The Devil's Cauldron Read online

  Meggie was most definitely not in the mood. She was tired, feeling yucky from the long day of travel, and skeeved out by the dumpy motel and the presence of Kaitlyn in the room. But there was something about the other woman sleeping in the next bed in her panties and bulging out of her camisole that made her reluctant to turn him down. Like she was feeling competitive or something. So she gave in.

  Only when they were halfway done and she saw that Benjamin was into it, and not just bored or suffering typical male horniness, did it occur to her that maybe it was Kaitlyn that had him so turned on. That left Meggie doubly skeeved out. It ended without any satisfaction on her part. Benjamin didn’t seem to notice. He rolled over and yanked on his boxers, then promptly fell asleep.

  Had Benjamin always suffered this sick fascination with Kaitlyn, and if so, why hadn’t Meggie seen it? The first time she met him was when she was waiting tables at that wings and pizza place in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He came in with one of his brothers and a couple of buddies. It was twenty minutes to closing time, and of course they only wanted mozzarella sticks and a couple of beers—no big tips forthcoming.

  Worse, they were clueless. The friends kept hitting on her, and the brother was a pompous idiot, who managed to insert comments about how much money he had, how he was going to Harvard, and how he had big-shot investment firms lining up to offer him a job at graduation.

  She plastered a smile on her face and gritted her teeth, while trying not to look pointedly at the clock. Her feet felt like bloody stumps, she had a chemistry test in the morning, and tips tonight had sucked. A half-hour after closing, all her night work done, and still they were screwing around out there, calling her over to run their mouths.

  When the owner started to total the till and gave the young men a scowl, Meggie figured she had permission. She plastered a sympathetic look on her face and brought them the bill “Well, guys,” she said. “I’m afraid we’re closing. So if you want to settle up . . .”

  “How about another calamari plate for the road?” one of them asked.

  “Sorry. The fryer is closed. Maybe next time.”

  “Ooh, there goes her tip,” he said. He gave Meggie a glance that was half-wink, half-leer. “Does this mean you’re off? What are you doing tonight?”

  The one with the curly hair hadn’t been drinking and looked up from sending a text. He winced. “Dude, don’t be an asshole.” Then, to Meggie, “Sorry, it’s the end of the semester. We’re just blowing off steam. You know how it is.”

  “Tell me about it,” she said, dryly. “I’ve got finals tomorrow and here I am working late, when I should be home studying.”

  “Oh, you’re going to college, too? Where is that? Bunker Hill Community College?”

  “Harvard,” she said.

  All four of them looked uncomfortable. No doubt they were thinking about how they’d been bragging it up about Harvard for the past hour. Well, three of them had been, at least. The cute guy with the curly hair hadn’t been such a jerk. He’d mostly been texting, but was now studying her with a different expression.

  Meggie felt awkward and wished she’d kept her mouth shut. If even half of what they’d said was true, these were trust fund babies. Everything paid for. No need to work. Meggie had accepted plenty of student aid, but what didn’t come in grants had saddled her with tens of thousands in debt. And she had to work fifteen hours a week on top of everything else. Harvard liked to pretend that it was a meritocracy, that once you got in, you would be treated like anyone else. The reality was, Meggie had to bust her butt to make this work; she doubted these four had any clue what it took. And when they finished, and they scooped up their mid-six-figure jobs, working for the family company or Wall Street or wherever, they’d only move from one privileged bubble to another.

  Meggie hoped to get a master’s in education and teach high school biology. Hopefully, she’d earn enough to pay off her student loans.

  The awkward moment served one purpose. The four guys paid their bill, gave her a respectable eighteen percent tip, and left shortly after. Two days later, the one with the curly hair showed up at the restaurant to apologize for the behavior of his companions. He wasn’t like that, he promised. That was his brother and his brother’s friends, and he didn’t hang out with them that much. Mostly, he was closer to his cousin, but she was in London, finishing a year studying abroad.

  Oh, and was Meggie sticking around Cambridge over the summer? Sure, Meggie answered. It’s not like she had anywhere else to go.

  Kaitlyn didn’t return until the fall, and by then Meggie had fallen hard for Benjamin. He was awfully close to his cousin, calling and texting constantly. That was a little strange. And Benjamin let himself be pushed around by his brothers, by his parents, by his friends. Even by Meggie, when she wasn’t careful. It wasn’t his best trait, but she wasn’t perfect either.

  They were each graduating the following year, Meggie with a bachelor’s, and Benjamin with his MBA. He was going to be training to take over the family business. What if she joined the company, too? Could they make that work? She thought they could.

  And that was the apex of the relationship, Meggie decided, two years later, lying in the dumpy motel room next to her fiancé, with his cousin in the next bed. Kaitlyn proved to be more than conniving, she’d proven herself a thief and a liar. Benjamin was too weak to run his own company. Too weak to stand up to his cousin and his brothers. Too weak to be Meggie’s husband.

  I can’t do this anymore.

  The door banged open in the adjacent room, and HalfOrc and Duperre’s muffled voices came through the thin wall. She lay there a long time wondering how she would break the news about Kaitlyn’s theft.

  I won’t marry into this—it’s not worth it. Either he cuts her loose, or I’m done.

  Chapter Seven

  When the alarm went off the next morning at 5:00, Meggie waited until Kaitlyn was in the shower, then rolled out of bed, leaving Benjamin still dozing, apparently using the two women as his virtual snooze button. She slipped outside and knocked on the door of the adjacent motel room.

  Duperre cracked the door and squinted out over the chain through bloodshot eyes. “Crap, is it time already?”

  “I’ve got to talk to you before my boyfriend gets up. Can I come in?”

  He rattled the chain and let her in. HalfOrc had the hot water pot going and was mixing up instant coffee in Styrofoam cups. The diner up the road opened at 5:30. They planned to slam down a big breakfast before driving out to the caving site.

  Meggie gratefully accepted a cup of the nasty coffee, then sat in the chair and quickly laid out what had happened last night when Kaitlyn showed up in their room.

  “I take it you don’t like this lady,” Duperre said.

  She didn’t want to get into details. “We have a trip plan. I don’t know why she showed up, but it’s not kosher.”

  “Not really,” Duperre agreed. “But five people is better than four. Probably the optimal number for this descent, to be honest. Someone gets injured, that leaves two to stay behind and two more to run for help. Has she got all her gear?”

  “She says she does. But I don’t know—it’s weird, is all.”

  “Look, Megs, if you’ve got a bad feeling, tell me. I’m the trip leader, I’ll make a call.”

  “Well . . .” Meggie began.

  She was trying to work around how to say it without dumping out Benjamin’s dirty laundry. And how to explain why Kaitlyn creeped her out.

  But Duperre apparently took her hesitation the wrong way. “If you’re worried I’ll be pissed off, don’t. I mean, in general, you don’t show up like that, but it’s not your fault. Anyway, I know Kaitlyn from the board and she’s cool—online, anyway. We did some BSing about Nevada caving on the forum and I knew she was hoping things would straighten out at work so she could come along.” He shrugged. “She’s here now, so we’ll be fine with that.” He turned to HalfOrc. “What do you think?”

  “What’s sh
e look like? Is she hot?”

  Duperre elbowed him. “Dude, shut up.”

  The other man shrugged. “Nah, I’m cool. Whatever.”

  Meggie gave up. She went back to her room, deciding to grit her teeth and go through with it. If not for the absolute evidence that Kaitlyn was stealing from the company, she almost could have forgotten that sexy hug last night, and how it left Benjamin so turned on. So what? It was weird, them being cousins and all, but Meggie wasn’t the jealous type. Not really.

  Breakfast went fine. Kaitlyn was all charm with the two other men, and barely flirted with her cousin at all. She was sweet as the high-fructose, fake maple syrup that came in pitchers to the table to drench their pancakes. Duperre updated the caving plan, then quizzed them on gear and supplies. Outside, they dropped the tailgate on Duperre’s extended-cab pickup to double-check equipment: boots, headlamps and helmets, ropes and harnesses, surveying gear, caving packs, a first aid kit, and everything else on the list. He had a clipboard and he physically checked them off one by one. Duperre even checked the food supplies, and broke open another pack of energy bars, which he passed around to put in their packs.

  “You never know what we’ll find down there,” he said. “Hate to call it quits early because someone has the munchies.”

  The older man’s professionalism calmed Meggie’s nerves, and by the time they crammed into the truck and headed east into the Snake Range, she found herself getting excited about the cave.

  But when they crawled into the hills on a dusty ranch road, Duperre started getting sick. He pulled over on a steep, winding turn, then bent over in front of the bumper, breathing heavily.

  “You okay?” Meggie called.

  “Yeah, I’m good. Give me a minute.”

  “What, is he carsick or something?” Kaitlyn asked HalfOrc, but the other man shrugged.

  He came back still pale, but looking stronger. “Sorry, guys. That doesn’t usually happen to me.”

  They spent another quarter of a mile bumping over and through ruts before he had to stop again. This time he stomped down the emergency brake, staggered out, and puked his guts over the edge of the hill.

  HalfOrc got out, too. He walked around for a few seconds, then came back with his hand over his belly and a deep scowl on his face.

  “Don’t tell me you’re carsick, too,” Kaitlyn said.

  “I don’t get it,” Duperre said when he got back. “I never get motion sickness. Not like this.”

  “Feel like I’m going to have a bad case of the shits,” HalfOrc said. “Maybe it was that greasy spoon where we ate this morning. Food poisoning.”

  The other three exchanged bewildered glances. None of them were affected. Finally, Benjamin dug around in his pack for Dramamine, which the two sick men took.

  Meggie spread the map in the backseat. “We’re almost to the trailhead. Another twenty minutes.”

  “I can hold on that long,” HalfOrc said. “How about you, dude?”

  Duperre nodded. “I’m sure I’ll be better once we stop driving.”

  But by the time they reached the spot marked on the map and parked, the two men had already stopped again and thrown up the Dramamine, then some Pepto Bismol, which came up pink. HalfOrc rushed off into the scrub oak with a roll of tissue. Moments later, explosive noises came from behind the trees.

  Benjamin and the two women lined up the gear, then paced around the truck. The two sick men weren’t getting better. HalfOrc let out a flurry of curses from the brush.

  Meggie came back to the vehicle, still in the middle of the ranch road, where Duperre lay in the truck bed with his pack as a pillow and one arm draped over his eyes. “I’m wondering if we should get you back down.”

  He peered out. “What, you mean, a hospital?”

  “You tell me.”

  “It’s not that bad. I think I hit the worst.”

  Meggie glanced up at the sky, with the sun rising from behind the mountains to the east. They were still in the shadow of the range, but the sunlight was spreading across the valley floor and would soon be overhead. A wide, sagebrush-strewn plain stretched thirty or forty miles to the west, unbroken by any towns or other signs of human civilization. A second, smaller range lifted its dry, brown shoulders above the valley floor on the opposite side. No clouds, no pollution, just a view that stretched forever. A single contrail split the blue dome like a smear of white frosting.

  “The thing is,” Meggie began, worried he would protest. “I don’t think you’re fit to rappel into the cave. Sorry, that’s the way I see it.”

  Duperre looked disgusted. “No, I can’t go down. HalfOrc, either.”

  “Not your fault. We’ll scrub the descent.”

  “Damn it!”

  “No way,” Kaitlyn said from where she was standing with Benjamin in front of the bumper. She came around and he followed. “It’s totally not your fault,” she said to Duperre, “and I’m not blaming you for anything, but we came a long way to explore that cave.”

  Duperre lifted his head from the pack and squinted at her. “Yeah, I know.”

  “You’ve got everything you need right here,” Kaitlyn said. “Including a second GPS. We’ll hike up to the cave. It’ll take a bit to get set up. If you guys feel better in the next half-hour or so, come find us. Otherwise, we’ll be back tonight.”

  “That’s fair enough,” Duperre said. “We can be sick here just as easily as back at the motel.”

  HalfOrc made puking sounds from the bushes, followed by another string of expletives.

  “The trip plan has five people,” Meggie protested.

  Kaitlyn shrugged. “We already amended the plan once. We can do it again.”

  “That was different,” Meggie said. “That was adding a person, figuring out the logistics. This is a question of safety.”

  “Three people can make a safe descent,” Duperre said. “If there’s an experienced trip leader.”

  “I’m experienced,” Kaitlyn said. “I’ve done twenty-seven descents, led six times.”

  “We’ll stay behind and serve duty as surface watch,” Duperre said.

  Meggie didn’t like it. “Three people is the minimum. We’re out in the middle of nowhere. It’s desert. There’s a hike, there might be rattlesnakes.”

  “Stop worrying,” Kaitlyn said. She put her hands on her hips with an impatient look. “These two will be waiting at the truck if anything goes wrong.”

  “They’re sick, they’re in no shape to—”

  “They’ll be fine in a couple of hours, I’m sure,” Kaitlyn said.

  “Oh, really? And how do you know that?”

  Kaitlyn’s face darkened. “What is that supposed to mean? You think I had something to do with this?”

  “I don’t know, did you?”

  “Come on, Meggie,” Benjamin said. “That’s not fair.”

  “I’m sure she didn’t,” Duperre said. “It was that crappy diner food.”

  “Whatever, I don’t like it. Come on, Duperre. Help me out here. She wasn’t even a part of the plans twelve hours ago, and now she’s the trip leader?”

  The older man looked uncertain. He also looked like he was working up to puke again and was in no shape to make this kind of decision. He glanced at Benjamin as he lifted himself and shifted to the edge of the truck.

  “Your call, man,” Duperre said. “You’re the tie breaker.”

  No, don’t put it in his hands.

  Duperre leaned over the edge and barfed up a little. Then he was wracked with several rounds of dry heaves, before he finally eased back down with a groan.

  “We’ll do it tomorrow,” Meggie told Benjamin. “We had a buffer day in case the weather turned crappy or something.”

  He frowned. “That would have us driving half the night to Vegas so we could catch our flight on Sunday morning.”

  Kaitlyn put her hand on his arm. “And I don’t even have that option. I’ve got to go back tomorrow.”

  “You do?” he asked. “You
never said that. I don’t know. Maybe Meggie is right. Sometimes you have to cancel. It’s not the end of the world.”

  “You know you’ll be sorry if we don’t give it a shot.”

  Meggie stared in frustration as Kaitlyn quite blatantly manipulated him. You couldn’t blame Duperre for giving in—he didn’t know Kaitlyn except online. But didn’t Benjamin know by now his cousin’s true character?

  “Okay,” he said. “I guess we can.”

  “Oh, come on,” Meggie said.

  He gave a sheepish shrug. “Sorry, Megs. Don’t be mad.”

  Even then Meggie knew she should balk. If she refused to go down, Benjamin and Kaitlyn would have no choice but to scrub. They could either try again tomorrow or not. Duperre and HalfOrc would think she was overreacting, but what did that matter?

  When Meggie was eleven, she had gone to Six Flags as part of a classmate’s birthday party. Because her uncle and aunt were unmotivated to help her develop a social life, she’d had few opportunities to make friends among her peers, and so she was terrified of standing out. She had climbed into one of those swing carousels that spun a bunch of kids fifty feet above the ground, when she discovered that the buckle of her harness wouldn’t latch. It was supposed to hold her in her seat, but it was broken.

  The teenage employee who was supposed to go around checking the harnesses started two swings beyond her as he went around the circle, and in his laziness, stopped just short on the other side. She was going to point out the broken buckle when he came, but then realized in fear when he turned his back that he was never going to check to make sure she was secured. Meggie opened her mouth to yell for him to look at her swing before he flipped the lever and started the ride, but her voice died in her throat. There were girls all around her and they would laugh. And besides, it was probably her fault, not the swing at all.

  I’m going to die of embarrassment, she thought. I don’t want to look like an idiot, so I’m going to get flung fifty feet in the air and get killed.

  She struggled in terror with the buckle as the ride picked up speed. Even then, as she passed the bored kid at the controls, she could have screamed for help, but didn’t. At the last moment, the harness latched.