Fatal Descent by Beth Groundwater Page A

out tortilla chips and salsa. They picked at the food while waiting for the guides to finish preparing the rest of the meal. As she laid luncheon meats and sliced cheeses on a plate, Mandy looked around at the quiet knots of people in the campground.
    Could one of them really have killed Alex? And why set up an elaborate bear attack scene, when conking him on the head with a rock that presumably could have fallen from the nearby formation was enough? Did the killer want him to suffer?
    She knew from past experience that murderers often didn’t look or act any differently from normal people in a casual setting. But she still couldn’t help scanning their faces. She hoped to spot some clue, some window opening onto a soul that was twisted enough to not only kill a fellow human being, but to plan out that killing so it looked like a bear attack.
    Who could do that?
    She really wished she could pull Rob aside to talk about Betsy’s observations, but there wasn’t a private enough place here, out of earshot and sight of everyone else. She stepped back from the finished buffet and announced lunch was served. The group dined on make-your-own submarine sandwiches and pickles while chip munks scampered through the tree branches and scanned the ground for dropped crumbs. Hal, Diana, and Amy just picked at their food, barely eating anything. During the meal, the rest of the group dithered over whether they should stay at Lathrop Canyon and camp there, waiting for someone to appear.
    “The problem is that the rafting season is officially over now,” Rob said. “As far as I know, we’re the only commercial trip on the river this week. So, we’d be counting on private boaters coming by. On this section of the Colorado, that probably means they’re not under power and probably don’t have any way of calling out either. They may not be of any real help.”
    “And if we stay here tonight,” Cool said, “we’d have to make up the time we lose here, so we can still meet our pickup powerboat. That would mean skipping the climbing and hiking activities we planned for later in the trip. You folks all paid for those activities, and they’re probably why you chose to go on this trip.”
    And it’s why Cool was hired to come along. Mandy detected a note of disappointment in his words.
    Betsy, Viv, and Mo all nodded. Their faces bore disappointed frowns, but the women just looked at each other and kept their mouths shut. Mandy decided they probably felt voicing their opinions in the context of the Anderson family’s tragedy would be seen as too selfish.
    Elsa had no such qualms. “Yes, I’d really be miffed if I couldn’t do any more climbing.”
    And Elsa would be even more miffed when Mandy questioned her about her tryst with Alex, but it was something Mandy planned to do as soon as she could get the woman alone.
    “But I’ve got another question,” Elsa continued. “I also signed up for this trip for the whitewater rafting. If someone does appear who can get word out, are you going to cut the whole trip short?”
    Mandy hesitated and glanced at Rob. Everyone would want refunds if that happened, and the trip would become a loss—a huge loss. One that would really hurt their fledgling joint outfitter business. Then she felt guilty for her thoughts. They had to do whatever was best for the Anderson family, regardless of the cost.
    “We might split up at that point,” she said. “Whoever wants to leave can, and the others can continue down the river. Depending on when and if that happens and how many choose to stay or go, we guides would have to do some juggling to make it all work.”
    “We would already have to do a lot of replanning if we camp here,” Cool said. “It would change where we camp every night from now on, so we’d have to scout out new beach locations. The campsites we find might be sketchy.”
    “Could we just extend the trip by a day?” Mo asked. “Wait here until tomorrow at lunch time, then if no