Simon wandered over to investigate the building, though I’d already tried the doors and found it as locked as the library. Temi’s silver Jaguar was the only car in the parking lot. She leaned against the door, waiting for us. She was too polite to say, “Which one of you college-educated geniuses thought the kayaks would be lying out for anyone to take?”
According to Simon’s tracking app, the motorcycles were on the other side of the lake. The riders had driven past the parking lot over there and onto the no-motorized-vehicles-allowed trail, then stopped somewhere behind the formations. They had a head start on us; before driving out, we’d popped into one of the few open stores for rope, deciding duct tape might not be sufficient for this endeavor. We’d also stopped back at the van to pick up food and water along with our flashlights and my whip and bow. Taking the weapons made me feel silly—like I was my RealmSaga character, ready to travel into some monster-infested dungeon—but who knew what might be down there?
A jangle sounded, and Simon jogged into sight. He waved a keychain. “Here we go.”
“How’d you get those out of the building?” I asked.
“I downloaded a lock-picking app.” Simon stopped in front of an equipment shed and started trying keys.
“It taught you how to pick a lock in five minutes?”
“No, it showed me how complicated lock-picking is in five minutes, so I walked around the building and tried all the windows until I found one open. I wiggled inside, let myself out of a stinky bathroom, and found the keys.”
“You’re a real MacGyver, aren’t you?”
Simon winked at me as he pulled open the now unlocked door. “You’d be lost without me, admit it.”
“Only if you admit you’d be more lost without me.” I peered inside the windowless shed where rows of kayaks leaned against walls and racks.
“It’s true that a brilliant hero needs a trusty sidekick to do the grunt work.” Simon pointed inside. “I’d like the green one, please. Would you mind?”
“Locking you in the shed?” I grabbed his arm. “Not at all.”
“Are we ready to go?” Temi asked from behind us.
I released Simon. “As soon as everyone picks out a kayak and drags it down to the beach on his or her own.”
“Hm,” she said.
I’d meant my comment for Simon, of course, but remembered that her knee might preclude such activities. “Do you think you’ll be able to do this, Temi? Or will it hurt your leg?” If she couldn’t kayak, she’d have even more trouble scrambling over those boulders or into the bowels of a cave. Maybe it’d be best to leave her back as the support staff again.
“I’ll manage,” Temi said tersely.
There was a determined set to her jaw, so I didn’t mention my concerns. If she wanted to come, I wouldn’t stop her.
Simon dragged out a two-person green kayak. It might have been my comments or perhaps a desire not to appear puny in front of Temi, but he hauled it down to the water himself. I helped Temi tote a blue one-person model to the lake while Simon grabbed paddles for everyone. Before I could ask if she wanted to share the double or go on her own, she tossed her shoes and water bottle into the back of the single. She rolled her pants up to her knees. I caught a glimpse of nasty scar tissue and the bottom edge of a knee brace before she pushed the kayak into the shallows, and I decided I should be doing the same thing.
We soon had all our gear loaded and were paddling across the lake. I shivered at the chilly breeze sweeping across the water. The sun was shining, but it was starting to feel more like November than October. The leaves on the cottonwoods at the end of the lake had turned orange and yellow, and I bet Prescott would see snow before long. It was a far cry from Phoenix with its daytime highs still in the 80s and 90s.#p#分页标题#e#
I would have expected the two-person kayak to be faster, with Simon and me paddling together—I’d taken the back seat to make sure he paddled—but Temi’s strokes were effortless and powerful. Her craft surged ahead and she had to pause to wait for us. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought she’d been kayaking all of her life, but we hadn’t grown up around water, and I doubted she’d had time for many hobbies during her tennis career. I might have been slightly pleased when she’d first shown up, needing my help, but watching her now, I had to admit that it was sad that the car accident had ended her career. She was meant to be an athlete.
“Veer left when we get close to the rocks,” Simon called to her. “We’ll have to get close to find a place to land.”