Page 39 of The Summer Request
Lisa and Michelle nodded.
“Good. If you find him, send a text to the group that says, ‘I located the golden toilet.’”
Lisa let out a small squeal and stood, clutching her folder to her chest. “I love code words.”
“Not so much the code names,” Michelle said. Despite her tone, she still seemed somewhat amused.
That was good. Michelle would change her tune once they got Keith to talk.
However they managed to do that.
A bell rang out, followed by an announcement that the first session was about to start. “It’s go time. I’m going to try the clarity sessions. Lisa, you do carat, and Michelle, you can do color? It’s too bad we don’t have a fourth person.”
Michelle let out a gasp. “You’re giving me color? Is that because you think I’m not fun enough?”
Val sputtered out a laugh. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that. I’ll do the color sessions.”
Michelle waved a hand. “I’m just pulling your leg. I’m sure their suggestions will make me cringe and then I can justify why I don’t need to be more fun.”
Val didn’t have time to address everything in that comment, so she just said, “Good!”
Another warning bell rang out and Lisa shot them both a panicked look. “We’ll meet at lunch?”
“Yes,” Val said with a nod. “Lunch.”
There was no time to waste. Val took off, snagging a seat near the back of her designated banquet room. Each hour had a different focus topic, and Val sat through all four of hers.
Some of them were interesting enough, with good ideas buried deep within. The worst part was how they made them break into small groups to talk about their lives and plans. They had to brainstorm goals and barriers, write them up on glittery poster boards, then present to the large group.
Val’s group was plagued by the saddest, most genuine people imaginable. One woman, desperate to change her life, had sold off her mother’s engagement ring to pay for her ticket. Another man had dipped into his retirement. His wife had died three years previously and he was having a hard time finding the motivation to live.
Justine would’ve helped these people, so for her sake, Val tried to take the activities seriously. Her only comfort was that she hadn’t sent Lisa to this group. When her backstory inevitably crumbled, she might’ve crumbled along with it.
Sadly, there was no sign of Keith during any of her sessions. She left a few times, pretending to make trips to the bathroom as she scanned the other rooms.
When it came time for lunch, she found Lisa and Michelle in the banquet hall. “Anything?” she asked.
“I found out I’m not very fun,” Michelle said. “But you both already knew that.”
“Aw, you’re so fun, Shell!” Lisa hip-checked her, causing Michelle to stumble into a nearby table. She chuckled, offering Michelle a hand to steady her. “Did you have any trouble with people recognizing you, Val?”
“What?” It took Val a second to realize what she was asking. She shook her head. “No, I did not.”
There seemed to be a lot of people in Emerald-brand T-shirts darting in and out of the doors in the back. If Keith would be anywhere, it was back there. The hotel staff was catering the elaborate lunch, running from table to table, getting orders and dropping off plates…
“Maybe we should go behind the scenes and poke around?” Val suggested.
Lisa put her hands on her hips. “Or maybe we should eat some of this fabulous lunch? For four grand, it has to be good.”
Val let out a sigh. “Okay, fine. Quickly.”
They sat at a table with five other Emerald attendees. Everyone was overly friendly, and still no one recognized her. It didn’t happen often these days. Val told herself that was for the best. She liked her privacy.
In fact, it made what she was about to do a lot easier. As soon as Lisa and Michelle cleared their plates, she grabbed them each by the arm and dragged them out of their seats.
Michelle was the only one to protest. “What about dessert?”
“We’ll just take a peek and then you can have your dessert.” They reached the back of the hall. None of the employees paid them any attention. Everyone looked busy and stressed, talking into their earpieces and tapping away on their tablets.
