I move slowly, resting my plate on the coffee station while I choose a speckled enamel coffee mug from the stack by the carafe. As far as I can tell, I’m the only one who’s within earshot of whatever Macy is about to say. And I fully intend to listen.
I take my time with the creamer and sugar as Macy opens the lid of the orange box, tilting it to show the inside to Josh and Gracie.
Macy clears her throat and whispers, “Are you one hundred percentsureyou checked, though? Me and Gracie were hanging out on one of the gear boats until bedtime—while y’all told your scary stories.” She hesitantly adds, “We never saw you check the emergency box,” looking at Gracie for confirmation.
“Yeah, we didn’t …” Gracie affirms hesitantly.
Josh grunts. “I checked it,” he insists. “It would’ve beenafteryou two got into your tents. What the hell is the problem?”
Macy’s voice drops even lower. “It’s not in there,” she hisses.
“What’s not there?” Gracie asks, sounding genuinely confused.
“The satellite phone,” Macy says gravely.
I almost spin around, but then catch myself. I keep my back turned like I’m not paying them any attention, pouring a steady trickle of coffee into my mug.
“What?” Josh demands. “No way. Sometimes the phone falls to the bottom,” he insists, grabbing the orange box from her. “Did you take everything out?”
I keep my eyes on the coffee pot, but in the periphery I can see Josh’s hands rummaging through the box—bandages, gauze, a tangle of plastic-wrapped papers. Nothing that looks like a phone.
Macy, Josh, and Gracie look up in unison as Bryan crosses the last few feet of sand, hesitantly joining their circle.
“Can somebody tell me what’s going on?” he asks, his voice cracking. He takes off his baseball hat, revealing a receding hairline that’s completely at odds with his chubby cheeks and baby face.
Josh ignores him and shakes the open box in his hands. “Fuck,” he mutters. “Did it even get packed?” he asks, voice rising as he turns to Bryan, acknowledging him for the first time. “Youwere on final gear check yesterday—”
“Yeah, I know. And I packed it,” Bryan sputters. “I—”
“Hold on, Josh,” Gracie interrupts. “I thought you said you saw the phone last night during gear check.”
Josh just groans, and Gracie continues. “I’m positive it was there when we got on the river yesterday. Bryan and I did the final gear check together, right before we launched. I remember we put fresh batteries in the Sat phone.”
I start tidying up the coffee station, gathering stained napkins and twisting the plastic lids back onto the creamers. The guides seem immersed enough in their debate that I risk turning toward them just a little.
I see Bryan nod. “Did anyone open up the emergency box for anything after we launched?” he asks carefully.
Everyone is looking at Josh now, and I suddenly understand that the dry box with the satellite phone must have been onhisgear raft yesterday.
“No,” Josh insists, almost too quickly. “And it was there last night, I swear. I saw it. So somebody must have taken it while everyone was asleep.”
Hot coffee spills over my knuckles, scalding, and drips into the sand at my feet. I scramble to grab a fresh napkin.
Someone must have taken it while everyone was asleep.I replay the sound that woke me for the second time last night: the squeak of plastic, a strap unbuckling.
“But why would someone take the Sat phone?” Gracie asks, a quaver working its way into her voice.
Her question is met with silence.
I take a few steps toward the guides, clearing my throat. “Hey. I … well, I think I heard something last night,” I begin, fully aware that I’m admitting to eavesdropping. My cheeks flush as I continue. “About an hour after Allie’s nightmare, I heard somebody moving around down by the rafts. I … I thought it was one of you guys.”
“What?” Macy demands, her voice rising and her eyes flashing. She glances over at the women sitting around the campfire, just out of earshot. When a few look up curiously, she lowers her voice. “Why didn’t you say anything until now? Who was it?”
My face burns. “I was going to look, but then the sound stopped. It was four in the morning—I just went back to sleep.”
“Maybe one of the guests was scared by the screaming,” Bryan offers. “And they took the phone, but forgot to put it back? A few women saw us replacing the batteries yesterday, so they’d know it was there.”
Josh nods, seeming to warm to this idea. “Yeah, that’s probably what happened.” He steeples his fingers as if gathering his composure, looking less like Jesus and more like a grumpy hipster. “We can’t break camp until we find that phone.”
