Read Dire Distraction for Free Online

mid-morning. Which, with luck on our side, should get us to the landing point before dark.”
    “Sounds like a plan.” He lifted his glass. “To adventure.”
    “And to finding whatever it is that you’re looking for,” she responded, clinking her glass with his.
    Avery swallowed, the motion rippling the muscles in his throat as a shadow chased across his face. Then, with a sigh, he set his glass down, lifting his troubled gaze to hers. “You know my mother always used to tell me that I should be careful what I pray for. Maybe it’s best that I not find anything at all.”
    *  *  *
    At least Sydney had kept her word. She’d managed to arrange everything so that the two of them were off before noon. And as such, they should have been making good time. Unfortunately, the weather hadn’t gotten the memo. A few miles upriver from the village, the sun had disappeared and the rain had started. Nothing like Avery had ever seen before, a sheet of water so penetrating nothing could escape it.
    “Is it always like this in the rainy season?” he asked, as she fought to steer the boat through the oncoming rush of water that marked the river.
    “Worse.” She grimaced as she fought the wheel against a swell. “This is nothing by comparison. Not that it matters because we’ve still got to deal with what we’ve got.”
    As if to underscore her words, the fall of rain—already an onslaught—seemed to increase, the sheet of water growing, if possible, even more impenetrable. The boat, typical of those found on the rivers of Laos, was low slung, long and lean, the pilot’s cabin, basically a ramshackle wooden lean-to at the bow of the shovel-front power canoe.
    A little farther back, a second wooden canopy was meant to serve as protection for passengers, the boat so narrow that if the seats along both sides were occupied, no one could easily pass by. Behind that, about two-thirds along the length of the boat, was the engine box, surrounded by an open hull for cargo that extended from the engine to the stern of the boat.
    From a distance, the overall effect was comical, the boat looking as if it were running assbackwards. But in reality, the design worked amazingly well, the captain’s upfront position providing the right vantage point for steering past obstacles. Which was exactly what Sydney was doing now.
    Ahead a large rock rose out of the gloom, black and slick with rain. To either side, water gushed, churning white and foamy.
    “Hang on,” she called, her voice whipped away in the wind as she pulled the wheel sharply to the left. “This could get bumpy.”
    “I think that might be an understatement,” Avery observed, reaching out for the railing as the boat rolled suddenly to the starboard side, water splashing onto the deck. Then, just as suddenly, it careened back to the port side, slapping the water with its hull as Sydney struggled to keep the damn thing upright.
    The boat lurched again, the motion sending Avery into the roof’s support beam, his head crashing into the overhang. This was definitely not a river to be taken lightly. His ears ringing, he found his balance again, grateful to see that Sydney had successfully piloted them around the maelstrom, the water calming a little as the rock faded to a shadow in the river behind them.
    “You all right?” she asked, shooting a sideways glance in his direction.
    “Fine.” He grimaced, rubbing the top of his head. “I don’t think this boat was really intended for someone my size.”
    Sydney smiled, her attention back on the river. “I’ll admit most of the people around here barely make it past five feet. But I’ve got a feeling there aren’t that many places in the world that were truly designed for a man your size.”
    “True enough.” He watched as the river rushed past, the trees along the banks bending with the force of the wind. “My mother used to say that if I didn’t stop growing, I was going to turn into Paul Bunyan.”
    “The one