A dead end.
My God. She’d jammed herself into a corner here. Craning her neck, she saw nothing but a sharp rock face above.
“This is fine,” she muttered under her breath. “Everything’s fine.” Denial was the only thing keeping her upright.
She focused in on the phone, stared hard. She needed a number. Any number. Her finger hit 9 and stopped. No. Not 911. Who knew who they’d send? She didn’t trust them. Anyone.
Eric Cooper. Friend, teammate. One of the guys she’d trusted with her life. She dialed his number, her fingers like ten thumbs, and waited. Nothing happened. Again. She tried again. Still nothing.
In the distance, something reverberated and though it was too far to hear, she knew with blood-curdling certainty that the helicopter was headed their way.
The phone dropped to the ground, too heavy for her numb hand.
Shit! She glanced around, then up at the smoke. It seemed thicker. A look back. No pursuit. Yet.
She fumbled the phone up, tried again…nothing. Okay. Another number. Von’s. Her numb, trembling fingers hit the wrong number twice before she slowed.
Voicemail. The generic kind because Von would never leave a physical record of himself. Anywhere.
Shit, shit. Ans would be in Colorado by now, out of range, probably. She tried anyway. Nothing; morefuckingvoicemail.
She sobbed. Her people, her team—always there for each other—and she couldn’t even get through.
Concentrate.Who else? Who could she trust?
The helo was louder, flying toward the river maybe? Or along it? The men must have locator beacons for reinforcements to be so near. When she tried to picture Elias and what was happening with him, desperation tried to hem her in. She shoved it back.
Call. Now. Then get Elias. No more messing around.
In that moment, unbidden, almost like a mirage in the desert, an image came to mind—her friend Angel, Ford’s girlfriend, who’d recently opened a nonprofit. A kitchen where low-income families learned to cook together. Familia was the name of it.
Familia… The last six digits of the number spelledFamily. She dialed, wincing at the helo’s approach. It was loud enough now that she didn’t just feel it in her bones, she actually heard it above the roar of the waterfall. Quite a feat, considering that the damn falls wereright there. She pressed the phone tight enough to meld it to her ear, blocked her other ear, and listened. Was that ringing? No. Nothing. The line was dead.
With a growl, she pressed the buttons again.
“Familia, this is Abby.”
“Ang—Sorry, Abby.” She couldn’t call her Angel. It was dangerous. Angel Smith had died as far as the world was concerned.
“Uh…you must have the wrong—”
“It’s Leo! Listen…” God, where to begin? Angel was too far to help, but at least she could get a message out. “I can’t get through to anyone else and…” Shit, would Angel even hear her over the thunderous racket? “They’re closing in fast, but…” All she could do was give the information. Pass on what she knew. About Elias and the virus and… Crap, she couldn’t think! Couldn’t hear her own thoughts through the dull thud of pain and thatsound!
What did she need to tell her? If they died here. Right now, what did Eric and Ford and the others need to know? “It’s the virus.” She sucked in a breath. Her head pounded from the noise and her own yelling. “Shit! They’re coming. Listen, tell Eric. And Ford. Tell them all. There’s something about the virus you need to know.”
Boom!
A gunshot ripped through the air, the bullet shocking her with how near it was. What the hell? Where was that? She craned her neck to look up at the boulders behind her. Who was that?
Phone tight in her shoulder, she yelled, “Ford was right about the virus. It’s deadly. But it can also cure cancer. The world needs it. It’s a miracle cure, but they want to use it to kill people and…They have it, Angel. They just don’t know it. It’s in the company’s… Angel? Angel?”
Another crack, closer this time, startled her into dropping the phone. She reached for it and stopped halfway.
“Who were you talking to,matey?” the big blond guy asked in a terrible Cockney accent, one hand on the phone, the other a rifle to his shoulder. “Never mind. I’ll just call back.”
She reached for the phone, but it was too late. The rifle was already swinging for her head.
Not againwas her last cognizant thought before the lights went out.
