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Chapter 3

Auteur: Inkbound
At noon the next day, a helicopter landed just outside the camp.

The rotor wash kicked up a massive cloud of dust, nearly ripping the corrugated iron sheets right off the shack.

Arthur cursed under his breath and ran back inside. "That Ruby woman is here. She brought a whole crew with her."

I sat in the tent without moving. My fingers traced a frayed piece of red string.

It was the string tied tightly around Joey's wrist when I finally found her.

"Zachary, do you want to hide for a bit?" Arthur asked, poking his head in.

"No need."

I stuffed the string into my pocket and stood up.

By the time the tent flap was pulled back, Ruby was already standing a short distance from the entrance.

Her oversized sunglasses covered most of her face, but they couldn't hide her heavy makeup, which looked absurdly out of place in this desert.

She glanced my way, then turned her head and frowned in disgust.

"This is him?" she asked her assistant.

The latter nodded. "Zachary Porter, 43 years old. Desert guide. The only local who can cross the deep interior."

Ruby looked back at me through her sunglasses.

My face was weathered with wrinkles, my skin tanned almost black, and my entire body was coated in sand.

I looked like a completely different person from the man she had divorced eight years ago.

Besides, my real name was Jack Porter. After Joey died, I changed it to Zachary.

Ruby didn't recognize me.

"Let's hear his terms," she said, waving a hand at her assistant before turning to find some shade.

The assistant walked over. His polite demeanor was laced with arrogance as he said, "Mr. Porter, Ms. Shaw is being exceptionally generous. We can negotiate the money.

"50 million dollars is just the starting point. We can also arrange a Bellmont residency permit or study-abroad slots for your children—"

"I don't have children."

The assistant froze for a second before checking his tablet.

"Then we can offer something else. Real estate, top-tier medical access, or…"

Just then, David Webb, an old guide, walked past. His son, Kieran Webb, was following behind, carrying a bucket.

Kieran had a loose tongue. He jerked his chin toward the assistant and muttered to David, "Zachary's got it rough. His wife abandoned him, his only daughter died, and now he's just rotting away out here in the desert all by himself. He doesn't even have anyone to talk to."

It wasn't loud, but Ruby caught it. Her gaze swept over from behind her sunglasses.

She let out a cold snicker. "With a man like that, no wonder she couldn't leave fast enough."

Arthur's fists clenched.

I reached out and held him back.

Ruby walked back over, looking down at me like she was handing out charity.

"I get that you're hesitant. The desert is dangerous. But my brother's safety is paramount. Name your terms. As long as you go in and bring him back, everything is on the table."

"I said I'm not going," I replied firmly.

"You want more money?"

"It has nothing to do with money."

She frowned, clearly annoyed at having to deal with an ungrateful idiot.

"Then what does it have to do with? That dead daughter of yours?"

The air instantly turned to ice. Arthur caught his breath.

Ruby smirked, completely unfazed, and pressed on. "Did you drag your daughter into the desert and get her killed? Is that why you're too chicken to go back out there now?"

My hands balled into tight fists. The veins in my neck bulged, and my temples throbbed violently.

"Shut up."

The whole camp went dead silent.

The smirk froze on Ruby's face, and her bodyguards immediately stepped forward to shield her.

But she recovered quickly, her expression twisting back into that deep-seated arrogance.

"Looks like I hit a nerve. You couldn't even keep your daughter alive. No wonder you're stuck playing tour guide in the desert. My brother is nothing like your daughter. His life actually matters."

I stared straight into her face.

It had been eight years. She was just as beautiful as she used to be.

And just as heartless.

"You need to leave, Ms. Shaw."

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  • No Saving the Woman Who Killed My Daughter   Chapter 10

    I found Ruby at dusk the following day behind a wind-eroded rock near 39°N.The rock resembled a broken wall, blocking part of the wind. Behind it, a half-human-shaped depression was pressed into the sand.Ruby was curled up there.Her knees were drawn up, her hands tucked against her chest as if she were merely asleep.Her skin had dried to a pale ash, and her lips were split into deep, jagged cracks.I folded her fingers inward, curling them closed one by one.Then, I wrapped her in a sleeping bag, secured her to the stretcher, and loaded her onto my camel.We walked for over ten hours through the night until darkness swallowed the landscape.I didn't know what to think during those hours. It felt like something inside me had finally reached its end, leaving behind a profound emptiness.I couldn't sleep much that night. We hit the trail again just as the sky began to gray.By the time we cleared the desert, night was falling once more.Arthur was waiting at the camp entran

  • No Saving the Woman Who Killed My Daughter   Chapter 9

    That night, I sat alone in my tent.Joey's red string lay on the table. The knot was tied tight, and the thread was frayed and rough, broken in several places and holding together by only a few remaining strands.I sat there until the sky began to turn.A faint light gradually bled through the tent walls.The sandstorm had dropped to a category 4. It would die down completely on the next day.Arthur didn't disturb me.The entire camp was dead quiet, save for the occasional, distant groan of a wounded man.I pulled Joey's photo from my pocket.It was taken on her 18th birthday. She was smiling sweetly behind a birthday cake.On the back, she had written a single line. "I'm going to be a scientist and turn the desert into an oasis."Half of her wish came true.At 22, her paper was published in a major academic journal. And then, she died in a place where no one could find her.At daybreak, I filled all my canteens—the same three flasks of water, a knife, and a compass.I did

  • No Saving the Woman Who Killed My Daughter   Chapter 8

    In the end, I never made it into the deep interior.It wasn't because I chose not to go but because time ran out.This sandstorm was far more unusual than the one eight years ago. The wind and sand moved with a terrifying, unnatural speed.The category 12 sandstorm hit at least a day ahead of the weather forecasts.In conditions like this, vehicles were useless, and neither man nor camel could stand against it.When I returned to the camp, I was met with a scene that brought me to a sudden halt. Over 40 SUVs were lined up in a column. Their engines roared, and their roofs were strapped tight with water barrels and supply crates.The crowd was a chaotic mess. I recognized a few faces from the past few days, but most were complete strangers.Arthur was standing in front of the convoy, shouting at the top of his lungs, "Are you all out of your minds? A category 12 sandstorm is about to hit! Going in now is a suicide mission!"Nobody listened to him.Ruby's assistant was sitting

  • No Saving the Woman Who Killed My Daughter   Chapter 7

    The wind picked up with a sudden vengeance, raining fine granules of sand down from the sky.Ruby stood ten feet away, clutching her phone with a death grip.Her assistant shielded her by half a step, and the bodyguards closed ranks around her once more.I looked at the wall of people, then spoke slowly. "Since you all want to know what happened eight years ago, I'll make it perfectly clear."No one interrupted."My daughter Joey was 22 years old, a graduate student in geology. Eight years ago, she went into the deep interior of Taklaven Desert with her professor's team to collect sand samples."On the third day, they were hit by a once-in-a-century sandstorm. Their GPS went dead, their vehicle sank into quicksand, and their supplies were only enough to last 36 hours."Ruby's lips began to tremble."She managed to send out one final distress signal. The coordinates were 39°12' N, 94°47' E. Dispatch received it and activated an emergency response, deploying the only fully equipp

  • No Saving the Woman Who Killed My Daughter   Chapter 6

    But my answer changed the next morning. It wasn't because of the money, and it wasn't because of the threats.At dawn, Arthur pushed open my tent flap, holding a weather report. He spread the map out in front of me and pointed to a line tracking across it."A category 12 sandstorm is expected to hit the deep interior within 48 hours." His voice was heavy."If Howard is still alive, given his current dehydration rate, he has three days max. But once the storm hits, even satellite tracking will be useless."I closed my eyes and thought about it for a moment."This storm looks exactly like the one eight years ago," Arthur added.Those words cut deep into a place I had kept locked away for eight long years.I pushed the map aside and walked out of the tent.Ruby's people had set up a row of canopies outside the camp, filled with folding tables and a mountain of laptops. The outdoor air conditioning units hummed loudly.She was sitting inside, sipping ice water.As I walked over,

  • No Saving the Woman Who Killed My Daughter   Chapter 5

    "Who the hell are you?" Ruby asked.She took a half-step back, and her assistant instantly jumped in front of her."Ms. Shaw's brother is basically royalty. He might be a bit of a wild child, but he would never waste his time messing with low-life scum like you. If you're going to invent a story, at least make it believable. Have you even looked in a mirror lately?"Ruby stayed quiet for a long while before she finally managed to piece her composure back together."I don't care who you are, but I believe any grudge can be settled."She slipped her sunglasses back on."Figure out what your terms are and tell me directly. My brother's life isn't going to wait around for you to throw a tantrum."With that, she turned on her heel and began walking away.Arthur was finally let go from the blazing sun. His lips had already cracked. He downed half a flask of water before he could even catch his breath.He walked over to me and whispered, "Zachary, were you serious about that?"I did

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