Page 51 of The Summer Request
“Are you?” She shook her head, stuffing a handful of orange Tic Tacs into her mouth. “Because it seems pretty hopeless to me.”
Michelle looked up from her hiking book. “We can ask around for Sam. Look him up on Facebook, maybe?”
“Look him up on Facebook?” Val let out a sigh. “Why do we even bother? Why not rent a plane and have them pull a banner with his name on it?”
“I bet Avery could find him,” Lisa said.
Val turned to her. “Is he good with computers?”
She shrugged. “Yes, I think so. I don’t know if he could find someone with just their email, but I can ask?”
“Why didn’t you mention this before?” The excitement in Val’s voice was growing.
Lisa was glad to see Val’s mood turning. Her panic always grew with other people’s discontent. “I don’t know. I thought you knew where he was already.” She laughed. “I half expected him to be waiting at the house on your order!”
Val clapped her hands together. “This is great! Can you call Avery now?”
“Sure.”
Michelle cleared her throat. “Okay. After that, can we please agree which hikes we’re willing to do?”
Lisa smiled. Everyone had their priorities. She was happy as long as everyone else was happy. “Of course.”
Nineteen
There was a strange calm to Justine’s cottage that made it hard for Val to fall asleep. It was too private and far too quiet. It’d be easy for someone to sneak in and kill them all. No one would know, and they couldn’t call for help. Their phones never seemed to have service, and the next neighbor was too far away to hear.
To calm her nerves, Val opened the bedroom windows and let the sound of summer bugs pour in. It also allowed her to listen for incoming attacks.
The most treacherous thing she discovered was a pair of deer that noisily stepped on some leaves near the house. Before catching sight of them, she had convinced herself the end was near.
Eventually, she managed to fall asleep, and when she woke, she couldjust make out the sound of water gently brushing up to the shore.
They’d survived the night. That was good.
The room was too cold, though. She got out of bed and shut the window, spotting the hiking outfit Michelle had laid out for her.
Oh, Michelle. She’d argue it was perfect weather to hike, that it was their duty to Justine, and something about the Vanderbilts, but Val didn’t want to hike. She wanted to know what had happened to Justine.
For the first time, she wasn’t sure they would ever find out. They’d run out of ideas and run out of leads. Val felt hopeless. What was next? One of them would die unexpectedly, too?
Fate made no promises. Life could end in an instant. Dead, with no warning. Cold. Gone.
A shiver ran down her back. She needed to get dressed, and she didn’t feel like arguing anymore with Michelle. At least the clothes were comfortable.
Once ready, Val made her way down to the kitchen. She’d hoped to be the first one up, but Michelle was already there, wide awake and ready to rumble.
“Oh good! I’ve been waiting for someone else to get up. Now I’m allowed to start making noise.”
Val yawned. “What time is it?”
“7:34.” Michelle didn’t miss a beat. “You look nice.”
“Thanks.”
“I was thinking I could throw together a quick breakfast, put some coffee into mugs, and we could get going?”
Val took a seat at the kitchen island. “Do we have to go this early? Maybe we should relax, stroll back into town, talk to some of the locals?”
