Gage nodded. “Come with me.”
Ryker stepped aside to let them into the office. Scott was seated behind his desk, fresh scratches on his face glowing red in the bright overhead light that bleached the rest of his skin the color of a puffball mushroom.
“I’ve telephoned my lawyer and I don’t have to say anything else to you,” he said.
“All I want to know is where is Willa?” Aaron asked.
Scott frowned. “Who is Willa? We don’t have a camper by that name.”
“She’s not a camper,” Aaron said. “She’s a nurse. Her phone was found behind that pit toilet. Where you were fighting with your alleged assailant.”
“There is no ‘alleged’ assailant. I was attacked.”
“How’s the leg?” Gage asked. “I’ll bet it hurts.”
“No thanks to you.”
“You could have gone to the hospital with the paramedics,” Gage said.
“I don’t need a hospital.”
“I don’t know.” Gage peered over the desk at Scott’s leg. “Those marshmallow roasting sticks probably aren’t the most sanitary things.”
Sprague glared at him, then rose. “I’m going to bed.”
“First, would you like to tell us about Kelli?”
“I don’t know any Kelli.”
“She’s a camper here,” Gage said. “Long brown hair. Twelve years old. She says you were molesting her behind the pit toilet when Willa Reynolds interrupted you. She ran away. You struggled with Willa and she stabbed you with a coat hanger used to roast marshmallows.”
Scott’s expression remained impassive. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. And that’s all I’m saying until I see my lawyer.”
“Fine.” Gage turned to Ryker. “You and Shane take him to the station and book him.”
“Book me for what?” Scott roared. “I’ve done nothing wrong.”
“Mr. Sprague, you’re being charged with sexual assault of a child by one in a position of trust, for a start. There may be other charges forthcoming. You have the right to remain silent…” Gage recited the full Miranda warning while Scott gaped at him.
Ryker moved forward and cuffed Scott’s hands behind his back. Scott remained silent, though he glared at them all, eyes dark with rage.
Chapter Eighteen
While other deputies took Scott Sprague to jail, Aaron, Jake and Declan stayed behind at the camp to search for Willa. Aaron started by calling Gary. As he listened to the phone ring, he paced, hoping to hear that Willa had found her own way home and was sleeping peacefully. She might be upset with Aaron for deserting her, but she would be safe.
“Hello?” Gary answered. He sounded groggy.
“Gary, this is Aaron. Is Willa there?”
“Why are you asking me? Why not call her? And aren’t you supposed to be with her?”
“There was a problem here at the camp and we got separated. She must have dropped her phone, because we found it, but I can’t find her. I was hoping she got a ride home with someone else.”
“Let me check her room.”
Shuffling noises, then a long silence. Aaron began to wonder if the call had disconnected when Gary’s voice came back on the line. He sounded wide-awake now. “She’s not here. Her bed hasn’t been slept in. What’s going on? What kind of problem at the camp? Where are you now?”
“I’m still at the camp. Have you heard from Willa at all tonight?”
