Rocky Mountain Mayhem (24 page)

Eddie went to work transferring what was left
of the supplies from his dead raft to Kendall’s.

Kendall called to Vivian, Kate and Shick,
“Just hang tight. Another raft will be coming through soon. They’ll
pick you up.”

Vivian pointed to Lucy sitting on the
boulder. “What about her?”

“We’ll get her. Eddie’s gonna stay here until
you’re picked up.”

Wendy and Smith crawled into the raft and sat
on the center section.

They shoved off and went back for Lucy, who
leapt off the boulder into the center of the raft, landing on the
burly guy. Smith helped her up and she took a spot next to Wendy on
the center tube.

As they floated past, Lucy yelled, “Are y’all
okay?”

“Yes!” Kate said. “Guess we’ll see ya
later!”

Vivian sat down on the bank, the adrenaline
wearing off and the freezing cold seeping into her bones. She
wrapped her arms around her knees and started to cry. “I can’t stop
shaking. And I think I might throw up.”

Kate sat and hugged her. “It’s cold.”

“Actually, she’s most likely experiencing the
effects of adrenaline,” Shick said. “The body produces adrenaline
in a fight-or-flight situation, releasing dopamine as a natural
painkiller. It allows the muscles to perform respiration at an
increased rate, which improves strength. Unfortunately, the
post-adrenaline affects include nausea and emotional responses as
well. Crying, anger…”

“Plus it’s cold as shit,” Kate said.
“Adrenaline, yes, but she’s probably hypothermic.”

Vivian started to laugh. “I watched this show
on TV where the guy fell into a frozen pond, so in order to survive
he got completely naked.” She reached for the buckle on her life
preserver.

Shick stopped her. “I think he was most
likely wearing regular clothes and not a wetsuit, which is designed
to help you maintain warmth.”

Vivian shook her head. “Well, this shit ain’t
working.”

VIVIAN and Kate huddled together for warmth
on the left bank of the Arkansas River while Shick did jumping
jacks, pushups and sit-ups to keep warm. On the opposite bank, Fast
Eddie passed the time by inspecting their deflated raft.

Vivian kept her eyes focused upriver, waiting
for the first sign of a raft coming to their rescue. She didn’t
know how much longer she could stand Shick’s exuberance, much less
the cold. She looked away for a few seconds to check on Eddie and
his progress when Shick ran splashing back into the river.

He had grabbed a paddle and used it to wave
at an oncoming raft. This caught Eddie’s attention, and he pointed
vigorously toward his stranded rafters. The guide raised his paddle
in acknowledgment.

Thank God. We’re going to be
rescued
!

They all watched as the raft made it through
the Boat Eater without taco-ing, tumping or taking on too much
water. Their guide steered toward Shick, who waited in the water to
pull them ashore.

“I see you showered today,” the guide said as
he pulled up.

“We went for a little swim, but the hot water
was out,” Shick said.

“Pile in, river rats.”

The four other passengers moved aside to make
room. Vivian’s teeth chattered as Shick helped her into the raft.
“Thank you for picking us up,” she said to the guide.

“Gotta share the river love.”

“I’m all about the river love today,” Kate
said as she sat down in the middle of the raft by Vivian. “But I’ll
be happy when this love affair is over.”

“But the fun was just getting started,” Shick
said as he pushed off and then jumped in the raft.

“Sorry ’bout my freeloaders, Jessie,” Eddie
called as they floated past. “Here’s my dry bag.” He tossed it over
and Jessie caught it.

“Chicken Hawk is on the loose, he’ll take you
to the prom,” Jessie responded, hitchin’ his thumb over his
shoulder.

Eddie gave a salute and the rafters turned
their attention to the next set of rapids coming up, Lion’s Head.
Vivian braced her feet under the bench in front of her and was glad
she didn’t have to paddle anymore. Her arms ached from paddling and
swimming, and her leg throbbed where she had whacked it. Her frayed
nerves just weren’t up to the task. The new crew performed like
champs, and they were out of the rapid in no time.

“Suck it, Lion!” Jessie said, then slapped
his paddle flat on the water. “Yeah!”

“I think he has his own way with words,” Kate
said with a laugh.

Shick shook his head. “He might be under the
influence of a substance or substances.”

“Whatever,” Vivian said. “He’s getting us
where we need to go.”

Jessie guided them through one last Class III
rapid and then coasted a short jaunt to the exit point. Shick
jumped out to help pull the boat ashore, and Jessie said, “River
rock stars!”

Vivian was glad to out of the raft. The last
few steps in the water brought fiery stabs of pain shooting up her
leg. Craig spying on her was a faraway thought. All she wanted was
warmth. Fast. And a couple of ibuprofen.

Crazy Kendall met them at the bank and led
Vivian and Kate directly onto the waiting bus. Smith greeted them
as they stepped on, and Lucy and Wendy cheered. Mike gave them a
wave from the back row. Brian was behind the bus talking on the
phone.

Vivian sat next to Lucy and asked the driver,
“Is there a heater? I think I might die from exposure.”

The driver shook his head and said, “We’ll
get you back to the shop soon.”

Lucy looked even paler than normal, and
Vivian didn’t know that was possible. “You look almost translucent.
I’m going to start calling you Casper.”

“I’ll start calling you Big Blue then, since
that’s the color of your lips.”

“If I don’t get warm soon,” Wendy said from
the seat behind them, “I think I’m not going to make it. I’m so
cold that it hurts the blood vessels in my elbows to move my arms.
They might shatter and I’ll bleed to death.”

Kate sat hunched in a ball. “Thank goodness
I’m not pregnant. My body temperature over the last several hours
would have been detrimental.”

“It could have been your baby’s first brain
freeze,” Vivian said. “But not in a good, ice-cream lickin’ kinda
way.”

Shick hopped on the bus and sat down in front
of Vivian and Lucy, slapping the seat back. “Hot damn, that was
fun! You girls ready to do it again?” His smile looked like he
genuinely wanted to get back on that freezing-ass, melted-snow
river and raft again. Hell, maybe even swim it.

“It was fun until the raft deflated,” Vivian
said, “but there’s no way you’re getting me back out on that river
today, or any other day, until the weather warms up at least 30
degrees.”

“The cold is all part of the fun.”

Okay, this guy might really be insane.
Cold is part of the fun
?
Not this cold
!

Lucy looked at Shick and laughed. “I’m all
for rafting in cold water, but this was too much. If I don’t get
warm soon, I might start losing fingers and toes. I could really
use some hot soup right about now.”

“I could go for some dinner,” Wendy said.
“The stress of the raft deflating and subsequent swim has made me
ravenous.”

“I could go for a drink, or three,” Vivian
said. “A cup of hot chocolate spiked with peppermint schnapps and
Baileys sounds perfect right about now.”

“Chocolate,” Kate said with a faraway look in
her eye. “Yes, chocolate.”

The bus bumped into the rafting company’s
parking lot and lurched to a stop. The girls got out and made a
beeline for the door.

Kirsten met the girls and led them to where
they could get out of their wet clothes and rinse off. Vivian
wanted all of the above but fumbled with the Velcro on the
splashguard and zipper on her boots because her hands were so cold.
She managed to get down to her bathing suit and rinsed off with the
hose. The water wasn’t warm, but it was warmer than she was, so she
went for it. She grabbed a towel and headed to a changing room.
Finally in dry clothes, she ran her fingers through her curls, put
on her necklace and slapped her cowgirl hat on her head.
Done
.

Vivian walked into the gift shop area and saw
Shick, Smith and Mike outside examining the deflated raft with Fast
Eddie.

The other girls had finished changing and
were at the photo counter with Brian, scrolling through the shots
at Boat Eater.

“That’s where you fell out,” Kate said,
pointing to Vivian in the photo.

“And there went Wendy!” Lucy laughed at the
next photo that popped up. “I love that you took Smith with you.
That was hilarious!”

“It was an impulse grab. I didn’t mean to
drag him down with me.”

They watched the progression of the raft
deflating and everyone falling in. Brian asked Kirsten to stop on a
few of them.

“We gotta buy these,” Vivian said. “They’re
fantastic!”

Brian set his wallet on the counter. “I’m
going to need digital and print copies of all these photos. How
quickly can you have them ready?”

“I’ll do it right now. Give me 10
minutes.”

“You have that much fun today?” Wendy asked
as Kirsten went to fulfill the order.

Brian gave a quick smile. “Yes, had a great
time.”

Mike came into the shop and pointed at Brian.
“Need to see you.”

Brian followed Mike out the door and they
joined the other guys looking at the deflated raft.

“Wonder what’s going on?” Vivian said.

Kirsten set a CD on the counter. “I talked to
Kendall when y’all first got back and he said it was weird the raft
popped. They’re made to withstand slamming into boulders on the
river.”

Lucy headed toward the door. “Let’s go see
what this is all about.”

The girls walked outside and the men quit
talking.

“What’s going on?” Vivian asked Kendall, who
looked at Shick.

Kendall slipped away and Shick looked at the
other guys before answering. “It wasn’t a boulder that popped the
raft.”

“What do mean?”

“You’d better talk to Agent Nelson.”

VIVIAN’S head swam and she wasn’t sure she’d
heard Shick correctly. “Did you say talk to Agent Nelson?”

“Yes, it’d be best for you to speak to him
directly.”

“Who are you?”

“Agent Galvin Shick with the FBI.”

“I knew it!” Lucy said. “You were too excited
about the cold-ass rafting to be normal.”

Wendy looked at Smith, Brian and Mike. “I
presume you are agents, too?”

Smith nodded. “I’m Agent Freddie Smith, and
you’ve met agents Finck and Hayes.”

Brian and Mike nodded.

Kate, hands on hips, asked, “Where is Agent
Nelson?”

“Will somebody please tell me what the hell
is going on here?” Vivian cut in. “Has Craig done something? Why
didn’t you tell us you were with the FBI? And yeah, where the hell
is Agent Nelson?”

Shick turned her toward the door of the
rafting company. “I think we’d better get you inside.”

Vivian stopped. “I’m not going anywhere until
you tell me what’s going on.”

Smith gently touched her shoulder. “It really
would be best, ma’am, to get you inside.”

Hayes held the door open. “Nelson should be
here any minute. He was coming from the Fremont County Sherriff’s
office close-by.”

Vivian and the girls went inside the shop. A
few minutes later Nelson arrived. He conferred with Shick in the
parking lot and inspected the raft, before walking to the shop.

Vivian met him at the door. “What’s going on
with the raft? Why are you here?”

Nelson let the door close before explaining.
“I know you’re surprised to see me, but I wanted to make sure you
would be okay. Your raft did not deflate due to a rock or
boulder.”

“It didn’t?”

“No. It was shot. Twice.”

Vivian’s eyes grew wide and she took a step
back.

“Once on the right rear and again, eight
inches farther back. The trajectory was angled, indicating the
shooter was in front of the raft at approximately 45 degrees.”

She was having a hard time comprehending all
of this. “Shot?”

“I understand one bullet’s entry was very
close to where you were sitting.”

“I…I don’t understand why…”

“Craig is wanted for more than credit card
and wire fraud. He’s wanted for a high-profile burglary.”

Vivian reached for the bumblebee pendant
dangling around her neck.

“Exactly.”

VIVIAN’S knees almost buckled, and she
grabbed the counter for balance. “I’m going to pass out.”

Wendy walked Vivian to a chair by the
register and leaned her forward. “Here, put your head between your
knees.”

Nelson stepped closer to Vivian. “Craig stole
several pieces of jewelry, estimated at more than a million
dollars, from a Thai diplomat three years ago.”

“How was he able to pull off a theft like
that?” Kate asked. “This is unreal.”

“She was in D.C. for a State dinner and we
believe Craig and an accomplice broke into her hotel room and stole
jewelry and cash.”

Lucy fanned Vivian with a brochure. “Why
would they travel with those kinds of valuables? Seems like poor
judgment.”

“They had it in the room safe. But it wasn’t
enough.”

“Why didn’t Agent Tucker in Fort Worth know
this?” Wendy asked. “And how do you know about it?”

“I was friends with one of the agents on the
original case and she showed me pictures of the pieces taken. It
bothered her that the leads had dried up. The team identified a
suspect right away, a hotel employee, but hasn’t been able to prove
he did it. The pieces never surfaced on the black market and an
accomplice hasn’t been identified until now. Until I saw Vivian
wearing the pendant.”