Meghan pulled up the page and handed her phone to her brother. From what he could make out it was a generic business page - something to do with electronics and technology, which was already pretty apparent from the company name.
“OK, this is great and all, but how is this going to help? I just tried the number, and there’s no reply - presumably they’re finished for the holidays.”
“Yes, but the business seems like just a smaller one-man show than some big enterprise. According to this, the owner’s name is Ally Walters - andthisis Ally’s personal profile,” Meghan pointed out with a flourish. “She must’ve been travelling on the same flight, and if you have her bag, then most likely she has yours.” She shrugged. “So now we just need to a way to find Ally. Makes sense actually, that a tech consultant would be carrying that weird-looking charger.”
Unfamiliar electronics aside, Jake did his best to be patient, still not understanding how a social media page was going to help him get his bag back - today.
Unless they could send this … Ally a message somehow?
Though Meghan seemed to have it all figured out. “Now, look at this,” she told him, trying to remain patient with him. “See that, at the top of her page?”
Jake looked again at the screen and read a post from someone called Lara Clark which read;Excited to be setting my high-achieving bestie arealchallenge today! Knowing Ally she’ll be out by midday.
He frowned at his sister. “I still don’t get it.”
“Ally - the woman whose bag you have - is tagged in that post, linking to the ice maze.”
He looked blank.
Meghan rolled her eyes. This person, Lara Clark tagged her ‘bestie’ Ally Walters, who it seems happens to be headed to the ice maze - right here in this town -today.”
Jake eyes widened. “Oh wow! Good detective work.”
That was surprisingly easy actually. He’d go to the ice maze this morning, find this Ally, who by now surely must have also realised the mistake, and would be only too happy to make the switch.
Out by midday…
Finally Jake’s heart lifted. He’d have everything back before he knew it.
Chapter 11
After breakfast, Ally spent most of the morning on Lara’s phone to the airline, being directed from pillar to post.
But none of the four representatives she spoke with, nor indeed anyone at the airport, could shine a light on the location of her bag.
Nothing had been handed in at the terminal, and with no trackable luggage tag for the airline to trace, by the end of multiple conversations and hours on hold, she was still no closer to being reunited with her bag.
She’d also tried in vain to contact Mel, but her assistant clearly wasn’t picking up email or her phone since logging off for the holidays - and certainly not from an unfamiliar landline.
While Lara was adamant Ally could borrow whatever she needed for the duration of the stay, there was still the pressing matter of the upcoming work calls, and indeed the subsequent Florida trip.
She needed to get her stuff back pronto and if it meant chasing down this J.T. person to see if he’d been to one to accidentally take her bag, so be it.
By now she was willing to tryanything.
But first and foremost, she needed to get her phone back up and running so that she wasn’t completely cut off and dependent on Lara for everything.
It was a weird feeling for Ally, being so helpless and out of control like this. But the return of her beloved phone would soon set her back on track.
Now, as she entered the town’s general store, she was taken aback at the wide array of items the tiny retailer carried. Everything from hardware items, gifts, home decor, plus books and magazines. Impressive though probably necessary, given it was one of only three stores in the little town.
If you needed something, your choices were here, the grocery store, or the clothing boutique Ally hoped stocked bikinis in winter. Just in case.
But there was one category of items she wasn’t seeing in this place yet, and that was electronics.
“Can I help you ma’am?” an older man greeted from behind the counter and Ally knew from Lara’s description that he was the owner of the shop. A true town fixture.
“Yes, I’m in desperate need of a phone charger. Do you have one for this particular model?” she asked, showing him her device.
