Page 27 of Waylaid in Whittier

“You liked Jose or Gary, whichever name he goes by way back when,” Cat reminded her. “There’s nothing wrong with having a boyfriend.”

Annette shifted uncomfortably. “Can we talk about something other than my love life?”

“I’m sorry if I upset you,” Cat apologized. “Andy and I are going to buy a sailboat and sail around the world.”

Brody’s jaw dropped. “Seriously? That’s sounds sweet. Not as sweet as buying a bunch of land and living in the country, but sweet in a different way.”

“I’m kidding.” Cat tugged on her seatbelt. “To be honest, we haven’t talked about it much. Although Andy has mentioned returning home to the UK.”

“And you won’t mind living there?” Annette asked.

“Maybe not year-round. We could split up our time between my hometown and Andy’s hometown. At least I don’t have to worry about Jay.” Cat’s ex-husband, now in prison for her attempted murder, would hopefully be locked up for the rest of his life.

“Time to hit the road, ladies.” Brody revved up the motor and shifted into drive. Smooth as silk, the truck coasted out of the port’s parking lot and onto the main road. “Which way?”

Annette tracked down the map Millie had sent her. “According to Elvira’s map, we’ll need to head north.”

They sped out of town, along a side street and up a hill. Reaching the top, they made another turn. The paved road turned to gravel and eventually became nothing more than a rutted path.

“I hope we’re going the right way.” Cat anxiously peered out the window at the rugged terrain and towering trees with nary a single structure in sight.

“We are.”

The road narrowed again.

Brody slowed to a crawl. The truck jostled over the ruts and the tires started to spin. “Time to put it into four-wheel drive.” He pushed a button on the dash. The tires stopped spinning.

“How on earth did Elvira find this place?” Annette leaned forward, studying the vast wilderness. Every few feet, they found dirt paths branching off in different directions. “It looks like mining crews have been all over this area.”

“Can you imagine getting lost out here?” Cat asked.

“No, which is why we’ll be sticking with the map Millie sent me.” Annette clicked on the photo and enlarged the drawing. “It looks like we’re getting close. I say another half mile and we should almost be on top of it.”

The truck continued inching along the path, traveling deeper and deeper into the wilderness.

“I hope we have plenty of gas,” Cat joked.

“The tank is full,” Brody said. “We could drive around for days on this tank.”

“I wonder if we’ll run into a bear or some other wild critter.”

“It’s possible.” Brody patted his pocket. “Which is why I brought my gun.”

Annette lowered her gaze. “We’re almost at the spot Elvira marked with a big x.”

“This is the end of the road for us.” Brody shifted into park and shut the engine off. “We’ll have to walk the rest of the way.”

The trio climbed out of the cab and gathered near the front.

Annette tapped her phone to make the map bigger. “It looks like we need to go left.”

“Down that trail?” Brody pointed to a rocky, rutted path a few feet away.

“I see a boulder near the hill,” Cat said. “Her gold mining spot should be on the other side.”

“I’ll go first.” Brody stepped onto the trail. Cat followed close behind while Annette brought up the rear.

Walking single file, they made their way down a sharp incline, walked across a roughly ten foot flat spot and began climbing.

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