Page 32 of Wilderness Search (Eagle Mountain: Unsolved Mysteries #2)

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?”

“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 way Willa 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.

Pink streaked the sky as they set off through the woods. Willa pulled her sweater around her in the early-morning chill. Olivia didn’t seem to notice, though she slowed her own brisk pace when she noticed Willa limping.

“I forgot about your ankle,” Olivia said. “Does it hurt much?”

“Not that much,” Willa lied. “I’ll be fine once we get to camp.” Though she had spoken confidently about the unlikelihood of running into Scott Sprague at this early hour, her memory of the story Olivia had told her about Scott’s violence toward Trevor Lawson sent tendrils of fear through her.

“It’s not much farther,” Olivia said. “I lucked out, finding that hiding place so close to camp. It made it easier to slip over here to steal food and supplies, and keep an eye on Mr. Sprague. And I figured no one would expect me to be so nearby.”

A few moments later, they reached a barbed wire fence. Oliva halted and waited for Willa to catch up with her.

“When we cross this, we’ll be on Mountain Kingdom property,” Olivia said. “Where should we go? Not the office. I don’t want to risk seeing Mr. Sprague.”

Willa took her hand. “I’m not going to let him hurt you.” Though realistically, she knew she couldn’t stop him by herself. “We’ll avoid Scott, though, and find someone else to help us.” Someone who would contact the sheriff’s department.

“I’m really nervous about going back,” Olivia said. “Mr. Sprague is really evil, and he knows a lot of important people.”

“The sheriff and his deputies don’t care how important someone is if they’ve done something wrong.” Aaron believed that, and he had said the sheriff was a good man. She took the girl’s hand. “And I’m not going to leave you. Not until I’m sure you’re safe.”

Olivia squeezed her hand. “Thanks.” She faced forward again, and took a deep breath. “I’m ready now. Let’s do this.”

Olivia slipped through the strands of wire, and waited for Willa to follow.

They set out at a faster pace now. “This is my favorite time to come here,” Olivia said. “No one is around. You could walk away with half the camp and no one would know.”

They made a wide berth around Scott’s cabin, then passed the remains of the bonfire, the smell of woodsmoke still hanging in the air.

Olivia detoured to grab a partial bag of marshmallows someone had left on a bench in the boat house.

She offered the bag to Willa, who declined, but Olivia stuffed two in her mouth.

“Why don’t you have a phone?” Olivia asked after she had swallowed the marshmallows. “I just now thought of that. I’m so used to no one around here having a phone, since we all have to give them up when we get here. But you could have called for help.”

“I lost it, either when I was struggling with Scott, or when I ran away.”

“How did you get away from him?”

“I stabbed him in the thigh with a bent coat hanger I’d been using to roast marshmallows.”

Olivia clapped her hand over her mouth to stifle a laugh. “Oh, that’s perfect. The only thing better would be if it was still hot—and if you could have aimed a little more toward the center.”

Willa smiled, and looked toward the parking lot, then stopped.

“What is it?” Olivia moved in close beside her. “Did you see someone? Is it Sprague?”

“I see someone, but it’s not Scott.” She took Olivia’s hand. “Come on. This is one of the good guys.”

Aaron had just climbed out of his truck when he saw them walking toward him. He didn’t run, just waited, but when they were close enough, he moved forward and enveloped them both in a hug. Then he stepped back and looked at the girl.

“You must be Olivia.”

She nodded.

“I’m Aaron,” he said. “Deputy Aaron Ames. We arrested Scott Sprague last night.”

Olivia began to sob. Aaron and Willa moved in to hold her, letting her cry until she had no more tears left.

When the girl had quieted, Aaron looked at Willa. “You’re hurt.” He started to touch the side of her face, then drew back.

Willa hadn’t seen her face, but she could feel the swelling of her lip and around her eye. “Scott hit me pretty good. But it will heal.”

“She sprained her ankle, too,” Olivia said. “But not before she stabbed Mr. Sprague with a marshmallow roaster.”

“That was one of the things that made us suspicious of his story that he had chased off a stranger who was attacking a camper,” Aaron said.

“I’m glad you didn’t believe him,” Olivia said.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Aaron asked Willa. “Do I need to call someone?”

“It’s not too bad, really,” Willa said. At the moment, the joint was throbbing, but she didn’t care. That, too, would heal. “You don’t need to call anyone. We just need to get away from here.”

“Then let’s go.” They got into Aaron’s truck, Olivia in the back seat, and he headed away from the camp.