The clearing ends in a cliff overlooking a roaring rapid so far below that I can’t see the water from where I stand.
I drop my pack on the ground and ease toward the edge to peer down at the river. Indiana follows me, one arm extended. Ready to grab me if I fall.
“Damn it.” Frustration weighs down my arms and legs. We’re tired, hungry, and filthy, and I can’t justify drinking any more of my water until I know I can refill the bottles.
“Did you think you were going swimming,princesa?” Silvana sneers, standing well back from the cliff. “Let’s go.”
“Madalena ...” Sebastián’s voice holds an eerie tension, and I turn to see my cousin walking slowly toward me. Toward the edge. Her hands are shaking.
“Maddie.” Chill bumps pop up on my arms, in spite of the heat. I reach for her, but she lurches even closer.
“Grab her,” Silvana orders from the tense silence behind us. But no one else is close enough, because you’d have to be crazy to get this close to that kind of drop.
Or desperate.
“Maddie,” I say, but she’s not listening. Her gaze trails downriver. The river runs to the east. In the direction of the bunkhouse.
“Don’t do it,” I tell her, while the tense silence behind us stretches on. “It won’t work.” I look down, and my head spins.
The toes of her boots hang over open air and I inch forward to meet her. My boots scrape loose tiny clods of dirt, which tumble into the water far below. I take her hand. “Come on.”
Maddie lets me pull her back one step. Then another. On the third step, I exhale slowly. On the fifth, I let her go.
Indiana lays his hand low on my back, and the touch is reassuring.
“¡Vamos!” Silvana shouts, gesturing to us with her pistol.“¡Vamos!”Her men follow her lead, trying to corral with rifles and fierce looks.
Maddie glances at me, while everyone else is distracted. Desperation shines in her eyes. She races toward the edge of the cliff.
I grasp for her, but I already know I’m too late.
Maddie launches herself over the cliff.
GENESIS
I drop to my knees and stare over the edge, but Maddie is already gone.
I close my eyes and suck in a deep breath, then let it out slowly. I push everything away.
Then I stand.
Shoulders square, I open my eyes and turn around.
Domenica stares at me, her hands clasped over her mouth.
“Oh shit,” Penelope breathes. “Ohshitohshitohshit. Gen—”
“Stop it.” I grab her arm and look right into her eyes. “Get your shit togetherright now.” Panicking won’t help. Crying won’t help. When you lose someone, you pick yourself up and youmove on, because that’s the only thing that makes sense.
Penelope flinches away from me. I let her go.
“Mierda.”Silvana finally edges toward the cliff and peers over.
“They’re gonna kill us,” Penelope whispers. “Maddie just screwed us all.”
“Idiota,” Silvana declares, and several of the gunmenlaugh. She turns to me. “Your cousin just saved me a bullet.” But there’s something off in her voice. She’s trying much too hard to convince us that she’s happy about that.
“¡Vamos!” Silvana calls. “Genesis Shipping! Let’s go!”
