Phil gestured at all the cars. “When I put out the call, I had no idea we’d get this level of response. I doubt there’s a single person who knows you who isn’t inside the bar right now. Some have even closed their shops and businesses. We’re serious about this.”

Amarok gazed at the jumble of vehicles, so many of which he recognized. He’d grown up with these people and, when his father had moved to Anchorage, they’d become his surrogate family. That was never more apparent than now. “But some of them don’t even like Evelyn,” he said.

“Granted, there are those who aren’t happy that she brought a prison like Hanover House to the area. But they aren’t doing it for her,” he said softly. “They’re doing it for you. You’ve always been there for us. Now we’re going to be there for you.”

The support softened the anger that had been driving Amarok so far. The community was coming together right when he needed them most, and that meant a great deal. Maybe it would make all the difference. Maybe they’d find Evelyn—or the stolen van so that he could find Evelyn.

He thanked Phil, who’d had more sleep than he’d had since Evelyn went missing but still not a great deal, and managed to get through the next thirty minutes, during which he created two different searches, one for Anchorage and a smaller one for Hilltop. He appointed search captains, explained how to make a grid and walk shoulder to shoulder through any wilderness area with avalanche probes or other poles to poke through the undergrowth.

Although he did it all mechanically, trying to distance himself from the raw emotion he felt, that all changed when the Ledstetters walked in. He thought they might be coming to cause trouble but soon felt terrible for ever doubting them. They got in line to take an assignment just like everyone else.

Amarok waited until Davie and Junior were heading toward the door to intercept them. “You don’t have to do this,” he said.

Davie exchanged a look with Junior. “If we can save you from suffering the way we have, we’d like to help,” he said, and Amarok’s throat tightened as Davie gave him a bear hug with a couple of quick thumps on the back.

12

Hilltop, AK—Thursday, 3:30 p.m. AKDT

The call to the Talbot family wasn’t one Amarok was looking forward to. He sat at his desk, his eyes so dry he could barely move them, hoping Phil would bring word that the searchers had found something. He clung fiercely to the belief that Evelyn was still alive—and wanted to wait to reach out to her family until he had more information. But the volunteers had just started. He’d been out there with them, making sure the search commenced as quickly as possible, but getting them going had still taken much longer than he’d anticipated.

He couldn’t put off notifying her folks any longer. Evelyn’s disappearance hadn’t hit the news yet, but it was only a matter of time. Penny had called to let him know that Ted Bell, a beat reporter from Anchorage, had been trying to reach Evelyn all morning and was growing suspicious because Penny kept putting him off. No doubt he’d heard Evelyn’s name in the chatter on his police scanner last night, when Officer McGowen and the others had been called out to the strip joint, and that had started him digging.