Page 36 of Wilderness Search
“So, somebody hurt Olivia, she ran away and now she’s hanging around,” Bethany said. “Maybe she’s waiting for theperson 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. Andshe 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 toasking 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.
Chapter Ten
The search and rescue volunteers were preparing to leave Mountain Kingdom when an alert came in from the 911 operator. “A woman called in, says her husband is injured, with a possible broken leg,” the operator told Danny as the team listened in. “She says he’s fallen into some kind of trap and can’t get out.”
