Am I absolutely certain she’s at the Lompoc Federal Penitentiary?Yes, despite the fact that she’s traveled using cash and has left no evidence of her whereabouts.I feel it in my gut that she’s there.I know her well enough that I can put myself in her boots and think the way she might think.
My brothers and I got our first clues yesterday.
First, the county water authority called to tell us that one of our kayaks had gotten snagged up near the White Snake River Dam, seventeen miles southeast of Yosemite Ranch.
Next, Special K and I found Summer’s starting point—a tiny fork in the road with a mini-mart and a bus station, within hiking distance of the river.The store clerk recognized her photo, as did the bus ticket agent, and the only bus that day was headed to Reno.
That’s where we went next.We got another hit when we showed her picture around but could find no indication of where she was headed.But I checked the bus schedule for the approximate time she would have arrived to transfer buses.I saw it—Santa Barbara, with a stop in Lompoc.
Evander made some calls.He confirmed that a married couple with the last name of Stevens were serving sentences there.
Finn hacked into the bus security cameras and saw her board a bus to Santa Barbara.
I was right.
The question is why—why would she go there?I know it has to be related to the series of hard knocks Summer has endured lately.But she wouldn’t go to them for solace—no way.The only reason she’d want to see them would be to dig up the bones of her past, to face what still haunts her so that she can leave it behind, forever.That’s what my Summer would choose to do.
I told my brothers I was heading out.They offered to come with me.
“No.Thank you,” I told them.“I’m going alone to talk to my wife.”
I don’t want to get my hopes up, but I wonder if maybe—just maybe—a visit to confront her parents will change her mind.Will she be willing to come home?Will she choose to stop running from me?
From happiness?
My phone rings.It’s a FaceTime from Jasmine.I stick the phone in its dashboard mount and answer.“Hey, Pinkie!Wassup?”
It appears that she’s seated in the leather office chair in Finn’s home office.Maybe she’s playing a game of Junior Boss Lady today.
“Don’t call me that anymore, Uncle Declan.I hardly wear pink at all nowadays, not like I used to when I was a little kid.”
“Oh.Sure.Sorry.When did you stop being a little kid?Did I miss something?”
“I’m calling for a serious reason, Uncle Declan.I need you to promise me something.It’s important.”
“Sure, kid.I mean Jasmine.What can I do for you?”
“I need you to bring Summer home.You can’t fail us, Uncle Declan.This place is swirling down the crapper without her.People are losing their minds.”
“Oh.”Swirling down the crapper?Did I teach her that?
“Dad found Joe crying in one of the horse stalls this morning.”
“Okay.”That’s not good.
“Emma ordered takeout from the diner last night, because she said she was too upset to cook dinner.”
I sit up straighter in my seat.“Thatisconcerning.”
“Victoria didn’t even bother to blow out her hair this morning, and it’s all wild and flying around everywhere and it’s really got folks on edge.”
“Of course.”
“And MeeMaw Phyllis has locked herself in her room and Grandpa keeps yelling for her to open up and tell him where she hid his NutterButters, but MeeMaw yells back at him using language that an older woman shouldn’t even know, let alone use in a conversation.”
I stare at her.
First of all, I keep forgetting that Jasmine has called herMeeMawPhyllis since it was discovered that Emma’s mother was Phyllis’s daughter from her first marriage, making Emma her granddaughter.We’re all still in shock over the news.
