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Once we had breakfast and settled in at the booth, Chance said he'd be right back. He returned a few minutes later with two older men in tow.
"Everly, I'd like you to meet Loren and Rene. They're cryptid hunters from Quebec. They were friends with Dad and Harry. Guys this is Harry's niece, Everly Mason."
"I have some errands to run," Chance said. "If you need help, find one of these guys."
They both shook my hand and mumbled their sympathy for the loss of Uncle Harry. "Just let us know if you need help," Rene said. "We'll be around."
When they walked away, I whispered to Chance, "What do they know?"
"Nothing, but you can trust them."
When there wasn't anyone at the booth, Chance said, "OK. I'm going to go see if I can find Helen or Jerry. I haven't seen either in here this morning. You stay in this room. If anything seems off, you wave to Loren or Rene. One of them will always be within sight of the booth." He gave me a quick kiss before walking out into the main hallway of the hotel.
When I looked up to check the clock on the wall and realized Chance had been gone more than an hour, I started to worry. Loren and Rene took turns stopping by the booth to check on me. After two hours, I told Rene I thought Chance should be back by now. He went off to talk to Loren. In a few minutes, both of them joined me behind the table in the booth.
"Everly, can you come take a look at this?" Loren called from the back of the booth, while Rene took up a post behind the table. On the pad he'd written, "Don't say anything. Just write. Do you know where Chance was going?"
"That's interesting, Loren." I picked up the pad and wrote, "He was going to talk to Helen Kepler and Jerry Lucas."
"You're right. That's much better."
He tore the page off the pad and tucked it in his pocket. "When you see Chance remind him to find us before we leave in the morning. We want to finalize the plans for our hunt."
I felt helpless. I hadn't seen Helen or Jerry all day. I didn't know where Chance was and now, I was stuck waiting for these two elderly gentlemen to return with news. I was hungry, but I didn't want to leave the booth unattended. I dug around in the boxes and found some protein bars. It was just slightly better than going hungry.
I tried not to check the time too frequently but the big clock over the doors was like a magnet for my eyes. The crowd had started to thin as folks headed home after spending the weekend immersed in all things bigfoot. At three o'clock, the organizers closed the doors to the vendor room and walked up and down the rows thanking everyone for participating as the vendors started to pack away their displays and the goods that didn't sell. At least I had something to keep me busy. The thought of what I should do if Chance wasn't back when I was finished packing up popped into my head, but I ignored it as I packed up business cards, flyers, and postcards. I was just folding up Chance's sign, when Rene and Loren walked in. "Hi Everly, Chance sent us to help you load up."
I had no idea if they had found Chance and he sent them to help me, or if they hadn't found him but realized I'd need help clearing out of the vendor space. "Did you drive or Chance?" Rene asked as we loaded a handcart with boxes. "I drove. I've got my keys right here. Do I need to pull the truck up out front?"
"Why don't you give me your keys, and I'll bring the truck around," Loren said. After I described the truck and where I parked, he headed off leaving Rene and I to push the cart to the entrance.
Once the truck was loaded, I had no idea what I should do. Chance and I planned to head for home as soon as the convention was over. The hotel had allowed convention vendors to leave our things in the rooms until we finished. As we walked back through the hotel's front doors, I said, "Can I get you guys to help me with our luggage too. It's hard for Chance to manage with the cast on his leg."
They both just nodded and followed me to my room. "Do you know where Chance is?" I asked as soon as the door closed behind me.
"No," Rene said. "Helen Kepler checked out last night. The hotel says that Jerry Lucas is still here in room 212, but he doesn't answer the door or his phone."
"We've called and messaged Chance, but he doesn't answer," Loren said. "Did he drive his own truck?"
"No. We came together," I said. "Let's check his room." Chance and I had been so exhausted this morning, each of us planned to come up and pack while the other watched the booth this afternoon. That hadn't happened. "Wait. Let's stop for a minute. I need to make sure I do the right thing."
After taking a moment to catch my breath, I pulled out my phone. I sent a "call me" text to Chance before calling his phone. It rang several times before going to voice mail. I left another "call me" message and ended the call.
"Are you guys leaving tonight?" I asked.
"No, we fly home tomorrow morning. You can stay in our room," Loren said.
"OK. I need to do a thorough search before we check out. I have no way to know if Chance has been back here since we left this morning or not."
I looked around the room but couldn't tell if things were as we left them or not. With Rene and Loren's help, we packed up everything in the room, finding nothing to give us a clue where Chance might be. I didn't mention it, but what we didn't find was the journal. After Rene and Loren went into my room, I did one final check. I looked under the beds, between the mattresses and box springs. I even looked in the toilet tank because I'd seen that used as a hiding place in a movie once. We found nothing.
We repeated the same exercise in my room. Unfortunately, with the same result. The sheet with the location was safely tucked inside my bra. We found nothing, and there was no word from Chance.
Loren said he would keep me in sight as I went to the front desk to check out while Rene took my suitcase and Chance's up to their room. I had no idea what I should do.
When I stepped off the elevator in the lobby, I saw Jerry, walking out the front door. I had no time to explain to Rene. I rushed to catch up with Jerry.
"Hey Jerry," I called just as I reached the front door. "Are you leaving?"
I thought he was going to ignore me, but he looked over his shoulder, stopping to turn toward me when he recognized me. "Hi, Everly. Sorry. I didn't realize you were talking to me."
"Are you leaving?"
"Yeah, I need to get on the road. When are you heading out?"
"As soon as Chance is ready. I'm just hanging out. Did you want to get a drink?"
"Wish I could, but I need to get going. Maybe our paths will cross at one of these things again. Have a safe trip home." As we talked, he'd been walking toward a Jeep in the parking lot. I casually laid my hand on the hood. It was still hot. That's when I noticed it was coated with some sort of film.
"Well, it was nice to meet you. Have a safe trip."
I dropped the room key, I'd pulled from my pocket. "Don't move yet, Jerry. I dropped my keys.” I bent down beside the rear tire with my body blocking Jerry's view. At least that’s what I tried to do. I took the room key and scrapped some dirt from the tread. Standing up, I turned, "Got it. Goodbye Jerry." I stepped over to the sidewalk and pretended to check my phone while I took a photo of Jerry's license plate. It might be a rental, but it was something.