“You’vegot this, babe.”Parker whispers, exactly like he did in the rafting dream. Only this time, the emphasis is on the first word of the sentence.
And I suddenly understand.
I’vegot this.
35
My pulse spikes as the realization of what I need to do hits me square in the chest. I draw in a sharp breath, then ask, “Macy, how fast is the current right before the falls?”
She shrugs. “It’s actually pretty slow. Slower than this. Why?”
“Then I’ll stay with the raft,” I blurt. The words escape me before I can second-guess. “I’ll swim behind it.”
Five faces turn toward me—incredulous. Imani’s lips part. Pam and Deborah gasp. Macy cocks her head, eyes widening in her battered face. Allie freezes entirely.
“Think about it,” I continue, throat tightening, “I can hold the raft back for a few minutes after you all get out of the water and start moving past him. I’ll float it down the slowest line possible toward the falls, so he’ll be watching. He’s going to see six shapes in the raft. He’ll think we’re all inside … until it finally gets close enough that he realizes we’ve tricked him. And when the current gets too strong, I’ll swim for shore and stay low in the water. He’ll never even know I’m there. But it’ll buy the rest of you some time to get past him, before he realizes what’s going on.”
Even as I say the words, I’m fully aware that about a hundred things would have to go right to make this work. Even one thing going wrong could mean certain death forany or all of us. Questions swarm my mind. Can I hold the raft back all by myself? Will he really be so focused on the raft that he doesn’t realize the other women are slipping past him on land in the dark? What if the current is so strong it pulls me, along with the raft, over the impassable Splinter Ridge?
Nobody says anything for a moment.
“I don’t like this,” Allie finally says, crossing her arms over her chest. “No way. Too much room for error. There’s gotta be another option.”
“It’s the only option,” I say, knowing it’s true in my gut. “The decoy has to be convincing. And it won’t be convincing unless we can control the raft. It might start drifting sideways too soon—or even toward him. He’ll know something is fishy.” I turn around fully, facing the other women. “I can do this. I still feel strong,” I lie. “The rest of you, move as fast as you can. Get ahead of him on the trail, and keep going. If we’re lucky, he’s already figured out how to get his gear raft down to the bottom of Splinter Ridge. And you can get inside and race downriver. If I can catch up with you … or find a way to take him out, I will.” My voice breaks. “This gives us a shot, at least.”
Macy exhales through her teeth, the sound wet and ragged. “I should do it,” she murmurs, voice dull, but there’s no power behind the words. She is swaying even while she sits.
Pam whispers a curse under her breath. Deborah presses a shaking hand over her mouth.
Allie clears her throat. “Not you, Macy. You and Imani are going to need someone to support you,” she says. “But I can help Kaia,” she adds sharply, her voice cracking. She flashed me a fierce smile. “Swim team, remember?” Despite the exhaustion turning her face a pale gray in the dimming light, there’s a light in her eyes. “If you’re swimming behind that raft, I’m swimming with you.”
My breath catches. “Allie—”
“Nope, it’s settled. Deborah and Pam can stay with Imani and Macy,” she says firmly, eyes boring into mine. “They’ll each have someone to help them if …” She lets the thought trail off. “Not to brag, but like I said, I’m probably the strongest swimmer here. I can help you steer, and I can help hold back the raft … and then we can help each other get out of the river. Maybe, if we’re lucky, we can chuck a rock at Leo’s head.” She smiles again.
“This is a bad idea,” Macy says softly. “Two people in the water is twice the risk.”
“And twice the control,” Allie shoots back. “If Kaia gets sucked under, if the raft pivots, if the current spins her sideways—what then? She can’t do this alone. There’s no way. Strength in numbers.”
I feel myself shaking—not with fear, exactly, but with something sharp and overwhelming. A cocktail of dread and the last of my adrenaline—but also gratitude.
I don’t have to do this alone.
“Allie …” I whisper, my voice threatening to break.
But she’s already moving, checking the straps of her life jacket, securing her hair into a fresh ponytail, tightening everything with quick fingers. “We’re doing this together whether you like it or not. Now come on, we need to start getting our dummies ready.”
The sky above the canyon rim is streaked with gold. The fat half-moon has appeared in the pale blue to the west, and the canyon walls are beginning to darken. We’re almost out of time.
Macy’s good eye drifts toward the curve of the river downstream. “We have maybe half an hour before we get to the spot in the river where he’ll be able to see our raft,” she says. “Maybe. I hope I’m remembering right. We’ll have to stay along the canyon walls until we get to the start of theportage trail, so if he’s looking for swimmers in the water there … he’s going to see us.”
My heart hammers as I follow her gaze downriver. I imagine slipping into the river, propelling the gear boat weighted with our makeshift ghosts. “We’ll make sure he’s looking at the raft, not in the water along the canyon,” I say quietly, catching Allie’s eye. “And when we get close, we’ll scream loud enough to make him believe we’re really going over. Now, let’s get moving.”
As I reach for the nearest dry bag, Parker’s voice fills my mind. “You’ve got this.”But now it seems like the words aren’t just meant for me, but for theweI feel forming around me.
“All right,” Macy rasps, letting go of the guide oars and moving to sit beside me on the side of the raft. Up close, I can see her injuries better, and it makes me want to cry. Half her face is swallowed under layers of swollen, purpling flesh, angry at the edges and flapping with dried and fresh blood. One eye is half-closed, the lashes glued together. “We need six shapes. How do we do this?”
I hesitate. I have no idea how we’re actually going to build these dummies from the haphazard supplies at our fingertips.
