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It was after ten in the morning, much later than I usually sleep. The camp was quiet. I could hear Victor sniffing around the vardo and a bird hooting in the scrawny trees.
Where was everyone?
I tapped at the trailer door and Jaqi’s distracted voice called to come in.
She was writing like mad on a pad of paper I’d never seen before. I filled and plugged in the kettle as there was no coffee left in the pot.
“Where’d you get the paper?” I asked.
She just grunted in reply. Deep in the writing zone, she’d be no company until she got whatever was playing in her head written down. So, I waited for my water to boil and gazed around.
“Where’s Luci?”
Jaqi just shook her head.
Maybe she went out for supplies? I peered out the window, but the car was still there.
The kettle whistled, and I poured a bit into the teapot to warm it. Luci wasn’t at the picnic table. Could she have gone to talk to Carl? Maybe. She might have expected him to have cleared us to leave today.
I felt oddly disappointed at the thought of going home with Keith’s murder still unsolved. Would we even be allowed to leave with Jaqi’s cousin still a suspect?
Sighing, I added the teabags to the pot and filled it with hot water. I’d have my tea and then look for Luci if she wasn’t back by then.
***
WELL, MY TEAPOT WAS empty, I had to tinkle, and there was still no sign of Lucia. I decided to return the pot to the RV, use Jaqi’s washroom, and go look for Luci. In that order.
Soon I was at the office, the best spot to see most of the campground at once. Not that it helped. No one was outside. You’d think that the Rapture had happened and everyone ascended to Heaven but me and Jaqi. Though I had difficulty believing Harvey and Janet ascended before me.
I sat on the seat of my walker, catching my breath and watching Victor sniff around the tufts of dry grass. I didn’t dare take more painkillers and walking was... problematic. I would sit here and wait. Eventually, I’d see her when she returned, no matter who she was visiting. But BORING!
After fidgeting for an hour, which my watch claimed was only twelve minutes, I decided to go see Carl. He could look for her.
Have you any idea how long twenty yards are if you can only shuffle your feet to move? Forever, that’s how long.
And he wasn’t even there when I did arrive.
***
I SAT ON HIS STEPS long enough for my hip to feel better, though I still couldn’t face walking back. Maybe just as far as Janet’s? Though her trailer was even farther from Jaqi’s than Carl’s. That might leave me needing a car ride home.
I struggled to my feet, tipping the walker into my lap and falling back onto the step because I forgot to set the brakes. I swore to whoever was listening that I’ll be better about recovering before attempting to walk or do anything—after this.
After I find Luci.
I had just made it to my feet, breathing hard and a bit dewed with sweat, when Carl drove up. Son of a—
Victor woke up from his nap in the shade under the steps and barked half-heartedly. Like he was embarrassed to be caught napping.
Carl stared at me, his face unreadable before breaking out in a grin.
“Miss me, Miss Vee?”
I shook my head. Even his eye crinkles didn’t cheer me up.
“Have you seen Luci? I’m worried about her.”
He paused. “Luci? No, not today.”
I sighed, maybe she was back by now and all this was for nothing.
“She’s a grown woman. Why are you so worried? She might just need a little space.”
“No, this isn’t like her. She would have told Jaqi where she was going, and me, since Jaqi has disappeared into her writing.”
“Did you check by the river? Or the office?”
I nodded “Yes to the office, no one is there at all. I won’t make it to the river; my pain is too high today.”
“Okay, you sit inside, out of the sun, and I’ll look around.”
I agreed gratefully. Carl unlocked his door and pulled a couple of bottles of water from his mini-fridge. Grabbing a cereal bowl, he poured half of one bottle into it and set it in front of Victor. Victor dove into it like he’d been lost in a desert for weeks. Although, to be fair, his nose was pretty close to the dusty ground.
“You just stay here; I’ll be back in about a half hour. Okay?”
I nodded, cold water and a padded chair was just what I needed.
***
I WAS ON MY SECOND bottle of water, and Victor was asleep by his water dish. I didn’t feel right wandering around Carl’s trailer while he was out, so I just sat at the table. Bored out of my skull, out of my mind. Out of my gourd.
I was considering drawing fur on Victor with the purple marker I found on the floor. Also, I wished I’d brought my phone. I could’ve checked with Jaqi to see if Luci had returned.
I needed to buy more skirts with pockets.
Carl stomped up the outside steps, sounding like a police raid. Maybe it was a police raid. Was it more cops? Had Carl found Lucia’s body by the river? My heart jumped to my throat as Carl came through the door.
“Is she—” I couldn’t voice my worries. My throat tightened like a garrote.
“Missing. That woman is nowhere, and nobody’s seen her.” He grabbed a bottled water from the fridge and downed it in one go. The sound of him pitching it at the trashcan and missing woke Victor. He barked a couple of times, looking confused.
Carl sat across from me, scooping Victor up in one hand and placing him on the table.
“We should see if she returned home and call the OPP again if she’s not there. There’s really no place to go here, and there are a lot of ways to get in trouble.”
I nodded, too scared to speak. Licking my lips, I tasted the lip balm I’d put on this morning. That seemed so long ago.
I stepped into the RV to find Jaqi still at the table. She looked up from her notes, a worried frown on her face.
“Did you find her?”
I shook my head. Carl looked down for a moment and then raised his eyes to meet hers.
“When did you last see Lucia?”
Jaqi put down her pen. “Is she really missing?” Worry drew her eyebrows together.
Carl nodded, slipping into the seat across from her. I pulled my walker over to the table and sat on it.
“We need to call the OPP,” he said. “Her disappearance could be related to the break-ins. First, tell me what’s going on. Why are you really here? Who are you involved with?”
I nearly smacked him in the back of the head. I swear, I was going to shake some sense into him if he didn’t start listening.
“We aren’t involved in anything,” I said. “I already told you that. We were sucked into renting a spot by Harvey’s completely fictional website. And since I paid in advance, we decided to stay.” I glowered at him, not amused by his stubborn belief that we were spies or something. I might have raised my voice a bit, in a totally lady-like way, and not at all like a shrew.
Though you’d think I’d screamed like a banshee the way Carl raised his hands, muttering, “Okay, okay, sheesh.”
He looked at Jaqi, “Well?”
“Well what?”
“When was the last time you saw your friend?”
“I last saw my girlfriend when we fell asleep last night. She was gone when I got up.” Jaqi arched a brow at him. It was surprisingly quelling. “Is there a problem with that?”
He shook his head. “Makes it harder to pinpoint exactly when she vanished. Would she have gone hitchhiking into town?”
“No, why would she when our car’s right there?” Jaqi waved a hand toward the window over the sink.
Carl chewed his lower lip. “You’d better call the OPP back, then. I think she was taken.”
Jaqi’s eyes widened and reached for her cell. Soon she described the problem to someone in Missing Persons. You could tell by her face that it wasn’t going well. “Then switch me over to homicide. It might be related to a death here the other day.”
Her voice shook a little on the last few words, and I reached over to clasp her hand. She grasped mine like she was drowning, and I was the only lifeboat in the sea. My knuckles ground together, but I let her hold on. It was the only sign of how worried she was.
She stayed quiet for a little while, then asked if Phelps or his partner were there. “Then can you call them and tell them that Jaqi Fox called about the death at the campsite near Casselman?” She paused then thanked them and hung up.
“We need to wait until tomorrow before she’ll be considered missing.” A sob escaped her and she turned her face so that Carl couldn’t see her cry.
Carl twisted in his seat, looking at me. “Vee, let me know if she shows up. If she’s not here by dinner, I’ll call in my guys.”
“Why can’t you call them now?” Jaqi’s accusing voice rang loud in the trailer.
“Because she might still come back. It’s only been a couple of hours. In the meantime, I’ll talk to Harvey, Janet, and the Carlisles. They know me, so they’ll be more inclined to talk.”
The last sentence was directed at me. He was right, plus my hip hurt like blazes. “I could check the cornfield if I walked slow and let Victor off his leash to see if he could find her scent.”
Carl glanced at Victor just as the little rat farted. The man looked doubtful but nodded.
He stood up to leave. “Don’t do anything reckless, Vee. Call me if you see anything.”
I nodded.
***
AT THE STROKE OF FIVE, Jaqi put down her pen and headed out the door with me scrambling to keep up. I’d stayed all afternoon, worriedly cleaning up from the break-in and keeping Jaqi company.
By the time I made it down the stairs, she was halfway across the park and heading fast for Carl’s trailer. I could see him sitting on his steps, watching her approach.
He stood up just as she got there and stood on the bottom step. I could see Jaqi’s hands moving and Carl nodding. Then he shook his head. Her hands became more frantic.
I realized that I could pretty much follow the conversation by body language alone. It was not good news. Nobody had seen Luci, she was still missing.
I went back inside. My stomach burned from anxiety. Where was she? What could have happened to her?
I filled the kettle and set it on the stove. I didn’t really want more tea, but it gave me something to do.
I decided while I was waiting for it to boil, I’d take Victor on a quick walk behind the vardo. That would give Jaqi a few minutes alone before I made it back.