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

In the weeks after nine-year-old Rachel Sherman’s death, Willa had been afraid for Gary.

He had been so upset not only by the girl’s murder, but also by the fact that everyone suspected he had killed her.

Willa had never seen him so despairing; she had worried he might take his own life.

She had been furious on his behalf, and more afraid than she had allowed herself to admit.

And Aaron, the one person she had counted on to help them through this ordeal, had turned out to be involved in Gary’s arrest.

At first, she had told herself it was Aaron’s job to follow orders given by his superiors.

He had been one of the arresting officers, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t on her side.

She had even told herself it was good that Gary had a friend on the inside.

But when Aaron had expressed his own doubts about Gary’s innocence, Willa had been devastated.

Her brother wasn’t a murderer. Why couldn’t Aaron see that?

The memory of that betrayal still tore at her.

There were a lot of employees at the youth camp where Rachel Sherman had been murdered, but the police zeroed in on Gary right away.

They said he was known to be friendly with the girls—as if this was something sinister.

They had two witnesses who had seen him talking to Rachel shortly before she was last seen.

Just talking, but that was enough to make him their only suspect.

It wasn’t evidence, and the district attorney had seen that, but not before Gary had been held and questioned for several days.

She and Gary had naively thought when the DA declined to press charges that he would be absolved from guilt, but the harassment only intensified—snide letters to the editor and stories in the paper.

Emails and phone calls from strangers making accusations.

An outcry from Rachel’s family to prosecute him.

“Willa?” She turned to see a young woman with dark braids and a tentative smile approaching. “I’m Bethany Ames. We didn’t get a chance to meet at the training meeting the other night. Welcome to the group.”

Bethany Ames. Aaron’s sister. Willa had taken pains to avoid her, and Aaron’s two brothers, Carter and Dalton, at the search and rescue training session. She knew she would eventually have to explain herself, but she wasn’t ready to deal with that yet.

Bethany had already been living in Colorado when Aaron and Kat were together, but surely she had seen pictures of her brother’s girlfriend.

But Willa detected no sign of recognition in the younger woman’s eyes.

Bethany had probably been too wrapped up in her own life to pay attention to Willa – she had suffered a broken engagement before she left town.

“It’s nice to meet you, Bethany,” Willa said.

“And thanks. It’s good to be part of the group. ”

“Not a great first call.” Bethany looked over Willa’s shoulder at the scene in the canyon below. “So sad.”

“Yes.”

“Anyway, I just wanted to introduce myself. How are you doing?”

“I’m okay,” Willa said.

“Good. It can be overwhelming at first.” Bethany swept her hand to indicate the array of equipment and personnel. “All this. But you’ll catch on really quick and every one of us is here to help you.” She tilted her head, considering. “Have we met before? You look so familiar.”

Willa shook her head. “No, I don’t think so.”

Bethany shrugged. “I guess you just have one of those faces.” Someone called her name and she took a step back. “I have to go, but let me know if you need anything, or have any questions.”

“Thanks,” Willa said, but Bethany was already moving away.

The litter had reached the lip of the canyon, and Willa stepped back to allow those managing it to haul it to the top.

“Did you find any identification?” Aaron’s voice shook her once more, but he wasn’t speaking to her. He moved forward to meet Sheri and Ryan, who were climbing out of the canyon.

Ryan handed over a worn leather wallet. Aaron opened it, then passed the driver’s license to Jake.

“Trevor Lawson,” Jake said. He looked at the volunteers who had gathered. “Do any of you know him?”

“I know the name.” Grace Wilcox stepped forward. “I’m pretty sure he works at Mount Wilson Lodge.”

The lines around Jake’s eyes tightened. “That’s Dwight’s place.”

“Dwight Prentice?” Aaron asked. “The former deputy?”

“Right. He inherited the lodge from his uncle and he and his wife, Brenda, decided to continue operating it.” Jake tucked the wallet in his pocket. “Any sign of other passengers?”

“No,” Ryan said. “We took a good look around, but I’m pretty sure he was alone.”

Sheri stepped out of her climbing harness. “He was wearing his seat belt and the air bags deployed, but the car is destroyed.”

“Does he have family in town?” Aaron asked.

No one knew. “We’ll talk to Dwight,” Jake said. “Did you find anything else we should know about?”

“We smelled alcohol,” Sheri said. “Like he’d been drinking a lot. That could be a factor in the accident.”

“We’ll ask the coroner to run a tox screen.” Jake looked down into the canyon. “We’ll have to arrange to get the car out later, line up a wrecker and schedule with the highway department to close the road while we haul up the vehicle.”

He and Aaron walked back to the sheriff’s department SUV and stood, heads together, talking.

Willa didn’t want to look, but she couldn’t help it.

Aaron’s and Jake’s khaki uniforms and duty belts stood out in the sea of tactical black and navy worn by the SAR volunteers.

Her eyes met Aaron’s and she felt again that buzzing acknowledgment of a connection, humming through her body like a low-voltage current.

She looked away, but his expression stuck with her—not hurt or angry, just intense.

She had appreciated his serious approach to life when they first met but now, after all she had been through with Gary, she needed more light in her life.

She had hoped to find that here in Eagle Mountain.

She wanted a refuge and a fresh start, not reminders of the past.