Page 49 of My Sister is Going to Kill Me

“Suit yourself,” Lucinda said crisply. She adjusted her enormous sun hat and headed toward the lunch station.

Devon and Charlie lingered with Mandy and Liv on the bank as Katy cinched down the last of her knots.

“When do you think my sister will arrive at Deer Creek?” Devon asked.

Katy squinted up to the north. “If they got an early start on the hike down, they might be there soon.”

“The boats will reach her first?” Devon said. “Then I’ll float.”

“I’ll hike with Stefan,” Charlie said.

“Charlie . . .” Devon’s voice was low. “Don’t you think it would be wise for us to be together when we greet Babette?”

“When we greet her,” Charlie responded, “I’d like to have our biggest investor by our side.”

“And your first investor,” Mandy added. “I’ll hike too.” She stepped toward Charlie, then stared at Liv and waited.

It was times like this Mandy wished they were the kind of sisters who knew each other well enough to read each other’s minds. She’d always been jealous of siblings like that, the ones who accidentally got the same haircut or yelled, “Fettuccine Alfredo!” during a game of Charades as soon as the other one put a single finger in the air. They’d never had that kind of telepathy. Even when their mom died and Liv had flown across the country to get home and be with her, some part of her big sister never quite made it through the door. Liv was always keeping busy—doing dishes, sorting papers—hovering just outside the crush of grief. She never allowed herself to collapse on the couch with Mandy and wallow in their pain. As if making herself soft was too painfully hard.

Liv’s heart was off limits, her brain a steel maze locked in an iron box. You couldn’t watch the ball bearings as they rolled through. You could only hear the muffled plinks and guess where you stood with her.

Like right now. Was Liv impressed that Mandy had volunteered to accompany Charlie on the hike, to facilitate a splitting of the Sauvage siblings so they could learn more? Or did Liv think Mandy was hitting the trail just because Thor would be there?

And what would Liv choose?

“I’ll float,” Liv said.

The words shot a surge of pride through Mandy’s chest. Liv believed in her. She thought Mandy could handle Charlie and Stefan on her own. But something else hummed in her heart too. Sadness that they wouldn’t be together. A spasm of fear of setting off on her own. And one more note, twanging like a tired guitar string. Regret. She’d had no clue what Liv would choose, or why she’d done it. Her sister was as inscrutable to her as ever.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Threat assessment was easy when you were doing it from an air-conditioned embassy office. Liv had a much harder time now, standing on the empty beach at Tapeats in the hundred-degree heat, eating a peanut butter sandwich, debating whether she’d made the right call to split from Mandy.

Her sister wouldn’t be isolated; in addition to Stefan and Charlie, Fiona and Lucinda had also volunteered to hike to Thunder Spring. And Thor would be watching over them. She still wasn’t positive the guide was trustworthy, but so far he’d acted in their best interests. And it probably wouldn’t bode well for his job security if he let a guest get hurt on his watch.

The real question was what Charlie was hoping to achieve on the hike. She watched him dig through his day pack, pulling out a long-sleeved shirt to protect his pale arms from the sun. He looked resolved, fierce even, as if there was something he had to do, and no matter how scary or painful, he was going to do it. But what could it be? Stefan had already voiced his support for Charlie and Devon’s plan—whatever it was—and Charlie hardly seemed capable of strong-arming the Dutchman if his allegiance had wavered because of the threats.

Liv made her way over to Mandy, who was hovering over the remains of the sandwich table with the guides. Mandy’s hand was on Thor’s forearm. There was something about it, her sister’s fingers lightly touching the blurred grizzly bear he had tattooed there, that scared Liv for a moment. Whether she was worried for her sister’s safety, the guide’s heart, or her own, she wasn’t sure.

“Hey,” Liv said, bumping a hip into Mandy’s. “Got a sec?”

“For you? Always. But first, help me out here.” Mandy pointed to the two-heeled sandwich in Katy’s hand. “Potato chips on peanut butter and jelly. Good or gross?”

“Um . . . depends on the chips?” Liv said.

“Doesn’t matter,” Thor said.

“It totally matters!” Katy crowed. “Regular salty chips, yum. Barbecue, sure. But those vinegary ones, or the spicy ones . . .”

“Dude.” Thor shook his head. “You never been out in the wilderness on calorie deficit? One time I chewed on my knife holster just to stay sane.”

Liv looked at the salt-stained leather sheath clipped to Thor’s belt. Suddenly the leftover chip dust was looking a lot more appetizing.

“Thor’s right,” Big Pete said. “When you’re at the end of the lunch line, and you’re oaring that chub all day, I don’t care if they’re pickle sriracha chips. It’s all going in my sandwich.”

“Remember Everything Pickles?” Mandy asked Liv.

Of course she remembered.