Chapter Twenty

The Days That Followed

T he three agents returned to their conference room in the hotel to wrap up the investigation. Mystery woman: Identified. Interaction: Minimal. Threat assessment: None. Witness: Relocated. Status: Situation Resolved.

The men packed their bags and checked out of the hotel. Buck shook hands and said his farewells, and Desmond drove Chris to the airfield, where a helicopter was waiting to take him to Flagstaff. A military plane would bring him back to Glynco, Georgia, where he'd left his vehicle. If there were no delays, he'd be landing in Georgia around 8:30 p.m. Once he arrived, he'd decide whether he wanted to make the four-hour drive to Charlotte. At the moment, he couldn't decide if he was jazzed or exhausted.

The chopper ride would take just over thirty minutes, but the jet wasn't going to be there for an hour and a half. Desmond instructed the pilot to "give him the tourist version."

Gaines was awestruck at the panorama below. The contrast between forest and desert and rock formations was stunning. One could only imagine the changing landscape over the centuries. Millenniums. Such a mysterious and evocative place. There was no doubt it had an inexplicable energy of its own. It came as no surprise that Luna was drawn to it.

As he gazed at the scenery, he let out a sigh of relief. At least his girlfriend wasn't a hitman. And, in his personal experience, she wasn't a liar. She wasn't one in his professional experience, either. He had to play this through. No contact until they were both back in North Carolina, unless it was about her involvement in the case, which seemed to be little. He had to admit, it was a bizarre coincidence, even for someone like Luna. What were the odds? he thought again. It was uncanny.

* * *

Luna and Gail sat on the patio before it became unbearably hot.

Gail let out a bit of a whine. "I wish you'd stay another day."

"Haven't I caused you enough excitement?" Luna chuckled. "It's better I get back sooner than later. I miss my pooch, and I have to give Ellie all the info, and then wait patiently to see if I still have a boyfriend." Luna sighed. "And you know how good I am at being patient." She smiled.

"Not very." Gail laughed. "First thing, we gotta get you a new phone. This way, you'll be able to answer it when your boyfriend calls you."

"You're right. I am going to remain positive. But boy, was this a huge test."

"For real. I'm sure you both passed with flying colors." Gail gathered their glasses and brought them inside. Luna and Max followed behind. "The stores should be open soon."

"I'm going to call the airline and change my ticket and start to pull my stuff together." Luna walked toward her room, opened her laptop, and checked the booking link to her flight. There was an eleven a.m. flight that would get her into Asheville at midnight with the time zone change. At least she'd be able to sleep in her own bed. If she could finally sleep.

She was about to send Chi-Chi and Cullen a text to let them know her travel plans when she realized she had no phone. Again. Twice in one day. Boy, how we've come to depend on a phone being by our side all the time. It occurred to her that she'd hardly used her phone during her stay in Sedona. She'd checked in with Chris every other day and taken the fateful photo of Brendan. But whenever they'd gone for a hike, she'd instinctively turned it off. Maybe she should try doing that more often. She thought there was an app that allowed only certain calls to come through. She would definitely look into it when she shopped for a new device.

A half hour later, Gail and Luna were on their way to a big box electronic store. "I don't remember this being here the last time," Luna remarked, as they turned into the massive parking lot.

"Yep. The rest of the world has found us," Gail said wryly. "But Sedona still hasn't lost its magic."

"You're not kidding. I wonder if I was anywhere else when all this Brendan stuff happened, whether it would have turned out the way it did."

Gail wagged her eyebrows. "Like I said—it's the magic."

* * *

While Chris was waiting for the jet in Flagstaff, he sent Carter a text, letting him know he'd be back in time to pick him up from camp. He sent a similar one to Lucinda but with much less affection. Her response was: See you in court Tuesday.

That answered the question he'd been going to ask Evan about the hearing. Now he had to find out the time and place. After receiving Chris's text, Evan wrote back:

2:00PM – Courthouse – Room 203 – We're ready!

This was only a preliminary hearing for the judge to listen to the complaints and then decide when the final hearing would take place with witnesses. Carter still had to see the psychiatrist for the evaluation, and Chris was expecting letters from Carter's school outlining his academic achievements and intramural activities. He had no doubt Carter would come out looking like a well-adjusted and responsible kid. If things lined up the way he anticipated, it would be Lucinda trying to prove Carter would be better off in Chicago. He also hoped the judge would ask Carter what he wanted. The rest would be a matter of scheduling. If Lucinda wanted to see her son often, there would be nothing stopping her from visiting him. It didn't have to be a one-way situation with Carter being juggled from city to city. The less disruption for him, the better.

Chris opened his duffel to find a book he wanted to read on the way back. At the bottom of the bag was Luna's crushed phone. He still hadn't decided how to get rid of it. Theoretically, it could be used as evidence to support Luna's statement, but then it would incriminate him with interfering with an investigation. Never in his life had he been faced with this kind of ethical dilemma. He pulled the microSD card and the SIM cards from the back of the crushed phone and put the fingernail-size chips in his pocket. He then made a decision. He'd wait. He'd wait until the entire case was officially closed and the witness was ensconced in his new safehold. He felt better about that idea. Once the witness was reassigned, all previous information was removed from the mainframe and stored in a highly classified facility, where there was no access from the outside via the Internet. In order to find the information, one had to physically visit the facility. It rarely happened. It was imperative that protected witnesses remain just that. Protected.

* * *

Luna and Gail browsed through all the latest phones and gadgets.

"This is just too much." Luna sighed. "I want to go back to the days when people used flip phones."

A young man with big round discs in his earlobes approached them. "Yep. We have flip phones. Lots of people are going ‘old school.' Follow me."

Luna and Gail gave each other a look. Neither of them appreciated that expression. It was borderline insulting. Just because something was new didn't necessarily mean it was better. And just because something might be older, that didn't necessarily make it inferior. They followed the tattoo-covered Gen Z salesperson to a section where there were over a dozen flip phones on display. He explained the difference between a regular flip and a smartphone. Luna looked at the Samsung Galaxy Flip. It had all the bells and whistles of other Androids, but it folded in half. It was the best compromise. The salesman asked if she wanted him to transfer her data from her old phone to the new one. Her answer: "I don't have it. It fell in the river."

"Bummer," he said. "Well, you can still have the same phone number. I'll call your service provider so we can activate your new phone. But you won't have your contact list or your photos."

The word photo gave Luna a shiver. That photo was the singular reason she no longer had her phone. She sighed. "I guess I have my work cut out for me."

"Did you upload anything to the cloud?" he asked.

"No. I don't like the idea of my personal stuff floating in cyberspace," Luna answered.

"You'd be surprised how much is out there that we don't realize."

Again, Luna shuddered. "I guess I'll have to reset all my passwords." She was getting nervous. She had no idea what Chris had done with her old phone. She guessed she would find out eventually. That is, if they were still on speaking terms.

The clerk took down all of Luna's information and told them it would take about an hour to get her up and running. So Luna and Gail decided to grab some lunch at a local vegan restaurant.

"Do you come here often?" Luna asked Gail as she perused the menu.

"Occasionally. I like their avocado smash on millet. Their fake grilled cheese with fake bacon is pretty good, but you gotta eat it hot; otherwise, the consistency gets weird."

"There have been articles lately noting that if the world went vegan, it would reduce gas emissions by eighty percent."

"Well, you know that ain't gonna happen." Gail placed her menu back on the table. She tapped her finger on it. "Plastic. There's no getting away from it unless you live in the wilderness and eat mushrooms and leaves. Don't get me wrong, I think it's great that people are being conscious about lots of things, but to expect a complete overhaul in our lifetime is not only unreasonable, it's unrealistic."

"True. There are parts of the world where people have no access to water and very little food. Too many people live in an ideological bubble and have no idea what is happening in other places. Don't get me started." Luna smirked.

"I shan't. I know better," Gail teased. They placed their order and drank lemon water while they waited. "What do you suppose Chris is up to today?" Gail mused.

"I have no idea." Luna shook her head, then let out a big huff of air. "I wish he had called me."

"On what phone?" Gail eyed her.

"That's three times today I overlooked that important detail." Luna snickered.

The waitress brought their pretend grilled cheese and a side salad of kale.

"I'll tell you—the kale lobby has been out in full force. It's everywhere, and I don't know one person who buys it. I mean, I'll eat it, but for greens, I prefer broccoli rabe and escarole," Luna said, and then stabbed into the leafy salad.

"Your diet has become very Mediterranean," Gail noted.

"It's healthy. And delicious." Luna smiled. "Give me a plate of pasta any day."

"That dinner you made the other night was rather scrumptious. You'll have to give me the recipe."

Luna laughed. "It's not an exact science. You put some olive oil in a pan, a little vegetable stock, some herbs, lemon juice, a dash of white wine, and parmesan cheese."

"No quarter cup of this, a pinch of that?" Gail asked.

"Nope. You do it according to your own taste. That's the beauty of it." Luna squeezed one of the lemons onto her hands and wiped them with a napkin. She recalled the first time she'd done that in front of Chris. He'd laughed, because he was about to do the same thing. Luna sighed. "I miss talking to him."

"You will soon. Your phone will be ready, and you can give him a call."

"I don't know if I should. He could be mad as a hatter!" Luna cringed. "Speaking of that phrase, do you know where it comes from?"

" Alice in Wonderland ?" Gail shrugged.

"No, silly. It was coined during the seventeenth century, when hatters were using mercuric acid to make felt. They were actually poisoning themselves with the fumes, causing them to behave erratically."

"Ha. Fascinating." Gail picked up the check from the table. "You always have a wealth of information. And to think you don't do social media!"

"I like my information to be from a sound, reliable source." She winked.

They walked back to the store, where the tattooed young man was waiting with a big grin on his face. "You're all set. Want to give it a spin?" He handed Luna the new phone. "You're gonna have to set a password or fingerprint, or both." He showed her what to do.

Gail pulled out her phone and dialed Luna's number. The ringtone was set to "Ode to Joy" from Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. Gail laughed. "Now there's irony. The piece is called ‘Ode to Joy,' but ask any soprano how joyful it is to sing! We always joked that Beethoven must have hated sopranos."

"Maybe he didn't know how hard it is to hang on to all those high notes for so long."

"Nah. I just think he hated sopranos." Gail laughed again. "But it was the first symphony to incorporate vocal soloists and a chorus. Maybe you're right." She paused. "Nah. He should have known better."

The eager young salesperson was trying to further engage Luna in Cell Phone Use 101, but she graciously declined. "Just need it to send a few texts for now. I can study it when I get back home."

"It was a pleasure serving you, ma'am."

That was another thing that bugged Luna and Gail: ma'am . They weren't old enough to be ma'ams. When they left the store, Gail chuckled and said, "Whenever someone calls me ‘Miss,' I thank them."

"Geez, we're not that old. Are we?" Luna's eyes bugged out. "I mean, I want a flip phone, I want social media to go away, and I want people to stop living in their parents' basements!"

Gail was howling. "I can't say I disagree with you. But that does make you sound a little, let's say, cranky?"

"I'll take cranky. You know, had any of this happened anywhere else, I probably would have had a meltdown. I truly believe the energy here helped me to stay grounded."

"Like I said. Magic."

When they got into Gail's Jeep, Luna wasn't sure if she should reach out to Chris. "What do you think?"

"He probably doesn't know you've replaced the phone. Or would he?"

"He knows I am not a techno junkie, but he also knows I have to have some way of communicating. So . . . he'll know that I'll get one but not when, although probably sooner than later."

"And your point is?" Gail gave her a sideways glance.

"He could try to call my number to see if I've bought a new phone."

"True. But you don't know who he's with, either."

"Good point," Luna huffed. "I suppose I need to wait this out, too."

"This has been a test of patience, eh?" Gail grinned.

"And my relationship." Luna sighed.

Gail reached over and patted her hand. "It's going to be okay, sweetcakes. Magic. Remember."

Luna sent her brother and Chi-Chi a group text, letting them know when she was arriving and that Cullen didn't have to pick her up because she was getting in late. She'd take a cab or Uber home.

She finished with: Miss me?

Chi-Chi answered: Of course!

Cullen answered: Who is this?

"Ha. My brother. Thinks he's a comedian."

Luna and Gail decided that the chaos they'd experienced required one more massage. Gail phoned the spa, and there were two available appointments, but they had to get there pronto.

It was the perfect ending to a challenging, not-so-perfect, but stimulating, exciting, fruitful, couple of days.