Out of Reach by Kendall Talbot

Author:Kendall Talbot [Talbot, Kendall]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington
Published: 2018-01-19T21:03:31+00:00

Chapter 15

Lily had watched the sun set with tumultuous emotions that swung from being grateful to be alive to crippling sorrow over Carter’s absence. When she’d first crawled onto the shore, she’d spent what felt like hours calling for him. Her only buoying factor was her survival. If she could survive that torrential river when she couldn’t swim, then there was every possibility Carter had survived it too.

She’d ignored the painful throb in her ankle, focusing instead on what she had to do to get through the night alone. Her saving grace was the cigarette lighter she’d put in her pants pocket after lighting the fire this morning. It was the only piece of equipment she had.

After stripping out of her wet shirt and shorts and placing her shoes as close as she dared to the fire she’d built, she squatted, near naked, next to the flames. She was attempting to dry her clothes by holding them on sticks above the blaze. Beyond the firelight, the darkness was complete, no variations, no shadows, nothing but the blackest of black.

Lily pictured her oldest brother, Bobby. Dozens of times on their camping trips he’d drummed into her the importance of carrying a lighter. It’s your most important survival tool. It’ll give you fire. That in turn will give you sterile water, burn germs off dubious food, give you a signal opportunity, provide heat, light, a defense mechanism, and most importantly, something to distract your mind when you’re cold and alone.

As she stared into the dancing flames, she realized how right he’d been. The last instruction Bobby had given her before she’d left for this trip was to buy three lighters at the airport. She had. Fortunately for her, one had been in her pocket when she’d dragged her sodden body out of the water.

Her mind drifted to Carter. For a man who traveled to remote parts of the world, he seemed particularly lacking in survival skills. She imagined him lying somewhere along the river, cold and alone and in complete darkness. Her heart broke into tiny little pieces at the thought of losing him, and in that moment she wondered if she was falling for him.

Although she’d initially been annoyed by his cockiness, as each day progressed she’d found herself wanting to know more about cryptic Carter. There was something about him that she found alluring. It was almost as if he needed saving . . . even before they got lost in the jungle.

She tried to picture what he’d had with him when she’d last seen him. He had her pack, but she couldn’t remember seeing the camera on his hip. Her heart squeezed over the possibility of losing all those photos.

Otomi’s final resting place was one of them. Without it, there was a possibility they’d never find their guide again. Her mind spun with horrid thoughts, but she dug herself out of that senseless quagmire by focusing on what Carter would have in her pack. Provided he still had it, that is.

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