Page 44 of Impossible Rapids

Shawn suddenly looked larger than life. “It’s our scenery.” His dagger glare alone should have the men paddling in the other direction.

“It’s a public river,” the guy said. “We can gaze at anything we want.” Did he have a slight accent? Julie couldn’t place it. All she knew was she didn’t want him ‘gazing’ at her.

“Not on my watch,” Shawn challenged him.

The guy lifted his eyebrows and moved to stand and climb out of the boat.

Brylee shifted nervously next to her. Julie knew Shawn, Cash, Hays, and the rest of the men were world-class fighters, but eight against six wasn’t great odds. Was this going to escalate quickly? Who were these men and why were they challenging Shawn and leering at Julie?

“Pierce,” the man seated in the back captain’s chair barked out, an undeniable lilt to his voice. “Let’s go.”

Pierce didn’t respond, but the rest of the men paddled back out into the current. “I’ll see you soon, beautiful,” Pierce called to Julie before they rounded a corner and disappeared.

Shawn started forward, looking as if he was about to produce a Viking axe and swim out to face the guy.

Hays hurried over to him and the men conferred for a few minutes. Shawn pulled the satellite phone out and called somebody and then they chatted some more. It sounded like the men in black had gotten a private permit to do the two-day trip down this most intense part of the river, which meant they’d be staying at the same camp spot tonight. The name on the permit was a large construction company out of Denver. Shawn’s contact at the rafting company said a female secretary took care of the paperwork and told fish and game it was an executive retreat. Nobody had seen the men put their boat in and they had no names or identities on the individual men. Shawn made another call, talking to Aiden Porter’s IT guy and asking him to check into the construction company.

Neither Brylee nor Julie said anything, trying to listen and get a bead on the situation.

Cash and Shawn came back to their raft.

“That was odd,” Brylee said.

“That’s one word for it,” Shawn muttered. “Executive retreat for a group of construction meatheads with suspicious French accents.” He glanced at Julie, and she loved the protectiveness she read in his blue eyes.

“No way to turn around from here,” Cash said, staring at Brylee as if worried he was putting his wife in danger.

“We could have a chopper come pick us up,” Shawn said.

“Do you feel that strongly we’re in danger?” Julie asked, her heartbeat accelerating.

“Not in danger. Cash and I could take all eight of them,” Shawn said, tilting his chin confidently. “I just don’t want to camp next to them and be up all night wondering if Pierce is going to try to sneak in your tent.”

Her eyebrows shot up. “Well, you’d better not leave me alone then.”

His eyes got a sizzling look in them.

“We can figure that out tonight,” Cash said. “I’d like to beat them to the camping spot and make sure they don’t eat our food or mess with anything.”

“Good point.” But Shawn didn’t shove off the boat just yet. “Are you both comfortable staying near those men tonight?”

“I wouldn’t say comfortable,” Brylee said. “But Cash fought off some awful men to keep me safe and help me win my million dollars. Let’s finish this and win the money for Julie and Left Behind.”

Julie appreciated Brylee’s support.

“Jules?” Shawn asked.

“I agree. It’s not comfortable to think about being around Pierce and having him make stupid comments, but I doubt they’re going to outright attack us. If they are, that’s why I keep you around.”

Shawn’s brows rose, but he smiled. “At least you’re willing to keep me around.”

There was something so significant about the way he said that. Julie didn’t know how to respond.

They loaded up, and Hays and the men in his boat followed them. They paddled harder than they had the past three and a half days, and nobody laughed or cheered through the rapids. Though Julie had agreed not to call for a helicopter to get them out of here, she felt more uncomfortable as the afternoon wore on. An unsettling premonition would not leave her gut and her chest felt tight, as if she were underwater again.

They saw the black boat as the sun was slanting behind the trees to the west. The men on the boat started paddling harder, like it was some competition, but the smaller rafts were lighter on the water, and they caught up to them and passed them by.

Pierce winked and called to Julie, “Save me a spot to sleep by you, beautiful.”