第3章

By two in the afternoon the sky had gone as dark as dusk.

Wind tore around outside the shed, dragging dead branches and leaves across the ground.

The company group chat had been silent for a full half hour.

The last thing Shaw posted was a short video.

You could hear wind howling in the background, and the trees around him were bending in every direction.

Greg and a few of the women had gone pale in the video, but Shaw was still holding the phone up and shouting.

"We have officially reached the heart of Wildman Gorge!

"We are going to finish an extreme crossing through this wilderness and make a final push for that $30,000!

"Let the cowards sitting back at camp with their tea see what real fighting strength looks like!"

At the end of the video, Shaw made a point of turning the camera on the black trash bag stuffed with everyone's phones, then pulled the top of it tight and knotted it.

Pike posted three thumbs-up in a row underneath.

"When you come back in triumph, the company is booking the biggest hotel in town for the celebration!"

That was the last message in the chat that anyone answered.

I refreshed the screen. My signal was still full, which meant the problem was not on my end.

It was Shaw and the rest of them. They had walked all the way into the dead zone inside Wildman Gorge.

In other words, they were in the dead canyon Walt had warned me about.

Heavy raindrops started hammering the roof of the supply shed with a deafening clatter.

In under five minutes it turned into a downpour, like water being tipped out of a bucket.

Walt stood in the doorway with a grim look, staring toward Wildman Gorge.

"That's it. Rain coming down this hard, the soil up there can't hold the water."

I took out my own personal backup radio, tuned it to the rescue channel, and tried to raise any other guide or ranger in the area.

All I got was static. Nobody answered.

If they had followed the route I planned, they would be halfway up the mountain right now, drinking hot soup in a solid mountain refuge.

That shelter had plenty of supplies and a satellite phone with a direct line to the outside.

Instead, the only link they had to the rest of the world was inside a black trash bag that Shaw was carrying.

My phone buzzed. It was Pike calling.

"Nora, I need you to go into the mountains right now and bring Mr. Shaw and the others out."

He gave the order in a tone that took my agreement for granted.

"There's a contract with an important client that Greg has to sign tonight. Get up there and bring them out."

I looked at the sheet of rain outside the tent and answered coldly.

"I can't get in, sir. Wildman Gorge has no signal at all."

"I don't care how you do it! You're on a rescue team. What is a little rain to you?

"If that contract gets held up tonight, can you cover the loss? That deal is worth several million dollars!"

I held the phone away from my ear so he would not blow out my eardrum.

"Sir, I'm in sales. I'm not the company's suicide squad.

"And it was Mr. Shaw who smashed my radio himself and tore up my safety map."

Pike went off on the other end of the line.

"Don't you try to dodge this! I'm telling you, Nora, if Greg isn't back in time to sign, you're gone tomorrow!"

I did not answer him. I hung up.