Page 22 of Shark Cove

Malia heardher mom opening the front door, then Harry’s voice called, “Girls! I’m home!” Harry came upstairs as she usually did first thing, to lock up her gun and badge. “Malia! I’ve got news for you!”

Malia’s pulse quickened as she hurried out of her room. She banged into Kylie in the hall outside Harry’s bedroom door, and they both went inside.

“If it’s about Camille, I’d like to speak to you without Elephant Ears here,” Malia said, indicating her little sister with her chin.

“I have a right to hear what’s going on,” Kylie pouted. “I care about Camille too.”

“Girls. Bickering already?” Harry was bent over, spinning the dial on her safe.

“We seem to bicker less when you aren’t here,” Kylie observed, as Harry put the police issue Glock .40 and her creds wallet into the safe and spun the dial.

“Well, I guess there’s an upshot to me being gone a lot, then.” Harry’s smile was a little sad as she turned to face them. “Sit a minute while I tell you the latest.”

Kylie threw herself onto the bedspread, kicking her feet, and Malia sat cross-legged beside her.

Harry gazed directly at Malia. “Camille’s been found.”

“What!” Malia clapped her hands to her cheeks. “Where?”

“We brought Regina in for questioning. Really got into it with her, and finally she broke and admitted she sent Camille to a weight loss camp.”

“No!” Malia bounced up off the bed. “That doesn’t make sense! Why would her mom pretend she ran away?”

“Regina says she thought it was better than saying she basically kidnapped her own daughter and sent her to a fat farm by force.” Harry massaged the bridge of her nose, frowning. “Regina says she hadn’t realized how seriously people would take it, how resources would be allocated to find Camille, and that so many in the community would be looking for her. The principal of your school even called me today with a link to a school gossip website that’s dedicated just to finding Camille.”

Malia gasped involuntarily. “Wow,” she said faintly.

“Yeah. Regina finally cracked when I showed her a post on the Wallflower Diaries site. The blogger was passionate about putting aside student pettiness and finding Camille. Regina finally told us how she’d sent Camille away to get in shape and ‘away from negative influences.’” Her mom gazed at Malia. “I knew she was talking about you when she said that, though she didn’t come right out and admit it.”

“Ms. William has never liked me.” Malia’s cheeks burned with hurt and anger as she paced. “I want to speak to Camille myself! I can’t imagine what Camille’s mom did to get her to agree to go, and not even say goodbye!”

“Apparently, Camille’s on a nine-day backpacking and workout hike in the wilderness with no cell phone. There’s no way to communicate with her, unless the staff person initiates it in an emergency. Regina wouldn’t say what she did to get Camille to go.”

Malia frowned, folding her arms. “Do you believe her? Is the case over?”

“Well, honey, thankfully Camille’s case is over. Regina showed us a pamphlet for the camp.” Harry dug in her purse, set down beside the safe. “I made a copy of it for you.”

Malia snatched the photocopied brochure out of her mother’s hand.

A snow-capped peak and pine trees overlooked a lake with a canoe filled with girls paddling on the front. ‘Camp Willowslim: Where Young Women Go to Pare Down to the Essentials,’declared the brochure.

“Is there any proof Camille is really there?” Malia asked.

“Malia.” Harry reached out to tip Malia’s chin up until she was forced to meet her mother’s penetrating brown eyes. “Regina William came in with her lawyer. She faced major humiliation recanting her story. We fined her, too, for filing a false missing person report. She’s Camille’s mother, and she’s the one who’s responsible for her. Not you.”

Malia tightened her jaw and jerked her chin away, setting her mouth mutinously.

“I know you are having trouble accepting this, honey, but consider the alternative. The other girls who are missing are facing a much more terrible experience than a diet camp,” Harry said.

“I just don’t believe anything Ms. William says, Mom!” Malia hurried out and went into her room, slamming the door.

She threw herself on her bed, holding the brochure, and flipped it over. What would have been the back of the brochure was a second photocopied sheet, describing the various programs the camp offered, including ‘Wilderness Extreme,’ with its nine-day backpacking hell.

They probably hiked all day and ate nothing but chia seeds and prunes the whole time. Malia could imagine herself trudging along a forest trail carrying forty pounds of rocks to lose weight, but Camille would totally hate it.“All campers are provided with nutritional education and behavioral counseling to develop new habits,”trumpeted the brochure.“Social skills and etiquette are also taught. Your daughter will never be the same!”

“Oh Camille. How could she do that to you?” Malia whispered. She reached over and booted up her laptop’s search engine and typed in the camp’s title, locating it in southern Idaho.

Her mind ticked over the steps that had to happen: Regina William must have ambushed Camille after school, and then hustled her off on a plane, leaving even her phone behind. But how could she have forced her to go all that way alone?

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