“You’re sure?”
“Positive. I remember because there’s this meditation class I like to go to at four-thirty at the rec center, and I was excited because we were making good time and I was going to go.”
“Okay,” Cassidy sighed, realizing what this meant.
“Did she do anything with her card after that?” Martin asked.
“No, that’s the last line on the statement.” Cassidy didn’t know if this meant Izzy had stopped using the card or that the record simply ended. Maybe when she got the update later, Izzy’s location would be as clear as a bell.
“What are you going to do?” Martin asked.
“Go to Biggs Junction,” she replied. “But first, I’m going to talk to some of the others,” Cassidy said, sitting up to start her engine.
“Do you need me?” Martin asked, sounding so pitiful that Cassidy grimaced.
“No,” Cassidy said gently. She idled to the exit of the parking garage.
Martin’s groan sounded tortured. “Am I going to take the fall for this?” he asked quietly. “Gorman says—”
“Izzy’s fine, I’m sure of it,” Cassidy interrupted, though she knew she had no grounds to reassure him. “I’ll find her. You get ready for the Yukon.”
Martin sighed in relief. “Okay,” he said. “Call me if you need anything.”
Cassidy drove to a nearby coffee shop, thinking through which students she should call. Alice, Izzy’s closest friend, was at the top of her list. Then Bridget, who may have noticed something Martin missed. As Cassidy pulled into a parking spot, her phone buzzed with another unfamiliar number, which she ignored. A leaden feeling settled into her stomach.
Who else was Izzy close to? While Cassidy had always observed Izzy to be social, she seemed closest to Alice. But during the last night of field camp, Izzy had seemed to be hanging out with William and Cody. Cassidy realized that she had no idea if Izzy had a boyfriend, or who her friends were outside of the geology department. Or what else might be going on in her life. Cassidy wondered how she would even find such information.
Alice answered, her voice sounding anxious. “Have you found her?” she gasped.
“No, Alice,” Cassidy replied, walking to the café entrance. Her empty stomach responded with a painful cartwheel. “But I’m in Eugene. Could you meet me?” Cassidy gave Alice the location.
“I’ll be right there,” Alice replied.
The café bustled with a mix of students studying, locals reading the paper, one family with three small children all eating giant cinnamon rolls while both parents pecked away at laptops. A steady din of conversation and the smells coming from the kitchen created a welcoming feel that Cassidy would have enjoyed on a different occasion. Finally, she reached the head of the line when Alice entered the café, her eyes scanning the room anxiously until they found Cassidy.
They both ordered coffee, and the two women picked up their steaming mugs. Cassidy found a corner table by the window. The café’s door stood open to the summer air and the windows shone bright from the morning sun.
Alice wore a faded black cotton skirt, black sandals, and a loose-fitting t-shirt with a colorful, knitted scarf wrapped around her neck. The black circles under her eyes demonstrated her lack of sleep.
“I’ve been calling and calling, but she doesn’t answer,” Alice said, cradling her mug but making no indication that she planned to drink from it. The steam instantly fogged up her glasses.
“Where do you think she’d be?” Cassidy asked.
Alice just shook her head.
“I saw you get into the back with Izzy in Martin’s van when you left field camp,” Cassidy said. “Did she say anything to you?”
“No,” Alice said, shaking her head. “She’s not much of a morning person,” she added. “And we were all pretty hung over.”
“Did anything happen during the drive?”
Alice shook her head. “Izzy fell asleep, and I had to move because I was getting carsick back there.”
“So, Izzy had the back to herself.” A wail from one of the children at a nearby table—the youngest of the three eating cinnamon rolls—pierced the air. The mother brought him into her lap but continued working, and he quieted.
“Yes, after the rest area.”
“Did she get out then?”
Alice nodded her head, but her eyes were focused on a space beyond Cassidy’s left shoulder. “She was kind of a bitch to me, actually,” Alice said absently.
Cassidy took a sip of her coffee, hoping Alice would keep talking.
Alice blushed. “I feel bad saying so, but sometimes she . . . was like that.”
Cassidy raised her eyebrows. “Was yesterday any different?”
“I just figured she was tired. We’d had a late night. And you know, field camp’s kind of a grind.” She said this last part hesitantly, eying Cassidy timidly.
It’s a grind for me too, Cassidy didn’t say. “What did Izzy say to you, exactly?” Cassidy asked. She knew that this might not be important, but eagerly accepted any piece of information. Meanwhile, Cassidy felt as if a giant clock was ticking in the background—she had so little time to locate Izzy. I should be driving to Biggs Junction already, not sitting in a café chatting.
Alice inhaled a deep breath. “She had let me borrow a t-shirt, and wanted it back.” Her lips twitched. “She said I was too fat for it anyway.”
Cassidy winced, but Alice was still looking through the window.
An awkward pause stretched between them. “I’m sorry,” Cassidy finally said, even though it felt off.
Alice shrugged. “Typical Izzy.”
Cassidy sipped her coffee, wondering why Alice would tolerate a friend treating her like that. “It looked like everyone was having a good time Friday night at the resort,” she said to change the subject.
Alice’s face brightened. “Yeah. It was . . . interesting.”
Cassidy frowned. “How so?”
Alice blushed. “Some of us danced really late. And then when they closed, we went down to the dock.”
“Was Izzy there?”
“Yeah.” Alice squeezed her mug and gazed into its contents.
“How late did you stay out?”
Alice seemed to get lost in thought for a moment. “I don’t know. Late.”
Cassidy realized something that
