Page 62 of High Frequency

“Yeah,” Mom agrees. “That beautiful child of yours deserves a loving family.”

She gets up and rounds the table, where I’m already on my feet, waiting.

It’s been years since I’ve cried in my mother’s arms.

But this time the tears are healing.

Eighteen

Sloane

I haven’t seen Dan since yesterday morning.

I sent him a message last night when I was in bed, thanking him for picking up Mom, but as of earlier this morning, I haven’t heard anything either.

I’m sure he has his hands full at the house, after all, he took out part of his day to drive to Kalispell. Although, I have to admit, I had my eyes peeled this morning when I was leaving the ranch.

“Eckhart! In here,” Ewing calls when I walk by his office on my way out the door.

I left early to check in at the office to see if anything new had come in, before heading back out to Kenelty Mountain. Jillian is probably already on her way, so I’m eager to get out of here.

“Morning,” I say as I poke my head around his door.

“Are you on your way out?” Junior asks.

“I am. Back to the search today. I checked my emails, nothing from the lab, not that I was really expecting anything yet anyway,” I update him. “Any luck with the security feed from the Columbia Falls gas station?”

Ewing asked the local PD to look into obtaining a copy from the Exxon Chelsea was taken from.

“Yes, actually. They’re supposed to be sending through a copy today. I’ve got some meetings today, but I’ll see if I can get one of the deputies to have a look at it when it comes in.”

“If you do get it, can you forward the copy to me?”

“Will do. And keep me informed.”

I pop my head into Betty’s office to let her know where I’m going to be, before heading out. I’m about to get behind the wheel of the department truck with the ATV on the trailer still hitched, when I notice Deputy Schmidt pulling his cruiser into an empty space two parking spots down.

This is probably the end of his shift. I already saw Jason inside, finishing up his reports before going home. Those two are on the same shift.

Frank clearly sees me and shoots me a dirty look, which I pretend not to see as I lift my hand in a friendly wave. I’ll kill him with kindness.

On my drive to the trailhead, I replay my talk with Mom last night, which actually was quite cathartic. We remembered some good times, prior to Dad’s passing, and tackled a few major stumbling blocks we’d encountered since.

It’s funny what a difference it makes communicating when you’re not always in defensive mode. When you’re not working from the assumption the person across from you is your opponent. It’s not that I wasn’t aware of the chip on my shoulder, it’s that I felt it was justified.

But in talking with Mom last night, I realized each of us fed into the negative expectations the other had of us. I would blame the breakdown of communication on Mom, and she’d blame me for the same. In the end, it was both of us who were responsible for the erosion of our relationship.

When I finally hopped in the shower—right before bed—I felt wrung out, but a weight had definitely been lifted. Despite Aspen waking up twice, I felt like a new person this morning.

Jillian and Emo are waiting along with Bo, but I don’t see Wolff.

“Sorry I’m late. Hope you weren’t waiting too long.”

“We just got here a few minutes ago,” Jillian assures me.

“Wolff not with us today?” I ask Bo.

“No. Apparently there was some trouble at Dan’s new house yesterday and he is heading over this morning.”

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