Page 109 of My Sister is Going to Kill Me

Liv remembered what Big Pete had said earlier, about how he’d locked it up but made sure to give the guide on overnight watch the key.

“That means Thor has it?” she asked.

Big Pete nodded. “I’m sorry.”

Lucinda put a hand on Liv’s arm. “We’ll find them. They’re going to be just fine.”

“You don’t know that,” Big Pete said. “Thor’s a funny one. He knows his way around a gun. And he’s burned bridges before.”

“What do you mean?”

“Nine years ago, I met him down here in the canyon. He was alone, wearing a sheepskin loincloth he processed himself. He had a pistol, a fishing pole, a bunch of old books, and a laminated guide to desert leaves and berries that are safe to eat. He made it a whole year before he wandered into our office looking for a job. He’s a skilled wilderness guide, but he’s not big on following the rules. Start of every season, I’m half surprised he comes back.”

“Where was he before the canyon?” Lucinda asked.

“Wherever it was, he wasn’t going back there. We got certified mail for him once from Virginia. He taped it to a beer can, took it out to the desert, and unloaded a full clip into it.”

Liv felt a little rip inside her chest. “We have to go after them. Now.”

“No can do,” Big Pete said. “Not without PFDs.”

“He has the gun,” Liv said. “And my sister. We have to take the risk. How dangerous is the stretch of river ahead?”

Big Pete looked toward the looming cliffs to the west. The obsidian rocks were lit by the sun, shining like mirrored skyscrapers.

“A couple moderate rapids ahead. Then there’s Upset thirteen miles downriver. It has a hole at the bottom that can flip a boat and tear it to pieces. A guide, Shorty Burton, died there years ago. With a life jacket.”

Maybe Mandy’s raft wouldn’t get that far. Maybe they’d have the good sense to stop before Upset Rapid. Or not. Liv pushed on.

“But the supply boat can hold all of us, right? And you’ve got lots of experience on these rapids.”

Big Pete sighed. “It’s possible.”

“The boat wouldn’t be too heavy?” Lucinda asked.

“Not if we take out anything we don’t absolutely need.”

They all glanced at the tarp holding Stefan. In the gathering heat, his body was going to become harder to ignore. In just a few hours, Liv imagined the smell would be unbearable.

“Well, then,” Lucinda said. “We will leave Stefan on the beach, and we’ll all get on the supply boat.”

“We can’t make people get on a boat without life jackets,” Big Pete said. “And we can’t move a dead body.” He was emphatic. “That’s bigger than PFDs. It’s a serious crime.”

“Ferrying him down the river might also be a crime,” Liv pointed out. “We don’t know which would be worse according to park police standards.”

Even as she said this, she cringed. Liv did know. Moving Stefan from the exact place where he was killed was likely to destroy evidence. Let alone what would happen if they left his body on the beach for the mountain lions and turkey vultures to find.

“No,” Big Pete said. “Babette was in the gray zone, because she hadn’t yet joined the trip. But Stefan Eriksen is squarely my responsibility. I have to stay with the body and wait for the police. We’ll just have to wait here and flag down another party to use their sat phone.”

But no other boats had passed them all morning.

“You have a responsibility to all of us,” Lucinda said. “Not just Stefan. Leave Katy here with a raft, and food, and anyone who doesn’t want to take the risk of getting on a boat without a PFD. You can take the rest of us in the supply boat to try to catch up with the others.”

“And Stefan’s body?”

“We’ll bury it,” Liv said.

“That’s a crime,” Big Pete said. “I won’t—”