Fatal Descent

by Beth Groundwater

  “Not if we can find out who’s doing this and get them arrested once we reach Hite Marina. But I’m more concerned about what she or he is planning for the rest of the trip. What’s going to happen next?”

  Looking worried, Rob asked, “Do you think whoever cut the harness is going to go after Elsa again? Should we warn her?”

  “Against who? And against what? Maybe nothing, if all the person wanted to do was scare or hurt her. They’ve accomplished that.” Mandy bit her lip while thoughts swirled in her head. What should they do?

  “Until we have something definite, we can’t accuse anyone,” she finally said. “If we’re right, the killer will just deny it.”

  “And will know we’re suspicious and might decide to come after us next,” Rob added.

  Mandy’s heart gave a lurch and started racing with fear. Fear for herself, yes, but fear for Rob’s life even more. “And if we’re wrong, we’ve pissed off someone, and the killer will think he or she got away with it.”

  “And everyone else will panic.”

  Mandy nodded. “I’ll try to get Elsa alone later, say I want to check her ankle. I’ll tell her the harness was cut so she can be on the alert, and I’ll ask her to keep it secret.”

  “Do you really think she’ll do that? She might flip out.”

  “From what I know of Elsa, I don’t think she will, not if I explain the danger if she does. Then I’ll feel her out, see if she thinks Tina or Paul might be capable of hurting her.”

  After finishing his apple, Rob stared at the browning core. “I’m concerned about what might happen when we camp tonight. Maybe we should organize guard shifts through the night, between you, me, Kendra and Gonzo, to watch over Elsa—hell, to keep an eye on everyone.”

  “Good idea. I think that’s the best we can do for now. We really can’t accuse anyone and tie them up without proof.”

  Rob slapped his thigh. “Damn, I wish we’d found someone here and could have gotten word out.”

  “We knew it would be quiet on the river in October, but I didn’t expect to be totally isolated.”

  “By the way, Cool asked if he could take a crack at fixing the radio, so I gave it to him and told him to have at it.”

  Suspicious, Mandy asked, “What’s he know about radios?”

  Rob shrugged. “He can’t know much less than me, and given that I couldn’t get it to work, what’s the harm in letting him try? Hey, you gonna eat that?” He pointed at Mandy’s unfinished cone.

  “No, here.” She handed it to him. “I think we’re going to be stuck with having to figure this whole mess out on our own—”

  Gonzo called to them from the rafts, “Rob, Mandy, we’re ready to go!”

  “Enough nookie nookie,” Cool yelled out. Laughter followed.

  Mandy frowned and Rob rolled his eyes.

  While they walked back along the trail and Rob wolfed down the rest of Mandy’s lunch, she said, “I asked Gonzo to hold on to the harness for now and not show it to anyone or give it back to Cool. And I asked him to buddy up to Cool and find out what his feelings are toward Elsa. Why don’t you try to get some time alone with Paul and talk to him, while I do the same with Tina? We can compare notes with Gonzo tonight.”

  “And hopefully we’ll spot someone at the confluence or Spanish Bottom,” Rob said. “I’d love to drop this whole problem in someone else’s lap—get the cops involved.”

  When the rafts came back in view, Mandy scanned the people in them. Who knew what was going in any of their heads? The only people she felt she could really trust were Rob, Gonzo, and Kendra. She rubbed her suddenly clammy hands on her nylon river shorts.

  “In the meantime, we’re stuck in this canyon with a killer.”

  _____

  Kendra and Gonzo took all of the clients and Cool in their rafts that afternoon, so they could give them some final lessons in paddling technique and make sure they were prepared for the rapids. Mandy and Rob hung behind in their oar rafts, partly to keep Alex’s body out of direct view of the others and partly to give the paddle rafts room to maneuver. While they watched, Kendra and Gonzo sent their rafts spinning and slipping sideways with different commands issued to their paddlers. After everyone had learned the commands and their techniques had improved, Gonzo organized a couple of competitions between the paddle rafts to seal the lessons in everyone’s mind.

  Mandy had quietly observed the practice session, but everyone acted normally—or as normally as could be expected given Alex’s death. There were no signs of revengeful gloating or sly glances at Elsa. By the time they reached Salt Creek, everyone was ready for water and a rest, so Mandy called a halt to the competitions.

  She and Rob pulled in closer to the paddle rafts, then she pointed out the debris and heavily muddied waters pouring out of Salt Creek. “The darker water shows this side canyon flash flooded during the rainstorm last night.”

  “That’s why we avoid camping at canyon entrances when there’s any hint of rain.” Rob pointed at another dark stain in the water as they reached it. “Elephant Canyon flooded, too, though not with as much water, since it’s smaller.”

  “Where’s all this silt go?” Paul asked.

  “Lake Powell,” Mandy answered. “It’s slowly filling up with mud, which will eventually cause problems at the Glen Canyon Dam.” And was a concern of environmental groups worried about the impacts of a monumental flood downstream in the Grand Canyon.

  Paul nodded vigorously. “I’ve heard about that.”

  Before he could say more, Rob smoothly moved away from this potentially touchy topic. “Now, in about a mile and a half, we’ll reach our first rapid, The Slide. An old landslide narrowed the river there, creating a little class II riffle.” He mimed an evil grin. “Just a small taste of coming attractions in Cataract Canyon.”

  “Yowser,” Cool shouted and hefted his paddle overhead. “Rapids today!”

  Diana’s eyes went wide.

  Sweat dampened Mandy’s palms. Yes, rapids could be dangerous, and Cataract Canyon was known as the graveyard of the Colorado because of the dozens of drownings that had occurred there. But she was worried about a much worse threat to their collective safety. With a hidden killer in their group, she prayed that they would all make it through the rest of the trip alive.

  The Slide was a wide-open bumpy water ride with no technical features. All of the rafts ran it cleanly with just a few squeals from Tina and the women friends and a couple of whoops from Paul and Cool. The Andersons were all quiet. Hal shot a worried glance back at Rob’s raft, but Alex’s body bag was securely tied down and wasn’t jostled much by the rapid.

  Soon after the Slide, they reached the confluence with the Green River. Mandy and the other guides scanned all of the potential camping spots along the river banks for canoes, kayaks, or rafts.

  Nothing.

  Then Gonzo and Kendra encouraged their passengers to paddle hard so they could reach the beach on the other side of the junction as planned. Mandy and Rob grunted and hauled on their oars. They had to cross the width of the current pouring in from the Green to do it, and the effort strained everyone.

  When they finally beached the rafts, Gonzo yelled, “Rest stop!”

  “We need it after that.” Hal wiped sweat from his brow. “Why’d we go to all that trouble to get here?”

  “This long beach is a popular camping stop,” Mandy said. “We’ll search for other parties and try to get word out about Alex. This is also a good place to take photos of the confluence, looking upstream at both rivers. Anyone need a snack or some water?”

  While Kendra and Rob pulled food and drinks out of the supply rafts, Mandy took Gonzo and Cool aside. “I want you two to go as fast as you can to the upstream end of this beach on the Green, looking for campers. If you find someone with a radio, or who’s going to be picked up by a powerboat today, tell them we need h
elp. Have them send a powerboat to Spanish Bottom to meet us this afternoon. But whether you find someone or not, be back in an hour, so we can keep moving and set up camp at Spanish Bottom before dark.”

  They nodded and took off at a trot along the beach to where it curved out of sight. In addition to looking for help, Mandy hoped that Gonzo would be able to get some useful information out of Cool during the errand.

  Speaking of which, it was her turn to try to get some useful information. She walked to where Elsa was sitting in the shade of some hackberry trees. “How’d you get here?” she asked.

  “Rob and Paul helped me hop over, before they took off downstream. Said they were going to look for campers at that end of the beach.”

  And Rob would have a chance to quiz Paul in the process. Mandy looked around and saw that Tina and Kendra were taking group shots of the girlfriends. They had somehow convinced the Andersons to pose in front of the confluence, too. Mandy wondered if they would later look on those photos fondly, as a tribute to Alex’s wish for his family, or with abhorrence. At least his body bag was out of photo range. She seized the opportunity to talk alone to Elsa and sat next to her.

  “I’m going to check on your ankle.” She started unwrapping the Ace bandage. “While I’m doing that, I need to tell you something that will shock you. And you have to keep it a secret. You can’t tell anyone or react to the news or make any loud noises. Can you do that?”

  Looking puzzled, Elsa nodded. “What’s going on?”

  Mandy took a deep breath and plunged in. “Your climbing harness was deliberately cut. That’s why you fell.”

  Elsa’s eyes went wide and she hissed in a lungful of air, but as Mandy shook her head, Elsa clamped her lips shut. After she recovered, she said, “Are you sure someone cut it on purpose, that it wasn’t an accident or defect?”

  “I’m sure. It was a clean slice done with a knife almost all the way through, so once any weight hung on it, the harness would break. It must have been done just before you put it on.”

  “Who would do that?”

  “That’s what I need to ask you. The people up there besides you and me were Cool, Les, Paul, and Tina. I’m sorry to say that the obvious suspects are your daughter and your ex-husband.”

  “What? Why?”

  Mandy shrugged. “That’s what I’m asking you. Maybe Tina—”

  “No, Tina would never hurt me!” Elsa said vehemently.

  “Even if you sabotaged her plan to get you and her father back together by having an affair with Alex?”

  Elsa started to shake her head, paused for a moment, then said, “Yes, she was upset about that, but she wouldn’t get back at me by making me fall. I mean, I could have been killed!”

  “Maybe she just wanted to hurt you after you hurt her.”

  “It’s too unbelievable.”

  Mandy was still skeptical, but she decided to move on. “What about Paul?”

  “That wimp? Yes, Paul and I have our differences. We’ve had some shouting matches, but he’s never gotten violent with me. He wouldn’t dare! And he wouldn’t have the guts to pull off something like this.” She swept a hand toward her ankle.

  The ankle was swollen and starting to purple. Mandy felt the cold pack. It was still chilled. “We’ll need to keep your ankle cool and wrapped for awhile longer.”

  Mandy started rewrapping Elsa’s ankle and thought again about Paul. If the man had been too afraid to confront Elsa directly, it made sense that he might choose this indirect route to send her a message. She studied Elsa’s face.

  “Are you absolutely sure neither Tina nor Paul knew about your affair with Alex before the trip?”

  “I really doubt it. Neither one of them is living with me now. Tina’s in the dorms and Paul has his own apartment. Alex and I were discreet, too, because we didn’t want anyone in the department knowing.” Elsa paused. “But why are you asking that? What difference does it make when they found out, whether it was before the trip or last night?”

  “Well, there’s Alex.”

  Elsa’s eyes went wide. “I thought he was killed by a bear!”

  “Possibly,” Mandy said. “But there are signs that make us think it may not have been a bear.”

  “What signs?”

  “Sorry, I don’t think I can share that information with anyone yet.”

  “You think Alex was murdered?” Elsa said incredulously in a loud voice.

  Mandy shushed her and glanced at the others to see if anyone had heard. Thankfully, no one was looking at them.

  “And murdered by Tina or Paul?” Elsa continued more quietly. She shook her head violently. “No, no way.”

  Then she paled and clutched Mandy’s arm. “Maybe there’s some sick maniac on this trip who’s killing people randomly.” She stared at the others on the beach and whispered, “Trying to pick us off one by one.”

  The hair on the back of Mandy’s neck rose, as if she was being watched. She jerked her head and scanned the other clients. None of them seemed to be paying any attention to Elsa or her, so she faced Elsa again, who now looked terrified.

  “Rob and I haven’t ruled that out,” she said to Elsa, “but we’re thinking this person is choosing victims for a reason, and that if we figure out the reason, it will help us figure out who it is. In the meantime, we’re trying to play it cool, not let on what we know. I need you to do the same thing.”

  Elsa’s palm on Mandy’s arm grew sweaty. “Okay, I will. But what’s to stop him from coming after me again?”

  Nothing. But Mandy wasn’t going to say that and alarm Elsa. “The guides are watching everyone during the day, and we’re going to organize guard shifts at night. We’ll protect you the best we can.” She paused and locked her gaze with Elsa’s. “But if it’s Paul or especially Tina, who is sharing a tent with you, that will be hard, since they have good reasons to approach you.”

  Elsa let go of Mandy and waved her hand dismissively. “I can’t believe one of them tried to hurt me. It’s got to be someone else.”

  Rob and Paul reappeared from around the bend downstream. Hopeful, Mandy stood and waved to them.

  When Rob spotted her, he signaled with arms crossing low in front of him that they had found nothing, no other campers.

  “Damn, no luck.” Mandy put her hands on her hips and looked back at Elsa.

  The woman was staring at her ex-husband and murmuring, “Absolutely no way …”

  _____

  After the confluence, the water volume in the Colorado River doubled, with the flow from the Green River added in. Mandy had checked

  the water gauges before they left and knew the combined total was a moderate 12,000 cubic feet per second (cfs). That would be enough to give their clients a fun ride, but hopefully none of the rapids would be truly life-threatening. They were already carrying one body with them, after all, and Mandy didn’t want the river gods adding any more.

  Also after the confluence, a park regulation requiring all boaters to wear personal floatation devices (PFDs) went into effect. So everyone in the four rafts, guides included, now wore a tightly cinched PFD even though they planned to pull out for the night at lower Spanish Bottom. The campsite was just upriver from Brown Betty, the first of over two dozen rapids in Cataract Canyon. The exact number was dependent on the water level in Lake Powell, and how far it backed up into the canyon.

  Cool explained to the group that Brown Betty was named for the cook boat, which got its name from the popular dessert, in the disastrous Brown expedition that went through the canyon in 1889. The cook boat lost valuable provisions and kitchen gear in the rapid. While he was telling the story, Mandy glanced at Alex’s body bag in Rob’s raft and at Elsa in Gonzo’s raft. She sent up a silent prayer that their body count would not go as high as the three men that expedition had lost, including Brown himself.

  About two miles
downriver, the four rafts pulled out at the huge, red-lettered “DANGER, Cataract Canyon, Hazardous Rapids” sign on river left. It was a good photo stop for groups, but it was also where campers registered for campsites in the canyon, on a clipboard in the waterproof metal box below the sign.

  Mandy went with Rob to look over the registration sheet. It was totally blank for that day and the next day, so they were the only group, so far, going through the canyon those days.

  “What about yesterday?” Mandy asked. “Maybe we’ll catch up to a group that’s taking its time.”

  Rob flipped the page. It was empty, too. “There’s still a chance there’s a group in the canyon that didn’t bother to register.”

  “Which means they’re not with an outfitter and probably don’t have a radio.”

  They moved aside to let Betsy, Viv, and Mo take a group shot in front of the sign, their grins wide and just a little twitchy with nervousness. The Nortons waited for their turn, Elsa sitting on a rock after she had limped over with Gonzo’s help. Tina was chattering excitedly with her father about the upcoming rapids.

  Rob put an arm over Mandy’s shoulder while they watched the photo-taking. “We knew the river would be almost deserted in October. That was part of the appeal of this trip, after all.”

  Mandy looked at Diana and Hal Anderson, who were gazing worriedly downstream. She had a sudden scary thought.

  “I wonder if that was the appeal for our killer, too. Knowing that after the radio was destroyed, we’d probably be stuck with no way out of the canyon and no way to call for help.”

  eleven

  (The river) communicates in extremes ranging from placid

  to enraged, and its message may dip beneath the surface

  of consciousness, telling us things

  we don’t even know that we’ve heard.

  jeff wallach—what the river says

  After another mile and a half float, the group reached the huge flat expanse of Spanish Bottom in the late afternoon. The red-and-white striped pinnacles of the Doll House formation lay jumbled across the top of the canyon rim that overlooked the half-mile long, half-moon-shaped sandy bottom below. Dying tamarisks and native willows and cottonwoods formed a thin band of riparian greenery along the river bank, while the sparse vegetation on the bottom consisted more of cactus, yucca, and other desert-adapted species.