One Mile Under Read Online Free

his two arms in all directions.
    “So he’s standing right above me. Trey, bless his soul. I’m going, ‘Get me out of here! Get me out!’” The sonovabitch has got to hear me. Then I hear, ‘Listen, dude, I’m sorry to leave you like this, but I gotta meet someone at Starbucks. I’m gonna head back up to the lodge for a bit. Hey, you want a latte, man? I’ll bring one back for you. You like yours with or without froth …?’ I’m screaming, ‘Get me out!’ I start jerking the pole around. I wanted to kill him. Suddenly I break through. Turns out I was only about two feet under. He said he could see my boots the whole time. Who the hell knew …”
    “Just be glad that it was Trey you were with and not me,” John Booth said, grinning; “otherwise you’d still be down there.”
    “Funny.” Rudy sneered at his friend, taking a swig of beer.
    “I actually saw him at Starbucks, just after that,” Alexi, the ski rep, said in his French accent, but with a completely straight face. “He said he left you back there and asked should he go back and dig you out? I said, ‘Aw, what the hell.’ He asked if he should bring you a latte and I told him, ‘Look, don’t go all crazy now …’”
    “That was Trey,” Artie, his ski tuner in the shop, said.
    They all clinked mugs again.
    “It just makes no sense.” John Booth shook his head. “Where this happened. The Falls, maybe. Or even Catapult. Trey could do the Cradle with Petey on his lap.”
    “Or why he was out there without a helmet?” Dani said.
    “Trey didn’t wear a helmet,” John Booth said. “Off-terrain maybe, or if he was doing tricks.”
    “You’re wrong,” Dani said. “I saw him lots of mornings out there. Since Petey was born he damn well did wear one.”
    “Anyone find one?” John Booth looked at her. “The rescue team was all over the place out there.”
    Dani shrugged. She had waited around to see after she gave her deposition to the police. “No.”
    “So there you go. Probably trying a one-eighty or a rollover, or something, and all that water got to him. Maybe his reactions
were
a little dulled from the night before, who knows? Anyway, here’s to my man.” John raised his mug. “To Charles Alan Watkins the Third.”
    “To Trey!” Everyone at the table joined in.
    Through the crowd, Dani saw Geoff Davies come in.
    Geoff was the owner of Whitewater Adventure, where Dani worked. He was thirty-four, from Australia, had a master’s degree in psychology, and had moved out here from L.A. after a divorce and bought the business. He built it up, with a clothing line and videos and state-of-the-art equipment. He and Dani had been seeing a bit each other for the last few months. Not a big thing, and probably not the smartest. either. Taking up with the boss. But it was only now and then, and Geoff was an upbeat, good-hearted guy, and smart. And anyway it wasn’t like this was some Fortune 500 company and there was a whole corporate hierarchy where it could get around. Whitewater Adventures had eight full-time employees.
    “I heard this was where you could lift one up to Trey Watkins?” Geoff came over to the table.
    “That it is,” John Booth said. “One more round,” he said, motioning to Skip behind the bar. A few of them had already had four or five, and that was becoming clear. “Sit right down.”
    “Thanks.” Geoff grabbed the empty chair next to Dani. “Hey.”
    “Hey.” She shrugged back. Though everybody probably already knew, they always kept things cool and gave each other just a friendly kiss on the cheek.
    “So how’re you doing?” He gave her an affectionate stroke to her hair, which Dani had tied back in a thick ponytail. He had wiry brown hair and soft, gray eyes.
    “Hanging in there. Everyone get back okay after Rich picked them up?”
    “Not exactly how we normally like to end our deluxe Roaring Fork River Thrill Experience … But yes. I gave them all a full refund, of course. Not that anyone