Page 61 of My Sister is Going to Kill Me

“What’s the plan?” Fiona asked. “Do we form pairs, send up smoke signals, or . . . ?”

“Pray this is all a horrible dream?” PK said.

“There is no need for hysteria,” Stefan said. “I’m sure there is a perfectly good reason for all of it.”

“Is everyone capable of hiking?” Big Pete asked.

Imogen looked to her grandmother. Lucinda pulled her bare left foot from the water and turned it in a slow circle. She put her straw hat back on and nodded.

“No more splitting up,” Big Pete said. “We’ll all head up the trail to the Thunder Spring intersection together. We’ll keep our eyes peeled for movement off either side of the path. If we get to the trail junction without running into someone or receiving further information, we’ll reassess.”

He seemed to grow a little taller as he issued his instructions. “If Charlie is indeed hiding, we need to get him out. He likely hasn’t gone far. But out here, too many people get lost or trapped or hurt. They disappear. That isn’t going to happen. Not to Charlie. Not today.”

He looked up at the sky, where the previously white clouds were now lined in gray ruffles. A few darker wisps trailed behind, edging their way into the perfect blue.

“One more thing,” he said, turning to Devon. “Is it possible your brother is carrying a weapon?”

Devon looked confused.

“A firearm,” Big Pete prompted.

“As far as I know, he’s never shot a gun in his life.”

Big Pete gave no indication of whether this was a good answer or a troubling one. “All right, then. Let’s get this search party started.”

Chapter Twenty-Eight

“Where is everyone?”

The cottonwoods and mint bushes surrounding Thunder Spring were eerily vacant. Mandy had lost track of time behind the waterfall, taking not one but twelve dives through the Maytag’s underwater tornado before she felt satisfied. The experience was addictive: pain and pleasure, shock and deliverance. It was like getting a tattoo or falling in love. As soon as it was over, she wanted to do it again.

“Hello? Fiona? Lucinda?”

She and Thor picked their way across the mossy rocks to where they’d left their stuff. There was no sign of Lucinda or Fiona, let alone Stefan or Charlie. Just Mandy’s sarong draped over a wild scraggle of mint, Thor’s day pack resting under the batiked fabric.

“They must have taken off up the trail.”

Thor seemed strangely unconcerned about the fact that every one of his other charges had hiked on without him. But if he wasn’t worried, Mandy decided she wasn’t, either. The last hour—or however long they’d spent spinning in the water—she’d forgotten about the death threats. She’d forgotten about her investigative assignments from Liv, the duties she’d so thoroughly failed to complete. She’d gotten what she’d come to the Grand Canyon for in the first place: an adventure.

It was a shame her sister wasn’t with her.

“We’ve got two options,” Thor said. He perched on the hollowed-out trunk of a fallen cottonwood tree. “We can hoof it up the trail to catch up with the others. They can’t be too far ahead. Not if we jog.”

Mandy craned her neck up. While the trail was clearly visible, it was an unending zigzag of switchbacks through cactus. There was at least a thousand vertical feet of gravelly scree between them and a saddle of mesquite on the horizon. And she hadn’t exactly been a speed demon on the first part of the hike.

“What’s plan B?” she asked.

He winked. “There’s a shortcut.”

“A tunnel?”

“Something like that. You trust me?”

She considered what she knew about Thor. He was cute. He was funny. He’d shown her care when she needed it, hiking along with her at the back of the pack up to Thunder Spring. And he’d shown her adventure when she wanted it, swirling with her through the Maytag. Liv probably had a twelve-point matrix for what constituted trust. But Mandy operated on vibes. She was certain Thor would be good at a party, great in a crisis. Was that trust?

“I’m game.”

He looked her over for a long moment, assessing something.