Page 113 of Close Your Eyes and Count to 10

“What?” asked Adele. “How do you know that?”

“He went live. I saw it.”

He held up his phone to show the muted video of Maverick wading through the flooded basement, talking to the camera. It was recorded, playing on a loop. Maverick looked truly scared.

In all the videos Adele had watched with Blake, he always had this goofy, performative look on his face, as if all his emotions, from surprise to enthusiasm, were for the audience. The man on the camera was focused, determined, and very afraid. Or a better actor than he had a right to be. She read the captions:I think I may have found where whoever is doing this is holding Angeline. I’m about to go in. Wish me luck.

“So we follow,” said Cody. “If it’s for real, Maverick might need help. If it’s theater, then at least we’re there for the finale.”

Malinka’s expression was serious, but her eyes lit up a little.

“We might not get the money we came for. But think of the views,” she said. “Look at that. Nearly two million views of that video since it posted. That’s sick.”

These dayssickwas a good thing, Adele reminded herself.

But it was also a littlesick—not in a good way—to be thinking about views less than an hour after you almost died. In fact, the unwellness of all of it was starting to get to her, including her own. Maybe she and the kids never needed a million dollars. Maybe they just needed each other. She felt something that had been squeezing her heart release.

“I think…” said Adele. Both Cody and Malinka had eyes on her. She felt weirdly close to them, as if she’d known them for years. They’d been bonded by their extreme circumstances. When things went FUBAR, each of them had abandoned the competition to help the others. That was something special.

“I think I’m ready to go home,” she finished.

It hurt because in her heart she was a competitor. Giving up felt like another failure. But the game was clearly rigged: people were missing. Even Mother Nature was angry.

Cody offered a slow nod, keeping his unreadable gaze on her. She figured he’d stay, but then he surprised her. “I’m with you.”

She felt a little jolt of electricity when they locked eyes. He reached out a hand to her, and she took it. It was familiar, intimate. Then he looked embarrassed, drew it back, his heat lingering on her palm.

Adele expected an argument from Malinka, but instead she just nodded, looking as defeated as Adele felt. The heaviness of it all felt unbearable. She thought about asking for Cody’s phone to call Violet. Let her kids know that she was okay and on her way back,however long it might take. But she didn’t. She’d give herself a little longer before she had to call them and tell them she had failed.

Cody rose.

“Let’s take advantage of this break in the weather and get back to camp.”

* * *

Malinka, seeming stronger, led the way down the path, Adele right behind her, Cody taking the rear. They moved quickly, though they were all worse for wear—Malinka limping, Adele’s back and shoulders aching. Cody had hurt his arm pulling on the rope. The night was humid and cool, rain slowed to a persistent drizzle, wind greatly diminished but still gusting as if to remind them that it wasn’t quite done with its show. There was more in store.

“It’s true what they say about me, you know,” said Malinka, turning back to Adele.

“What’s that?” she answered, coming into step beside the younger woman.

“That I couldn’t have made the summits without my father. Especially Everest. I almost died up there. If he hadn’t tethered me, I would have.”

She could see the young woman’s shame. Adele said what she had thought all along about Malinka’s story, “You were a child, you know. Fifteen on Everest, right?”

“Almost sixteen.”

“Still,” she said. “Were you a climber because youwantedto be? Or to please your father?”

Malinka frowned at her, then looked ahead. “I guess I don’t know the answer to that.”

“Most therapists would hold that you weren’t of the age of consent,” Adele went on gently. “That you weren’t old enough to know what you wanted past wanting your father’s approval.”

Malinka kept walking, looking at the path ahead.

“Most adults couldn’t make Everest without assistance,” Adele went on. “Even elite climbers have Sherpas hauling them up or hauling their gear. What you did, what you’ve done—it’s extraordinary. No matter how much help you had.”

Malinka laughed a little. “My company is about to go bankrupt.”

---