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“Where’s that?” Cody asks with a furrowed brow.
“Alaska.” Blake leans back against the navy vinyl seat. “A small fishing village in Prince William Sound.”
“Holy shit,” Cody says quietly. “Never would have thought she’d go north like that.”
“Right?” Blake says. He takes another drink and looks at me. “What are you thinking?”
“I don’t know,” I answer honestly.
It’s a lot to take in. After four years, we finally have a lock on her location. The repercussions of finding her, of confronting her, are murky but big.
“And here’s the biggest thing.” Blake looks back and forth between us. “John said he was going to findthe little bitchand get back what she owes him.”
“What the fuck?” Cody growls, leaning forward. “There’s no way she stole shit from him.”
“What would he even have that she could have wanted?”
“I don’t know, but when I overheard him talking, my stomach dropped. There was nothing but malice in his voice.”
The server comes to deliver the wings and fries Blake ordered while he was waiting for us. We leave the food uneaten as she walks away. This conversation is more important than rumbling stomachs.
“The good news,” Blake continues, “is that he’s not off parole until mid October, so we have time to track her down and figure out what is going on.”
“If that’s what we want to do.”
Cody glares at me over his shoulder. “I want to find her yesterday. I’m going with or without you.”
“I’m just pointing out that maybe this is something we don’t need to be involved with. Can you even get time off work, Blake?”
“Alaska is the last western state we haven’t opened branches in. I could make it a scouting trip.” He smirks at me. “Sometimes it’s good to ride the wave of nepotism.”
His family owns Confluence West Credit Union, a bank founded by his father’s father post WWII. Over the past decade, they’ve expanded into multiple states and tripled their business. Blake walked out of college and right into his place as vice president the day we graduated.
“If you guys go, I’m there, too. But what’s the plan? How are we going to play it?”
Cody gives me a sadistic grin before biting into a wing. “There’s going to be a reckoning.”
* * *
Less than seventy-two hours later and we’re on the company private jet, thanks to Blake, on our way up to Anchorage. Cody is stretched out on the couch with his hat over his face, snoring. Blake and I are sitting opposite each other at the table, each working on our laptops. He came straight from work so he’s still in his suit, although he tossed the jacket on a chair and his tie hangs loose around his neck.
Once I had a location it was easy to find traces of Violet online. She doesn’t have social media, but she does have a phone registered to a campground in her name. We couldn’t find an address for her until we connected her as the campground manager. She lives on site year round.
The thought of her alone deep in the mountains had us all feeling uneasy. How safe could it be to be out there all alone during blizzards? Plus the wildlife. She was always confident outdoors, but confidence won’t save you from a hungry mama grizzly bear.
“The campground just went on the market,” Blake says suddenly. “Thirty acres of national forest adjacent land with four yurts and five cabins already wired for luxury glamping.”
“What the fuck is glamping?” I move around to look at the screen.
“I don’t know, girly camping I guess. There’s chandeliers in the yurts and shit.”
“I can’t believe that’s a thing.”
“Everything is a thing for the right price.” Blake scrolls down the listing. There’s a small lake on the property and walking trails. It looks really nice actually, well maintained. He clicks on the campground website and scrolls through photos of people camping, swimming in the lake, sitting around fires, and finally the interiors of the cabins and yurts.
“No pictures of Violet on the website?” I ask, rubbing my chin. I’m sure we’re all curious to see how much she’s changed over the past four years.
“No. I’m going to research the town a bit.”
