Page 19 of Backwater Justice
“I think so.” Kathryn yawned.
“Good. Maggie is coming out tomorrow morning. I’ll book a flight for you, unless you can get to McLean by nine.”
“Not by truck.” Kathryn yawned again.
“Okay. I’ll book a flight for you and text you the information.”
“Not too early, please.” Kathryn was not one for whining, but it was late, and she had been on the road for ten hours. It was more like pleading.
“I’ll aim for noon,” Annie said.
“Great. See you tomorrow.” Kathryn had to move her rig to a long-term lot, then get herself to the airport. It might be a little tricky, since she was in the middle of nowhere, but they’d gotten through much worse.
Annie immediately called her concierge service and made a reservation for Kathryn on the noon flight from Boston to Portland and arranged for a car rental. If all went according to plan, Kathryn would be in Salem by dinnertime.
Myra and Annie sat at the table and began to put a strategy together. Myra would tell Milton to give Kathryn a job in his transportation department. She could be on the swing shift making a run if there was an issue with one of the other long-haulers, or if a short run was needed. She’d be on call.
Next was Maggie. Someone needed to be her wing person. Probably Izzie. Fergus and Charles would find a lab and then run background checks on the closest players in the company. Management, foremen, supervisors. Once they narrowed down the field, they’d need one of Avery Snowden’s people to do surveillance. Either Sasha or Eileen. Maybe both. It would depend on what Fergus and Charles came up with.
“What about Izzie?” Myra asked. “We’re going to need someone on the inside at the Cascade Inn where the other girl worked. Do you think Izzie would want to play housekeeper?”
“Let’s ask her.” Annie picked up her phone and called Izzie, putting her on speakerphone. A groggy voice came on the line.
“Annie. Everything alright?” Izzie cleared her throat.
“Yes, but we need some backup.”
“What’s going on?” Izzie was completely awake at that point.
“How would you like to be a chambermaid for a week or so?”
“A what?” Izzie was rubbing her eyes and her head.
Myra explained about Milton’s heart attack, the first missing girl, and now the second.
“She went missing from work. She clocked in at the Cascade Inn in Eugene but seems to have vanished. Kathryn will be going to work in the transportation department; Maggie is going to retrace her previous interviews. We need someone to get inside the inn. See how that girl could have disappeared.”
“Aha. Sure. I just got the Certificate of Occupancy for my latest job, so I’m free for a while. When do you want me to come out there?”
“Maggie is taking my jet tomorrow morning at nine. Can you make it?”
“Yes. Where is Kathryn?”
“She’s in Boston, but I made a reservation for her to fly directly from there. Otherwise, it was going to get too complicated.”
“Got it.” Izzie sat up and tried to shove her Burmese dog, Rufus, out of the way. “Come on, pal. Move over.”
“Are you harassing Abner again?” Annie chuckled.
“No. Abner is on an assignment. Rufus is taking up the entire bed.”
“That’s his job,” Myra joked, knowing full well about dogs in the bed.
“I’ll let Maggie know you’ll be traveling with her, and then we’ll rent a car for you. You’ll need it to drive to Eugene.”
“What about an interview for the job? Do I just show up?”
“We’ll handle everything from here. Once you all arrive, we’ll have a meeting in our room. Charles and Fergus are working on a few things already.”