Queen Genesis could hold court in hell, with nothing more refreshing than boiling water to offer. Nothing has changed, socially. Yet she doesn’t even seem to be listening to them.
“How’s your glucose level?” she asks as she abandons her entourage.
I shrug. My eyes water as I dig a protein bar from my bag. Ryan always made sure I had plenty of low-carb snacks.
“Maddie.” Genesis puts one hand over my food, so that I have to look at her. “What does your pump say?”
I check the display. My blood sugar is around eighty. Too high. “I just need a snack.” Soon I’ll have to change my insulin pump site and install a fresh cartridge, but that will take time and energy I don’t want to expend right now.
“¡Vamos!” Silvana yells, and we are on the move again.
“Where do you think they’re taking us?” I ask Genesis as I wipe sweat from my forehead.
She shrugs. “Getting a ransom will take time. They haven’t even sent out any demands yet. So they must have a camp somewhere.”
“Ryan doesn’t have time,” I murmur.
Holden steps up on my cousin’s other side. “Wake up, Maddie. Your brother’s dead,” he whispers fiercely, and I suck in a deep breath, trying to hold back fresh tears. “The only way to stop that from happening to the rest of us is to take action. We need to—”
“Shut up!” Genesis shoves him with both hands, and Holden stumbles into a tree. Rifles swing toward us. The hike comes to a sudden halt.
Holden pushes himself upright. His face is bright red and furious. “What the hell?” he demands through clenched teeth.
“Be useful, or be elsewhere.” Genesis grabs my arm and tugs me away from him.
Silvana laughs. “¡Vamos!” she shouts. And the hike resumes.
GENESIS
“Do you hear that?” I frown into the jungle, concentrating on the new sound. “Hiking downhill usually leads to—” “Water,” Indiana says. The sound of the current gets louder with each step, then the narrow trail opens into a broad clearing. Yet there’s no river. After a second of staring into empty space, I understand why.
The clearing ends in a cliff overlooking a roaring rapid so far below that I can’t see the water from where I stand.
I drop my pack on the ground and ease toward the edge to peer down at the river. Indiana follows me, one arm extended. Ready to grab me if I fall.
“Damn it.” Frustration weighs down my arms and legs. We’re tired, hungry, and filthy, and I can’t justify drinking any more of my water until I know I can refill the bottles.
“Did you think you were going swimming, princesa?” Silvana sneers, standing well back from the cliff. “Let’s go.”
“Madalena . . .” Sebastián’s voice holds an eerie tension, and I turn to see my cousin walking slowly toward me. Toward the edge. Her hands are shaking.
“Maddie.” Chill bumps pop up on my arms, in spite of the heat. I reach for her, but she lurches even closer.
“Grab her,” Silvana orders from the tense silence behind us. But no one else is close enough, because you’d have to be crazy to get this close to that kind of drop.
Or desperate.
“Maddie,” I say, but she’s not listening. Her gaze trails downriver. The river runs to the east. In the direction of the bunkhouse.
“Don’t do it,” I tell her, while the tense silence behind us stretches on. “It won’t work.” I look down, and my head spins.
The toes of her boots hang over open air and I inch forward to meet her. My boots scrape loose tiny clods of dirt, which tumble into the water far below. I take her hand. “Come on.”
Maddie lets me pull her back one step. Then another. On the third step, I exhale slowly. On the fifth, I let her go.
Indiana lays his hand low on my back, and the touch is reassuring.
“¡Vamos!” Silvana shouts, gesturing to us with her pistol. “¡Vamos!” Her men follow her lead, trying to corral with rifles and fierce looks.
Maddie glances at me, while everyone else is distracted. Desperation shines in her eyes. She races toward the edge of the cliff.
I grasp for her, but I already know I’m too late.
Maddie launches herself over the cliff.
GENESIS
I drop to my knees and stare over the edge, but Maddie is already gone. I close my eyes and suck in a deep breath, then let it out slowly. I push everything away.
Then I stand.
Shoulders square, I open my eyes and turn around.
Domenica stares at me, her hands clasped over her mouth.
“Oh shit,” Penelope breathes. “Ohshitohshitohshit. Gen—”
“Stop it.” I grab her arm and look right into her eyes. “Get your shit together right now.” Panicking won’t help. Crying won’t help. When you lose someone, you pick yourself up and you move on, because that’s the only thing that makes sense.
Penelope flinches away from me. I let her go.
“Mierda.” Silvana finally edges toward the cliff and peers over.
“They’re gonna kill us,” Penelope whispers. “Maddie just screwed us all.”
“Idiota,” Silvana declares, and several of the gunmen laugh. She turns to me. “Your cousin just saved me a bullet.” But there’s something off in her voice. She’s trying much too hard to convince us that she’s happy about that.
“¡Vamos!” Silvana calls. “Genesis Shipping! Let’s go!”
I stare back at her without moving, five feet from the cliff. All the guns in the world can’t truly put her in control of me.
“Get her,” Silvana orders.
Moisés grabs my shoulder, but I break his grip with the back of my forearm. Seizing the inside of his bicep, I swing his arm forward, and slide behind him. I’ve done this maneuver so many times I don’t even have to think about it.
But the next part . . . If I try for a choke hold and use Moisés’s weight against him, I’ll drag us both over the cliff. Instead, I dig in my heels and shove him forward.
He falls to his hands and knees. His rifle swings on its strap, scraping the ground.
Shocked silence descends on the cliffside clearing. That’s when I realize I’ve messed up. I let muscle memory do the work my head should have done, and now I’ve tipped my own hand.
“How’s your glucose level?” she asks as she abandons her entourage.
I shrug. My eyes water as I dig a protein bar from my bag. Ryan always made sure I had plenty of low-carb snacks.
“Maddie.” Genesis puts one hand over my food, so that I have to look at her. “What does your pump say?”
I check the display. My blood sugar is around eighty. Too high. “I just need a snack.” Soon I’ll have to change my insulin pump site and install a fresh cartridge, but that will take time and energy I don’t want to expend right now.
“¡Vamos!” Silvana yells, and we are on the move again.
“Where do you think they’re taking us?” I ask Genesis as I wipe sweat from my forehead.
She shrugs. “Getting a ransom will take time. They haven’t even sent out any demands yet. So they must have a camp somewhere.”
“Ryan doesn’t have time,” I murmur.
Holden steps up on my cousin’s other side. “Wake up, Maddie. Your brother’s dead,” he whispers fiercely, and I suck in a deep breath, trying to hold back fresh tears. “The only way to stop that from happening to the rest of us is to take action. We need to—”
“Shut up!” Genesis shoves him with both hands, and Holden stumbles into a tree. Rifles swing toward us. The hike comes to a sudden halt.
Holden pushes himself upright. His face is bright red and furious. “What the hell?” he demands through clenched teeth.
“Be useful, or be elsewhere.” Genesis grabs my arm and tugs me away from him.
Silvana laughs. “¡Vamos!” she shouts. And the hike resumes.
GENESIS
“Do you hear that?” I frown into the jungle, concentrating on the new sound. “Hiking downhill usually leads to—” “Water,” Indiana says. The sound of the current gets louder with each step, then the narrow trail opens into a broad clearing. Yet there’s no river. After a second of staring into empty space, I understand why.
The clearing ends in a cliff overlooking a roaring rapid so far below that I can’t see the water from where I stand.
I drop my pack on the ground and ease toward the edge to peer down at the river. Indiana follows me, one arm extended. Ready to grab me if I fall.
“Damn it.” Frustration weighs down my arms and legs. We’re tired, hungry, and filthy, and I can’t justify drinking any more of my water until I know I can refill the bottles.
“Did you think you were going swimming, princesa?” Silvana sneers, standing well back from the cliff. “Let’s go.”
“Madalena . . .” Sebastián’s voice holds an eerie tension, and I turn to see my cousin walking slowly toward me. Toward the edge. Her hands are shaking.
“Maddie.” Chill bumps pop up on my arms, in spite of the heat. I reach for her, but she lurches even closer.
“Grab her,” Silvana orders from the tense silence behind us. But no one else is close enough, because you’d have to be crazy to get this close to that kind of drop.
Or desperate.
“Maddie,” I say, but she’s not listening. Her gaze trails downriver. The river runs to the east. In the direction of the bunkhouse.
“Don’t do it,” I tell her, while the tense silence behind us stretches on. “It won’t work.” I look down, and my head spins.
The toes of her boots hang over open air and I inch forward to meet her. My boots scrape loose tiny clods of dirt, which tumble into the water far below. I take her hand. “Come on.”
Maddie lets me pull her back one step. Then another. On the third step, I exhale slowly. On the fifth, I let her go.
Indiana lays his hand low on my back, and the touch is reassuring.
“¡Vamos!” Silvana shouts, gesturing to us with her pistol. “¡Vamos!” Her men follow her lead, trying to corral with rifles and fierce looks.
Maddie glances at me, while everyone else is distracted. Desperation shines in her eyes. She races toward the edge of the cliff.
I grasp for her, but I already know I’m too late.
Maddie launches herself over the cliff.
GENESIS
I drop to my knees and stare over the edge, but Maddie is already gone. I close my eyes and suck in a deep breath, then let it out slowly. I push everything away.
Then I stand.
Shoulders square, I open my eyes and turn around.
Domenica stares at me, her hands clasped over her mouth.
“Oh shit,” Penelope breathes. “Ohshitohshitohshit. Gen—”
“Stop it.” I grab her arm and look right into her eyes. “Get your shit together right now.” Panicking won’t help. Crying won’t help. When you lose someone, you pick yourself up and you move on, because that’s the only thing that makes sense.
Penelope flinches away from me. I let her go.
“Mierda.” Silvana finally edges toward the cliff and peers over.
“They’re gonna kill us,” Penelope whispers. “Maddie just screwed us all.”
“Idiota,” Silvana declares, and several of the gunmen laugh. She turns to me. “Your cousin just saved me a bullet.” But there’s something off in her voice. She’s trying much too hard to convince us that she’s happy about that.
“¡Vamos!” Silvana calls. “Genesis Shipping! Let’s go!”
I stare back at her without moving, five feet from the cliff. All the guns in the world can’t truly put her in control of me.
“Get her,” Silvana orders.
Moisés grabs my shoulder, but I break his grip with the back of my forearm. Seizing the inside of his bicep, I swing his arm forward, and slide behind him. I’ve done this maneuver so many times I don’t even have to think about it.
But the next part . . . If I try for a choke hold and use Moisés’s weight against him, I’ll drag us both over the cliff. Instead, I dig in my heels and shove him forward.
He falls to his hands and knees. His rifle swings on its strap, scraping the ground.
Shocked silence descends on the cliffside clearing. That’s when I realize I’ve messed up. I let muscle memory do the work my head should have done, and now I’ve tipped my own hand.
