Read Online Fatal Descent by Beth Groundwater - Free Book Online Page B

alone, if that’s okay.” He shifted the sleeping bag. “Commune with nature and watch the stars, you know? Pretend I’m roughing it on my own, if you get my drift.”
    “Sure.” She wondered if he had deliberately picked the fight to get out of the family tent.
    “I’ll bed down somewhere back in the canyon.”
    “Did Cool or Gonzo brief your group on cryptobiotic soils?”
    Looking puzzled, Alex shook his head. “What’s that got to do with anything?”
    Mandy explained about the fragile soil layer, then said, “We guides have been asked by the Park Service to keep clients off soils that haven’t already been damaged.” She pointed to a ten-foot-tall jumble
of huge boulders behind the campsite. “The ground around that rock formation has been trampled already, and the trail goes past them. I suggest you lay your bag just on the other side of the rocks. I remember a cleared area there, and you’ll be close enough to hear the coffee call for breakfast.”
    “Sure thing.” He grinned, his white teeth glowing in the light from their headlamps. “I don’t miss many meals. I’ll be as hungry as a bear come morning.”
    Mandy laughed with him then watched as he disappeared around the rock formation into the black night. He should be all right. Right?
    Shaking her head, she said out loud, “Of course he will.”
    While she helped Gonzo pack the cooking utensils, pots, and pans, Mandy wondered if the spat between Alex and his sister was real, and if so, if it would linger into the next days—or even the rest of the trip. She hoped not. It could cast a pall over the whole group, spoiling the experience. She was beginning to think that dealing with all of the personalities on this trip might be worse than dealing with Rob’s mom.
    Nah.
    When everything was shipshape, Mandy and Rob said goodnight to Gonzo. Cool had already retired. Mandy brushed her teeth then headed for Rob’s and her tent. While he went to stow the trash on the rafts and brush his teeth by the river, she changed into a sleep T-shirt and flannel pants and sat there wondering about Alex. She finally crawled out of the tent, slipped on her Tevas, and turned on her headlamp.
    She found Rob relieving himself in the river, the arching stream glittering in his headlamp. He was obviously seeing how far out over the wa ter he could reach. She giggled and surprised him.
    He turned only his head, and when he saw it was her, he leered. “Like what you see?”
    Putting a hand on her hip, Mandy cocked her head and flapped her shirt front as if she were overheated. “Always.”
    Rob tucked himself in and rinsed his hands in the river. “Went at least thirty feet. Think I’ll invite the rest of the guys to a pissing contest tomorrow night.”
    “Don’t you dare!”
    He picked up his toothbrush and water bottle from a rock and squirted some toothpaste onto the brush. “Miss me already? I’ll just be a few more minutes.”
    “I came to tell you I want to check on Alex.”
    “He’s a big boy. I’m sure he’ll be okay.”
    “Probably, but I also want to make sure he’s not destroying any cryptobiotic soil. I explained it to him, but I didn’t show him exactly what it looked like.”
    “Worrywart!” He stuck his toothbrush in his mouth and waved her away.
    Smiling to herself, Mandy walked quickly through the camp site, rubbing her arms. Once the sun went down, the temperature dropped at least twenty degrees, and the T-shirt wasn’t enough to keep her warm. She let out a big yawn. She would just take a peek around the boulder pile to check on Alex, then hurry back to her warm tent, snuggle up to Rob and go straight to sleep.
    As she rounded the formation, she heard the sound of a zipper unzipping, then someone whispering “Sssh.” Why would Alex be shushing himself ?
    She was about to clear her throat and announce her presence when she saw Alex’s bare back gleaming in the moonlight—and his bare butt. He was on his knees facing away from her