Page 15 of Disappearance at Angel's Landing
“Right.” Lila shook her head as though he’d affected her concentration.
Couldn’t say he was sorry, either. Turnabout was fair play.
“This valley separates into three different canyons. The killer could’ve taken any one of them to put as much distance between him and the crime scene, but the most passable is the one heading north.” Lila took a step in that direction. “I’m betting if he didn’t bother covering his tracks at the campsite, he didn’t take the time to make sure we couldn’t follow.”
The analytical part of his brain—influenced by his training and experience in two different national parks—attacked the heat simmering in his gut and shut it down. He’d only ever reviewed these canyons on a map. He’d have to rely on Lila’sknowledge of the area moving forward. “How far north can he get?”
“About forty miles. It wouldn’t be difficult. That canyon has seen some flooding, but we’re far enough into the summer months most of it would’ve cleared.” Pointing out over the valley, she targeted their next destination. “All he’d have to do is follow the river as far north as possible before he can disappear into wilderness.”
“And get away with murder.” Branch wasn’t going to let that happen. They’d packed light. Certainly not with enough supplies to spend days in the wilderness, but the sooner they caught up with the killer, the sooner he could try that cup of tea. “We need to get to check in with Risner. You okay to pick up the—”
An explosion rocked through the mountain above. Rock spewed in every direction and arched through the sky, and both he and Lila threw their arms overhead to block the debris. In vain. Vibrations shook up his legs as torrents of dirt blocked out the sun. Growing louder. Closer.
“Landslide.” Branch shoved his partner ahead of him as the first sheets of dirt rained down. “Run!”
Chapter Eleven
Pain. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think. It felt as though a boulder was sitting on her chest. Or she’d been body-slammed again.
It had all happened so fast: the shaking; Branch’s order for her to run; the darkness. She hadn’t made it more than few steps before the first rock had knocked her to the ground.
Had it been an earthquake? Zion was positioned near four minor fault lines, but nothing had triggered anything like this in the past. That first boulder could’ve been a warning.
Exhaustion urged Lila to slip back into unconsciousness—to take away the pain—but there was something she had to do. A reason why she was here. Why couldn’t she remember?
Dust caught in her throat, and her body jerked to dispel the invasion. Once. Twice. Searing pain shot through her side as she tried to roll onto her stomach. She couldn’t stop the moan scraping up her dry throat. Everything hurt, and she was dying. Curling her fingernails into the ground, she fisted a handful of what felt like gravel.
Dirt slipped into her uniform and rubbed in all the wrong ways. She pressed one hand into her ribs, prying open gritty eyes. Meeting nothing but darkness. The moan contorted into a whimper as she tried to take a full breath. Her ribs screamed in protest, only allowing shaky, shallow inhales. “H-hello? Can…anyone hear me?”
No answer.
At least not any that she could hear. Sunlight filtered in from above, helping her eyes adjust to the unstable walls threatening to crush her. “Branch?”
Where was he? Was he hurt? The taste of copper filled her mouth. She swiped at it, coming away with something sticky and warm, but she couldn’t make it out clearly enough. Blood?
Lila studied the precarious positions of the boulders overhead. One wrong move, and the entire house of cards could come down on her. It was a miracle it hadn’t already. Sand trickled between the cracks and stole some of the sunlight, which felt like death in and of itself when she imagined being stuck without a way to see. Being truly alone. Forgotten. She swallowed past the thin coating of dirt in her mouth. Her bottom lip wavered with a held sob. She could do this. She had to do this.
“Help.”
Her call barely filled the too small space in which she’d been thrown. No. Shoved. Branch had shoved her ahead of him. He’d saved her life. Again. The sob built in her chest until it consumed what little air she’d managed to hold onto. It was only a matter of time before this dark little hole collapsed or was filled with dirt. She couldn’t be here for that. She had to get out.
“Branch!”
Lightning speared through her side and behind her eyes. Tears burned down her face. Every NPS ranger was required to earn their EMT certification. She was trained to remain calm in case of emergency and to assess any potential injuries. Breathe. She just had to breathe. One breath. Two. Both hurt like a mother, but prodding her fingers along the epicenter of the pain in her side, she concluded her ribs weren’t broken or cracked. Most likely bruised. She’d live.
Hopefully not in this hole.
“Okay. Step one—don’t panic. Easier said than done. Whoever came up with that step clearly wasn’t buried under a mountain.” Lila swiped at her face, caking dirt and tears to her hands. Focus. There had to be a way out of here, to get to Branch. Make sure he was alive. One step at a time. That was all she could do.
“Step two—assess for injuries.” Inventorying the rest of her body, she was grateful to find nothing but a few cuts and bruises in the low light coming through the cracks. A gash cut across her shin, but it was difficult to see the damage clearly.
Working her pack from her shoulders with nothing less than four moans and one scream, she dragged it to her chest and searched for her first aid kit, flashlight and a bottle of water. Three large boulders had pinned her in place, with the largest overhead. Any movement against them and she was dead. One wrong move? Dead. Another earthquake? Dead. Which only made escape that much harder. Great.
She curled her upper body off the ground, holding onto her ribs to contain the gut-nauseating spike in pain and unpacked her kit. “Step three—don’t die of infection.”
Alcohol pads, a little water from her bottle, her largest bandage and a few tabs of ibuprofen did the job.
“Four—figure out where the hell you are.” She hit the power button on her flashlight. She had about three feet of space overhead, a few more to her right and only a foot or so to her left. Smaller rocks acted as nothing but annoyances. It was the big ones she’d have to watch out for. Though how she was going to chest press a two-ton boulder was beyond her. She regularly hit the weights—even managed a PR last week—but this felt a little out of her reach. “Well, it could use some color, but otherwise, not so bad.”
