“Why did Olivia sneak out?” Willa said.
Stella didn’t say anything. Willa focused on wrapping the ankle, letting the silence tease an answer from the girl. “I think she was meeting someone,” Stella said at last.
“Another girl?” Willa asked. “Or a boy?”
“Probably a boy.” She looked up as Tatum returned.
“I found a couple of blankets,” Tatum said, and laid them on the sofa next to Stella. “And I brought an ice pack.” Her eyes met Willa’s, then she turned to Stella. “I heard what you said about Olivia sneaking out.” She shrugged, deliberately casual. “It happens. I mean, there are rules, but not everybody follows them. Do you know who she was meeting? One of the other campers?”
“I don’t know,” Stella said. “Honest, I don’t. She wouldn’t say.” She looked miserable.
Willa gently patted the wrapped ankle. “Does that feel better?” she asked.
“A little.”
Willa settled the ice pack in place. “She’s going to need X-rays,” she told Tatum.
“Mrs. Mason is going to take her to the clinic in town in a little bit,” Tatum said. She turned back to Stella. “Did Olivia tell you anything else? Maybe about her boyfriend back home?”
“You know about that?” Stella’s eyes widened.
“I heard her parents sent her to camp to get her away from an older boy she had been seeing,” Tatum said. She glanced at Willa. “She wouldn’t be the first camper to come here in an effort to get her away from someone the parents thought inappropriate.”
“Olivia said her boyfriend was sixteen,” Stella said. “But that they weren’t doing anything wrong.”
“It might help find Olivia if the sheriff knew about this,” Willa said. “Someone could try to track down this person Olivia had been going to meet.”
“Good idea.” Tatum pulled a radio from her pocket. “I’ll let someone know.” She took a few steps away.
“I’m really going to be in trouble now, aren’t I?” Stella said.
“You’re helping your friend,” Willa said. “No need for you to be in trouble for that.”
“Will you stay with me until Mrs. Mason gets here?” Stella asked.
“Of course.” She was finally beginning to feel warm again, and Stella was a sweet child. She liked Tatum, too, who was close enough to Stella’s age—was she even eighteen?—to sympathize with the girl.
Willa regretted that decision when she heard footsteps approaching and turned to see an older woman walking toward her, accompanied by a sheriff’s deputy. An expression Willa couldn’t read passed across Aaron’s handsome face when he recognized her, but he quickly masked it, and focused on the girl.
“Hello, Stella,” he said. “I’m Deputy Ames. I understand you have some information that might help us find your friend Olivia.”
Stella picked at the pink and purple woven bracelet around her left wrist. “I don’t know if it will help or not. I mean, I didn’t actually see Olivia leave the cabin.”
Aaron sat on the sofa beside the girl, but not too close. “Tell me what you know,” he said. “I promise, you’re not in trouble. But the more information we have, the better we’ll be able to narrow our search and find Olivia.”
“All I know is that Olivia had sneaked out of the cabin before. She went to meet someone, but she wouldn’t say who.”
“Did she have any special friends among the other campers?” Aaron asked. “Boys or girls?”
“No one in particular.” She bit her bottom lip, then looked up, as if just realizing something. “I can’t think of a single time I ever saw her even talk to a boy. I mean, they’re all the time trying to get our attention, or teasing us. But Olivia ignored them all. So it couldn’t have been a boy she was meeting.” Stella looked relieved.
“What about staff?” Aaron asked. “Was Olivia friendly with any of them?”
“Veronica is our counselor,” Stella said. “We’re all friendly with her. And Tatum. She does crafts with us and stuff.”
“What about male staff?” Aaron asked. “Did you ever see Olivia talking to one of them?”
Willa stiffened. She thought she knew where this was going and she didn’t like it.
