“So Izzy didn’t talk to you about her?”
“We were all really freaked out when it was going on. But yeah, now that you mention it, Izzy did seem upset. She didn’t say anything about Dominique, but I didn’t hear from her for awhile.”
Cassidy thought about this. Maybe Izzy was the kind of person to pull away from her friends to deal with her emotions. But it seemed that, according to Alice, Izzy hadn’t brought up the missing girl recently.
“The last night of field camp,” Cassidy asked, remembering the other reason she’d called. “When did Izzy come back to the tent?”
“Uh,” Alice replied. “Uh.”
Cassidy frowned.
“I’m . . . not sure,” Alice finally replied.
“Why not? Franklin told me you all left the dock together.”
Cassidy waited through a pause. “Yeah, that’s right. Only, I . . . uh . . . wasn’t in the tent that night.”
“You weren’t?” Cassidy replied, sitting up. “Then where were you?”
“I was with Franklin,” Alice said in a soft voice.
Cassidy squeezed her eyes shut in embarrassment. “Oh,” she replied, trying to make her voice sound neutral. I’m such a dumbass, she thought. That’s why Franklin got so weird when I asked him about why he hadn’t heard Cody and William come in to camp.
“So you don’t know when they got back.”
“No. Sorry.”
Cassidy tried to remember if Cody and William were solo campers. Then she groaned—they were tentmates. So unless someone heard the straggling threesome come in after Franklin and Alice, Cassidy had no way of knowing when they returned.
“Did Izzy have a steady boyfriend?” Cassidy asked.
“No, not that I’ve ever met.”
“Did she talk about guys she was going out with?”
“No. She met guys though.”
Cassidy paused. “What do you mean ‘met guys’?”
“On Tinder or Bumble, you know, like that.”
A group of young women exited the coffee shop, chattering. Each held a tall, clear cup full of ice and some kind of coffee drink. They were dressed in tight jeans or tiny shorts, with bright shirts and sunglasses. Cassidy had a fantasy that Izzy was one of them. Cassidy pictured herself leaping from her car and tackling Izzy right there on the hot pavement to the sound of shrieks of alarm. Izzy’s drink would hit the ground and erupt, sending brown liquid all over her friends’ legs. Do you have any idea what a mess you’ve made? Cassidy would yell as Izzy blinked away her shock.
“So, to hook up, you mean,” Cassidy finally replied.
“Yeah,” Alice said.
“Did she call you last night?” Cassidy asked.
“No,” Alice replied, sounding surprised. “I would have told you if she had,” she said, sounding hurt.
Charlie’s rattled me, Cassidy thought. “Okay. Apparently, she got a message from someone, and it upset her.”
“You mean, like Dominique?” Alice asked.
“Maybe,” Izzy said. “Or someone else. Someone who made her angry.”
“Well, Izzy’s not easily rattled,” Alice said.
Cassidy nodded, still watching the trio of young women. They were now waiting at a crosswalk, their backs to her.
“I’m still stuck on why she got off in Biggs. I mean, sure, maybe she got a wild hair when she saw that the 97 intersects there, which meant she could get to Bend. But Bend is only three hours from Eugene. Why not just finish the trip in the van and then head to Bend in her own car?” Cassidy shook her head. “It doesn’t make sense.”
“I don’t know, Dr. Kincaid.”
“None of this helps me find out where she went.”
“Do you think she might be coming back to Eugene?” Alice asked, her voice hopeful.
Cassidy leaned her head back, thankful for Alice’s help. “That’s why I’m calling. I was hoping you wouldn’t mind going over to her place. She’s not answering my calls, but maybe she’s home.”
“Okay,” Alice replied, sounding eager. “I’ll go right now.”
Cassidy hung up and watched the young women from the coffee shop climb into a bright turquoise car that sped away, music thumping.
Next, Cassidy called Richard Gorman. “No, I haven’t found her,” she explained. “But she was in Bend last night.”
“How do you know this?” Richard asked.
“She stayed with a friend.”
“Who?”
“Uh, someone from school,” Cassidy said, not sure why she felt the need to protect Charlie. “But she’s gone now. She left sometime in the night.”
Richard sighed. “Well at least we know she was okay this morning,” he replied, sounding relieved. “I’ll let Preston Ford know. He sent me an update from her ATM card records. I’m forwarding them to you now.”
Feeling impatient, she asked, “Just tell me what they say.”
If Richard bristled at her demand, his tone didn’t reveal it. “A charge for twenty-five dollars and sixty-one cents at the Chevron Travel Center in Biggs Junction, Oregon. Then an Uber charge in Bend for sixteen dollars.”
There’s Uber in Bend? Cassidy wondered. “Only one charge?” Cassidy asked.
“Yes.”
“What time?” she asked.
Richard paused. “Six fifteen PM.”
“Okay,” Cassidy replied. So Izzy had used the Uber to get to Charlie’s cabin last night. So had she left on foot the next morning? After weeks of walking at field camp, Izzy was no stranger to walking long distances. They had a saying at field camp—something they taught the students on the first day. “Field camp is powered by ‘diesel,’” Cassidy told them, pointing to her feet “Dees’ll get you in,” she said. “And dees will get you out.”
Cassidy imagined Izzy walking down the gravel road, her willowy figure floating through the trees.
“That’s it?” Cassidy asked Richard.
“Yes.”
Just then she received a text from Alice. Izzy wasn’t home. “She’s not in Eugene. Alice just texted me.”
“She could still be on her way.”
“I learned something else about Izzy that’s pretty scary,” she said with a huff. “Izzy and Dominique Gilardi were friends.”
“Oh,” Richard replied. “Is there any indication that they’ve been in contact?”
Cassidy filtered through the facts one more time. “No.”
“Do you think it’s possible that these two situations are related?”
“Heck, I have no idea,” Cassidy said. “Dominique’s still gone, right? And it’s been . . . what, six months?”
“Seven,” Richard replied.
“And Izzy was fine this morning. Angry, but fine.”
