Chapter Four
Hysteria
Eli
––––––––
S TUNNED SILENCE FILLED the space around us. For the longest moment, I couldn’t wrap my head around what I’d just seen. Both men had fallen, and I’d watched it all unravel. I’d acknowledged the terror in Miles’s eyes as gravity closed its fingers around him and heard James’s agonized cries as he nosedived after Miles, yet still, I couldn’t move. Couldn’t register what had occurred.
Shock.
I knew its putrid flavor, having tasted it before, but it was even more bitter than I recalled. It held me in place, pinioning me with greater ferocity than the brunette who’d landed on me in the panic as the rope had given way.
In the end, it was her whimper that drew me to my senses. Wrapping an arm around her, I sought to reassure her, to let her know I was still in control—although the reality couldn’t have been further from the truth.
“No!” Chelle’s scream pierced the air next, creating the soundtrack of our alarm as she ran to the precipice and peered over. “They’re gone!”
She spun to face me, her glare accusing, as though I’d pushed James and Miles with my own two hands. “They’ve both fallen!”
“Oh my God!” Erin tugged at my arm to be free, and I released her without a struggle. Climbing to her feet on shaky legs, she rushed to her friend’s side and threw her arms around her. “Chelle, I’m so sorry!”
“You’re not sorry.” She recoiled from Erin’s touch. “You couldn’t stand James. You made that more than clear!”
“That doesn’t mean I wanted this to happen!” Erin’s jaw dropped as though she couldn’t believe the venom in Chelle’s voice. “I tried to help Miles. We all did. Nobody wanted this!”
“I know.” Tears made tracks along Chelle’s face. “But he’s gone, Erin.” Turning back to the drop, she trembled. “What the fuck do we do?”
“We need to call the emergency services.” Shifting to my knees, I made it to my feet, although the sense of disbelief remained. I’d seen them go over the edge, but still, I couldn’t believe it, couldn’t make their absence seem real. “We have to report the accident.”
“Accident?” Chelle hissed. “It’s no fucking accident. They’re dead! You were supposed to keep them safe and now they’re gone!”
“Hey.” Erin wrapped an arm around Chelle, her gaze traveling to me. “It’s not his fault either, Chelle. No one did more to help James and Miles than Eli.”
“It was his fucking job!” She lurched forward before falling to her knees. “He said he’d get us all back safely.”
“I did say that.” Despondency echoed in my voice as I remembered the conversation. “But they wouldn’t listen.”
It was no excuse. I’d dealt with arrogant assholes before, and I should have done better. Should have known how to do better...
“You should have made them!” Overcome with distress, she doubled over as Erin crouched at her side.
“Get away from the side.” I sounded like a record stuck on repeat as I moved to usher them away. Gingerly, they edged away on their knees, the sound of Chelle’s sobs the only noise audible over the rushing water. “I’m not losing anyone else.”
“Oh, God.” Heaving in air, Chelle’s grief crashed over her in painful, visible waves. “How can this have happened?”
Erin’s eyes were filled with the same question as she turned to me. “Who do we call? An ambulance won’t make it up here.”
“An air ambulance can land on the edge of the park.” I’d only had to call one once before, but that experience had taught me how the scenario worked. “They can hike to the bottom of the falls and find them.”
“They’re dead!” Chelle trembled as she spoke. “What good will an ambulance do?”
“They might have survived the fall.” Erin’s voice was soft. “We have to try.”
“That’s right,” I confirmed, reaching into my trouser pocket for my phone.
Neither one of us mentioned the probability that Chelle was right. Even if by some miracle, they had both landed in water and avoided the rocks, they’d have likely been unconscious on impact and therefore drowned before they could take a breath and swim.
I stared at my phone. “I’ll call for help.”
There was no comfort in the truth.
Not on the tiny clearing by the waterfall. Not when my single most important objective had plummeted to death along with the men I’d been charged with guiding and protecting.
My failure had cost their lives.
That thought resonated as I unlocked my phone and dialed the number. It wasn’t the first time I’d fucked up in my life, but I had been in charge.
Everything that had happened was my responsibility. Hurt reverberated in my chest as the idea ricocheted. I’d seen death before, but it hadn’t hurt like that.
“What’s your emergency?”
I moved away from the cascading torrent to hear the responder. “We’re at Niantes wildlife reserve,” I started. “Two of our party have fallen from the first waterfall. I need an air ambulance.”
“Please hold while I check your location,” the woman answered, but I was scarcely listening.
Tracking my phone to identify our location was commonplace, and I wasn’t even sure why she was telling me. All I could think about was what had taken place and what I could have done to prevent the bleak outcome that saw our party of five trimmed to three.
Glancing up at the two women who remained, I tried not to dwell on how I’d grapple them both back to safety, especially while one was so overwrought.
“I have your coordinates.” The responder’s voice broke my desolate mental landscape. “I’ll dispatch the ambulance. Does anyone else have any injuries?”
“No.” I pulled in a breath. “There are three of us left. I’m a guide here. I’ll get the remaining people down to safety.”
“It will be a good idea to have you all checked over,” the woman said. “Once the initial casualties have been assessed.”
My stomach lurched at the way she made that sound. James and Miles didn’t need to be ‘assessed’. Hell, we’d be lucky if we found their bodies in one piece.
“What’s your name, sir?”
Leaning against an ancient trunk for support, I blinked at her question. From the corner of my eyes, I thought I noticed another dark shadow, but I didn’t lift my head to confirm. “My what?”
“Your name, sir,” she repeated. “I’ll need your name and number in case we get cut...” The signal dropped suddenly, and straightening, I shifted from the tree and wandered back into the clearing.
“Hello?” I stared at the device to ensure the call was still connected before holding it back to my ear. “Hello, are you there?”
Apprehension amplified as the tone rang out to indicate that the call had ended.
“What happened?” Erin was stroking the hair of the woman curled up on her lap.
“We got cut off.” Checking the phone again, I could see my signal had dropped out completely. “It’s my signal.”
Cut off.
The words resonated in my head.
Cut off—just like we were without a signal.
It’s okay. I inhaled. I know these woods. I’ll get us to safety.
She frowned as she reached into her pocket and tugged out her own device. “Shit, mine too. What does that mean?”
I searched the sky overhead, noting for the first time just how dark the heavens had become since the men had fallen. Any trace of the light blue that had lit the morning was well and truly obliterated by sinister, encroaching gray.
“It could be the weather,” I explained. “But I managed to relay the message before I lost her. Help is coming.”
Even to my ears, the reassurance sounded hollow.
“What now?” Erin looked at me. “Do we just wait?”
“No, we move.” Of that I was certain. My every fiber was telling me to get going. “The weather looks to be turning, and the forest is a grim place to be during inclement weather. Better that we head back to base. That way, we can meet the paramedics.”
“Base?” Erin’s brows knitted.
“Tourist information,” I clarified. “Near where I met you by the bridge.” My gaze scanned over Chelle. “How are you doing, Chelle?”
“She hasn’t said anything else since...” Erin’s eyes closed before she went on. “I think she’s in shock.”
“We all are.” I sighed. “But we really should get going.”
“We can’t just leave.” The snivel came from the otherwise motionless Chelle. “All James’s stuff is still here. I can’t give up on him.”
Erin’s gaze locked with mine as she tried to soothe her friend. “We have to, Chelle. James would have wanted to make sure you were safe.”
Casting an eye out at the leaden sky, I wasn’t so sure I agreed with her analysis. James had come across as a self-centered prick.
“Let’s go,” I instructed, gesturing for them to get up. “I’ll take his pack down with us, so he’ll have his things.”
Not that I believed there was any chance of reuniting the bag with its owner, but still... if it helped to motivate Chelle, I was willing to do it.
“Really?” Chelle lifted her head from Erin’s lap, her red, swollen eyes meeting my gaze.
“Sure,” I replied, glancing down to where James had dropped it. The tiny clearing that had once been so endearing had been tainted.
I wasn’t sure I ever wanted to go back there again.
“Let’s get the hell out of here.”