Perilous Waters, page 7
They made the switch while Jake regaled Mom with a story of one of Tommy’s antics. But their father noticed and lifted a questioning eyebrow. Sam just shrugged, which seemed to amuse him.
“So which shore excursion are you girls booked to go on tomorrow in Juneau?” Mom asked.
Jen looked to Cass. “Are we booked for a shore excursion?”
Sam bit back the answer, surprised he knew more about her itinerary than Jen. Of course, that was his job.
“Yes, we’re going on the Mendenhall Glacier Float Trip, shooting rapids.” Cass grinned.
“We are?” Jen didn’t sound too keen on the idea.
“Hey, we’re booked on that, too!” Jake shot Sam a sarcastic imagine-that look.
“You’ll love it,” Sam assured. “The rapids are gentle and you’ll get magnificent views of the glacier.”
“Is Tommy going?” Her tone implied she might believe him if his little nephew could handle it.
“No.” Mom dabbed her mouth with a napkin. “He’s coming with us to try his hand at dogsledding.”
“Yeah,” Tommy joined in. “Maybe they’ll let me bring home a puppy like the lady showed in her pictures this morning.”
Jake ruffled the boy’s hair. “Not happening, Bud. You just enjoy them while you’re there, okay?”
Tommy grumbled and squirmed in that you-can’t-blame-a-kid-for-trying kind of way.
“That sounds more my speed,” Jen said.
“The tour’s already at capacity,” Sam improvised. “That’s why Jake and I opted for the raft tour.”
“C’mon,” Cass cajoled. “It’ll be fun. The tour guides are professionals. They know what they’re doing.”
“That’s what you said the last time you conned me into a rafting trip.”
Sam washed down his salmon with a gulp of water. “What last time?”
“To celebrate high school graduation,” Cass explained. “The raft capsized and she hasn’t been on the water since. Until now.”
Jen stopped sawing her steak and pointed her knife at Cass. “I almost drowned!”
“I didn’t hear you complaining when Doug Roberts pulled you out and revived you with mouth-to-mouth.”
Jen rolled her eyes, and a most becoming blush splashed onto her cheeks.
Sam’s gut tightened. Something about how easily she blushed suggested an innocence that didn’t jive with the facts of this case.
“Don’t worry. As a fireman, I’m trained for any kind of rescue that might be needed.” Jake’s lips twitched into a crooked smile. “Including AR.”
“Over my dead body,” Sam growled, only half in jest, knowing his brother was baiting him to stake his claim.
Jen’s eyes widened, and Sam hadn’t thought it possible, but her face grew two shades darker. And he kind of liked it.
Mom patted Jen’s hand. “Ignore them.”
Sam switched dessert plates with her, settling for crème brûlée instead of NY cheesecake. “You can count on us to keep you safe. Okay?” If he’d been smart, he’d have told her to order the cheesecake and he could’ve ordered her brûlée.
Her appreciative smile made the sacrifice worth it, though. Almost. He swallowed a rush of bile. Not because he suspected any of the food had been tainted. But because he loathed custard. He glanced longingly at the chocolate brownie her sister had ordered and wished the twins shared the same taste in dessert. He pushed the brûlée away.
Jen slid the cheesecake back to him with only a forkful missing. “Enjoy.”
Oh, yeah. He was really starting to like this woman.
The cheesecake turned to sawdust in his mouth. Wooing her for information was starting to feel a whole lot like betrayal.
* * *
“Go. You’ll have fun,” Jen’s sister said from the bathroom—the room she’d occupied almost exclusively for the past three hours. “Take lots of pictures of the glacier for me.”
“But I don’t want to go without you,” Jen said through the door. “I can’t leave you like this.”
Cass moaned. “There’s nothing you can do. No point in both our days being ruined.”
“Let me take you to the clinic.”
“And be quarantined? No, thanks. I’m sure it’s just a reaction to something I ate.”
Jen’s stomach roiled. What if Cass had been poisoned? Was Sam incapacitated, too, thanks to switching meals with her? She rushed to the phone to dial his room. She’d feel awful if he got sick after being so sweet.
A knock sounded at the door.
“Just a minute,” she called, thinking it might be the steward. She peeked through the peephole, and at the sight of Sam standing there looking perfectly healthy, she yanked open the door. “You’re not sick!”
His eyes crinkled. “Nope, never felt better. How about you?”
“I’m good.” She hitched her thumb toward the bathroom. “But Cass doesn’t feel so hot.”
The crinkles at the corners of his eyes disappeared, replaced by deep furrows across his brow. “Do you think she was drugged?”
“I don’t know what to think.” Jen chewed her bottom lip, certain her sister wouldn’t appreciate her sharing the gritty details of her affliction. “The roofie I was slipped has me seeing ghosts everywhere. But she refuses to go to sick bay.”
“It could be a reaction to her change in diet,” he said, not too convincingly. “I guess this means you two aren’t up for the shore excursion.”
“Jen, you still there?” Cass’s voice trickled through the bathroom door.
“Yes. What can I do?”
“Go with Sam and Jake. Have a good time. Take my waterproof camera. Okay?”
Jen gave Sam a helpless look. “I don’t think I should leave her.”
His warm brown eyes held understanding. “She’d probably feel worse if you missed out on her account.”
“You don’t think I’m a bad sister to leave her alone when she’s like this?”
“Not when she’s telling you to go.” He glanced at his watch. “And if we don’t want to miss our ride to the river, we’d better get hopping.”
“She did ask me to take lots of pictures.” Jen grabbed the camera. “You’ll be okay without me?” she called to Cass.
“Go.”
Forty-five minutes later, Jennifer pressed a hand to her fluttering stomach at the sight of a big round rubber raft bobbing on the river, tied to shore by a single taut yellow rope.
The instant their guide handed her the orange life jacket and a waiver to sign, the butterflies had started. Oh, who was she kidding? These were honking big pterodactyls batting around her belly. Whatever possessed her to think she could do this? To think she could be back on the ship right now with her sister!
Sam’s hand slipped around her waist. “You okay?”
“Sure,” she squeaked. Swallowing, she tried again in a normal voice. “Uh, sure. Why do you ask?”
A dimple winked on his cheek, but the warmth in his eyes radiated genuine concern. “You’re whiter than the glacier.”
She made a face. “The glacier is blue.”
“Yeah, you look a little blue, too. Breathe.”
She gulped a breath.
“It’s going to be fun, Jen. You’ll see.”
“Until the raft capsizes,” she muttered.
The tour guide must’ve heard her, because he loudly added something to the end of his safety spiel—the spiel she should’ve been paying more attention to. “Don’t worry, we haven’t had a raft capsize on us yet!”
“See,” Sam said.
Jennifer hugged herself. “It’s the ‘yet’ that worries me. You think I’m blue now. Do you know how cold that river is? It’s glacial water, you know.”
“You’re not going in the water,” Sam said firmly.
Uncomfortably aware of how childish her phobia must seem to him, she forced herself to stand tall.
His expression softened. “If you don’t want to do this, we don’t have to.”
“No, I do.” She certainly wasn’t going to keep Jake and Sam from enjoying the excursion because she was chicken. And something told her she’d never be able to convince him to go on without her the way her sister had so easily convinced her. He wasn’t like any other guy she’d ever met. At first he’d seemed a bit too interested in their art gallery, but maybe Cass was right—maybe he was just trying to show an interest in her life. He sure seemed concerned with her welfare.
She could do this. Conquer her fear. She shoved her hands into her parka’s pockets and clasped Cass’s camera.
Sam unbuckled his life jacket.
“What are you doing?” she blurted.
“I’m not going to urge you to do something you’re terrified of.” He peeled his jacket off his shoulders, slid it down his muscular arms, arms capable of plucking her from an icy fate...if need be. “We can hang out here and enjoy the view.”
“I’m fine, really. Just a bit nervous. I want to do this.” She held up the waterproof camera. “I have pictures to take.”
Sam’s lips spread into a proud grin—like the one she’d seen on his face when he’d watched his nephew jump into the pool without holding his nose. Well, no guarantees she wouldn’t hold hers if they got dunked.
She shook away the thought. Lord, please don’t let the boat capsize or let me fall out. Please.
A peace enveloped her. She suddenly felt silly about how much energy she’d wasted over worrying when she should’ve just been praying. Surrounded by the wondrous beauty of His creation she was a tad ashamed that she hadn’t thought to pray sooner. Must’ve been the gargantuan effort she’d made to just plain ignore the fear knotting her gut from the moment they’d stepped on the minibus to bring them here.
Sam helped her into the boat then positioned himself behind her, with Jake in front.
With one hand holding the pocket camera poised, the other clamped around a handle on the raft, Jennifer held her breath as their guides pushed off.
The tour guide told them to all be quiet and just listen. The sound of silence was incredible. No traffic noises, no construction noises, no planes. Oh, cancel that. A seaplane glided over them toward the glacier. As it grew smaller, she heard other sounds. The babble of the river. The breeze whispering through the pines. The cry of a bird.
“Look!” A lady at the front of the raft pointed to the sky.
A bald eagle drifted lazily on the wind currents. Gasps rose from the group. Jennifer snapped a picture, wishing Cass could be here in person.
Sam leaned forward and squeezed her shoulder. “Enjoying yourself?”
She twisted around to smile at him. “This is amazing!”
They came to a bigger stretch of rapids and the group grew lively as the raft shot forward. Icy water splashed into their faces and they let out a collective scream.
Then a hush fell over them as a giant crack split the air. A huge chunk of blue ice broke off the glacier and splashed into the water. In fact, the water in front of the glacier was a minefield of tiny icebergs. One exquisitely blue berg split before their eyes with as loud a cracking noise as the piece that had broken away from the glacier moments earlier.
“That’s incredible.” Jen snapped a photo. “I wish I had video on this camera so I could capture the sound.”
They lingered within view of the glacier for a long while.
“Look there.” Sam pointed to a hunk of ice with something on it floating in the distance.
Jennifer zoomed in on it with her camera. “It’s a seal. Look.” She handed Sam the camera. “It looks like it’s sunbathing.”
“You guys have lucked out with the weather today,” the tour guide remarked. “June around here is usually cool, damp and foggy.”
Instead they had sunshine and the thermometer had to be tickling sixty, even this close to a huge chunk of ice! She dipped her hand into the water and shivered at how cold it felt. No wonder the seal was sunbathing.
“The seal’s not the only one basking in the sun.” Sam pointed to another floating slab. “Look at those seagulls.”
“Looks like they’re having a block party,” Jake quipped, snapping a picture.
Jennifer snapped a few of her own. Thank you, Cass, for bullying me into this. She inhaled deeply. She couldn’t remember the last time she felt so content, at peace, awed by the beauty God created.
Too soon, the tour guide steered the raft ashore farther downriver.
Sam jumped out ahead of her and offered her his hand. The moment both her feet hit solid ground, he whooped. “You survived! Glad you came?”
She smiled so widely she felt her heart expand with it. “Absolutely. It was amazing Thank you. I’m sure I would’ve chickened out if not for you and Jake.”
Jake climbed ashore behind her. “Our pleasure.”
“The van will arrive in thirty minutes to return us to the ship,” the guide announced. “Relax and enjoy the view until then. There’s a couple of trails, but don’t wander far. We do have bears around here.”
After they shed their life jackets, Sam proposed they check out the trail leading into the woods. From the twinkle in his eyes, Jennifer suspected he was goading her—to see if she was as afraid of bears as she was of white-water rafting. But seeing passengers pull out their phones, she remembered that she still hadn’t called that PI and this could be her last chance before leaving port. Cass was bound to be all over her for details about the tour as soon as she returned to the ship.
Except...she needed privacy and Sam seemed as determined as ever to stick to her side.
Spotting an outhouse, she motioned in its direction. “Um, if you’ll excuse me a minute I, uh—” she stuffed her hands in her pocket “—need some privacy.”
Sam chuckled.
Jennifer traipsed toward the outhouse. Yeah, she must’ve looked pretty silly getting flustered over needing to use the john, except that she didn’t need to, and she hadn’t wanted to lie and suddenly felt super guilty about the pretense when they’d been so sweet to her all afternoon. She tugged on the outhouse door.
“Someone’s in here,” a voice chimed.
Perfect. Jennifer peeked back around the outhouse. Sam and Jake were standing by the water talking with the tour guide. With the outhouse hiding their view of her, she edged into the trees, pulled her cell phone from her zippered pocket and removed it from the plastic bag she’d wrapped it in just in case. No signal. Figures.
She followed the trail to a small cliff near the shore, up a few hundred yards from where Sam and Jake stood. Two bars appeared on her cell phone screen. Yes. She found the PI’s number she’d saved into the phone this time and hit dial.
A movement in her peripheral vision made her jump. What did the guide say about bears? Oh, no, why couldn’t she remember?
Play dead for grizzlies. That’s it. And run like you know what for black bears. Except...she was cornered between whatever kind of bear it was and the water!
Trying not to move a muscle, she scanned the ground for a good-sized branch. If she couldn’t run, she could go out swinging. Maybe catch the thing on its snout.
A twig snapped behind her. Heavy breathing. No wait, that was her. She sucked in a breath, snatched up a nearby branch and swirled to face her foe.
A hairy, hulking guy rushed her, both arms straight out like twin battering rams.
She swung the wood, but he was quicker. He caught the branch midswing and jerked it from her grasp.
“Help!” she screamed, an instant before the wood slammed into her gut and sucked the air from her lungs.
Arms windmilling, she reeled backward. Her foot hit air.
Rocks, trees, sky spun past her. Then the slap of glacial water swallowed her whole.
SEVEN
Mark hasn’t left ship, said the text message from the Juneau FBI agent Sam had contacted after learning Cass and Jennifer planned to split up this morning. Didn’t mean Jen’s sister hadn’t gotten up to something illegal with the onboard art gallery or maybe a passenger. But more likely she really had been sick, not just trying to get her sister out of the way.
A scream, swallowed by a splash, gripped Sam’s heart. His gaze snapped to the outhouse.
The door opened and a gangly teen stepped out.
“Jen!” Sam raced up the shoreline.
“There!” Someone standing on the bank above him pointed upriver.
Sam spotted Jen flailing in the icy water, the current pulling her toward them.
Jake grabbed a life ring, wrapped the rope around his hand and tossed it into her path. “Grab the ring!”
But Jen’s head disappeared beneath the water, her blond hair swirling in the eddies.
Sam stripped off his jacket and shirt. “She’s not going to make it.”
“You can’t go in after her.” The tour guide and his assistant jumped in the raft and pushed off. “The water’s too cold. You’ll just be someone else we have to rescue.”
Jake grabbed Sam’s arm. “He’s right. Your muscles will cramp and you’ll be useless to her.”
Sam jerked out of his hold. “I’m not going to stand by and let someone else die.”
Jen’s face broke through the water’s surface, terror in her eyes.
“Hold on, Jen. We’re coming.” Sam ran along the shore as Jake hauled in the life ring.
She flailed her arms, gulping air.
The guys on the raft veered toward her. “Grab on,” they shouted, but the current whisked her past them.
Sam grabbed the life ring from Jake. “Hang on to that rope,” he shouted and dove into the river. His muscles seized instantly. Arm through the ring, he clawed to the surface with a roar, the fire in his blood overpowering the paralyzing pain. Where was she?
