GOLD CANYON (Book 2)

Chapter 12

Seconds after Kate slithered through the hole in the rock face, she skated over loose pebbles down the incline, all the way to the bottom with the map clutched to her chest. Skidding into a ditch, she toppled forward and nearly face planted into the slope on the opposite side, her hands outstretched, saving her from smacking her nose and mouth on the eroded layer of sandstone.

As Tom encountered the Australian above, Kate headed west, hustling across the gritty soil that served as a drainage wash during heavy rains.

Almost around a bend, Tom called her name. But as Kate turned to answer him, a pair of hands reached out and jerked her by the arm and slung her to the ground. She tumbled out of control, her shoulders—only protected by her tank top—raked over rock and sand. Her back collided with the base of a vertical cliff, where she came to a stop.

"What the?" Kate threw up her hands in defense against a woman with flaxen curls falling to her shoulders, and a backpack similar to Arthur Beck's, her hiking boots planted in the flaking shale. Kate blinked. "Julia?"

The woman, wearing a coral-colored tank top and a pair of brown pants, loosened her stance, winced, and said, "How do you know my name?"

"It's a long story," Kate replied, removing the grit from her skinned elbow, a slight ebbing of crimson oozing to the surface. "By the way, thanks for hurling me to the bloody ground."

"Sorry, I'm being followed, and I thought you were someone else."

"I'm not the one who's stalking you, that's for sure." Kate blew a puff of steam from her mouth, gathered herself and rose with help from Arthur Beck's granddaughter.

Julia, apparently in her mid-to-late twenties, stared at Kate for a moment, sizing her up.

Kate's heart shuddered at a sudden thought. She inhaled through her nose, exhaled, licked her lips for moisture, and then said, "There's something I have to tell you."

"What might that be?" Julia replied with anticipation, taking a step closer.

"Well... it's about your grandfather."

"My grandfather?"

"Yes. He's..." Kate's throat went as dry as cotton and her lips felt as arid as the canyon walls surrounding them. "I'm so sorry to have to tell you this, but...."

"Just spit it out."

"He's dead."

"What?" Julia froze, and then her mouth opened like she was about to say something else, but nothing came out. Her gaze dropped and her eyes grew distant.

"I'm sorry for your loss, Ms. Beck. I assume you're not married, since I don't see a ring."

"No, I'm not." Her voice was soft and frail, a tearful gleam forming in her eyes.

Kate wanted to comfort her somehow, but she'd only known the woman for a few minutes. Any words she might say would seem shallow. All she could muster was, "I'm sorry." Again.

"How?" Julia looked up. "I don't understand. I talked to him on the phone a few days ago. He said he had something he wanted to give me. But when I met him for dinner the other night, he acted strange. Paranoid. Said if he gave it to me, it would only put me in danger. So, I left the restaurant worried and confused. I still don't know what he wanted to give me. And then I followed him to the hotel he was staying at, but I didn't let him know I was there. I wanted to follow him and see where he was going. I suspect it had to do with a journal I found and something he'd been searching for. I lost track of him in the canyon, but this morning he was very much alive. What happened to him?"