“Seems like you’ve taken on a big job,” Tom said. “It might be best to keep your expectations realistic so as not to be too upset if you’re unable to do what you’ve set out to do.”
“I know how difficult this will be, but Dex and Cass have agreed to help me, as has Hope, who’s done her own research on this case in the past.”
Hope Mansfield was the local librarian.
“So, what do you know so far?” Gracie asked.
“Not a lot. The five boys who went fishing with Austin were: Josh Underwood, Colin Woodford, Larry Lakewood, Bobby Brighton, and Toby Wallis. Josh died in a vehicle accident when he was seventeen, but Colin, Larry, Bobby, and Toby are all still alive and kicking. I plan to speak to each of them.”
“Didn’t Toby move from the area?” Tom asked.
I nodded. “Toby is a ranger for the National Park System and is currently based at Glacier National Park. He’s married to my friend, Natalie, from high school.”
“I remember Natalie,” Gracie said. “She was going to be a doctor.”
“She ended up being a wildlife veterinarian, which works perfectly with Toby’s choice of career.”
“I thought Toby was quite a bit younger than Austin,” Gracie said.
“He was. In fact, he was the youngest in the group. I think he was four or five years younger than the others. Hope thinks the reason he was there was because he might have gone with Josh Underwood. Josh’s mom used to babysit Toby when his mother was out of town.”
Gracie got up and headed toward the oven where something delicious smelling was baking. “I guess that makes sense. Is Toby coming to Foxtail Lake?”
“No. He can’t get away, but Cass and I are going to have a video conference with him tomorrow. I know Toby the best, so I’m hoping to get a basic foundation from which to question the others.”
“I know Colin and Bobby still live in the area, but I’m not sure about Larry,” Gracie said.
“Larry Lakewood’s family moved to Denver not long after that fateful camping trip. He currently lives in Steamboat Springs. Cass and I plan to take a drive up there to speak to him at some point next week. I also plan to interview Colin and Bobby as soon as I can set something up. I was going to do it before this, but Hope warned me that neither man is really open to speaking about the incident, so it would be best if I did my research and had my ducks in a row before I spoke to them.”
“It seems like you’ve been working on this story for over a month now,” Tom said.
“I have. I’ve been looking at the police file, including the missing persons report, witness interviews, and old newspaper articles. As I just mentioned, I haven’t actually started my interviews yet, but I plan to take care of that next week. I’m hoping that once I’ve conducted my consultations with these men, I’ll be ready to try out a theory or two. I plan to go ahead and turn in the first of my three columns to Dex since it’s only an introduction that shows my intent to do further research, so I’ll still have time to figure out something. At least I hope I can figure out a way to put all the little pieces of information I’ve been gathering these past weeks together and come up with something new, even if it doesn’t lead me to the answers everyone seeks.”
“What happened to Austin’s family?” Tom asked. “It seems they moved on quite a while ago.”
“His father died in a climbing accident maybe ten years ago, and his mother remarried and moved to Florida. Austin was an only child, so there are no siblings to interview. Dex has the contact information for Austin’s mother, but I’m hesitant to call her unless I actually have news to share with her.”
“That makes sense,” Gracie said after sliding a quiche out of the oven. “No reason to bring the whole thing up again if you don’t need to. The poor woman has certainly had to live with more than her share of tragedy.”
“That’s what I figured.”
Gracie slid a plate with a slice of quiche and a piece of toast in front of me. Before my accident, I’d lived on my own and would usually just grab an apple or a banana for breakfast. Since I’d decided to move home to Foxtail Lake, Gracie had been feeding me wonderful meals twice a day. I realized that if I didn’t want to get fat, I was going to have to up my workout routine, which at this point consisted of pretty much nothing.
“I’m thinking about joining the new gym that opened up on the north end of town,” I said after I tasted my first bite of the delicious breakfast.
“I hear it’s really nice,” Gracie said. “I think it’s being referred to as a health spa or wellness center rather than a gym. They have weights and whatnot, but they also offer classes and have a juice bar.”
“Naomi joined last month, and she said all the equipment is state of the art.” Naomi owned the local animal shelter where Cass and I volunteered two afternoons a week. “She said the classes are pretty good as well. They have spin, yoga, dance, and a couple others.”
“It sounds fun. I think you should do it,” Gracie encouraged. “Trust me, when you get older, you’ll be glad you stayed in shape.”
“I do feel like I need to work on my strength. I’ve let my workout routine slip into oblivion since the accident, and I haven’t kept up with the exercises the physical therapist gave me the way I should have. It really is time to get my strength and flexibility back. Naomi told me they’re running a promo for the spring, so the timing is good. I thought I’d stop by today after I check in at the newspaper.”
“Will you be spending the afternoon at the shelter?” she asked.
“I will,” I confirmed. “And since Cass and I usually go out for a bite after our shift, don’t plan on me for dinner.” I glanced at the clock. “I guess I should head up and shower. I told Dex I’d be in around nine. He mentioned that he has a couple extra articles for me this weekend. I hope they aren’t too time-consuming, but I guess I’ll just be flexible and go where the news takes me.”
“I really enjoyed the article you did last week about the upcoming fishing derby,” Tom said. “It was so well written that it motivated me to sign up even though I’d initially decided not to.”
“I’m glad you enjoyed it. The derby won’t actually be taking place for another month, but Dex wanted to start getting the word out. He’s hoping for a good turn out this year since the community voted to roll the derby, chili cook-off, and ax throwing contest all into the same weekend.”
“Are they having the chili cook-off and ax throwing contest out at the lake?” Gracie asked.
“They are. I hope this nice weather holds. An outdoor event in May can go either way, but we have had an early spring, and the snow is about gone at this elevation, so I think we should be fine.”
I took my dishes to the sink and then headed upstairs to shower and dress. I had a busy day ahead of me, and I knew I’d need to stay organized. I wasn’t sure if I’d actually workout today, but I packed a bag with workout gear just in case. I needed to meet with Dex first, and I had my volunteer shift at the shelter in the afternoon, so I’d need to stop by the gym between the two. If I didn’t have an immediate need to do research or an interview for the articles Dex planned to assign to me, I might get a short workout in today; otherwise, I’d just check it out and plan to return for my first workout at another time.
Chapter 2
Dex was waiting for me in his office when I arrived. I could sense his impatience to find the answers he’d been seeking ever since his friend disappeared, but I think he knew I was doing the best that I could and the odds of me actually finding anything that hadn’t been discovered before were pretty slim. Still, it was hard to see the look of anticipation in his eyes, only to watch it extinguish when I told him that despite weeks of research, I still hadn’t found anything.