“No. Not since she left to meet up with you. She said you were going to the bonfire at the camp to snoop around for more evidence about what might have happened to Olivia. Why isn’t Willa with you?”
Aaron blew out a breath. He didn’t want to upset Gary, but clearly the man was already upset. “Scott was caught with a camper, one of the older girls, behind one of the pit toilets tonight,” he said. “Willa interrupted them. The camper got away and Scott has been arrested, but we can’t find Willa.”
“Wait—Scott was with a camper. Like—how was he with her?”
“We believe he was molesting her.”
“Oh, wow.”
“Were there ever rumors about that kind of thing among the staff?”
“No.” Aaron pictured Gary shaking his head. “I never heard anything like that. You’re saying Willa interrupted them—what happened?”
“We’re not sure, except that the camper got away and Willa dropped her phone. There may have been a struggle, but we’re not sure.”
“What does Scott say?”
“He’s not talking.”
Gary swore under his breath. “Let me come down there. I can help look for her.”
“No. I need you to stay there in case Willa shows up or tries to contact you.”
A long silence. Finally Gary said, “All right. But you promise to call me as soon as you know anything.”
“I promise.” He ended the call and turned to the others. “Her brother hasn’t heard from her. Let’s go.”
But finding their way in the darkness, especially after clouds moved in to cover the moon, proved more difficult than Aaron had imagined. They could detect no indication of which wayWilla had gone. After Declan fell on the rocks and Jake got tangled in a stretch of barbed wire fence, they halted.
“We need to wait until daylight,” Jake said. “We can get Anna Trent and her search dog, Jacqui, out here, plus we can call in search and rescue to assist. All we’re doing now is risking ourselves and possibly obscuring the trail more.”
Aaron kicked at the dirt, frustrated. “You’re right,” he said.
Jake clapped him on the back. “Remember—we caught Scott minutes after Willa surprised him with Kelli. He didn’t have time to spirit her away. And there was no blood at the scene but Scott’s own, so it’s unlikely he hurt her badly.”
“Then where is she?” Aaron asked.
“We’re going to find her,” Jake said. “Tomorrow.”
Aaron let them persuade him to get in his truck and leave, but as soon as they were out of sight, he turned around and went back to the camp parking lot. If this was as close as he could be to Willa right now, then this was where he would stay. He pulled a sleeping bag out from the back of the vehicle and spread it on the front seat and crawled in.
He didn’t sleep. He didn’t even try. Instead, he sat and stared out the windshield, going over the events of the last few hours. How had they missed that Scott was responsible? They could have at least asked the campers if any of the staff had behaved inappropriately toward them. True, there had been no evidence pointing them in that direction, but if they had dug deeper, would they have found some? Was he a bad cop because he hadn’t figured this out?
He had so many questions, none of them with answers. But the one that hurt the most kept repeating in his mind: Would Willa forgive him for failing her again?
Willa woke,stiff from sleeping on the floor of the rock shelter, and checked her watch: 6:30 a.m. She sat up, and Olivia stirred beside her.
“What time is it?” the girl asked.
Willa told her and Olivia groaned and pulled the blanket over her head. “I want to get back to camp before everyone wakes up,” Willa said. “We can call the sheriff’s department before Scott knows what’s going on.”
Olivia pushed off the blanket. “You’re right.” She sat up. “I can heat water for tea, but there’s nothing for breakfast.”
“I’d rather wait until we get to camp.” Olivia’s herb tea was a poor substitute for real coffee.
Olivia yawned. “Then I’ll pack up and we’ll get started.”
Five minutes later, the girl had the blanket, sleeping bag and little stove shoved into or strapped to her pack. She led the way out of the shelter, pushing the pack in front of her.
