Chapter 16 #2
“So…I’m guessing that grin means you’ve had a good week?” Alaska teased.
Luna shook her head. “I still can’t believe you and Tonka are a thing.”
“Why not?” Ryan asked. “I think they’re adorable together.”
“Oh, they are,” Luna agreed. “But it’s Tonka. He’s like, the antisocial one. My dad told me he didn’t even meet Tonka until he’d been there a month.”
“You know what they say,” Alaska teased. “The quiet ones make the best lovers.”
Everyone chuckled.
“Right, Henley?” Alaska probed, leaning over the table.
“Yes,” Henley confirmed without any embarrassment whatsoever.
The other three cheered, making everyone in the small café look at them with curiosity.
“Shush, you guys, jeez.” Henley giggled.
“But seriously, it’s still going well?” Alaska asked.
“Yeah. Really good,” Henley said with a nod.
“I heard you’re getting a dog,” Luna added. “Is that right?”
Henley snorted. “Yup. Finn totally bribed Jasna out of her bad mood when we were on the way to drop her off at camp. Asked if she would be interested in getting a dog.” She rolled her eyes. “As if she was going to say no.”
“So are you going on your way home from camp tomorrow?” Ryan asked.
“My daughter wishes. No, we’re going Saturday.”
Everyone laughed again.
Henley sobered. “This really is a big step for Finn, though. He lost his canine partner right before he got out of the Coast Guard. And it was traumatic and violent. I honestly wasn’t sure he’d want to get another dog ever again.”
“I’m sorry,” Alaska said, reaching over and putting her hand on Henley’s.
“Yeah, that sucks,” Ryan agreed.
She nodded. “I think it’ll be good for him. He talked to his ex-partner recently—the partner who’d been with him that day—and after he heard he had a bloodhound…I think it shook something loose for him. Like, if his friend could move on and do it, maybe he could too.”
“He’s amazing with the critters around The Refuge,” Luna said with a nod. “He’s gonna be fine.”
“I think so too,” Henley agreed. “He’s going overboard though, just like he does with most things that involve me or Jasna. He said he was going to go to the shelter today to ‘check out the dogs’ to make sure they were suitable for being around someone Jasna’s age.”
“I don’t know, I think that’s smart,” Alaska said.
“Have you checked out the website? To see what dogs are available?” Ryan asked.
“Of course I have. Finn and I had a discussion about them the other night. He said we were only allowed to look at the big dogs, but I thought the little yorkie was adorable.”
“Let me guess, he wants a big bad dog that can protect you and Jas, right?” Luna asked with a laugh.
“Yup.”
“Well, the smaller ones do tend to be yappy,” Ryan pointed out. “And I’m assuming the guys at The Refuge don’t want a yapper around, disrupting the guests.”
“True,” Henley agreed a little reluctantly. “But I’m guessing Finn would be able to train any dog we get not to be an obnoxious barker. He’s kind of amazing like that.”
Alaska squeezed Henley’s hand, which she hadn’t let go of yet. “Please tell me you guys are madly in love and you’re going to marry Tonka and move to The Refuge, so I won’t be the only woman living there full time.”
Henley felt herself blushing. She gave her friend a small smile and shrugged. “I do love him, and he says he loves me too. But we aren’t anywhere near the getting-married stage. We’ll just have to see what happens.”
Alaska squealed in delight and sat back in her chair.
She picked up a fork and speared a French fry, dunking it into a container of ranch dressing before looking up at Henley with a huge smile.
“You guys are so getting married. If you think Tonka’s stupid enough to wait long to put a ring on your finger, you don’t know these guys very well. ”
“I don’t see a ring on your finger,” Ryan said reasonably.
Alaska stuffed the French fry into her mouth and grinned again as she chewed. As soon as she swallowed, she said, “Oh, Drake’s got a ring, but I’m not quite ready to take that last step yet.”
All three women spoke at once.
“What?”
“He does?”
“Holy crap, really?”
Alaska nodded. “I love him. I’ve always loved Drake. But I don’t know…something inside me, that little niggling of a doubt, wonders if we moved too fast. If he only started having feelings for me because of what happened. You know, the whole damsel-in-distress thing and all that.”
“Please, woman. Brick can’t keep his eyes off you.
Or his hands, for that matter,” Luna told her.
“I swear, the other night I thought he was going to jump your bones right there at the front desk after you handled that obnoxious guest who was complaining about every little thing. You had him eating out of your hand by the time he left, and he even promised to make a donation for the POW cabin. And Brick was in awe, watching it all go down. You two are perfect for each other. Marry the man and put him out of his misery already.”
Henley nodded, along with Ryan.
“I’m getting there,” Alaska assured them.
Henley was relieved when the talk turned to more mundane things, like the menu for next week, and how the guys were thinking about ordering all new softer towels.
“I don’t know about you guys, but I’m stuffed,” Alaska said after they’d each ordered a brownie ice cream sundae and devoured every crumb.
“Same,” Ryan said, patting her stomach.
Henley felt as if she wouldn’t have to eat for a week. The food had been that good and that filling.
“So, what’s the plan for the rest of the day?” Luna asked.
“I thought maybe, if you guys didn’t mind, we could stop at that consignment shop again.
It’s so fun to look for treasures among the trash,” Alaska said.
“Then we can stop at Bliss for Luna before heading back. I’m guessing Henley wouldn’t mind returning a little early, so she can spend the last night before Jas comes home with Tonka. ”
Henley wasn’t even embarrassed when she nodded eagerly. She didn’t care if her friends knew how anxious she was to spend more time with her man. She didn’t care who knew that she loved him.
They all pushed back from the table, and when they argued over who was going to leave the tip, they decided to all leave some money for the college kid who’d been their waiter. They climbed into Ryan’s Explorer, and Henley couldn’t remember a time when she’d been more content.
Her daughter was healthy and happy, she had a job she loved, she had Finn, and now she had a circle of friends she could laugh and hang out with.
They’d visited the consignment shop—the back of the SUV was now full of bags—and were on their way to get Luna some British candy when Henley’s phone rang. Smiling, thinking it was Finn, she barely glanced at the screen before bringing it up to her ear.
“Hello?”
“Henley McClure?”
“Speaking,” she said with a small frown when she didn’t recognize the voice, wondering who was calling…and sounding so serious.
“This is Samantha White, from Horseshoe Bend Outdoor Camp. Have you heard from Jasna this afternoon?”
All the blood drained from Henley’s face. “What? No. Why? What’s wrong?!”
“She’s missing. We’ve looked everywhere and can’t find her. There was a group hike this afternoon and when we did a head count after arriving back at camp, she wasn’t there. We have counselors out searching now, but I wanted to make you aware of what’s happening.”
Henley couldn’t breathe. This was literally her worst nightmare.
“And I hate to have to ask this, but I know the police will want to know as well. We’ve already called them and they’re on their way.
Is there any reason why she might not want to come home?
Did the two of you get in any arguments before she arrived at camp or since she’s been here?
Kids her age are notorious for getting in a snit and running away for one reason or another. ”
The other women in the car were looking at Henley worriedly, but she couldn’t do anything but stare at the headrest in front of her blankly.
“What? No! Jasna would never run away. Yes, we had some words before camp, but everything was resolved before we dropped her off. She’s excited to get home because we’re getting a dog this weekend.
Does she have her phone with her? Did someone…
did someone take her?” She was practically whispering by the time she got to that last question.
“We don’t allow the campers to have their phones during the day, they have to leave them in the cabins. And I’m sure she’s okay. She probably wandered off to use the bathroom and got turned around. We’re going to find her, I’m certain of it. But due to our protocols, I needed to let you know.”
Henley wanted to scream. Of course they should tell her that her child was freaking missing! The only thing she wanted to do was call Finn. He’d know what to do. He’d find Jasna. “Call me if you find her,” she said shortly, then quickly hung up.
“What’s going on? Jasna’s missing?” Alaska asked urgently.
Taking a deep breath, Henley refused to let herself cry. “Yeah. I guess everyone went on a hike, and she wasn’t with them when they all got back to camp.”
“So she’s probably just lost in the woods then,” Luna said, her voice shaking a bit. “I mean, it’s not like anyone’s out to get her. She’s only twelve.”
At her friend’s words, Henley’s blood ran cold.
She instantly thought about her conversation with Mike at the beginning of summer. How Christian Dekker had a hit list. She hadn’t given it much thought since that day. It had been years since she’d had any contact with the troubled boy.
But now she couldn’t stop thinking about him.
“What? What are you thinking?” Alaska asked from next to her in the back seat.
“Christian Dekker,” Henley whispered, almost afraid to say the boy’s name out loud.
“What? Who’s that?” Ryan asked.
“He’s a kid I counseled a few years ago when he was twelve.
He was…not right,” Henley told them. “He was truly evil—and I don’t say that lightly.
My boss took over his sessions. I haven’t seen him in years, but at the beginning of the summer, Mike told me his parents had called.
Told him they’d found a notebook with a list of names of people he wanted to kill. ”
“Jasna was on that list?” Luna asked, horrified.
“Well, no. But I was. And Mike, and around two dozen other people. I didn’t think much about it at the time, but now…what if he went after her?” Henley asked, her eyes filling with tears.
“No, don’t think the worst,” Luna said firmly. “Don’t borrow trouble. They’re looking for her, right?”
Henley nodded.
“And the police are going out there?”
Henley nodded again.
“Okay, so they’ll find her,” Luna continued, obviously trying to stay positive.
“Ryan, we need to get back to The Refuge,” Alaska said urgently. “The guys will know what to do.”
Without a word, Ryan pulled a U-turn in the middle of the street. She ignored the people honking their horns and flipping her off as she sped back toward The Refuge.
“I need to call Finn.”
Alaska put her hand over Henley’s before she could lift the phone. “We’re going to be there in five minutes,” she said firmly. “You can tell him in person. He isn’t going to take this well, and you shouldn’t tell him over the phone.”
Henley wanted to shake her friend off. Tell her she was wrong. That she needed Finn’s support right this second. But after considering Alaska’s words, she nodded.
Finn was definitely going to lose his mind, and the last thing she wanted was for him to do something impulsive and rash. If she told him in person, they could figure out what to do together, and maybe she and his friends could keep Finn from going off half-cocked.
She nodded and took a deep breath. She wanted to believe that Jasna had simply wandered off and gotten lost. That she’d reappear from the forest, maybe a little scared but embarrassed over the worry she’d caused.
Deep down, she knew better.
Jasna was a responsible kid. She wouldn’t wander off, at least not without telling someone what she was doing.
She had no proof Christian had taken her daughter, but despite that…she just knew.
Evil had found her again—and this time, it was going after the most precious person in her life. It wasn’t enough that she’d had to listen to her mother being assaulted and stabbed, and then lost her father in a knife fight. Now she had to deal with Jasna being missing.
It wasn’t fair.
“Hold on, Hen,” Alaska said as she held her hand tightly. “We’re almost there. We’re getting you to Tonka.”
Closing her eyes, Henley couldn’t think. She couldn’t even cry. She needed Finn. Now. He’d know what to do. He’d find her daughter.
The alternative was unthinkable.