Chapter Seven
Liv eyed the scuffed yellow rafts, wondering if they’d ever board them. Once again, her sister’s plan had come with a messily
knotted string attached. It seemed that the potential for this sister trip to move forward rested on the question of whether
Babette Sauvage’s absence was intentional or accidental, benign or malignant.
No one seemed to have access to relevant data that might help answer this question, and Liv was still getting a handle on
how the others were all connected. Over a simple lunch of sandwiches and watermelon—deliciously cold in the mounting heat—they
did what all people do in the face of insufficient information: leapt to conclusions that served their diverging self-interests.
“If Babette’s not coming, I’m out,” Fiona said. She turned to Marc, who was mid-conversation with Lucinda, and snapped her
fingers. “Mule man. Take me to the top with you.”
“Me too,” Imogen said. “Even if he smells like the back of a barn.”
“Imogen!” Lucinda scolded. She turned to Marc. “You smell just fine, dear. But we’re not going back up with you. We’re here
to raft the canyon.”
“No, Nana, you’re here to raft the canyon,” Imogen said. “I’m here to produce video content for a wellness guru who forgot
to show up to her own party.”
“I doubt she would forget,” Stefan said. “Ever since my firm made our investment, Babette has been talking about this so-called Essence Quest. She insisted it was critical to the launch of CareFree.”
“He’s right,” PK said. “We can’t do it without Babette. And she might be in real trouble.”
Charlie turned to Big Pete. “What happens if we go back up to the rim?”
“This time of year, it’s not safe for amateurs to hike uphill in the heat of the day. You’d have to wait until evening to
get started. And however long it took you to get down to the river, expect it to take three times as long to walk back up.”
Liv did the math in her head. Fifteen hours of hiking uphill. Regardless of what time they started, they’d be walking all
night and then some.
Imogen groaned. “I changed my mind. Bring on the rafts.”
But Charlie pressed on. “If we hike up and reconnect with my sister, can we have a raincheck? Come back down and get on the
boats in three or four days?”
“No,” Big Pete said.
“No?” Charlie clearly wasn’t used to hearing the word.
“Your trip permit is for a launch today only. This whole season is booked.”
“So if we want to go down the river . . .”
“It’s now or never.”
“Is there a way you can communicate with your colleagues from down here?” Devon asked.
“When we get to camp this evening, I can radio up to our headquarters and see if they know anything.”
“You cannot call now?” Stefan asked.
“Sorry. No one’s in the office. Everyone’s out midday, launching and closing up trips.”
Devon turned to Charlie. “What do you think?”
The two executives stared at each other, their eyes flashing their own secret sibling code.
“Do we get a say in this?” Fiona asked.
“What if she’s hurt?” PK said.
Devon and Charlie stared at each other again, then over to Stefan, who gave a subtle nod. Liv couldn’t decide which of the
siblings was in charge, and where the Dutchman fit in. With their CEO missing, maybe the three of them didn’t know either.
Finally, Charlie spoke up.
“We’re going,” he said curtly. He turned to PK. “Was there a script for her grand entrance?”
“It’s on my phone. But I really think—”
“No.” Charlie clenched his whole body, as if he had swallowed a volcano and was preventing it from erupting by sheer force
of will. “Babette is strong. Babette is fine. I’m sure she has a very good reason for being delayed.”
“But—”
“But nothing. Even if we start hiking as soon as the sun goes down, we won’t get to the rim until tomorrow. We can make contact
sooner if we get on the boats, paddle to camp, and use the radio like the guide said.”
“It wouldn’t be the first time Babette changed her plan,” Devon said. “I’m sure she’ll join us soon. And if she needs help,
she has plenty of resources to draw on back in Vegas.”
“I’m going back to the rim,” Marc offered. “I can check in tonight at our office after the mules are stabled to see if she’s
made contact.”
Charlie nodded. “If she has, you’ll help her sync up with us?”
Marc looked uncertainly in Big Pete’s direction.
“We can’t make any promises,” Big Pete said. “But yes. If your sister needs help getting down to the river, Marc can guide
her. We don’t have anything else on the calendar for him until he meets us with the van at Lake Mead at the end of this week.”
“So that’s settled,” Charlie said.
“Settled?” PK coughed. “May I remind you that Babette is missing?”
“Delayed,” Devon said. “We don’t know what’s going on. And as you said, this is her Essence Quest. She wouldn’t miss it.”
Stefan nodded. “Business is business. The show goes on.”
“That’s right.” Charlie was standing beside Devon now, the two siblings fronting a unified confidence, unearned as it might
be. “The best thing we can do now is kick off this trip like she would have wanted. You have the script?”
“I can do it!” Imogen volunteered.
PK took a slow look around the beach, as if Babette might be hiding behind a rock somewhere.
“I suppose the welcome should come from someone at the company,” he finally said, handing his phone to Charlie.
“If I could have all of your attention,” Charlie said. He pulled out a pair of glasses and peered down at PK’s phone.
“My sweet unleashable darlings,” Charlie read. Cringed. “Sorry. Maybe I’ll just paraphrase.”
“Don’t,” Fiona said grimly. “I want to hear exactly what she was planning to say.”