Most people did. The cops hadn’t. Aaron hadn’t.
She wet her dry lips, and struggled to speak. “It’s a search and rescue call,” she said. “There’s a girl missing from a kids camp.”
Alarm flashed in his eyes. “What camp?”
“Some place called Mountain Kingdom Kids Camp.”
He groped for a chair and sank into it, so pale even the blond hairs of his unshaven chin stood out against his pasty skin. “Who? Did they say who?”
“They don’t say.” She leaned forward and covered his hand with hers. “What’s wrong? Why are you acting like this?”
He wiped his hand across his face, and wouldn’t meet her gaze. “Mountain Kingdom is where I work.”
He wasn’t making any sense. “You work at a ranch.”
“That’s what I told you, but I actually work at the camp.” He grimaced. “I didn’t tell you because I knew you’d lose it.”
Her stomach clenched. “Gary, how could you do that? How could you risk that?”
“It was the only job I could find, okay? And it’s a good one. I didn’t have anything to do with Rachel’s death, so what does it matter if I work at this camp instead of that one? I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Of course you didn’t. But what if someone finds out about what happened in Vermont—what you were accused of? They could jump to the wrong conclusion.”
They could think he had sought out another job working with kids on purpose. That he was some kind of predator.
“Whatever they think, it’s not true. We have to live in the present, sis. Not stay stuck in the past.”
She wanted to argue with him that their present was shaped by the past, but her phone buzzed again, reminding her she didn’t have time for this. “I have to go,” she said, and stood.
“I should go, too,” he said. “Maybe I can help.”
“No. I don’t want you anywhere near the camp or this girl. Not until she’s safe. I won’t risk anyone thinking you had anything to do with her going missing.”
“I didn’t.”
“I know. But it will be better if you stay away.”
He didn’t say anything, just stared at her, jaw set in a stubborn line. She turned away, her heart pounding and a voice in her head chanting over and over,This can’t be happening again.
Chapter Four
As the volunteers assembled to begin the search for thirteen-year-old Olivia Pryor, Willa reminded herself that a missing child didn’t mean she was a victim of foul play. Children wandered off and got lost all the time. They sometimes ran away. Most of them were found safe. Surely that would happen this time, too.
“As a reminder for those of you who are new, we’re going to search in teams.” Captain Danny Irwin addressed the assembled volunteers at Eagle Mountain Search and Rescue headquarters. Almost two dozen volunteers had responded to the early-morning summons, despite the rain that pounded so loudly on the metal roof of the headquarters building that Danny had to raise his voice in order to be heard.
“Each team of four to five people will search an assigned area, as indicated on this map.” Danny held up a piece of copy paper. “Anna Trent and her search dog, Jacqui, are already headed for the camp to see if Jacqui can pick up Olivia’s scent. With a lot of luck, by the time we get there, they’ll have located the girl and we can all go home. But the rain is going to make things more difficult, so we need to be prepared to conduct a ground search.”
He consulted the piece of paper in his hand once more. “Olivia is five feet, one inches tall and weighs approximately one hundred pounds. She has sandy brown hair, olive skin andbrown eyes. There’s a photo of her on the map each of you will be given. She was reported missing this morning when a bunk mate told her counselor that Oliva wasn’t in her bunk. Another cabin mate said she thought Olivia had sneaked out of the cabin a little after midnight.”
“She’s probably hiding somewhere, trying to stay out of this rain,” someone in the back of the room said.
“Keep that in mind as you’re searching,” Danny said. “Also remember that she may believe she’s in trouble for sneaking out of the cabin, so she might not respond to your calls, even if she hears you. It’s not unusual for children to hide from searchers. There’s also the possibility she’s hurt and unable to respond, so don’t rely solely on your sense of hearing. Search for flashes of color or anything out of the ordinary in your surroundings such as piles of brush or dislodged rocks or broken branches.”
“We might find footprints in the mud,” someone else said.
“Or the rain might wash them away,” someone else countered.
“Do we know what she was wearing when she left?” Bethany Ames, standing a short distance from Willa, asked.
