red gash on her temple. The screen remained black as she held down the button on the side. “It’s dead.”
Of course it is,I thought. None of us were prepared for what had happened on this trip. Gigi’s phone had gone into the river yesterday when Courtney had fallen in, along with both their backpacks containing most of our food. By then, Emma had completely drained her phone battery by leaving it on to continuously search for a signal when we were out of cell-service range. None of us had brought a charger, knowing we wouldn’t have any reception for most of our three-day trip.
I kept my phone lifted toward the windshield, hoping it would help find a signal while Beth accelerated down the windy path. As she plowed over a pothole, the top of my head hit the ceiling, but my eyes stayed glued to the screen as the van’s tires created a cloud of dust out my side window.
“Stop!” I yelled.
Gigi was thrown forward when Beth laid on the brakes. Gigi’s thin arms stretched beside me, her palms pressing against the dash as we came to a stop, and I dialed 911.
“911 operator, what’s your emergency?” a staticky voice asked.
“My friend,” I spurted. “She’s ... missing. We were camping—rafting—on the Sol Duc River, and she ... um ...” I glanced at Beth, who stared back at me. “Fell from the raft.” The splash when Courtney hit the water filled my mind. “That was yesterday. And we can’t find her. We got lost on our way back and—”
“Miss, I need you to slow down. Can I have your name? And tell me where you are.”
“Palmer. Palmer Montague. I already did—we were on the Sol Duc River. She’s gone. We need helpnow!”
“Ma’am, just stay calm. I need you to be more specific.Whereon the Sol Duc River? Can you give me another landmark near you, like a trailhead?”
I turned to Beth, kicking myself for not paying better attention when we got here. Instead of parking at the Sol Duc Trailhead, we’dtaken a windy backroad to a secluded trailhead Courtney had heard about from her brother.What the hell were we all thinking, gallivanting into the woods like that without at least taking note of where we were?“What was the trailhead called?”
“I don’t know.” Beth shrugged, her eyes wide.
I twisted toward the others in the back seat. Emma shook her head while Gigi cast her a blank look as if trying to recall the name.
“I can’t remember.” Gigi bit her lip. “I thought Beth wrote it down.”
Beth shook her head and threw the van into reverse. “I wanted to, but you and Emma were making fun of me for taking too many safety precautions.”
I pressed my hand against my forehead, willing myself to remember as the van rolled backward. It had been Courtney’s plan to come here, but how had none of us paid better attention to our location?
“Wait!” I reached across Beth’s lap. “Stop or we’ll lose my signal.”
The emergency operator’s voice returned. “Miss? I need you to tell me where you are. Can you find the name of the trailhead?”
“Lost Creek Trail!” Gigi yelled, swiping a long strand of blond hair from her face. “No wait, I remember—Grave Creek Trail!”
“Grave Creek Trail,” I said into the phone.
“Okay, that’s good. And your friend, when did you last see her?”
“Yesterday, around noon. She fell into the water when we were rafting the Sol Duc River. It was about ten miles northeast of where we are now.” I shifted in my seat, conscious of the pocketknife that was no longer in my shorts pocket.
“And that was the last time you saw her?”
She’s dead,I wanted to scream. Instead, I swallowed hard, three pairs of eyes on me as raindrops began to beat against the windshield.
“Yes,” I lied.
Chapter One
Present
“Have fun, but don’t stay up too late.” I bend over and pull both of my girls into a tight hug.
