Page 18 of Wilderness Search (Eagle Mountain: Unsolved Mysteries #2)

He wiped a hand over his face. Up close, Willa could see slashes from vines across his cheek, and scraped knuckles on his hands. He didn’t even have a pack or water. She pulled one of her own water bottles from her pack. “Drink this,” she said.

“Bethany, could you go with Scott back to camp?” Aaron asked. At his sister’s frown, he added, “Please?”

“I don’t want to take one of you away from the search,” Scott protested. “I’m sure I can find my way on my own.” He looked around. “If you’ll start me off in the right direction.”

“I’d better go with you,” Bethany said. “It’s so easy to get turned around out here.” She consulted the map. “It’s going to be easier to retrace our steps to the lodge. Are you ready, Mr. Sprague?”

“Please, call me Scott.” He returned the half-empty water bottle to Willa. “And I’m ready, thank you.”

Bethany and Scott headed back the way they had come, and the other three pushed forward once more.

Willa was more aware now of Aaron staying close to her.

Once, when she lost her balance on a rolling log, he took her elbow to steady her.

He released her as soon as she was secure, but she hadn’t flinched from his touch.

“Thanks,” she muttered, and moved on.

She slowed down after a moment, and let him get in front of her.

She liked being able to watch him as he broke a trail through the thickest brush.

The black T-shirt emphasized his muscular shoulders and arms. He wore a gun in a small holster on his hip, a badge clipped beside it.

Even though he was out of uniform he was still on duty, she reminded herself.

“Do you remember the day we climbed Mount Hunger?” he asked.

She groaned. “That last mile was so hard. I was beginning to wonder if you were trying to get rid of me.”

“But the view at the end was worth it.”

“Yes.” The end of the hike offered a spectacular view of the surrounding mountains.

But it wasn’t the view she remembered most—it was the kiss they had shared, and the euphoria of having conquered something difficult together.

She had never felt closer to anyone in that moment and had been sure she could face anything with this man.

But that feeling had been a mirage. They had climbed that mountain together, but when the most difficult thing she had ever endured in her life happened, Aaron wasn’t beside her; he was opposing her.

He was the one responsible for her problem.

They had covered every inch of their search area by 6:00 p.m., and returned to the lodge dirty, bruised and worn-out. The other searchers looked the same. No one had found any sign of Olivia.

“Maybe you were wrong about that shelter,” Bethany said when she found Aaron eating dinner catered by the lodge.

She slid onto the picnic table bench beside him and helped herself to a potato chip from his plate.

“I was talking to Scott and he said that wilderness course they take the kids on didn’t have anything about building brush shelters, just instructions on basic first aid and how to use a compass and the importance of staying put if you’re lost.”

“There was a shoe print just inside the shelter,” Aaron said. “The same size as Olivia’s foot. And a label from the same brand of water bottles we found in camp.”

“That’s something, I guess.” She ate another chip. “You were sticking pretty close to Willa today,” she said. “Does that mean the two of you are going to get back together?”

“Not much chance of that.” He crunched a chip. “I’ll settle for her tolerating my presence.”

“Oh, I think she more than tolerates you,” Bethany said. “She was checking out your butt when you were hiking ahead of her.”

He laughed, at the disgusted expression on his sister’s face as much as at the idea that Willa had been ogling him. “Don’t tell me you don’t check out Ian’s backside sometimes,” he said.

“Well, yeah, but that’s different. Ian isn’t my brother.”

“I’m not Willa’s brother, either.” And he wasn’t exactly her friend. He hoped he wasn’t her enemy. It wasn’t all he wanted from her, but it was better than he had hoped for.

Jake approached the table, plate in hand. “Do you have room here?”

“Sure.” Bethany scooted over to allow him to slip in beside her. “Where were you searching?”

“I was with a group searching the area where we found the shelter.” Jake bit into a sandwich and chewed.

“I guess you didn’t find anything,” Bethany said.

He shook his head.

“I wish we knew why she ran away,” Bethany said. “If we knew that, we might have a better feeling for where she would go. I mean, is she trying to get away from someone or to someone—or something?”

“Good question,” Aaron said. Why hadn’t he thought of that?

“If she was in that shelter, she didn’t go that far from camp,” Jake said.

“And that water and stuff was taken from the storage shed after she was reported missing,” Aaron said. “So she was still close to camp, then.”

“It’s like she’s sticking around to see what happens,” Bethany said.

“If she’s just playing a game, it’s time to stop,” Aaron said.

“There’s still that shirt with the blood on it.” Jake spoke quietly. He cut his eyes to Bethany. “And you didn’t hear me say that.”

“It’s not a secret,” she said. “But it’s good to hear the rumor confirmed.” She leaned toward them and spoke in a whisper. “Was the blood really Olivia’s?”

Jake nodded.

“So, somebody hurt Olivia, she ran away and now she’s hanging around,” Bethany said. “Maybe she’s waiting for the person who hurt her to get caught. When they are, she’ll come out of hiding.”

“Then it would help if she would leave a few more clues as to this person’s identity,” Aaron said. He pushed his plate away. “And that sounds awful. She’s just a kid. Maybe hurt. Probably frightened. She’s not supposed to have to do our job for us.”

“There’s no other DNA on that shirt,” Jake said, still speaking quietly. “So we have no idea who might have attacked her.”

“You would think one of the other campers would know something,” Bethany said.

“I mean, girls talk. Boys, too. They can’t help it.

They never stop. I remember going to a Girl Scout camp for two weeks when I was eleven.

It was nonstop talking. By the end of the week I knew the darkest secrets of at least a dozen girls I would never see again.

I knew whose parents were getting divorced and whose big brother had a drug habit and who had a creepy uncle they avoided being alone with at family gatherings.

If Olivia had a secret, somebody must know it. ”

“No one’s telling us anything,” Aaron said. “We’ve questioned all the campers more than once.”

“You two are cops. And you’re men. And you’re old. I mean, you’re not old, but to a young teen anyone over twenty-five might as well be their parents.”

“Do you think they’d tell you anything they wouldn’t tell us?” Aaron asked.

“Maybe. Though by this point they’ve already either outright lied to you or just omitted to mention something important.

And they’ve probably done it more than once.

Which means they’re even less likely to volunteer information to yet another stranger.

Even a female who’s not a cop.” She paused, then turned to Aaron. “You could ask Willa to talk to them.”

“Why Willa?” Jake asked.

“She’s a nurse. Nurses are used to getting information out of people in a nonthreatening way. She’s pretty. Girls like that. And she looks younger than she is. I think they would be more likely to trust her.”

“It’s not a bad idea,” Jake said. “Though I’m not sure how we’d square it with Scott.

He might not like the idea of bringing in another outsider when there’s so much focus on a missing camper.

I’ve heard some parents are questioning whether he’s doing enough to protect the campers.

They’re questioning staff qualifications and security measures and things like that.

A new person interacting with the kids might draw attention he doesn’t need right now. ”

“It’s something to think about.” Bethany stood. “I have to go. Some journalist is coming tomorrow to write up a feature about the via ferrata. I’m supposed to put together a press kit for her.”

She left. “Do you think Willa would talk to the girls in Olivia’s cabin?” Jake asked.

“I think she would do anything to help find Olivia,” Aaron said. “But how would we ever make it happen?”

“Maybe she could volunteer to teach a first aid course at the camp.”

“I’m sure they already have someone to do that.”

“They probably don’t have a nurse,” Jake said. “And Bethany’s right—Willa is pretty. Scott Sprague strikes me as a man who might be influenced by pretty.”

“What makes you say that?”

Jake shrugged. “I was watching him that first day, when all the searchers were at camp. He wasn’t exactly leering at some of the women, but he was definitely aware of them.”

“Like most men,” Aaron said.

“Talk to Willa. See what she thinks about the idea.”

“Why should I be the one to talk to her?”

Jake gave him a pitying look. “You’re not fooling anyone, Aaron.

We’ve all seen the way you look at her. You might as well talk to her.

Maybe you can even work the conversation around to asking her out.

Though I’ll warn you, she’s turned down better men than you.

Supposedly there’s a pool at Mo’s about how long it will take before she agrees to go out with the many men who’ve worked up the nerve to ask her. ”

Aaron could have told Jake he was certain he wouldn’t be the one to win that lottery. Instead, he merely shook his head. “I’ll ask Willa about proposing a first aid course for the campers, but don’t blame me if she says no. Should we talk to the sheriff first?”

Jake considered this. “Probably not. He won’t want to involve a civilian. If Willa does it and learns anything useful, she can pass it on as a concerned citizen and leave us out of it.”

“Coward.”

“Says the man who’s afraid to talk to a beautiful woman.”

Aaron scowled. He wasn’t afraid of Willa—only fearful of ending the fragile peace between them.