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"Amy! I bet you never dreamed in a thousand years we would be meeting like this!" Meagan said, hugging me.
"You were brave to hike out in the woods by yourself. We had a ride." Sicily rolled her eyes and shot a thumb over her shoulder toward the car on the ridge.
"Got snacks!" Amber announced, opening her pack and pointing to the ice chest on the picnic table filled with drinks and fixings for a picnic. "Government issue. Not bad, considering."
"I'll get a bottle of water... Oh, by the way, where's Courtney? Or wasn't she a part of this?" I asked.
"Shhh," Ariel held her finger to her lips. "Okay, here's the scoop!" We huddled closer and listened as Ariel faced the lake, away from the agent with the binoculars. "Remember, loose lips sink ships. Sound familiar, Meagan?"
Meagan groaned, facing away, "Don't remind me!"
"Well, I think that's part of the point. But first things first. Guy quickly texted me before the dragnet caught up with Jonathan and me, and they took our phones away," Ariel explained. "They didn't include Mom. She was allowed to stay at the guest house. She's got to be a nervous wreck."
"But where's Courtney?" Sicily whispered.
"Courtney and Brad got away. Guy figures the FBI really didn't know who all was involved, so Courtney and Brad hid until everyone else was evacuated from the Rosedale office."
"Where do you think they went?" Amber asked.
Ariel shrugged, “Who knows, honestly. I just hope they're okay. But hey, we've got a lot of stuff to talk about, and we don't have a lot of time. I don't even know when we need to get back to our cabins. Your cabin, Amy, must be pretty far away, while the rest of us are right next to each other. It looks like we're in some kind of national forest or something. Anyway, I digress. Here's what I'm thinking. We should all write down everything we remember about our own experiences. I mean, we all agree that this whole crazy case has gone on way too long, right? Even with the FBI involved in your kidnapping, Amy, nobody's been caught yet."
"Yes, and the person that was following Mitch and me on the beach was out of jail in one day," I added.
"So, we don't have anything to write on," Meagan remarked.
"Thankfully, I grabbed a writing tablet from my desk before I left, so I brought it with me and some pens." Ariel dug into her backpack and distributed a pen and some paper to each of us.
"Well, you'll know my story. It's the newest. If someone watches Ava for me, I'll get a fire going in the grill. I hope we have some matches or something."
"Great. I think everything you'll need to get started is over there in that bag." Sicily explained.
As they settled in to jot down their stories, I fixed the hot dogs for the kids, who were growing hungrier by the minute.
"Hey, kids!" I called out, "Hot dogs will be ready soon. Who's hungry?"
With the children happily eating, I joined the gals at the table and started recording my own story on paper. The atmosphere was a mix of urgency and camaraderie, as we all understood the importance of what we were doing. In the midst of the chaos and uncertainty surrounding us, it was comforting to be in the company of friends, sharing a meal and working together to unravel the tangled web of events that had brought us here.
Finally, Sicily raised her hand like a kid in school and waved her paper in the air. "I'm done." We all paused as she reiterated how she moved to San Diego and started working for Daniel. Soon a body of a staff person was found murdered beside the copier, and how, later, someone had tried to kidnap Harper, her daughter, in plain daylight. The attempt had failed, and the kidnapper got away. Also, at some point, Daniel received a weird recording from someone who intended to break them up. And it seemed like things revolved around the date of January 6th. "Oh, and Agent Carter Brown was assigned to the case after the first schmuck came up with nothing!"
"Since I wasn't around then, what's the significance of January 6th, Sicily?" I asked.
"I think that's still a mystery," Sicily replied and continued. "Well... here's some more history. The six guys were friends and frat brothers in college, but at first, they included Clint Tyree as a founding partner who helped set up the company. He was always good with paperwork and very smart. But some years later, Clint rebranded the old company to Rosedale Technologies and transferred to Seattle, his hometown. Most recently, he came back to help write the grant for the Golden Key Project."
"Yea, and he suddenly took off and left us holding the bag!" Meagan added. "But, hey, that project helped solidify my relationship with Chase. So, I'm not complaining."
"I'm next!" Amber called out. "Do you remember the hog’s head that was left for Ryder at Daniel's bachelor's party?"
"That was so gross!" Sicily added.
"Long story short, a note was left for Ryder in a dead hog's head, hinting that Ryder's family was somehow responsible for the murder at the office. His family owned a butcher shop at some point and the hog head looked suspicious. Also, Carter was found tied up and left in his garage during that time. Thankfully, he was rescued, and of course, my mother and father-in-law are innocent."
"Well, maybe Meagan and I should tell our story together since it is intertwined," Ariel snickered.
"No, you tell it for both of us. Some of what happened is still foggy or I've completely forgotten it," Meagan admitted, sighing.
I was aware of some of the story because I used to babysit for Ariel and was Meagan's driver while she was recovering from her own close call with the killer. But I listened closely as Ariel filled us in on her story since Ariel, Meagan, and I were the only ones to have personal contact with the killer/kidnapper.
Ariel explained how she had escaped to England to avert harm after Chelsea - an acquaintance of Meagan - had discovered where she lived. Soon after, Meagan was kidnapped and left for dead. Taking almost a year to recover from her head injury.
