Lost in the Wild by Leigh Mayberry (i am malala young readers edition txt) 📕

“When did he drop it off?” she asked.

“Like a minute ago. He just walked out of here.”

“They’re loading packages for Anchorage right now. What did it look like?” she asked.

“It was a large flat rate priority box.”

Barbara nodded. “So, it looks like about five thousand other packages. Let me see if I can find it.”

“I swear, all I want to do is look at the recipient’s address.”

The door closed again. Meghan did her best to remain calm. She had a million ideas in her head. She considered how to get the information out of Cecil if Barbara couldn’t locate the package. If Meghan caught up to him near the shoreline, maybe she could threaten him like she did the random bully.

The door opened again. Barbara held a large flat rate box in her hands. “Make it quick.”

“Thank you, Barbara.” Meghan snapped a picture of the address label. It was a residence in Wasilla, Alaska.

“What’s this about?” she asked. “Does it have anything to do with Christine, Cecil’s sister?”

“I don’t know yet. But as soon as I know, I promise, you will know. Thank you again.”

“Did I hear something about you quitting the police department?”

Meghan shook her head. “I didn’t quit. But I can’t talk right now.”

“We can get breakfast together tomorrow.”

“If I am still here, I will call you.”

“You won’t be here tomorrow?”

“Barbara. I have to go. Thank you so much.” Meghan hurried out of the building.

As she made her way back to the house, Meghan called the airlines to see if there was a seat left on the flight leaving Kinguyakkii. She had about an hour before the last commercial flight left town until morning. Meghan didn’t want to wait that long.

Chapter Twenty-Two

The Alaska Airlines flight touched down at the international airport after nine that night. Meghan had a backpack carry-on and didn’t have to wait for baggage check. She exited the gate in the terminal and wandered down the hallway. Local flights had very little foot traffic in North Terminal. Most of the food kiosks closed until morning. One of the fast food places stayed open all night. Travelers gathered around the service window placing orders.

Meghan moved through the hallway and down the escalators to the main lobby. She walked by the musk ox inside the wall display and the giant polar bear inside the center floor glass case. It was dark outside and Meghan walked into a haze of vape smoke from a traveler who thought the designated smoking area was meant for cigarette smokers, not electric cigarettes.

She saw Gregory Anderson leaning against the black Dodge. He talked with airport police officers. When he saw Meghan, he waved to her. The airport police moved off as Anderson stood up. He attempted to suck in his gut and adjust his belt under the blazer. Both actions didn’t work and he walked around the driver’s side as Meghan opened the passenger door.

“Thank you for picking me up,” she said.

“It’s not a problem. But your request is a little bizarre. You sure you don’t want me to take you to the hotel first?”

“I really want to drive out to Wasilla tonight.” It was almost nine-thirty. “How long before we get to that location?”

“Well, it’s about forty-five minutes on a good day. I think getting out of Anchorage takes longer than getting on the Parks Highway. We’ll probably get to the apartment around eleven.”

“Good. Thank you.”

Meghan sat back in the passenger seat, snapped the seatbelt as Anderson stepped on the accelerator. She put the backpack between her feet on the floorboard and leaned her head against the headrest.

The radio chatter reminded Meghan of the past. Years in the real-world listening to the background noise of active police calls, and chatter between agents, hearing Anderson’s police radio in the car made Meghan feel a little regret.

She’d turned her back on law enforcement. Meghan left the Bureau because of one little incident skirting death. A straight shot to the chest, a mild case of heart-stopping surgery, and a mild case of coma afterward, made Meghan rethink her career path. Leaving New York wasn’t supposed to run away from her broken marriage. She never wanted to leave her daughter behind. While Brittany was a strong and independent girl, Meghan wondered if being in her daughter’s life more would have shaped Brittany differently. They were fast friends, having a level of communication that Meghan knew other parents lacked. Meghan understood Brittany told more to Meghan than she shared with her father and his live-in girlfriend. It didn’t seem to bother Brittany that her mother took a job on the other side of the country. In the Alaskan frontier people chose to live in harsh environments because there was a sense of propriety and community unmatched in other parts of the country. Meghan turned her back on her community again, and she had to find some redemption.

Meghan had to be the maverick, the divorcée and progressive mother. She was the one who didn’t take a failed marriage out on her ex-husband. She gave Brittany a choice of where she stayed. The girl chose her father. It wasn’t because Meghan was a lousy mother. It had to do with her work, and how it took her away from Brittany. Her father had an ordinary job with regular hours. He was the one at home, awake for breakfast to see Brittany off to school. The girl grew up in a household where Meghan spent more time away than her father.

“So, I heard about that blowout with Sergeant Reeve and you,” Anderson said. His words woke Meghan from a light doze as they headed north out of Anchorage.

She opened her eyes to see the cityscape begin to thin out the further from