Murphy's Law Read online

  Synopsis

  Mountain climbing guide Samantha “Sam” Murphy likes to tout her safety record. In the ten years she has led climbers on excursions up the world’s most treacherous peaks, she has never lost a client. But that doesn’t mean she hasn’t lost someone even more important.

  Surgeon and philanthropist Olivia Bradshaw hires Sam’s company to lead her handpicked team on a fundraising climb of Annapurna, the world’s most dangerous mountain. For Olivia, for the donors who have pledged money to her charitable foundation, and for the underprivileged masses she is seeking to help, failure is not an option.

  Secrets abound and danger lurks at every elevation. Will Olivia’s attraction to taciturn Sam get in the way of the expedition’s success or will Mother Nature have the final say?

  Murphy’s Law

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  Murphy’s Law

  © 2013 By Yolanda Wallace. All Rights Reserved.

  ISBN 13: 978-1-60282-825-4

  This Electronic Book is published by

  Bold Strokes Books, Inc.

  P.O. Box 249

  Valley Falls, New York 12185

  First Edition: January 2013

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission.

  Credits

  Editor: Cindy Cresap

  Production Design: Susan Ramundo

  Cover Design By Sheri ([email protected])

  By the Author

  In Medias Res

  Rum Spring

  Lucky Loser

  Month of Sundays

  Murphy’s Law

  Acknowledgments

  Someone recently asked me why I choose to have such a wide variety of settings in my books instead of deciding to focus on my Savannah hometown. Long story short, my partner and I love to travel. We’ve been to Mexico, the Bahamas, Italy, Belgium, and the Dominican Republic. In a way, I guess I’m trying to take my readers along for the ride.

  The book that follows takes place in the mountains of Nepal. Though the Himalayas are located in a region of the world I have yet to visit, I hope my many hours of research have helped me to bring their jaw-dropping beauty to the printed page.

  I remain indebted to Radclyffe and her team at Bold Strokes Books. You make me feel supported, appreciated, and a part of a steadily-growing family. My thanks also go to my editor, Cindy Cresap. With each book, you make me appear to be a much better writer than I actually am. Don’t stop!

  Thank you, the readers, for continuing to support my work. It’s a thrill for me each time I hear that something I’ve written has resonated with you in some way. Keep the comments coming.

  And last but not least, thank you, Dita, for always being there for me whether I’m pecking away at the keyboard or struggling to expand on an idea. In case I haven’t told you lately, you’re the best.

  Dedication

  To Dita,

  Life is composed of a series of peaks and valleys, but you help me reach the summit every time.

  Chapter One

  “I don’t like the looks of that sky.”

  Samantha “Sam” Murphy squinted up at the ominous clouds rolling in over Annapurna. Bad weather was on the way. Maybe not in the next few hours, but definitely in the next few days.

  “Neither do I,” Rae de Voest said.

  Sam and Rae ran The View from the Top Outfitters, a company that offered guided climbs of the world’s tallest mountains. Kilimanjaro, Everest, Fuji, and especially the Himalayas. In less than twenty-four hours, Sam was scheduled to lead an expedition up Annapurna I, a section of the Himalayas considered the world’s most dangerous peak. The mountain was tough enough on its own. She didn’t need Mother Nature to give it a helping hand.

  “I thought the monsoon season was over,” Rae said.

  “Looks like we thought wrong.” Sam pulled off her faded Minnesota Twins cap and ran a hand through her hair. “Are you sure you don’t want to lead this one?”

  “Positive. I’ll hold down the fort at base camp while you and our lovely paying clients freeze your buns off on the mountainside.”

  Sam put her hat back on and tucked her hair behind her ears. “I’ll remember that when it’s your turn to babysit.”

  She and Rae took turns acting as head guide, though each readily admitted Sam was better leading the climbs and Rae was better running the day-to-day operations. Sam would rather make an arduous six-week slog through thick snow and thin air than remain at base camp during a climb. She didn’t mind poring over topographic charts or watching the radar, but she hated sitting next to the radio with the climb physician waiting to be called on for help while simultaneously hoping the call never came. She would rather anticipate a problem and prevent it than clean up after an issue arose.

  “When is Dr. Bradshaw arriving?” she asked.

  Rae followed her into the industrial-sized tent that served as their onsite headquarters.

  “She and her team landed in Kathmandu a fortnight ago. Jimmy’s been leading them on a series of hikes along the Thorong La Pass since then to help them find trust as a team and build up each team member’s endurance for the ascent. They’ve been making steady progress up the mountain.”

  Sam nodded in approval. The Thorong La Pass topped out at five thousand four hundred meters, well short of Annapurna I’s eight thousand meter peak, but hikes along the Pass would help Dr. Bradshaw and her team adjust to the altitude without exhausting them for the ordeal to come.

  Rae consulted her battered watch. “If they maintain their current pace, they should be here in about an hour.”

  Sam hung her fleece jacket on a coat tree and poured herself a large cup of the motor oil Rae called coffee. Then she headed to the conference room so she could take a look at the weather forecast on her laptop.

  “Are you considering pushing back the climb?” Rae asked as Sam sat at the conference table and pulled up her favorite meteorological website.

  “If we leave too early, we might get wet. If we wait, we might get wet. Either way, we’re going to get wet.”

  Sam debated her options as she examined the picture of the brewing storm on the radar.

  “The climb should take between six and eight weeks,” she said, thinking out loud. “According to the radar, this system is a slow-mover. It should arrive in two, three days max. If I complete the orientation today and leave bright and early tomorrow morning as scheduled, we’ll have a twenty-four hour head start. Plenty of time to complete the first climb and set up camp before the weather sets in. But if the weather system moves faster than anticipated or a member of the team moves slower than expected, the oncoming storm will drench us before we have time to set up our tents.” She cocked her head as the wind began to whistle. “I hope everyone brought an extra set of warm, dry clothes. They might need it.”

  “I’m sure they’re prepared. Dr. Bradshaw has been planning this expedition for months. This is supposed to be a fund-raising expedition, not a pleasure cruise. Donors have ponied up hundreds of thousands of dollars to help her charity provide medical care to those who need it most. A successful summit will result in thousands more. The world is watching. The media will be covering every step of the climb from BC to the summit.” Rae paused, looking pensive. “
As head guide, you’ll probably be expected to meet with the press when the climb is over. Are you ready for your close-up?”

  At one time, Sam had relished press attention. For more than a decade, however, she had tried to avoid it at all costs. “I’ll worry about that when the time comes.”

  She opened the dossier she had compiled on the members of Dr. Bradshaw’s multinational team. All six were experienced climbers. Each had made multiple ascents and four had tackled Everest, the once-mythic mountain that was now practically a tourist attraction based on the amount of foot traffic on its slopes. But none had ever attempted a climb of this magnitude. Sam wasn’t surprised. Annapurna I’s enormous ice cliffs and imposing seracs, blocks of ice formed by intersecting crevasses on a glacier, were enough to frighten most people away. Most of the ones brave enough to accept the challenge had failed miserably.

  Though Annapurna I was only the tenth tallest mountain in the world, ranking between Pakistan’s Nanga Parbat and Gasherbrum I on the famed list of fourteen mountains that topped eight thousand meters, it was tops on another list. Its nearly forty percent fatality-to-summit ratio was the worst of all the eight thousanders.

  Sam stared at a glossy eight-by-ten photo. She rubbed her thumb across the image of an attractive woman with long, light brown hair and piercing green eyes. She hoped the woman in the picture knew what she was in for. If not, she would soon find out.

  She rolled a cigar between her fingers. She wasn’t a regular smoker, but she lit up after each successful climb. With the obstacles lining the path of her latest ascent, this Cohiba was going to taste better than all the others. She closed the folder. “This would be so much easier if the good doctor had decided to climb something smaller.”

  “Preferably European with huts staffed by sexually adventurous twentysomethings.”

  “Cradle robber.”

  In Europe, a series of mountain huts dotted the alpine regions. The structures varied in size and craftsmanship—the ones in remote areas were rudimentary at best—though most contained a communal dining room and dormitory-style bedrooms. Guests were encouraged to bring their own sleeping bag liners, but mattresses, blankets, and pillows were provided. In the summer, all the huts were staffed by full-time or volunteer employees. Some even sold bottled water, snacks, and hot meals.

  “Would you turn down a gig like that?” Rae asked.

  Sam shrugged. “Easy money. Easy living.”

  Rae leaned back in her seat. “But you’re not the kind of woman who likes to do things the easy way. Something tells me the good doctor isn’t either.”

  *

  “This is going to be harder than I thought,” Dr. Olivia Bradshaw said as her heart rate began to quicken.

  She pressed two fingers against the right side of her neck and looked at her watch. Her pulse was faster than she wanted it to be, but at least it was no longer racing. Chalking up her rapid heartbeat to an adrenaline spike, she looked at the overcast sky. October and November were supposed to be the best months to climb in Nepal—the weather was clear, and freezing temperatures were limited to heights above three thousand meters—but those definitely looked like snow clouds.

  “Great. One more thing to worry about. Flight delays, lost luggage, food poisoning. So many things have gone wrong on this trip. I’m ready for something to go right.”

  She had been training at altitude in her native Colorado for the past six months, but the air in Kathmandu was so thin she had been tempted to ask for an oxygen mask by the time she walked from the tarmac to the terminal at Tribhuvan International Airport. Two weeks later and several thousand feet higher, the boulder had finally rolled off her chest and most of her lightheadedness had disappeared. Just in time, too. Once she and her fellow climbers reached the Annapurna Base Camp, there would be no turning back.

  She was ready to get this climb underway. The trip had been her idea. A philanthropic mission, yes, but also a challenge she had laid down for herself because she wanted to see how far she could push her limits. She hadn’t anticipated the resulting media circus, but she planned on using it to her advantage. She could raise awareness and her own profile at the same time. Now she had to make sure she didn’t blow her opportunity.

  She needed to make it up the mountain and down again, preferably in one piece with her entire team intact. To achieve her goal, she needed to do something she rarely did—rely on someone else’s expertise instead of her own. There was a reason she had chosen the women from The View from the Top to lead the climb. Sam Murphy, the lead guide, had the best safety record in the business. If she looked as good as her results, she might earn an unexpected bonus at the end of the trip.

  “Hey, Doc. Are you ready to do this?” Chance Bennett, the starting point guard for the Denver Nuggets, held out his hand.

  “Ready, willing, and able.”

  She obliged Chance with a fist bump. He responded with the brilliant smile that had earned him a fortune in endorsements aside from his already hefty contract.

  “That’s what I wanted to hear.”

  They had been friends since their days as undergraduates at the University of Colorado. Olivia had followed his career in the NBA as closely as he had followed hers in the medical field. They had seen each other through good times and bad. He was there for her whenever she struggled to treat a patient; she was there for him when his team lost a playoff series he thought they should have won. She couldn’t think of a better person to have her back as she embarked on the biggest challenge she had ever faced.

  She regarded the rest of her team as they continued their trek up Annapurna I’s verdant base. Puerto Rican native Beatriz “Gigi” Garcia, the co-chair of the foundation she had established to service the underprivileged at home and abroad. Peter Schneider, the German reporter who would produce daily vlogs to document the excursion. Marie-Eve Dubois, the Canadian women’s hockey star who had brought her Olympic gold medal for luck. And last but not least, Hong Kong businessman Roland Chang, who was tagging along to make sure the expedition he had sponsored went according to plan.

  Roland looked green around the gills—his stomach had not been able to keep pace with his adventurous palate on their circuitous route around the base of the Annapurna mountain range—but he pronounced himself fit to continue the climb.

  Olivia turned to Gigi for a second opinion. The petite surgeon from San Juan took Roland’s vitals before giving him the thumbs-up. “Stay away from the yak pot stickers and we’ll see you at the top.”

  “Have you tried them? They’re surprisingly good. Especially when you pair them with spinach soup and a glass of millet beer.”

  Marie-Eve screwed up her face. “I’ll stick to energy bars and Moosehead, thanks.”

  “I’m with you,” Peter said, “though I’d prefer a nice German lager to the swill you Canucks call beer.”

  “The next time I’m in Munich, you’ll have to take me for a taste test.”

  “It’s a deal.”

  The group chatted happily throughout the easy three-hour hike only to fall silent when they neared the Annapurna Conservation Area. Annapurna I, its craggy peak camouflaged by clouds, towered above them. The south face, the side they were supposed to climb, was so steep it almost seemed perpendicular to the ground.

  Olivia placed a hand over her racing heart. She had chosen Annapurna I because it was one of the most difficult and dangerous to climb. The massif looked as intimidating as its reputation, but she was excited instead of awed. She had done everything she could to prepare for this challenge. Now it was time to see what she was made of.

  “What’s the fastest anyone has ever climbed Annapurna I?” she asked the porters’ organizer.

  He looked at her uneasily. He barely reached Olivia’s shoulder, but his strength and endurance were prodigious. She had seen him easily carry loads that would have buckled the knees of even the most bulked-up bodybuilder. “Climbing is not about speed. Going fast gets you in trouble every time. If you want to go fast, take
it up with Sam.”

  He nodded as if he considered the matter closed. Olivia let him have his way. For now.

  For her, speed was a way of life. She loved taking risks. Her friends told her she had a death wish. She begged to differ. What she had was a life wish. She wanted to get as much as possible out of hers because it could be over before she knew it.

  Most of the chances she had taken had paid off. Taking on Annapurna I was the biggest gamble of them all and she might as well roll the dice.

  “Is Jimmy your given name?”

  As in the tradition of his people, his last name was Sherpa. She felt certain his first was equally exotic.

  “My real name is Gyalchhen.”

  He told the story of an English tourist who had nicknamed him Jimmy because he reminded her of a lost love from her youth. The pet name had stuck.

  “Gyalchhen. Jimmy. Sometimes even my wife doesn’t know what to call me. Lucky for her, I answer to both.”

  He stopped in front of a tent that appeared large enough to house a small circus. Olivia half-expected a troupe of horn-honking clowns to mark their arrival. Instead, two women—a blonde and a brunette—walked out to greet them. The blonde introduced herself first.

  “You must be Dr. Bradshaw,” she said, sticking out her hand. Her long hair fell well past her shoulders. Laugh lines creased her oval face. “We’ve spoken on the phone several times, but we’ve never officially met. Rae de Voest.”

  “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”

  “How was your trip up the mountain?”

  Olivia could tell Rae was a charmer. Her strong South African accent added to her appeal.