I opened the side door and slid off the seat. “I gotta pee.”

Checking my texts from Drew, I misstepped and almost face-planted on the curb. He had me so distracted with mixed emotions. Every text from him could be concerning information about Katie, but hearing from him gave me a jolt of wonder.

BDREW: Katie is talking a lot about Peanut. How is the doggo?

Guilt dropped on my shoulders as if straight from the heavens. I thought about telling him the truth, but I couldn’t stand thinking he might tell Katie that we not only didn’t have Peanut, we weren’t absolutely sure where he was.

ME: He’s great. Good ol’ Peanut. He’s his usual jolly self.

I sounded like Mark Twain.

ME: Wait! I’m lying. We don’t have him. We are on the way. Tell Katie I’ll FaceTime her. Or can you stall.

BDREW: Be cool, Samantha. I have this covered.

He texted my name and my brain jumped on a trampoline and did a high kick.

ME: I am totally. Cool.

Which was ridiculous because my face felt hot, hot, hot.

“Grab your bag, Holly. My friend is super nice. We can shower here too. You look like you could use one,” Summer said.

Holly’s hand flew up, and I watched her self-consciously smooth her hair, rub her fingers under her eyes. Holly did not like to look unkempt.

“Fine,” she said. “While you and Sam are screwing around, I’ll clean up. Don’t take too long.”

“I’m not going to screw around,” I said, defending myself. “I’ll use the bathroom and we can go.”

Before we knocked, the door opened, and a man with a gummy smile and close-cropped beard greeted us.

“Summer, Summer, Summer,” he said so quickly and with such enthusiasm that I wanted to get in front of him and feel some of that radiant glee.

“Marvin!” Summer air-kissed the man near both cheeks like she was in Paris. “I want you to meet my new friends.”

I shouldn’t have been surprised that we were at Shamansky-the-Shaman’s house.

If there were shamans in Wisconsin, I didn’t know about them. I suspected they kept a low profile, to keep the scoffing to a minimum. Wisconsinites worked hard, drank hard, and most likely did not spend time considering their spirit animal, unless it was at a university football game where they were praying for their team mascot to make a field goal.

“Samantha,” Marvin said, “Summer has told me so much about you.”

That was startling. “She has?”

“Enough to know that you are welcome here anytime.” He turned. “And this must be Holly. I hear you need a shower. Let’s get you right back to the bathroom, so you can feel as fresh and lovely as you always do. The bathroom has the best Wi-Fi signal if you need to FaceTime anyone.”

Summer walked through the door first, and that gave Holly the opportunity to grab my elbow and whisper, “Try to get the camper registration and insurance out of Summer’s purse.” I felt her warm breath on my ear. “If we can get our hands on it, we can leave her here.” Holly walked ahead of me. “I won’t be long freshening up. Then we can get back on the road.”

Getting the file folder was a good idea, even if it involved pickpocketing. Summer could stay here, at her friend’s house. We would have the official papers in case we needed them. It would win points for me with Holly—maybe put us on even footing. I watched Summer dump her bag on the floor and walk into the kitchen as if she owned the place.

My phone buzzed.

BDREW: You are such a nice person.

A butterfly of emotion loop-de-looped through my chest. A nice person would not steal from another nice person.

The light and airy interior was decorated in a spare Scandinavian style—blond wood, white walls, cream carpet. It was not what I would have predicted for a shaman. There were no dream catchers hanging from doorways, tapestries, or silk scarves covering a collection of hollow bones or animal skins. Marvin ushered Holly down a hall, and I was directed to a smaller half bath off a guest room. The house had a hushed quiet that smoothed my frayed, confused energy.

“There are towels in the basket. Feel free to wash your face. I might have a new toothbrush if you check out the bottom drawer of the vanity.”

There was another text from Drew. In the half second it took me to read it, a shiver of pleasure and worry crept through me.

BDREW: Katie is tired. She’s eating and seems cheerful. They are watching her pretty closely. I’ll let her fill you in.

With one quick sentence my fear ratcheted up.

ME: Why? Is there something you can’t tell me?

It was two hours later in Wisconsin. I hoped Drew would reply right away, and he did.

BDREW: Not medically. I’m being respectful and ethical.

I considered how to reply. I wanted to ask a question that would not challenge his ethics. I concentrated and texted.

ME: Does she seem any worse?

BDREW: No.

The answer came right back. No delay. An easy, honest response that reduced my anxiety. I saw this for what it was: a game of asking the right questions so my nerves might be calmed without asking too much from Drew.

ME: Is there anything you can’t tell me?

BDREW: Excellent question. No.

Whew. Another text came through.

BDREW: Did you get some sleep?

Cautious pleasure.

ME: Yes. We slept on the road. Holly is grumpy. Our kidnapper is now traveling with us. We are at her shaman’s house.

The three dots bounced as I waited for his response. I smiled in anticipation, knowing how crazy this all sounded.

BDREW: Is this code or is this happening?

ME: It’s happening.

BDREW: Next time you go get a dog, I get to come.

Was he serious? If we were together, I would be wheezing a thready nervous laugh while trying to figure out if he was being flirty or if this was what he said to lots of people he barely knew. What would be a good noncommittal cool-girl answer? I typed.

ME: Deal. Gotta go. Getting coffee with the shaman.

BDREW: Of course you are.

ME: Of course I am.

I didn’t move for a few seconds. Less anxiety, check. A gentle wonder? Check. I finished in the bathroom, feeling fresher after washing my face and hands. I could hear Summer and Marvin talking in the living room, and when I reached the doorway, Summer gestured me in and said, “Marvin can do a quick journey. We only have until Holly is out of the shower. Lie down.”

My visceral reaction was a pretty big nope. “I just want a cup of coffee. Maybe a piece of toast if you have it.”

Summer’s disappointed look hearkened back to my second-grade teacher when she admonished me for using pen to do my worksheet on the layers of the earth. Tsk, tsk, Samantha, pen is only for those who are sure of the right answers. Then and now, I was loath to disappoint.

Marvin, with the warmest, unassuming smile, said, “You can trust me. Trust us. We will stop the second you are uncomfortable.”

You know how it is when you meet someone and you immediately feel relaxed? It isn’t something that happens often, that sudden friendship connection when your instinct says, Go on. It’s fine. No red flags here. That’s what being in Marvin’s presence was like. His warmth was not like Drew’s. There was no heat to it. His company was a weighted blanket, calming my frazzled worry. I didn’t want to spend my whole day with him or give him all my money. It wasn’t, I imagined, like being caught up in the thrall of a charismatic cult leader. No, Marvin’s open face, like that of a teacher or a nurse, welcomed me in.

“You can sit or lie down. I’ll do some quick work. Then get you back on the road.”

Summer nodded and said, “I’m not going to watch you, Samantha. I’ll be cleaning up.” She scampered out of the room, and I knelt on a pillow next to a drum, a small circle of fabric with a couple of rocks, and what looked like a pair of maracas. “I don’t believe any of this. I’m only doing this . . .” I faltered. “I don’t know why I’m doing this. I just met Summer. We aren’t even friends.”

“I know,” he said like a father would say after a child insisted at their bedtime, I’m not even tired. “There is much to learn from our spirit guides. Why not find out what they have to say?”

My reaction to this statement was 98 percent skepticism with a smidge of Let’s get this show on the road, and a pinch of interest sprinkled on top. I was a cynical, doubtful, somewhat curious cupcake, if you will. Did I think something otherworldly was haunting me? Did I want to know if some weirdo-stalker-spirit was hanging around my aura? I already had someone in this world hanging around my neck, Holly with her incessant push, push, push. I absolutely did not want to know if my husband was pressing his big fat spirit thumb between my shoulder blades.