Angie stilled, a wave of emotions crashing through her as she stared at the dog.
Claire came to her feet. “Angie, meet Echo,” she said. “My new search-and-rescue-pup-in-training.”
Goose bumps washed over Angie’s skin at the expression of sheer love and pleasure in Claire Tollet’s green eyes, and for a moment words eluded her.
“Echo’s my second chance,” Claire said. “We’re going to move north, to Smithers on the mainland, where we’ll train in both tracking and air scenting—I’ve been offered a position on the SAR team up there.” As Claire spoke, she unzipped her jacket and took the fat little hairball out. She handed the pup to Angie.
Echo was warm. And soft. And tubby, and had too much skin for her body and smelled just like puppies should smell. She squiggled in Angie’s arms, trying to lick her face all over. Angie laughed with unabashed pleasure.
As Claire took Echo from Angie and set the pup down on the dock, she said, “Echo and I are going to start a new chapter.” She held Angie’s eyes for a beat. “We’re going to find the missing. We’re going to follow our dream.”
And Angie knew Claire was thinking of the words she’d spoken on the Port Ferris pier.
You need to hold on to that dream of yours. The SAR, the tracking. Finding the missing. You can help others find closure. In doing so you will find yourself.
Angie couldn’t begin to articulate what this meant to her—that she’d made some difference, had some impact on this woman’s life. It made it all worthwhile. It fired her to keep going, follow her own dream, her own new chapter.
Angie and Claire bought fish tacos from one of the stalls and sat in the sun eating their lunch while Echo played on her leash at their feet and gulls wheeled in the clean sea air.
“How’s Maddocks?” Claire asked as she chewed.
“Good. Really good. We put in an offer on a place.”
“What? Seriously? Where?”
“James Bay. Just up the road from here. It’s got a little garden.” Angie smiled. “Like I’d know what to do with that.”
Claire laughed. “You’ll learn. Start with herbs. Can’t go too far wrong with a pot of parsley.”
“You’d be surprised, given what I know about plants. Maddocks is keen, though.”
They chatted awhile about Angie’s work, about turning the schooner into an office down the road, about Ginny and Jack-O and Holgersen. And about how Claire was getting on with Jilly Monaghan.
“She’s an interesting one,” Claire said. “Crusty. But I like her.” She reached for her drink.
“I like her, too,” Angie said. “She’s a strong woman. I’m glad she got to know you, Claire.”
Claire nodded, took a sip from her cup. “Me too. What’s happening with Eden Hart?”
“She’s being charged for attempted murder,” Angie said. “She was fourteen at the time, but the prosecutor is seeking an adult sentence, given the nature of the offense.”
“What about the investigation into the drowning of her little brother and her husband’s ex?”
“Ongoing. No proof so far from what I understand. They might never be able to convict her of those.”
“She won’t talk? I mean, in exchange for lesser sentencing or something?”
Angie shook her head and popped the last of her taco into her mouth. She chewed and wiped her lips with a paper napkin. “I think silence is Dr.Eden Hart’s weapon now. It’s her means of maintaining some kind of control. But part of me thinks she will talk one day, especially after doing time for a while. She has a pathological need to be the center of attention, and I heard via the grapevine that she’s already made tentative contact with Dr.Reinhold Grablowski.”
“The true crime writer? The forensic shrink who did the book on you?”
Angie nodded. “I wouldn’t be surprised if Dr.Hart is vying with me for true crime attention now. It’s in her nature, this kind of game. I suspect we haven’t heard the end of Dr.Hart, not by a long shot.”
Once they’d finished their lunch, Claire, Echo, and Angie made their way back up to the parking lot where Claire’s car was parked. Claire put Echo into her doggie crate in the back, and she turned to Angie.
“I want to say goodbye, for now.”
“When are you leaving?”
