40.5 HOURS EARLIER
MADDIE
I slam into something jutting out from the bank. A thick root. Water rushes around me. Pulling at me. Roaring in my ears. But I hang on.
I take a deep breath.
Then I pull myself hand over hand toward the bank.
39 HOURS EARLIER
GENESIS
“Fifteen minutes for lunch!” Silvana shouts.
I’m no stranger to exercise, yet I ache all over from the grueling pace of the hike. My clothes are wet from the intermittent rain, and my boots are caked in mud.
Indiana and Domenica drag a fallen log through the mud toward me, and my friends all gather around, pulling food and half-empty bottles of water from their bags.
I’m starving, yet already sick of tuna and protein bars, so I trade Indiana one packet of lemon-pepper flavored tuna and twelve soggy crackers for (approximately) two tablespoons of peanut butter and an oatmeal cream pie.
What I wouldn’t give for a ramekin full of crème brûlée. Or even just a turkey sandwich.
“So?” Rain drips on Penelope’s unopened gourmet PowerBar. Her focus follows mine to where our captors have split in two cliques—one surrounding Sebastián, the other seated around Silvana. “What’s the plan?” Her lip quivers. “Are we just going to wait to be ransomed?”
“No.” Holden takes the spot next to her on the log. “I saw Sebastián with a satellite phone, but they haven’t called in any demands yet.” He rests his hand awkwardly on his own leg. As if he wants to pull Pen into a hug, but knows that if he touches her, he’ll have more to fear than our kidnappers. “We’re not going to be ransomed any time soon.”
“That can’t be good,” Domenica whispers.
No, it can’t. It means this is about more than ransom money.It means they’re prepared to hold us for a long time. It means they don’t have to keep all of us alive to get whatever it is that they want.
I give her a steady, confident look as I shield my face from the last patters of rain with one hand.“It just means they’re waiting until they get to their base of operations to figure out who to call and what to ask for.”
Holden rips open a bag of peanuts with more force than necessary. “What it means is that this isn’t going to end any time soon unlesswe end it.”
38.75 HOURS EARLIER
MADDIE
I collapse on the wet ground, panting. A leaf sticks to my cheek. Grass clings to my soaked clothes.
My elbow throbs. My shin is scraped raw. My limbs weigh a hundred pounds each. But I am alive, and only slightly woozy from insulin deficiency.
Insulin...
Groaning, I push myself up and lift my shirt to check my pump. My shoulders sag with relief. Still working. Nothing else matters.
Nothing but getting back to my brother.
I scrub my hands over my face.Think!
We couldn’t have hiked more than an hour west of the bunkhouse, and the river carried me southeast. Ryan can’t be more than an hour’s hike north.
North-ish, at least.
I stumble in what I hope is the right direction, grabbing branches and roots to haul myself up muddy inclines. Pushing farther and farther to the northeast.
Closer and closer to my brother.
