After I was sure Damian had gone home, JJ and I got in the car and drove in the opposite direction. Back toward the beach. I wanted to see if Leopard Man was still at this trailer. Or if Thea Coleman was. I hoped I could find it again. Some of those roads down in that area were more like pathways, and there were so many of them. Plus, they all looked the same in the dark. And it wasn’t much lighter today. The sky was still dark as night, with all the storm clouds. The weather was terrible, and there were a couple spots on the road that had detours due to flooding. I wondered how that weird little trailer had fared on the beach in this storm.
But I was determined. So I turned my radio up and said a silent prayer that I’d find what I was looking for.
On the way I called Val. She answered, which I considered a win, but she sounded cranky.
“Hey, it’s me,” I said.
Silence.
O-kay. “Have you talked to Ava-Rose?” I asked. “I was wondering what happened with Drake. If that came to anything.”
Val sighed. “I haven’t talked to her. I tried to call her this morning, but she didn’t answer. Which is weird. Do you think that’s weird? You don’t think they arrested her, do you?”
I wondered which of those was the trick question. “I have no idea if it’s weird,” I said. “I don’t know her schedule. And I haven’t heard about her getting arrested, Val. That’s a little extreme. Was she supposed to meet you or something?”
“No, I just usually hear from her by now. We’re down to the wire and there’s a lot to do. Never mind. I’m sure I’m just imagining things.”
I winced a little at the sarcasm. “Val—”
“Anyway, I’ll let you know if I hear anything,” Val said, and hung up. So much for me being back in her good graces.
I cranked up the radio, figuring I’d solve one problem at a time. But my phone rang again. My mother this time.
“Sam’s stranded on the mainland,” she said, sounding worried.
My sister had been over in Boston for a yoga retreat. “Lucas is, too,” I said.
“You’re kidding. Well, that’s not good! What if they can’t get back for Thanksgiving? Lucas is coming for Thanksgiving, isn’t he? I planned on it. Things seem to be going so well with you two. I’m going to make those potatoes he told me he likes.”
Thanksgiving. I’d barely given it a passing thought since all of this craziness started. And I’d really been looking forward to it this year, too, although I hadn’t asked Lucas yet if he’d be spending it with me. “Mom. Thanksgiving is Thursday. The storm isn’t going to last that long.” I muttered a curse as my car went through a pretty big puddle.
“Still. That’s cutting it close. So is he coming then?”
“We haven’t had a chance to talk about it yet,” I said, trying to concentrate on the road and avoid any puddles that might flood my car and get me stranded. There were a few that were iffy, especially as I got closer to where I thought we had been. But I figured as soon as he got back I would. Maybe it was time to really see if he wanted to take things to the next level. He’d given some indication that he did, and usually it was me stalling and screwing around.
Yes, maybe it was time. I felt a little tingle of excitement spread in my belly. It felt right.
“Oh. When do you think you will? And do you want me to make you fudge this year?” My mother made the best fudge.
“Of course I do. I’ll talk to him when he’s back, Mom. I promise I’ll let you know.”
“Are you busy? You sound distracted,” my mother said.
I thought I was getting closer to where I’d been last night and I had to pay attention. “Actually, I kind of am. Can I call you back?” I hung up without waiting for an answer, slowed down, and moved to the shoulder of the road, peering down each tiny driveway/road. Some of them were paved, and some of them were dirt paths. I did remember that the one Thea had gone down last night was paved, so that at least gave me a starting point.
Luckily, there weren’t a lot of cars coming, because I was crawling along. Finally, I recognized a tree—at least I thought I did—and pulled over. I jogged a little ways down the tiny street and realized it was the wrong one. There was a cottage ahead of me. There definitely hadn’t been a cottage last night.
I went back to the car and tried two more driveways, both wrong.
Then I found it. I mentally kicked myself for not remembering sooner that right where Val had pulled over was where the road widened for a brief period of time to include a passing lane. I remembered she had used the extra space to pull a U-turn last night. Gleeful, I parked and turned to JJ. “I’ll be right back. Don’t leave without me.”
He gave me a look and went back to sleep.
I hurried down the driveway, keeping to the trees again, my hoodie pulled tight around my face as the rain pelted me. It felt like little needles stinging me.
When I finally got to the clearing heading out to the beach, I stopped. And blinked the water out of my eyes.
There was nothing there. No trailer, no car, no nothing. Just a clear view of the beach, which was being pounded by angry surf. I worried about the eroding coastline and hoped this storm wasn’t contributing heavily to that phenomenon.
I frowned. Had I been that far off in my calculations? No. I felt strongly that I was in the right place.
So where was Leopard Man? Where was that odd little trailer? I stood there for a minute, not sure what to do. Or if I was crazy.
I started back up the driveway, then veered off to the tree line again, in what I thought was the general vicinity of where I’d stood last night. I scoured the ground in a pretty wide radius, pushing around frozen leaves that hadn’t been cleaned up yet to see if I could find my rock. I started to feel like I’d crawled around the length of a football field, and I still wasn’t seeing anything.
I sat back on my heels and rubbed at my wet jeans, frustrated. I knew I wasn’t crazy. I had been here. I knew this was the spot. And unless the whole thing was some kind of hallucination, this was where Grandpa Leo and Leopard Man had been last night, receiving Thea Coleman.
So where were they now? And where was this trailer? I felt like Alice, staring down a rabbit hole. But unlike Alice, I knew last night had been real. Now I was more determined than ever to figure out what they were up to. And that included my very secretive grandfather.
I took one more look around in the leaves, then got up and surveyed the area, just in case I was missing … something. I had no idea what. The big something was the trailer, and that clearly wasn’t here. Ugh. Part of me wondered if I really was losing my mind.
Giving up, I hurried back to my car. I shook off as much water as I could and slid in, then pulled out my phone, about to call Lucas. I wanted to tell him everything that had been going on and get his input. I could really use his perspective. Lucas was one of the most level-headed people I knew—rational but unflappable. Ethan was easygoing, but he sometimes slid over into the “too chill” category. I needed someone to talk to who had the right balance. Plus, I missed his voice.
But before I could call him, my phone rang. Damian. “When are you coming by?” he asked without preamble. “I got some good info.”
Ooh. That sounded promising. “On my way now.”