Chapter 14 #2
"Easy," he murmured. To Doug or to me, I wasn't sure, but his jaw was tight with tension.
We reached the cave entrance, and I looked out at the ravine.
The flood had transformed the landscape.
What had been a raging torrent yesterday was now a rushing brown stream, but the damage the flash flood had left behind was catastrophic.
Mud and debris plastered everything in sight.
Branches were wedged between boulders like broken bones, while whole trees were stripped bare and scattered across the banks.
Entire sections of the ravine walls had collapsed into the water.
"Wow," I whispered. "Everything's changed."
"Yeah." Mitch scanned up the rock wall, looking toward the top. "And these stones are still wet. This climb is going to be unstable."
"I don't care," Doug said. "Start climbing."
Mitch turned and clenched his fists.
"Doug," I said. "This is insane. That cliff is practically vertical. One slip, and we all die."
"Then don't slip." Doug's eyes flared.
"What happened to you?" I glared at him, trying to find the man I used to know, but he was long gone.
"Shut up!" He shoved the gun into Mitch's back.
Mitch clenched his jaw, yet he still remained calm.
"Fine," I snapped, pulling my hair back and securing it in a ponytail with shaking fingers. "Lead the way, Mitch."
"No." Doug shook his head. "Charlie first. Then me." He leveled his glare at Mitch. "You last, and don't try anything."
"No way," Mitch barked. "If Charlie falls?—"
"Then you’d better hope she doesn't." Doug scowled at me. "Get climbing, Charlie. Now. Or I put a bullet in your boyfriend right here."
"You've lost your mind," I yelled at him.
"Shut up and go!"
My heart pounded as Mitch's green eyes met mine. Something passed between us. A promise. A reassurance. A desperate plea.
You'll be okay. I'll be right behind you. I'm gonna kill him.
I had no idea which message he was sending, yet I wanted to believe all three.
As I approached the cliff edge and looked up at the slick, muddy rock wall, another thought dominated everything else. We're going to die.
"Go!" Doug yelled.
"Okay … bastard." I reached out of the cave, placing my foot on a rock that protruded from the stone like an open drawer. Okay. I can do this. I have to do this.
I found handholds easily enough. Cracks in the rock, exposed roots, rough stones that seemed stable, and the first few feet weren't so bad.
"Get back!" Doug's voice boomed below me.
"What?" Gripping a wet rock, I twisted to look down.
Doug's back was visible at the cave entrance, but I couldn't see Mitch. "Get back, asshole," he yelled.
"Doug!" I cried. "What are you doing?"
"It's okay, Charlie." Mitch's commanding voice reached me. "Just stay calm and focus."
"Don't do anything until I tell you," Doug ordered, then he stepped out of the cave onto the rock I'd used. His cold eyes met mine, and I couldn't believe I had once trusted him. "Keep going." He aimed the rifle at me.
My stomach plummeted.
How could I have been such an idiot? Again.
First Marcus, stealing my research and publishing it under his own name while I'd been stupid enough to think we’d had something special between us.
At least Doug hadn't gotten me into bed before he’d screwed me over.
Two bosses. Two men I'd trusted. Two men who'd seen me as nothing more than a convenient steppingstone.
Apparently, I had "use me" tattooed across my forehead in invisible ink that only assholes could read.
Doug grunted and swore with every move. His movements were clumsy compared to mine, probably because the bastard clutched the damn rifle and kept it aimed at me.
"Keep climbing, Charlie!" he barked.
"I am!" I yelled, reaching for another rock.
After what felt like an eternity, Doug called down, "Mitch. Your turn. And remember, anything goes wrong, and she's dead."
"Charlie?" Mitch's voice rang out below. "You okay?"
"Yes!" I called back, sneaking a glance over my shoulder.
Mitch climbed like a machine. Fast, efficient, deliberate. His gaze stayed fixed on me, watching, as if he was anticipating every move I made and was ready to catch me if I slipped.
A question whipped through my mind. Why hadn't Doug shot Mitch when he’d had the chance?
Maybe he was out of bullets?
Or maybe Doug couldn't kill a man in cold blood, face to face?
Or did he need Mitch?
All three were possible.
But as I hauled myself up another few feet, muscles screaming, I figured it out. We were in the middle of Mitch’s million-hectare property, miles from anywhere. He needed Mitch's knowledge of the land to get us out of here.
Oh shit! He didn't need me.
"That's it, Charlie. You're doing great," Mitch called up.
But I was struggling. My legs burned, and the jagged rock I clung to sliced my fingers and made my wrists throb. Sweat already dripped down my spine, yet the sun still wasn't visible. The day was only going to get hotter, and after yesterday's drenching, the humidity would be hell.
Friction from my damp socks rubbed on my heels, and the higher I climbed, the worse it got. Most of my body already ached, but my bruised elbow throbbed so much it had its own heartbeat.
The rock under my left hand crumbled. I shrieked as I slid sideways, clawing at the rocks, scrabbling for purchase.
"Charlie!" Mitch's cry boomed from below.
Doug clutched my wrist. "Grab on."
I clawed at the stone and found another handhold. Doug's grip was painful, his fingers digging into my skin. Yet he'd saved me. Why?
"Thanks," I gasped, hating that I was grateful.
"Just keep going."
"You okay?" Mitch's tone was shredded with worry.
"I'm fine," I lied.