The Alpha's Stolen Luna - Chapter 209: Chapter 209

: Sutton
We got out of the truck as an older woman headed toward the office. She gave us a polite smile as she unlocked the door.
“You must be our new campers,” she greeted. “Welcome to Lake Doumon. Did you find your cabin okay last night?”
“We did,” Lucas replied as we followed her inside. “It was perfect. Thank you.”
“Wonderful,” the woman replied. “I’m Wilma, the office manager. But please, call me Willy.” She went behind a counter and set her purse down before turning to give us her full attention. “Now, what can I do for you today?”
I stepped forward, realizing I had no idea how I was going to explain what was going on and not sound crazy. I should have prepared better but here we were. I’d just have to wing it.
“Okay, so this is probably going to sound really weird, but um… apparently, my parents used to come here a long time ago,” I started to explain. “They’ve both since passed and my mother left me some stuff telling me to come here. She wants me to find something or someone… It’s not very clear, I guess. But anyway… you probably wouldn’t have any idea what I’m talking about…”
“Sweetie, I’ve been for almost forty years,” Willy said. “My husband and I built these cabins. I remember all of our visitors.”
“Oh…” I replied in surprise.
Willy gave me a gentle smile. “Do you have a name for this person you may be looking for?”
“Um… a first name — Korinna?” I replied.
Willy pursed her lips and turned to the computer behind the counter. She started typing.
“I don’t have any record of that name in our system,” she said. “But if she came with someone else, then we wouldn’t. What does she look like?”
I pulled the few photos I had brought from my pocket. I found the one with Korinna and my mother and showed it to Willy. She took the picture and a spark of recognition lit up her face followed by a fond smile.
“Ah, yes, I remember these two,” she said. “Now I know why you seemed so familiar. Is it safe to say Miss Lana is your mother?”
Lana. I’d seen that name in the letters a few times. Some of the details started to make more sense. Both my parents mentioned visiting Lana again a couple of times. That must have been their code for sneaking off here. Where she told them her name was Lana.
“Yes,” I confirmed. “Yes, that’s my mother.”
“Oh, she was such a sweet girl,” Willy reminisced. “And that young man of hers…” She waved her hand as if fanning herself. “He was a handsome one.”
“What about the other woman?” Lucas asked. “When was the last time you saw her?”
Willy took a minute to think. “I do remember her coming out once or twice on her own. But that was, I don’t know, maybe a decade ago.”
“And you don’t think she lives somewhere in the area? Maybe in town?” Lucas asked.
Willy shook her head. “It’s a small community around here,” she said. “I would have seen her if she did.”
Well, that answered whether we would be finding her today. So, that meant we were likely looking for an object or a message of some kind. My heart sank a little. This would be a lot easier if we had something more specific to go on.
“Do you know why she came the last time? Did she say there was any particular reason?” I pressed. “If you can remember. It’s okay if you can’t. I know that was a long time ago.”
“No, no, now that you mention it, the last time she was here she stopped by.” Willy held up a finger, indicating she’d be right back, and disappeared into a back room. We heard some rustling before she reemerged holding a small metal tin. “She asked if I would hold onto this. That someone might come looking for it someday. I’m guessing that day is today.”
She set the tin down on the counter in front of me. Sliding it toward me, I lifted the lid to find an odd-looking pendant on a chain. Another clue, I suppose. My brow furrowed. How in the world was I supposed to figure out what this meant?
“This is it?” I asked. “Did she say anything else?”
“She reminisced some about the time she spent here with your mother,” Willy said. “She talked a lot about the cabin. They always liked to stay in the same cabin whenever they came. I remember I always found it curious that that’s the one they wanted. It was the first one we built and — don’t get me wrong, we take pride in our work — but it’s not the most accommodating option we have.”
“That cabin… is there any possibility we could check it out?” I asked.
“I’ll rent it out if it’s available,” Lucas offered.
Willy turned back to her computer to check something.
“You may be in luck. It looks like it is vacant right now,” she told us. “But only for the next two days. It’s our busy season, so the cabins don’t stay empty for long.”
“We’ll make it work,” Lucas said, taking out his wallet.
I chewed my lip as Willy and Lucas processed the transaction. Helene tucked her arm in mine and gave me an excited squeeze. Nova was getting excited again, too, bouncing and pacing around in the back of my mind in anticipation. While I just seemed to be getting anxious. I hoped this meant we were actually making progress and this wouldn’t turn out to be some kind of wild goose chase.
“Alright, Mr. Danvers, you’re all set,” Willy said with a smile, reaching under the counter and pulling out a key. “We don’t have the fancy locks on that one yet. So you’ll need this to get in. You can leave it in the drop box out front to check out.”
I took the key with a smile, feeling the weight of it in my hand. Like I was about to find answers… but not sure if I even wanted to ask the questions.