Then…she’d have to manage to walk that trail at night. The thought sent a shiver up her spine. She’d either end up lost forever or killing herself in the darkness. But using a flashlight would be like painting a target on herself. Where were her see-in-the-dark superpowers?

Wait… One of her friends had gone on a bat walk in Central Park, and the organizers had given her night vision goggles to use. She’d said it was amazing how much she could see.

Yes, yes, yes.

In the coffee shop—her favorite place to use the internet—Frankie did her research. So much research. Finally, she decided a night vision monocular would work best along with head mount equipment so she could wear it hands-free. Tomorrow, she’d visit sports and hunting stores in Soldotna to get the equipment. She just wished she had more time to learn to use the stuff.

With a sigh, she leaned back in the booth and made the call she’d been dreading. “Anja, I got your voicemail.”

“Francesca, finally. I’m so fed up with my manager, and I’m thinking of letting him go. Instead of fixing things, he seems to think I need to apologize to one photographer, and he actually ordered me an alarm clock and said to start using it. Can you imagine? You need to get back here and deal with him.”

Closing her eyes, Frankie searched for a tactful answer. Because it sounded as if—without Frankie present—the manager was finally doing the job he was supposed to do.

Worse, Frankie had been enabling Anja’s unprofessional behavior. That wasn’t a surprise. It was one of the reasons her family insisted she stay. Although she preferred to think of her job as partly crisis consulting, her family used her more like a Mafia fixer.

When her sister’s ranting slowed down, Frankie managed to interject, “I’m sorry you’re having a rough time, Anja, but you’ll have to deal with it. Learn to use the alarm clock and show up on time.”

That got a fresh spate of screaming, and Frankie lowered the volume. Why, oh why, did she feel guilty that she wasn’t there to help Anja out of the mess her crummy behavior had caused?

Well, if Frankie got Kit and Aric out of the compound this Saturday, it was possible she’d be back in New York by next week. She could get everything back to normal.

She opened her mouth to say so, then shook her head. Making promises that might fall through wouldn’t be wise.

Instead, she made soothing noises and eventually managed to conclude the phone call.

However, Anja’s griping reminded her to check in with her friend who was dropping into her condo once a week to water the plants. Friends were truly the best gifts in the world.