The whole thing had been quite an experience. And now, only two years later, he was going through something even worse.

His legs and back felt stiff as he carried his bag off the plane. He hated being cooped up, couldn’t understand why anyone would want to live in a big city, teeming with traffic, people and pollution. He’d thought he’d be miserable crammed into a plane, but after a long layover in Denver and a flight delay of nearly three hours, he’d slept from the moment they took off until they landed. The flight attendant had finally awakened him after everyone else had deplaned.

As soon as he cleared the gangway, he pulled out the cell phone he’d bought in Minneapolis and called his trooper post.

Shorty answered on the first ring. “Trooper Murphy’s office.”

“Where’s Phil?” Amarok asked without preamble.

“In Anchorage, where you told him to stay.”

“He’s still at Ms. Southwick’s?”

“That’s right. Slept in his truck last night and has stayed there waiting for her to show up ever since.”

Phil was almost as loyal to him as Makita. “She never came home?”

“Nope.”

“When’s the last time you heard from him?”

“Thirty minutes or so ago. He was checking to see if I’d heard from you.”

“What about the neighbors across the street? Has he been able to talk to them?”

“No. They won’t be back for two weeks.”

Amarok plugged one ear so he could hear above the airport PA system. “How do you know?”

“Phil spoke to the mail carrier when she came by. She told him their mail’s being held until they get back from California.”

Of all times for them to leave … “Can he get me a cell number for anyone in the household?”

“How would he?”

“By asking around. That’s what police officers do.” Amarok wasn’t usually this short-tempered, but he’d never been in a situation that tested him to this degree.

“Amarok, from what Phil told me this isn’t that kind of neighborhood. It’s a street with a handful of houses sprinkled along it, some of which are a quarter mile apart. People who live spread out like that don’t typically share a lot of information. They mind their own business.”

“Fine. Is there a car in the neighbors’ drive? If I could get a plate number I could run it through the DMV database.”

“As soon as he gets here, I’ll ask him if he thought of that.”

“He’s on his way back?”

“You expected him to stay longer? He’s been gone for twenty-four hours. He’s exhausted and he needs to feed Makita.”

Amarok dropped his bag at his feet while he waited for the parking shuttle. “Makita’s with him?”

“Yeah, the pup wanted to go.”

“Makita always wants to go.”

“I think he was a bit put out that you left him behind.”

“Because I don’t do that very often. What about Sigmund?” Evelyn’s beloved cat never wanted to go anywhere besides a warm sofa.