ABBY LEANED BACK AGAINST THE BOULDER, HER LEGS SHAKING SO badly she was afraid they wouldn’t hold her up. She felt light-headed, her mouth bone dry.

The washout caused by the floodwaters snaked through the dead grass and boulders a few feet below. The violent current had carried a huge clump of debris: cottonwood branches, root balls from upended trees, spiny cactus, and medium-sized boulders, a deadly knot that swept down the ravine, wiping out everything in its path.

Including the man with his eyes open, staring sightlessly at the silver orb burning down from the sky. The deadly knot had jammed into a tight spot between two towering rock walls, holding its prey captive.

“Abby!” Gage shouted her name as she spotted him racing toward her. He caught her shoulders. “What is it? What’s wrong?” He must have noticed the pallor of her face or felt her trembling because a big arm slid around her waist, and he drew her closer. “Tell me what happened.”

She swallowed, pointed toward the grisly corpse—the broken body, the bones angled into impossible positions.

“Jesus.” Gage let out a slow breath and turned her into his shoulder to block the scene. “Poor bastard must have got swept up in the floodwaters.”

Abby hung on for a moment, then took a calming breath and eased away. She thought about the man who had died, couldn’t help wondering about his family. Her heart squeezed. Another victim of the notorious Superstitions.

She flicked a glance at the dead man, then quickly looked away. “Surely he wasn’t out here by himself.” She swallowed. “If he was with friends, why haven’t they come looking for him?”

“Maybe they’ve been looking but haven’t been able to find him.”

Mateo and Kyle ran up just then. Gage pointed and Kyle cursed.

“One thing my dad taught me,” Kyle said. “You don’t mess around with the weather out here. It rains, you get your ass somewhere safe.” He looked over at Gage. “You’ve got a sat phone, right? We need to call 911.”

Gage nodded. “I’ll take care of it.” The hand at Abby’s waist firmly urged her away from the disturbing scene. She let him guide her back to where the mule was tethered. Their packs rested on the ground nearby.

Gage took off his wraparound Ray-Bans and rubbed his eyes, then shoved the sunglasses back in place. He dug out his sat phone, activated it, and made the call, explaining what had happened and giving the 911 dispatcher the GPS coordinates of the victim’s body. The sheriff’s department would be responding. Gage promised to wait at the scene until law enforcement arrived.

“They’re bringing in a chopper,” Gage said. “We’ll need to make a statement once they get here.”

“I wonder who he is,” Abby said. “Or was.” She looked up to see Mateo quietly walking toward them, the dark skin over cheekbones stretched taut.