“Just a quick handful of copies if you don’t mind.” She whisked the print out of the printer and shoved it in the copy machine before hitting the button.

  Becca was young, in her early twenties. And although Daphne liked her, an undercurrent of competition ran through the office. Daphne was trying to carve her way into the firm; a woman in her forties embarking on a new career. A strange breed.

  When everyone else met for drinks after work, she was often conveniently left off the email invite. She blamed it on the age gap—most of the staff had more in common with Mika than Daphne—but it stung. Still, she did her best to keep her head above water.

  It was sink or swim, a far cry from Port Angeles, and she mostly thrived on it.

  When she’d met Clint at the University of Washington, they were both set on living the big city life, full of late nights and long hours and the hustle and bustle of it all. But when Daphne became unexpectedly pregnant, the calculus changed. Clint landed the job at the Port and they couldn’t turn it down. It paid more than double any other offer and Daphne wouldn’t need to work.

  No daycare. No big city. No bright lights. Just a sleepy coastal town and a chubby little baby who turned overnight into a self-reliant teenager who didn’t need her. Not like she used to.

  Daphne had been adrift. Unmoored and lonely. Clint had his job, Mika had school, and as she’d grown up, she’d grown closer to her father. They loved the same things—anything involving the outdoors, mostly—and Daphne had been left at home, alone.

  When she stumbled upon the online paralegal course, she intended to merely learn the trade, not apply for a job. But the school offered placement assistance. After the interview at Lormack and Higgins, she found herself accepting the offer before even telling Clint or Mika what she’d done.

  And now she was here, living the life she thought she always wanted. The copier finished and she shook herself back into the moment.

  Becca gave Daphne a commiserative smile, her skin taut with youthfulness. “That bad, huh?”

  Daphne bristled. “Traffic was rough.” She nodded at the gusset. “Looks like you’ve got your hands full, too.”

  Becca’s face twitched in a fleeting moment of disappointment, and she hugged the bundle closer to her chest. “Just making a working set for Mr. Higgins.”

  Daphne plucked the papers off the copier, punched them quickly, and waved at Becca. “Good luck.”

  “You, too.” Becca’s voice grew fainter as Daphne rushed down the hall. She set the stack of papers on her desk and grabbed the first of the binders, swapping out the table of contents and rearranging the exhibits per her boss’s request.

  As she grabbed the second binder, her phone dinged and a picture of her daughter laughing lit the screen. Mika.

  Daphne swiped the screen. Hey Mom, I’m heading to my camping trip. Just wanted to let you know.

  She treasured every moment her daughter reached out. Their relationship wasn’t perfect, especially after her surprise move, but they were working on it and making progress.

  Daphne typed out a response. That’s great sweetie. Did you get everything packed?

  Mika responded almost instantly. Yup. Good to go.

  Great. I hope you have fun. Send pics.

  Thanks Mom. I’ll try. Might not have cell service though.

  Daphne wished she could find better ways to bond with her daughter. But Mika showed little interest in visiting Bellevue or downtown Seattle. Shopping, fancy restaurants, and salons held no interest for her. She’d pick a week in the woods with her dad over the best the big city could buy every time. So Daphne swallowed the disappointment and supported her daughter. She sent her a quick heart emoji and set the phone down as footsteps sounded behind her.

  “Something more important than pulling those binders together?” Don’s booming voice thundered through Daphne’s personal space.

  She winced before turning to face the wrath.

  Don stood in front of her, his salt and pepper hair slicked back and his lips pinched into a disapproving pleat.

  “Sorry, it was just my daughter. She’s leaving for a camping trip, and I was making sure she—”

  “I don’t care if your mother is dying on the operating table. This deposition makes or breaks this case Ms. Redshaw. You know that.”

  Daphne swallowed and nodded diplomatically. Arguing was useless. “Understood.”

  Don’s eyes reached the binders sprawled across Daphne’s desk. “How long?”

  “Just as soon as I can, Mr. Lormack.” Daphne shoved her hands behind her back to hide a tremor.

  “Work harder, faster, Daphne.” His voice was clipped and disappointed. The space around them fell dead quiet.

  Her cheeks heated with embarrassment. A grown woman getting dressed down by a man barely older than her, but what could she do?

  “I would have had them put together earlier but traffic was insane.” She regretted offering the excuse as soon as it left her lips.

  “It doesn’t matter what the reason is. Just get it done. I don’t have time for this.” Don’s eyes flashed with impatience before he straightened his red power tie and turned his back, stomping toward the conference room.

  Daphne sunk into her desk chair and went back to work, willing her hands to stop trembling. Don was such a jerk. What gave him the right to yell at her in front of everyone? At the very least he could have pulled her into his office, shut the door to give her a lecture. But no, Don, like most big-city attorneys, thrived on drama and attention.

  “Don’t let him get to you.”

  Daphne swiveled in her chair to find Andre, one of the legal assistants, offering a sympathetic smile.

  Andre was Daphne’s only friend in the office. He didn’t mind her age, loved coffee as much as she did, and always managed to brighten her day. If he didn’t work there, she wasn’t sure she’d have lasted this long.

  “Thanks,” Daphne squeaked.

  He leaned in conspiratorially. “He’s just a bully. But you didn’t hear that from me.”

  Daphne’s lips curved into a smile, something only Andre could tug out of her. “Don’t worry. I hear it in my own head a hundred times a day.”

  Andre’s eyes glinted. “Do you need some help?”

  “Do you have time?”

  “A few minutes to spare.” Andre worked for one of the other partners, a woman who wasn’t nearly as hot around the collar as Lormack.

  “You’re a lifesaver.” Daphne breathed out a sigh of relief.

  “No, I just work for a human, not a robot.” Andre grinned and reached for a binder.

  “Still, I’d be lost without you.”

  “Don’t you forget it.”

  Daphne shoved the embarrassment and guilt out of her mind and focused on the task at hand.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  MIKA

  Mika pulled into the parking lot of her school where a white and blue van waited. A gaggle of girls milled about and a pile of packs teetered by the open door.

  Hampton leaned against the van by herself, legs crossed at the ankles, absentmindedly picking at a nail as if she needed to occupy herself with something. The morning sun caught her curls and turned them almost orange in the sun.

  Mika parked, pulled her pack out of the trunk, and eased it over both shoulders before heading toward her friend. She bumped her shoulder against Hampton’s. “Keeping the van upright?”

  Hampton sagged with relief. “Thank goodness you’re here.” She whispered so softly, Mika strained to hear.

  “Hamp, relax.” She slid her backpack off her shoulder. “You look like you’re going to have a panic attack.”

  “I might.” Hampton leaned closer. “I don’t think I should go.”

  “What? Why?”

  “Are you guys talking about the campsite?” One of their fellow troopers, a girl named Sasha, approached with a smile. She tucked a stray strand of brown hair behind her ear. “I heard it’s a four-mile hike-in.” Her eyes widened in excitement. “All uphill.”

  No wonder Hampton’s freaked. Mika pointed to the paperback in Sasha’s grip. “Anything good?”

  She held it up a bit sheepishly. “For the road. Thought I’d brush up on my spooky stories for the campfire tonight.”

  “Redshaw?” Ms. Rogers, one of the two chaperones, called out to Mika, shielding her eyes with the palm of her hand.

  “I’m here,” Mika confirmed.

  Ms. Rogers waved her over. “Bring your things to the back so we can load up.”

  Mika smiled at Sasha, squinting against the sunlight. “Counselor’s orders.” She grabbed her bag and headed toward the van with Hampton hot on her heels.

  “I was talking to Sasha earlier,” she hissed, her voice crackling with worry.

  Mika frowned. “Okay, so? Is that against the rules or something?”

  “No, but—I don’t know. She said this camping area we’re going to is pretty remote.”

  “It’s in the mountains. Of course it’s remote. It’s probably completely off the grid.”

  Hampton’s face paled and she shoved her thumbnail back beneath her teeth.

  “Oh, come on, Hamp.” Mika gave Hampton’s arm a playful swat as she unclipped her smaller day pack from the larger backpack. “We went over this already, remember? The fact that you couldn’t bring your entire supply of hair grooming products if they needed an electric plug?”

  Hamp winced. “Well, my hair is going to frizz out, just warning you.”

  Mika patted her on the back and shoved her bag in the back of the van. “Thanks for the warning.”

  “You’re not funny.” Hampton scowled.

  “Of course I am,” Mika teased.

  “Alright ladies.” Ms. Rogers’s voice cut through the swarm of girls. “Time to cover the ground rules.”

  A slew of groans filtered through the group.

  Ms. Rogers paused to let the complaints die down before continuing her speech. She lifted a green sack and opened it. “This is for your cell phones. I want them powered off and in the bag. This is a nature trip, no distractions will be permitted.”

  Another round of groans, the biggest coming from Hampton.

  “It’s going to be fine,” Mika encouraged her friend. “You’ll have me to keep you company.”

  Hampton gave her an apprehensive glance before reluctantly powering off her phone and dropping it into the bag.

  “If you haven’t loaded your gear, get it stowed safely in the back and find a seat in the van. We’re a full house this trip, so no empty seats. Ms. Chalmers and I will sit up front.”

  Mika dragged Hampton onto the van, scoring one of the two-seat clusters across from the narrow aisle. She liked the other scouts attending the trip, and would have welcomed sitting by Sasha or Madison or any of the other girls, but Hampton seemed freaked out and Mika wanted to calm her down. Being forced to make small talk with girls she didn’t know—girls who were really into camping—might tip her over the edge.

  While everyone situated themselves in the van, Ms. Chalmers counted heads. “That’s everybody!” She shut the side doors and hopped up into the passenger seat as Ms. Rogers started the engine. They wound through the handful of streets between the edge of town and the high school and turned onto Hurricane Ridge Road. Almost immediately, the van began to climb.

  Hardwoods, lush with early summer leaves, hugged the road with towering pines reaching toward the cobalt sky behind. As they climbed, the pines took over, branches reaching for the edges of the asphalt.

  “It doesn’t even look real,” Hampton said, her eyes transfixed on the window.

  “What doesn’t?” Mika rooted through her small bag and pulled out a word search and a pen.

  “The mountains.”

  Mika glanced at her friend, eyebrow raised. “When you said you were a city girl, you really meant it, huh?”

  Hampton’s eyes were wide as she nodded. “Yes. What part of that didn’t you get?”

  “I just figured you’d at least driven through here by now. You’ve been in Port Angeles for months.”

  Hampton shook her head. “My parents aren’t the outdoorsy type, remember? As soon as they found out about this camping trip, they booked a weekend at some fancy hotel in downtown Seattle. It’s dinner and shopping and visiting old haunts all weekend.”

  Mika pointed out the window. “I think this beats any of that, don’t you?”

  Hampton turned. “It’s growing on me.”

  “See? The great outdoors isn’t so bad.”

  A wrinkle perched itself in the center of Hampton’s forehead. “Well, I don’t know about that. Let’s see if you’ll still be saying that after we have a million bug bites tonight.”

  “That’s why there’s bug spray in my bag.”

  Hampton pinched her lips together, giving Mika a skeptical eyebrow. “You have an answer for everything, don’t you?”

  “And you’re just now learning this?” Mika joked.

  Hampton rolled her eyes. “I wish I had my headphones.”

  “They won’t work without your phone anyway,” Mika reminded her.

  “Don’t get me started on that.”

  “By the end of the night, you won’t even miss it.”

  “Fingers crossed.” Hampton’s chin dipped and she studied her hands clasped in her lap.

  It had been weeks since Mika had left all the stresses of teenage life behind. Homework, tests, navigating uncertain social waters, cross-country in the winter, track in the spring. She was scheduled from the minute she woke up until the minute she went to bed and no matter what she did, she always felt like she was falling behind. But a weekend out in the woods did wonders. It calmed and centered her. Made her problems seem small and easy. Hampton would feel that too, she knew it.

  Mika reached over and tugged on one of Hampton’s curls. “Appreciate the setting. We’ll be there in no time. If we’re going where I think we are, there’s some long-range views near the campsite that will take your breath away.”

  Hampton looked uncertain but managed a smile. “I hope you’re right.”

  “Owwww,” Madison jostled in the seat in front of Mika. “Your elbow is digging into my side.”

  “Sorry,” came a voice from the other seat.

  “Alright, girls,” Ms. Chalmers called out, as if on cue. “It’s time to get along and have some fun.” She swiped her arms through the air as if she was a conductor leading an orchestra and began to sing. The long-time scouts knew the tune well and the van erupted into an off-key chorus.

  Mika bumped her knee into Hampton and smiled as she sang.

  “You actually know the words?”

  Mika sang louder and nodded.

  Hampton craned her neck, gawking at the other girls singing along. “Wow.”

  “Oh, come on,” Mika nudged her. “It’s fun. And everyone else is enjoying it. After the weekend you won’t be able to get these songs out of your head.”

  Hampton scoffed. “That’s a stretch.”

  They continued to climb the winding mountain road, the terrain growing more rugged as they left civilization behind. The van shook and Hampton stiffened. Ms. Rogers eased her foot off the gas and braked as they slid around a curvy bend.

  “It’s okay,” Mika whispered, giving her friend a soothing smile. “It’s just the elevation change. The van’s loaded with gear. The engine’s probably struggling to keep the speed.”

  Hampton licked her lips and nodded, tossing a wary glance out the window. “Are you sure? This incline is really steep. I know all we can see is trees, but there’s no guard rail to protect us if we go hurtling down the mountain side.”

  “That’s not going to happen,” Mika promised. “Ms. Rogers is a great driver.”

  Hampton lifted shaky fingers to her forehead to blot at a few beads of perspiration dampening her hairline. She nodded, but her eyes clouded with worry.

  The ascent began anew and Ms. Rogers floored the gas as they chugged up a steep hill. The van shuddered again. Hampton sucked in a sharp breath. Mika gripped her friend’s hand, squeezing reassurance into it. “Maybe the tires are old. If the tread isn’t grippy anymore, all this weight in the back could give the van a real challenge.”

  “You really think that’s all it is?”

  Mika glanced out the window. “I’m sure of it.”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CLINT

  The first tremor caught Clint unaware. He scooted his chair in, assuming Jack bumped him from behind while squeezing past.

  Jason paused mid-sentence, brows knitting for the briefest second before he pressed on.

  Another vibration rumbled through Clint’s chair and the inch of water in his Styrofoam cup rippled.

  “Did anyone feel that?” Mary’s voice tipped into alarm.

  Clint swallowed down a lump of disbelief and stood. “All right, everyone. We all know the drill. This could be nothing or something big, but let’s not take any chances. Earthquake evacuation procedures. Now.”

  The woman from the Port Commission—Beth, he reminded himself—balked. “Seriously? I didn’t feel anything.”

  As soon as the words left her mouth, the entire building shook. Windows rattled in their casing and the walls groaned as the metal exterior undulated. Beth’s painted lips fell open and her fingers splayed across the desk surface.

  “Like I said, earthquake procedures. Let’s get moving.” Clint clapped his hands and the entire room hopped into action. The handful of employees still sitting shoved their chairs back and hurried toward their assignments.

  The lobby and any visitors belonged to Mary, the receptionist. Scott pressed his phone to his ear, already calling the on-site vendors. Veronica hurried toward the marina. Thanks to Clint, they trained quarterly on this exact evacuation procedure, with a task assigned to everyone. Clint hoped the Port employees remembered what to do. If so, it would go smoothly.

  Jack hovered at the interior door. “I’ll get to the lot, start waving people over.”