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Her friend’s willingness to jump into action and provide whatever she needed loosened the vise squeezing her chest. “Send Cruz or Lincoln up to the first check point on the trail. Doesn’t look good, and my hopes aren’t high I’ll find anything positive. I don’t know how long ago she fell, but you know where we are. It’s one hell of a drop.”

A beat of silence took over the line. “Linc’s still with me at our cabin. He and I will head out now. Keep all the guests there. We don’t need any more accidents. I’ll be in touch.”

Grace disconnected and turned to find herself face to face with Zeke.

“I’m going with you.”

The set of his jaw told her he wouldn’t back down so there was no use fighting. “You hate heights.”

He lifted a shoulder. “I might be scared but I’ll do it anyway.”

He wasn’t just talking about repelling down a cliff, but now wasn’t the time for that discussion. “Got equipment? Because I only have enough for me.”

“I already tied off my rope. Darrin will stand by the boulder and keep hold for us.”

She arched a brow. “You trust him to have our backs?”

“He’s the strongest one. Seems to know what to do. Sometimes we don’t have a choice but to trust the people around us.”

“Fine.”

Brushing past him, she hurried to the cliff. She couldn’t afford to get caught up in anything besides her singular mission. Everyone wore worried expressions as she secured her rope around her waist and tested her clips.

Zeke did the same beside her. She wished she’d brought helmets and spikes for her boots, but she’d only brought what was needed in case of an emergency.

“Ready?” Zeke asked.

The sun streaked down and blinded her, but she nodded, hating how much his presence steadied her heartrate. “Ready.”

She released some slack in her line and leaned backward. Wind swirled against her skin. Adrenaline pumped through her veins. She swung toward the rocky cliff and pushed off again with her feet. Outstretched branches reached for her. The distance between her and the ground disappeared, and she stayed in total control until she landed on the grass, Zeke coasting to a stop beside her.

She let out a long breath and loosened her death grip on the rope. Her palms burned and dread pooled in the pit of her stomach. She needed to search for Tessa—the body shouldn’t be far—but the blurry shadows of faded memories cleared. She swallowed the acidic bile crawling up the back of her throat. Dark spots dotted her vision, and the slightest breeze could have knocked her off balance.

The last time she’d searched for a body, her life had changed forever.

“Grace?”

She blinked at the gentle timbre of Zeke’s voice.

“Are you okay? You look a little pale.”

Shoving her memories back in the little box she kept them in, she tossed her rope to the ground. “I’m fine. Let’s find Tessa.”

Concern lingered in his dark eyes.

“Tessa!” She called out her name just in case the woman was alive. She struggled to even out her breaths and put one foot in front of the other. The line of trees was a few feet in front of them, Zeke not far to her right. Tessa’s body had been close to the tree line, which was just a few yards away.

“Here she is.” Zeke crouched low. “You’re gonna want to see this.”

Squeezing her eyes shut, Grace gave herself one second to pull herself together. This wasn’t the same. She wasn’t a teenager walking home from school—not a child about to discover the woman she’d loved most in the world had finally succumbed to her demons. This was a tragic accident that could have happened to anyone, and she owed it to the young woman before her to give all her focus and respect.

With a heavy heart, she picked her way around rocks and roots until she stood beside Zeke and looked down at Tessa’s body. Her neck was twisted at an awkward angle and her sneaker had fallen off one foot.

But it was the bruising around her throat that caught Grace’s attention.

Zeke glanced up, the lines of his face tight. “Doesn’t look like she stumbled or fell. Looks like she was murdered.”

* * *