Page 67 of Wilderness Search
“It wasn’t so bad,” Olivia said.
“I don’t understand any of this,” her mother said. “Would someone please tell us what happened?”
“I’ll let Olivia do that,” Travis said. “When she’s ready.”
“I’m ready,” Olivia said. “I want to tell you everything.”
“Then come with me.” Travis stood. Olivia and her parents followed him down the hall to an interview room. “Wait until we’re done here,” he instructed Willa and Aaron.
They sat alone in the conference room, amid the remains of breakfast. For a long time, neither said anything, too weary or stunned or overwhelmed to speak.
Finally, Aaron turned to her. “I don’t have words to describe how glad I was to see you this morning,” he said. “I spent the night telling myself you were probably all right, but it’s hard not to think of the worst.” He stilled as a thought struck him. “You should call Gary. He’s probably worried sick.”
“I don’t have my phone,” she said.
“We’ll have to get that for you later.” He handed her his phone and she called her brother and reassured him she was all right.
“I’ll tell you all about it later,” she said. “Right now I’m waiting to give a statement to the sheriff.” She glanced at Aaron. “Yes, he’s with me. I’m using his phone… I will, I promise.”
She ended the call and returned his phone. “Gary says hello. A friend from camp already called to tell him Scott was arrested. I told him I’d fill him in on more details later.”
“I want to hear everything, too,” Aaron said. “But I won’t ask you to go through it twice.”
“What happened with Scott?” she asked. “How did he end up in custody?”
“The girl he was with when you interrupted his attack on her told us how he had targeted and threatened her. And she told us about you making it possible for her to escape Scott’s clutches.She didn’t know who you were or what happened after she ran away, but after we found your phone behind the pit toilets we put two and two together. I wanted to believe you had run away and were safe, but we just didn’t know. We tried to search for you in the dark, but it’s impossible in that rough country.” He frowned. “Where were you all night?”
“I was with Olivia. She had a pretty comfortable hideout fixed up in a space between two boulders. She’s a remarkable girl.”
He glanced down. “How’s your ankle?”
“It hurts.” She reached down and slipped off her shoe. “I’m sure it’s just a sprain, but I should wrap it and keep it elevated.”
“Let me see.” He beckoned and after a moment’s hesitation, she lifted her foot into his lap. He began massaging very gently, his hands warm and soothing. She closed her eyes and sighed. He watched the tension leave her face and his throat tightened as he thought of how close he had come to losing her.
Behind them, someone cleared their throat. Willa opened her eyes and pulled her foot from his lap as he turned to see Adelaide frowning at them. “The sheriff is ready for you now.”
Aaron stood. “Thanks, Adelaide. And thanks for the breakfast.”
“Yes, thank you,” Willa said as she and Aaron slid past her into the hallway.
“Olivia’s parents aretaking her to the hospital to have her examined,” Travis said when they joined him in the interview room. “She’s a strong little girl.” Though he had dark circles beneath his eyes, the sheriff looked energized. They all probably felt that way. After so many days and nights of searching, Olivia had been found safe, and they had a man who had hurt a lot of people behind bars.
“Olivia is amazing,” Willa agreed. “I was stumbling around in the dark, lost, and she found me and took me to her hideout, gave me tea, offered to share her food and promised to lead me back to the camp in the morning. While we’ve all been worried sick about her alone in the wilderness, she was doing a pretty good job of taking care of herself, though she admitted the novelty of the situation was wearing off and she’d be glad to get back to her parents.”
“Did she tell you her story?” Travis asked.
“Yes. Does it fit with what you know about Trevor Lawson’s death?”
“It does.”
“What about Trevor Lawson?” Aaron asked.
“Why don’t you tell us what you know.” Travis nodded to Willa.
She spread her hands flat on the table in front of her. How to tell everything she had learned in the past twelve hours, without talking for half a day?
“The night before she disappeared, Olivia says Trevor caught Scott molesting her and they fought,” she began. “Scott tied up Lawson, made him drink a bottle of whiskey and forced pills down his throat, then walked him to the parking lot. Olivia didn’t see anything after that. It sounds like Trevor got into his car, tried to drive home and in his intoxicated state was unable to keep the car on the road.”
