Chapter Two
Obviously word had gotten around town about what Ian was up to.
As soon as he’d put up the Closed to the Public sign at the head of Humboldt Canyon, he’d expected to get some criticism, and it didn’t really bother him.
He had a thick skin. But he had been pretty steamed at that guy at the Jeep place for bad-mouthing him in front of Bethany.
At least he hadn’t let his temper get the better of him and gone off on her brother.
She’d been cool about the whole thing. She’d even come to his defense, which didn’t happen that often.
He had noticed right away that Bethany had that pretty girl-next-door vibe going for her.
Then he had seen her with the infant, and the disappointment he’d felt had taken him by surprise.
A baby meant there was probably a partner somewhere.
Then she’d revealed she’d just been babysitting, and the relief he’d felt was all out of proportion to the moment.
She wasn’t the type he usually went for. That was his first clue that there was a lot more going on under the surface than he was ready to acknowledge.
Traffic came to a stop. Eagle Mountain didn’t have any traffic lights, but he could see a big truck up ahead backing out of an alley. He waited, window rolled down to catch the breeze. Hard to believe it was July, the weather was so pleasant.
A leggy blonde woman on the sidewalk stopped to stare. “I like your car,” she called.
Ian nodded. A person didn’t buy a car like this and expect to be inconspicuous.
But he hadn’t counted on just how noticeable the Porsche would be in a small town like Eagle Mountain.
He hadn’t bargained for how big of a pain it would be, either.
Not only did the town not have traffic lights, it didn’t have much pavement.
And the roads in and around Humboldt Canyon were narrow, winding, steep and rocky.
About ten minutes after arriving to oversee the Eagle Mountain Via Ferrata, he’d realized he needed a Jeep.
But Eagle Mountain didn’t have car rental companies, either.
They did, however, have a Jeep tour company that also rented Jeeps. Now all he had to do was get a lift back into town to pick up his new ride.
Traffic started moving again, and he turned off onto the county road that led to Humboldt Canyon.
He had to slow down when the pavement ended and carefully steer the low-slung Porsche the rest of the way.
He pulled up to the RV that would be his new home/office for the next few months and looked around.
No sign of George, the guy he had hired as sort of a general handyman to get things ready for the major construction.
George’s pickup truck, which Ian had been counting on for a ride back into town, was nowhere in sight.
A note on the door of the trailer provided an explanation: Gone to Junction for parts.
Junction was an hour away. Ian didn’t know how long-ago George had left, but he figured it would be at least a couple of hours before he made it back. Peak Jeep Tours closed at three.
He went inside and sat at the desk in what would have been the RV’s living area, which he had turned into an office.
Another note was on the desk, this one written on cardboard that looked like it had been ripped from one side of a beer carton, three-inch-high letters written in black marker: NO VIA FERATA.
There was an obscenity after the word no, and they had misspelled ferrata.
George had left a sticky note beside it. Found this on the front gate.
Ian tossed the sign into the trash and sat back.
He needed that Jeep, and he couldn’t leave the Porsche on the street in front of the rental place all week.
As soon as people found out it was his…no telling what they’d do.
He tried to think of anyone else in town who might help him, but he had only been here one day and didn’t know anybody.
Bethany’s smiling face popped into his mind. He didn’t really know her, but at least she’d been friendly. She had been obliging enough to babysit a customer’s infant, so maybe she would help him out, too. He pulled out his phone and punched in the tour company’s number.
“Hello, Peak Jeep Tours. How can I help you?” She sounded every bit as friendly on the phone as she had in person.
“Bethany, this is Ian Seabrook. I need a favor.”
“Hey, Ian. What do you need?”
“I’m looking for a way to get the Jeep I rented out to my place,” he said. “The guy I was counting on to give me a ride had to go to Junction. If I drive back to town, can you follow me to my place in the Jeep? I’ll see that you get home safely.”
Silence.
Right. What young woman would agree to drive to an isolated location with a guy she didn’t know?
“You can bring your brother along if you like,” he added. Ian didn’t like him, but he wanted to put her at ease, and he really needed that Jeep.
“That’s okay, Ian. I’m happy to help you. But I will leave a note for my folks, telling them where I’ve gone. And you don’t have to drive all the way back here to guide me. Just tell me where you are, and I’ll meet you.”
“Great. Do you know where Humboldt Canyon is? I have a trailer set up there.”
“Sure,” she said. “You’ll have to wait until I get off at three thirty.”
He checked his watch. Another hour, but he didn’t really have a choice. “I’ll see you then. And thanks a lot.”
Ian spent the next hour reviewing communications from the design team and answering emails from his contacts in various locations overseas.
He wasn’t someone who had trouble focusing—he had been accused of being too single-minded at times.
But he kept checking the time and trying to calculate how long after three thirty it would be before Bethany got here.
Finally he heard the Jeep’s approach on the rough road and was waiting in front of the RV when Bethany rolled up and parked next to the Porsche.
“I can see why you wanted a Jeep,” she said as she climbed out of the driver’s seat. “But hey, this is gorgeous.” She turned her back to him to look up at the canyon walls.
He came to stand beside her and joined her in admiring the view.
The canyon walls rose straight up over two hundred feet, the jagged rock in rich shades of orange, red and purple.
Dark green conifers jutted from the rock in places, while in others yellow and lime-green lichen glowed in the afternoon sun.
Bethany smiled up at him. One of her upper front teeth was crooked, the slight imperfection appealing in a way he couldn’t quite put his finger on. “Tell me about this via ferrata,” she said.
“The idea is to have a route of walkways, rungs, ladders and platforms that people can follow as they make their way up and along the canyon walls,” he said.
“The iron road. It’s challenging but doable for most people, especially if they hire a guide to coach them along—which we’ll recommend they do.
It’s a way to share my love of climbing with other people.
A via ferrata is set up so that people who wouldn’t normally be able to experience the sport—people of all different ages and abilities, even with certain disabilities—can climb, with the right gear and assistance.
They started out in Europe and have spread to the United States.
They’re really popular, and this is the perfect place for one. ”
“We have a big climbing community around here,” she said.
“Are you a climber?”
She shook her head. “But I volunteer with search and rescue, so I’m starting to learn. It’s not required for the work we do, but it comes in handy. Fortunately we have a number of skilled climbers on the team.”
“Search and rescue? That’s amazing. What kind of calls have you been on?”
“All kinds,” she said. “We get cars that go off the road in the canyons and crash, lost hikers, people who get hurt on the trails and can’t get down under their own power. Falls in the mountains. And we get our share of climbing accidents.”
Ian had experienced a couple of bad falls—fortunately nothing that had resulted in permanent injury. “The locals are lucky to have people like you on call,” he said.
“Do you know many of the local climbers?” she asked.
“I’ve met some of them. I know a few of the local guides. Most of my climbing has been in Europe and Asia, though. I spent six months last year in Tibet.”
“My brothers said you’re a billionaire. Is that true? Or is that a really rude question to ask?”
Her smile was so disarming, he couldn’t be offended. “My dad is a billionaire,” he said. “I’m not in his league.” Time to change the subject. “If you’re not in a hurry, I could show you around.”
“I’d love that.”
“Are you up for a little hiking? The trails can get rough.”
“I’m ready.” She extended one foot to show that she was wearing hiking boots.
“Then let’s go. I’ll show you the general route for the via ferrata.”
He led her up a rocky path he had hacked out with a machete the day before. “This first section will feature a rope bridge, then there will be some iron rings set into the cliff face to traverse, then a platform where people can catch their breath and enjoy the view.”
“It sounds just challenging enough to be fun,” she said.
“That’s the idea.” He leaned down to help her onto a large boulder.
“Where did you live before you came to Eagle Mountain?” she asked. “I mean, before Tibet?”
“I grew up in Upstate New York, but I haven’t lived there for fifteen years. Mostly I’ve traveled. Before I came here, I was living in Maine, near Mount Katahdin,” he said. “What about you? Have you always lived in Colorado?”
“No, I’ve only been here nine months. I’m originally from Vermont.”
“What made you decide to come to Eagle Mountain?”
“I came here to take a job at the Jeep rental place where I work now,” she said. “My parents came to visit and ended up buying the business and moving the whole family here.”
“How many are in the whole family?”
“My mom and dad and my three brothers.”
“Do they all work with you?” he asked.
“The younger ones—the twins—do. You met Carter. His twin is Dalton. My older brother, Aaron, is a sheriff’s deputy.”
He couldn’t imagine what that would be like, surrounded by family. “I’m an only child, and my folks divorced when I was pretty little. I don’t see them much now that I’m grown.”
“Oh, I missed them all when they weren’t here, but it would be nice if they weren’t quite so involved in my life.”
“I guess I could understand that.” They detoured around a washout in the cliff face. “There was some flooding this spring and a mudslide that took out a big section of the cliff,” he said. “We’ll have to reinforce this area and put in some drainage.”
“Are those caves up there?” She pointed to a shadowed area high above them.
He stepped back and looked in the direction she indicated. “I think you’re right. The mudslide must have opened up some pockets in the cliff face.”
“It looks like there’s a ledge up there. I think we could get to them.”
Before he could say anything, she was already headed up the slope, scrambling around rocks, squeezing past trees, steadily gaining altitude.
He hurried after her. “Careful!” he called as one foot slipped, sending loose dirt rolling toward him.
“I’m fine!” she called, and kept going.
He stepped onto the ledge right behind her. The rock shelf was scarcely a foot wide, so they had to turn sideways to make their way along it. A rush of cooler air greeted them when they reached the opening to the first, largest cave.
“Wow, look at this.” She stepped under the overhang.
Ian followed, bending down to avoid hitting his head.
“I wish we’d thought to bring a flashlight,” she said.
He pulled out his phone. “We can use this.” He directed the beam from his flashlight app onto the walls of the cave, estimating the space to be about five feet tall and six feet wide, with an undetermined depth.
Jagged rock around the opening showed fresh scarring, as if pieces had broken off in the mudslide.
“I wonder how far back this goes,” Bethany said and started deeper into the cave.
“The rock could be unstable,” he called, even as he followed her. She might not have been a climber, but she didn’t lack nerve—he’d give her that.
“Shine the light back here,” she said. “I want to see how far this goes.”
Ian moved in behind her and directed the light over her shoulder, onto a wall of rock. “It looks like it stops right here.” He swept the light down across the floor.
“What was that?” She put her hand on his arm. “I thought I saw something white. Swing the light back that way.”
He moved the light more slowly, back across the floor, and focused the beam on a strange tableau. It took a moment for the scene to register.
Bethany clutched him more tightly. “Is that…a skeleton?”