Semi-Psychic Life (Glimmer Lake #2) - Elizabeth Hunter Page 0,51
smile. “Harry says he bought it right before West bought it.”
Val cracked a laugh. “Good one. Is this the guy who thought he saw Josh?”
“Yep.” Robin kept her hand on the sketch, anchoring the spirit to her. “I described Josh, and he said it was definitely him.”
“Does he have any idea when?” It was always a little spooky when Robin was part of a conversation Val could only hear a portion of. Her eyes spaced out a little and her features took on an otherworldly quality.
“Not long, he says.” Robin’s eyes stayed fixed on the spot where the ghost was speaking to her. “He came with his truck. The one with the welder on the side.”
“His new truck.” Val nodded. “So in the past two years.”
“No, Harry says. It was very recent. He came…” Robin frowned. “He took something. A trailer.”
Val’s eyes went wide. “The snowmobile trailer?”
“Yes. Harry, could it have been a snowmobile trailer?” Robin glanced at Val. “He said something about motorcycles, but I wonder if he was confused. That’s common.”
Val waited for Robin to listen to Harry. “They were green. The machines were orange and green.”
“Bright colors?”
“Yes. Very bright.” Robin smiled. “Harry thought they were ugly.”
“Neon green and orange would be pretty common for snowmobiles. Makes them visible in snow.”
Son of a bitch! Josh had stolen West’s snowmobiles and trailer? What on earth was he thinking?
Val gritted her teeth. “He is such a piece of crap! First he sleeps with West’s wife, then he steals the man’s snowmobiles? Why on earth would Josh need snowmobiles?” Val wanted to scream.
Mark wandered out of the shipping container. “What’s up?”
Robin glanced at Mark, then back at the ghost. “Thanks, Harry. No, I think that’s all.” Robin smiled. “Sure. We’ll come back. You always hang around here?” She nodded. “Okay. I’ll see you. Thanks for keeping an eye out.”
Mark walked over and put a hand on his wife’s knee, rubbing back and forth while she came back to the world of the living. “You have your tea?”
Val handed over the thermos. “Here. My nausea is gone; I’m good.”
Robin lifted the mug to her lips and drank. “He was nice. Very certain that Josh was the one who took the trailer. He came, cut through the lock, and hooked right up to them and took off. He kept calling them motorcycles, but it has to have been the snowmobiles.”
“So he took West’s snowmobiles right before he disappeared. What did he need a couple of snowmobiles for?” Mark looked at Val. “Did he ride a lot?”
Val shrugged. “Not that I know of. Every now and then he’d go if he had a buddy with one, but we never owned them. It wasn’t a thing we did. Did he ever go riding with you and Gil?”
Mark narrowed his eyes. “The only time I can remember riding snowmobiles with Josh was when the kids were little. He and Gil and I all went out to that little cabin his family had in the national forest.”
“What cabin?” Robin asked. “I don’t remember Josh and Val having a cabin.”
“We didn’t.” Val felt like she’d taken off a pair of sunglasses on a cloudy day. “It was his grandparents’ place. How could I be so stupid? I forgot about the cabin.”
“What cabin?” Robin asked.
Her heart was racing. “Josh’s grandparents had this old cabin way out in the middle of nowhere. It was one of those little seasonal towns in the high Sierra. We would go up and stay there pretty often in the summer before the kids were born. It was pretty rough, but it was livable.”
“It’s in the national forest?” Robin asked. “No one can live in the national forest.”
“The town is older than the park. That’s why they could keep it as long as it stayed in the family.” Val felt like laughing. “It’s only accessible by fire roads, and there’s only twenty or thirty places still standing.”
“Are you sure?” Robin looked skeptical. “Josh was never a fan of roughing it if I remember right.”
“I think he’s spent some time fixing it up. It’s got running water and beds. He took the boys fishing up there like five years ago in the summer. No one goes there in the winter because they don’t plow the roads and there’s nothing up there.” She slapped Mark’s shoulder. “You can only get there by snowmobile!”
“Why would he go there?” Mark said. “Is he trying to hide?”
“Maybe. Or maybe he doesn’t even realize people are looking for him. But if