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a significant amount of weight since he had last seen her which resulted in her breasts and hips looking more pronounced.  Second, she had grown her hair out and her hair, which used to be a short bob cut similar to Jenna’s had now become tumbling waves of red locks that cascaded down her shoulders.  The way the headlights were shining on her back, it almost made her look angelic or like a superhero come to save them.  
    As he suspected, Jenna immediately broke from the group that was currently standing around Jake’s driver side door and embraced Annalise in a warm hug.  They were far enough away that whatever they were saying to each other was garbled by the sound of Annalise’s engine and the wind which had picked up since they had first parked. Annalise’s face was hidden from him by the lights behind her and he wondered what they were discussing.  Was Jenna saying she was glad Annalise came?  Was she warning her that he had brought another girl?
    Arm in arm, the two girls walked back to the group.  Kevin gave Annalise a hug and whispered something in her ear which she laughed slightly at and patted his back, and then she waved at Jake and Cort while she looked over Kevin’s shoulder at them.  So that’s how this was going to be.  A wave.  After everything they had been through, the first thing she would do when they saw each other was wave from the arms of his best friend.  He felt annoyance tug at his soul and waved back.  Since there apparently wasn’t going to be a warm reception for him, it was time to get to business.
    “Now that we’re all here, I guess we should figure out the game plan.” Cort said, breaking up the happy reunion that did not include him.  “Originally this plan involved me already owning a house out here, but I don’t so we’re going to have to find one.”
    Annalise smiled, releasing Kevin and stepping forward to push a piece of paper into his hand.  “Already have one, there’s a cabin on the lake in Deep Creek sitting on 4 acres that is empty all winter.  It has five bedrooms and four bathrooms.”
    Cort took the piece of paper and aimed it towards the light so he could read it.  It looked like a print out from a vacation rental place.  “Where did you find this?”
    “It’s one of my clients.  Technically, the house is unrentable this winter because there’s was a flood this summer that did significant damage to the basement.  They’ve already done most of the repairs and fixed the flooring but they are worried about the foundation so they didn’t want to risk putting renters in there,” Annalise explained pulling out a cigarette and lighting it up.  “I don’t know if there’s a key on the property but I figured it shouldn’t be too hard to break in and stay out there for a while.”
    Cort passed the piece of paper to Jake to review.  “How do you know they won’t decide to come hide out here too?”    
    “Because they took off the entire month of December to fly to England for Christmas and I doubt they’ll come back with the state of the district.”  Taking a long drag of her cigarette she smiled at the group.  “There’s a wood burning fireplace and a gas grill there.  Everything we need.”
    Cort nodded as Jake handed the paper back to him.  “Alright, you want everyone to follow you?”
    “That works,” she said taking the paper out of Cort’s hands.  “We waiting for anyone else?”
    Jenna shook her head, “I think we have everyone from our group.”
    It struck Cort as odd that Annalise was here alone.  Her last text to him said she was gathering people but yet here she stood, asking them if they were waiting for anyone else.  The Annalise he had known always had a group of friends around her that were willing to follow her almost anywhere.  Typically they were guys, hoping for a chance to be with her, but why weren’t any of them with her now?  Had she left them behind because he was here?  He’d have to ask