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Chapter 31
ROSS SILENCES JULIA
Ross strolled along Rainey Street in Austin, past rows of old homes that had been converted
into bars, as he headed toward the Windsor on the Lake apartment building. It was late
afternoon in the summer of 2012, and the street was relatively quiet. A few people sat on outdoor
benches amid the faint sounds of Texas as they guzzled beers and ate local barbecue. He approached
an apartment building on the street, pulled out his phone, dialed a few numbers, and waited for an
answer.
He hadn’t been back in Austin for long, and wouldn’t be there much longer. But before he left the
Lone Star State again, maybe for good, he had to resolve the biggest problem of all.
“Hey,” he said into his phone. “I’m out front.”
A minute later Julia appeared, running down the steps to greet Ross with elation. After a long hug
hello, she stood back and looked him up and down to examine his outfit (blue jeans, black belt, gray
V-neck T-shirt, and matching sneakers), then laughed. So much time had passed since their romance
had begun; their lives had taken drastically different routes, and yet here was Ross Ulbricht, looking
virtually unaltered. “You’re wearing the exact same outfit I bought you at Penn State!” she snickered.
Ross simply smiled.
They hadn’t seen each other since that fateful night in October, and Julia was thrilled to
reconnect. She ushered him into her studio to show him around.
Boudoir photos lay everywhere, some on walls, others tilted on her desk. Ross immediately
recognized a large picture of a woman arching her back. It had been taken in the studio where he had
experimented with growing his first batch of mushrooms in Julia’s underwear drawer two years
earlier. How far he had come since then! Just twenty-four months ago he had been broke and aimless;
now he was rich and as steadfast as ever.
“Wow, this place is amazing,” he said as Julia waltzed around in front of him.
“I know. Aren’t you proud of me?” she replied ebulliently. “I’m dating a new guy now. He takes
me on all of these trips and takes me to all these great dinners.”
“Way to make me feel awesome,” Ross said, joking with her, and then quipped, “Well, I’m dating
a girl too.”