Excerpt #1
Chapter 1
“We are now ready to start on our way down the Great Unknown. … The men talk as cheerfully as ever; but to me the cheer is somber and the jests are ghastly.”
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John Wesley Powell
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“I could kill him.”
With hands on her hips, Mandy Tanner surveyed the pile of gear heaped in the back room of the outfitter’s building. The rafts, oars and paddles, sleeping bags, mats and tents were all there, as were the kitchen supplies, water jugs, coolers, portable toilet, first aid kit, handheld radio transceiver and myriad other supplies needed for a multi-day rafting trip. But Gonzo, one of the guides and their provisioner, had forgotten to bring some vital equipment—camping lanterns to light their campsites in the evenings.
Mandy swallowed to tamp down the frustration threatening to clog her throat. That meant the only light they would have at night would be thin beams cast by flashlights or headlamps. Could they make do? No, dammit. They had to have at least two lanterns, and preferably a third for backup.
Mandy’s fiancé and business partner, Rob Juarez, gave a shrug. “Gonzo will find some.”
How could Rob be so nonchalant? She gazed at his infuriatingly calm and handsome face. “The clients will start arriving any minute, and I was counting on Gonzo’s jokes to put everyone in a good mood. He’s supposed to be here to meet and greet them instead of running around Moab trying to beg lanterns off another outfitter. With so many outfitters closed for the season, it’ll be tough finding them.”
Contrary to her better judgment, Mandy and Rob had assigned Gonzo Gordon, their best rafting guide, to provision this expedition, their first outside of Colorado. She would have preferred to let Gonzo learn the ropes on a local trip that was less complicated. But Rob had suggested it to show their support of and trust in Gonzo, who was making good progress in his alcohol rehabilitation program. And Gonzo had assured her—multiple times—that he could handle being the “Quartermaster,” as he had dubbed himself.
“No problemo, he kept telling me,” Mandy said as she stared at the equipment pile, “and now look where we are.”