The Courage Tree - Diane Chamberlain [82]
Valerie nodded, although Janine figured the search manager now thought she had a lunatic mother on her hands.
“If she’s alive, we will find her,” Valerie said. “But you should know that the dogs are going to have some problems today, unfortunately. The rain we had yesterday will make it harder for them to pick up a scent. And more rain is predicted for this afternoon.”
“What are the woods like around here?” Paula asked. “Do any people live nearby?”
“No,” Valerie said. “The woods are very dense, which can also be a problem for the dogs. There are a few old abandoned buildings…shacks, really, here and there. But no one lives up here anymore.”
“What about animals?” Janine asked.
“The usual. Deer. Some bears, but you don’t see them much. Hikers have seen an occasional mountain lion, but that’s really rare.”
“What about using a helicopter?” Janine asked.
“Too dense,” Valerie said.
“Val?” A man poked his head inside the door of the trailer, and Valerie waved at him.
“Be right there,” she said, then turned back to them. “I have to go. My suggestion to you folks is that you either go back to the motel and get some sleep or—”
“No way,” Janine said. Was this woman nuts?
“Then make yourselves at home out there on the road. You can come into the trailer from time to time if you need to get out of the sun or whatever, but it’ll get too cramped for all of you to stay in here. We’ve got some folding chairs you can use if you like.”
“Valerie?” the man called again.
“I’ve got to go,” she repeated. “Let me know where you are at all times, and I’ll keep you posted on how we’re progressing.”
She walked away from them, and Janine looked at Lucas.
“Now what?” she said.
“Now we make ourselves at home out on the road, I guess,” he answered, getting to his feet.
They borrowed the folding chairs and set them up near the embankment. Paula drove Joe’s car into the nearest town to buy snacks, insect repellent and sunscreen, even though the road would be in the shade for most of the day. Janine protested the purchase of sunscreen.
“We aren’t going to be out here that long,” she said. She truly believed what she was saying. There were so many searchers coming into the area, and so many dogs, that it seemed impossible to her that Sophie would not be found within minutes.
But the morning wore on, the hours ticking by with no news from Valerie, although searchers regularly stopped into the trailer to talk with her. At one o’clock, Janine’s parents arrived. They were solemn and scared, and they doled out the more comfortable chairs they’d brought with them, along with sandwiches and drinks. They’d also brought shopping bags containing new T-shirts and shorts for Janine, Joe and Paula, and not so much as the time of day for Lucas. They parked their chairs close to Joe and Paula, and Janine could hear Joe filling them in on the mechanics of the search.
“We heard about Zoe’s daughter on the radio while we were driving out here,” Janine’s mother said. “She’s right in this area.”
“Not really,” Joe said. “She’s at least twelve miles from here.”
“Not far enough,” her father said.
“Zoe could never accept the fact that her daughter was guilty,” her mother continued.
Paula swallowed a bite of her sandwich. “I thought there was reasonable doubt,” she said.
“Zoe’s life just became so tragic,” her mother said.
“Well, she sure got carried away with that plastic surgery,” Janine’s father added. “She didn’t even look like herself anymore.”
“But she probably felt as though she had to do it,” Paula said. “Her fans expected her to look good all the time.”
Janine tried to tune out the inane conversation as she shared her sandwich with Lucas. He looked very tired, and she supposed that her eyes looked just as swollen, her face just as drawn, as his did.
At three o’clock, Valerie finally came out of the trailer to talk to them. She was carrying something in her hand. A cell phone, Janine thought.
“No real news,” Valerie said before they could ask. “I just want to get a little