Page 11 of Canyon Killer
Bethany turned her back on them. She still resented that her brothers had decided to join SAR—something that, until their arrival, had been one thing she didn’t have to share with her family. But they were good volunteers, fit and capable, so she couldn’t very well protest their acceptance into the group. All she could do was focus on her own training and being the best team member she could be.
“Bethany, you have to tell us about the bones they found in Humboldt Canyon.” Eldon Ramsey, a big, burly guy who was originally from Hawaii, cornered her as she was grabbing a cup of coffee from the urn on a side table.
“Um, there’s not a lot to tell,” she said. “Except they looked like they had been in that cave a long time.”
“I heard there were two bodies.” Ryan Welch, Eldon’s best friend, joined them. “Is that true?”
“Yes. Well, more skeletons than bodies.”
“And they were murdered?” Ryan pressed. “How?”
“I’m not sure I should talk about it,” she said. “And I don’t really know anything.” She turned away, spooning too much sugar into her coffee.
“Maybe this will stop construction on the via ferrata,” someone she couldn’t see said.
“We should be so lucky,” someone else said.
“It might make Seabrook think twice about his project.” That was Carter’s voice, as familiar as her own.
“Some folks are talking about organizing a protest,” Eldon said. “If enough people show up to picket, maybe he’ll realize how unpopular his closing the canyon is.”
“I didn’t even know the canyon was for sale,” Caleb Garrison said.
“I think the old guy that owned it died and his heirs decided to sell,” Ryan said.
“Whoever bought the property probably would have closed it to climbing,” Sheri Stevens said. “Everyone is worried about liability these days.”
“At least Ian is doing something that will allow more people to enjoy the canyon,” Bethany said. “A via ferrata sounds like fun.”
“It sounds like a way for a lot of inexperienced people to get hurt,” SAR Captain Danny Irwin said. “Anybody who pays the fee can do those courses, whether they know what they’re doing or not.”
“Ian said he’s going to recommend people hire a guide,” she said. “And there will be safety equipment.”
“Sounds like you’ve gotten pretty friendly with Ian Seabrook.” Chris nudged her. “Pretty fast work there, considering he’s only been in town for a couple of days.”
Bethany tried to fight down a blush, aware that everyone was looking at her. “I’ve just talked to him,” she said. “Maybe if some of you would do the same, you wouldn’t be upset about what he’s doing.”
“He has a reputation in the climbing community,” Sheri said. “And it’s not all good.”
“What do you mean?” Bethany asked.
“He’s one of the top-ranked climbers in the world,” she said. “But there’s bad blood between him and some of his competitors. There was an incident with Tyler Grey in Indonesia last year.”
“I remember hearing about that,” Eldon said. “Tyler accused Seabrook of moving some anchors he’d set.”
“And there was that trouble two years ago in Mongolia,” Ryan said. “Seabrook organized an expedition to Khüiten Peak and bailed at the last minute. A lot of people had made plans, and he left them hanging.”
“That doesn’t sound like the Ian Seabrook I met,” Bethany said. Though really, they had only been together for a couple hours. He’d made a good impression on her, but still…
Danny checked his watch. “We’d better get started, or we’ll be here all night.”
They returned to their seats, and Bethany tried to focus on the review of best practices for transporting injured persons. But she was aware of curious looks and whispered comments from those around her. The image she had of Ian—of a thoughtful guy with good intentions—was so at odds with the picture they had painted of him. Was he really a selfish braggart who ran over others to get what he wanted?
And if their impression of Ian was closer to the truth, was she yet again attracted to the wrong man?
* * *
Ian had anappointment two days later with the county to finalize the permits for constructing the via ferrata. He hated all this behind-the-scenes bureaucracy but had learned to gut it up and plow through. He intended to be as physically involved in the construction as he could, but first he had to jump this hurdle.
