When we get back to the truck, Ian asks me to wait outside before getting in. He grabs a bottle of water that rolled under the seat and an old rag he found bunched up by the door panel. “Take this.” He wets down the rag and holds it out to me. “Clean some of that off your hands before the girl sees it.”
I stare at the dried blood crusting my hands for a few seconds, numb.
He presses the rag into my hands. “Come on, Austen. It’s going to be all right. I won’t let that thing hurt you.”
“Are you sure?” I whisper, and take the rag from him. “What if it comes back?” I scrub my flesh until the skin turns pink and stings.
“It won’t. The creature’s probably long gone by now. Most big predators don’t like a lot of human interaction.”
Ian’s confidence helps clear the fog in my head. “Thanks.” I hand him the rag.
“Anytime,” he says, and the look in his eyes tells me he means it.
I climb into the truck next to Esme. The younger girl wrinkles her nose at the mess on my clothes. “You stink. What happened to you?”
“I slipped in the mud.”
She raises her eyebrows, but doesn’t disagree. Instead, she scoots as far away as she can, careful not to touch the “mud” on my clothes. I don’t blame her.
Back on the highway, Ian drives for a couple minutes until his cell phone gets reception. Then he dials Phoebe to let her know what’s going on before calling the police.
“Yes, of course,” he says after telling the dispatcher what we had found. “We had to leave to get reception. I’m on my way to camp, since one of the girls is a camper and the other found her.” He pauses. “No, I understand. It’s important to preserve the integrity of the scene, but these girls have been through a lot. Right. Would you like me to return to the scene after I drop them off? Okay.”
After he hangs up, Ian tosses the phone into the truck’s center console. “Let’s get you two to Phoebe.” He pulls into the long driveway. “It’s been a terrible night for all of us.”
I shrug and try to pretend that I won’t have nightmares. “I’m just glad it’s over.”
Ian drums his fingers on the steering wheel, a pensive look on his face.
“Isn’t it?” I ask.
“If only we were that lucky,” he mumbles under his breath.
Did I hear him right?
While I nudge Esme awake, Phoebe jogs out to Ian’s truck. “Thank God you’re all right.” She grabs my shoulders and starts to pull me into a hug, until she notices the bloody mud on my clothes.
“What happened to you?”
“I fell.” The same lie I told Esme falls easily from my tongue. I slowly disengage myself. “But I’m all right.”
“Are you sure?” I nod. She turns her attention to Esme. “Are you all right?”
Esme’s lip pouts out. “It was awful.”
“I’m sure it was.” She puts her arm around Esme’s shoulders. “I’m just glad you’re back.”
Over the younger girl’s head, Phoebe’s gaze finds Ian’s. “Thank you for saving them.”
Ian shrugs and shoves his hands in his pockets. “Austen had it under control.”
Her eyes dart to me. “Really?”
“Have some faith. Geez.” I gesture at the cars spilling out of the parking lot. “Who are all these people?”
“Part of the search-and-rescue effort. The teams are on their way back now, and the cops will have some questions for you.”
As two of our uniformed finest approach, Phoebe pulls Ian aside. “Do you know what it was?” she whispers.
Ian shakes his head. “I didn’t exactly have the opportunity to explore.”
“Could it have been a bear? I know they don’t usually act this way, but the DNR said they’ve been pretty active this year. Breaking into cars, trash cans, that sort of thing.”
He shakes his head. “Killing a human is a big jump from eating garbage. No, whatever did this was bigger. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“Are you Austen Gillet?” a young state trooper asks. I reluctantly tear my attention away to nod at the police officer. “I need you to tell me everything that happened from the time you found the missing girl, Esme, to arriving back at camp.”
A pair of police officers separate Ian and me for questioning. After about an hour, they release me, apparently satisfied, and I see the cop who detained Ian letting him go at the same time.
Phoebe calls him and her brother, Danny, over, away from the other searchers. I slip between two parked cars so I can listen better without getting caught. Something tells me they’re not going to talk about the weather.
“It’s happening again, isn’t it?” Phoebe casts her eyes to the stars.
Ian scuffs the ground with his worn tennis shoe. “Not if I can help it. I’ll start with checking the fence. There has to be a reason these things are getting out. My alarm system hasn’t malfunctioned, but no defense is perfect.”
Danny snorts. “You’re damn right about that. Now what are you going to do about it?”
“I’m doing everything I can,” Ian says. “I—”
“There’s the girl of the hour!” Ezra’s booming voice jolts the three of them out of their hushed conversation. He slings an arm around my shoulders. “You saved the day, er, night.”
“I didn’t do anything special. It was just luck that I found Esme in the truck.” I duck out of his embrace and he freezes, his gaze trained on Ian.
In the back of my mind, I hear a low growl and a high-pitched scream, and I suppress my shiver. If I had known what would happen, would I still have gotten into that truck? My memories turn to Esme, the fear in her voice, and the way her hand trembled in mine. Of course I would have.
One of the other searchers calls Phoebe’s name. “Esme’s mother’s here,” he says.
“Crap.” Phoebe hurries over to join him, Esme, and an older blonde woman in a pressed blue pantsuit. Danny saunters along behind her. Esme’s mother glares at Phoebe, her fists planted on her hips.
Frustration mars Ian’s normally cool countenance as he joins us. “I’m going to leave,” he says, ignoring Ezra. “Phoebe has it all under control.”
“Um, okay.” The urge to ask him what’s going on burns on my tongue. After what I went through, I deserve to know what all this weird stuff is and why it’s been happening, apparently under everyone’s noses, for a long time. But before I can ask him any him any questions, he stalks away, jumps in his truck, and roars out of the parking lot.
“Are you ready to go?” Ezra asks.
I nod. “Yeah. I guess.” Why was Ian acting so strange?
Ezra looks over at all the cars leaving the lot. “Why don’t you wait here and I’ll go get the car. I’ll be right back.”
“Okay.” Now that I’m alone, I shift from side to side, feeling vulnerable.
A sudden spurt of raised voice catches my attention. Esme’s mother shouts at Phoebe, anger controlling her every movement, as if she were a marionette. I drift closer to the group, slow enough that I hope no one notices me.
“If you would have had appropriate security, this would never have happened,” Esme’s mother’s shrill voice silences all of the conversation around her.
“We do. We have two cabin leaders per cabin. That’s how we found out she was—”
“Your cabin leaders are merely teenagers themselves and hardly capable of caring for the complex needs of adolescents in distress.” She wraps her arm around her daughter’s waist.
Phoebe tries to placate the woman while Danny stands behind his sister, his arms crossed in front of his chest. A sudden breeze picks up, and a lock of his long, dark hair drifts in front of his face. He impatiently tugs it behind his ears.
“If I had known you would allow my daughter to leave camp whenever she wanted, then I would never have brought her here.”
Danny clears his throat. “Your daughter ran away. She didn’t wander off and get lost. She’s damn lucky we found her befo
re something happened.”
The woman pales and clutches her heart dramatically. “Well, you certainly won’t have to worry about that any longer. I’m taking my daughter home. Expect a call from my lawyer shortly.” Mrs. Phillips drags Esme to an expensive-looking black sedan and directs her to the backseat.
As the car roars away, Phoebe smacks Danny’s arm. “Thanks for your help.”
He smirks. “That woman is an idiot, plain and simple. There’s nothing you could have done to make her happy. You know people like her are only concerned about the almighty dollar. Besides,” he says. “All of these kids should go home until we figure out how—”
“These kids need this camp!” she snaps. “Don’t you remember what a healing place it is?”
“It might have been that way once, but it’s too dangerous now.” He shoves his hands in his pockets.
“Whatever. Thank you for your help, but we’re done here.” Phoebe spies Ezra and I eavesdropping and strides toward me, leaving her brother standing alone. “I need to ask a favor.”
My gaze shifts from one to the other. “Okay.”
“I need you to keep quiet about anything strange you saw. It was a bear attack, that’s all.”
“Are you sure? That’s not what Ian thought.”
She leans toward me, conspiratorially. “I know, but, please, I’m begging you. I can’t shut the camp down. You know how much this place helps troubled kids.”
“But if people are getting hurt, like the truck driver, and . . .” My voice trails off as panic sets in. Dad. No, he has to be all right. He has to be. I gulp a lungful of cool night air.
“That stinks, I know,” she says. “But trust me on this. You have to leave this alone. Don’t ask questions and don’t go poking around where you don’t belong.” She gives me a helpless shrug. “This town, it’s like a house made of paper, and if you ask too many questions, it’ll go up in flames.”
Ezra pulls the car up beside me and hops out. “Is everything all right?” His gaze darts from Phoebe to me, his brow furrowed in concern.
My shoulders stiffen. “Yeah, everything’s fine.” It’s far from it, but I hold that lie tight to my chest, anyway.
“You guys better get home, okay?” Phoebe smiles at us. “You did a great job helping out. We’d never have found Esme without you.”
Heat blossoms on my cheeks. “I’m just glad I could help.”
He leads me to his canary-yellow chariot and opens the door for me. “You must be exhausted,” he says as we pull out of the parking lot.
I yawn. “It’s been a long night.”
His fingers drum on the steering wheel. “I don’t believe for a second that it was a bear attack.”
Agreement hovers at the tip of my tongue, but then I remember Phoebe’s reminder to keep quiet. “I don’t know. That’s what Phoebe and the others say it is. I’m sure they’re right.”
He shoots me a skeptical look. “Do you always believe everything you hear? There’s something strange going on in this town, and I want to figure out what it is.” He pauses. “Starting with what happened tonight.”
“I don’t know. It was probably a bear, like Phoebe said.”
Ezra frowns. “Uh huh, sure.” Silence fills the car while he backs out of the parking space. “You know you can trust me, right? Even if what happened sounds crazy, I’d believe you.”
Can I? Part of me wants to tell him what happened, but another part of me whispers Phoebe’s warning and Ian’s desire to shut the camp down and keep the kids safe.
A few minutes later, Ezra pulls into my driveway.
“Thanks for the ride.” I grab the door handle.
“Wait.” He touches my arm and turns my face toward him.
My breath catches in my throat as his lips gently touch mine. What is he doing? The stubble on his chin tickles my skin. Heat pulses through me, and I tremble when he pulls away.
“Sorry about that. I know now’s not a good time, but I’ve wanted to kiss you ever since I walked into the diner and handed you my résumé.” Ezra grins sheepishly, deepening his dimples.
Heat burns up my neck. Me, too. In fact . . . my eyes are on his lips, and the urge to kiss him again rushes through me. “I should, uh, probably get inside.”
Ezra reaches out and strokes my cheek. “Yeah, your family might wonder what’s going on and come out to investigate.”
His words sink in, past the warmth left by his touch. “Oh God. You’re right.” His chuckle follows me as I hop out of the car and dart up the drive toward the twinkling lights in my living room.
***
That night, the heat and humidity combine to make my upstairs bedroom the most unpleasantly stifling area in the house. I peel back my tank top and turn my fan on high, but I still can’t get comfortable enough to sleep.
And I’m sure that has nothing to do with a certain brown-haired boy with dimples, does it? Then the growl permeates my subconscious, and I mentally kick myself. Seriously, Austen. Dad’s missing, there’s some sort of creature out there that may or may not be a killer bear or mountain lion or Sasquatch for all you know, and you’re fantasizing about some boy you just met? Get a grip.
Frustrated, I wrench my window wide open and lean against the sill, letting what meager air passes for a breeze drift inside. Where are you, Dad?
God, I miss him. If only he’d come back and tell everyone what happened, why he was with that woman, and who killed her, then I’m sure we could straighten everything else out. I know he wouldn’t cheat on Mom, and he’s not violent, so there has to be a logical explanation for all of this.
In the distance, a hunting dog bays, soon followed by several more. I shiver, remembering the creature banging on the sides of the delivery truck. Maybe someone’s out hunting down whatever it was that attacked us. I hope so. Our town has seen too much tragedy to get plagued by more deaths.
The hounds bay again, closer now. The mugginess forgotten, I slam down the window. I’d rather sweat to death than be eaten.
Chapter 6
The next morning, Phoebe stumbles into the diner and orders our largest coffee. She collapses onto one of the stools as I grab the carafe and an empty Styrofoam cup.
“Hey, kiddo, how are you doing?” She scrubs at her eyes.
I shrug, my back to her. “Better, I guess.” I don’t tell her about the long night or how every time I drifted off, menacing snarls shattered any chance of sleep.
“Yeah, I hear you. It was a long night. I wanted to let you know that we found Frank and identified the animal that attacked him.”
I fumble with the lid for the coffee cup and drop it. “His name was Frank?” Yes, I know he was a person, but now I have a name I can attach to the screams I heard during his last moments of life. The blood I saw blanketing the ground and the side of the truck was Frank’s blood, not some random person’s. I grab another lid, using those few seconds away to help compose myself.
“Are you all right?” Phoebe asks after I give her the drink.
“Sorry about that. I think I’m just tired.” If I let Phoebe know how rattled I am, she’ll shut down. “Where did you find him?”
She opens a couple packets of sweetener and drops their contents into her coffee before answering. “About a quarter mile away from the truck. The DNR thinks it was a rogue mountain lion they caught on a trail cam in the area. They’re pretty rare around here, but a local hunter brought in some hounds and treed one last night, so that’s what they think is responsible. ”
I lean against the counter, my knees suddenly weak.
Phoebe frowns in sympathy. “I’m so sorry, Austen. You never should have had to see that.”
“It’s not your fault,” I mumble. “I’m just glad we found Esme.”
She nods and takes a sip of her coffee. Grimacing, she pours more creamer into her cup. “I agree.”
I grab a damp dishrag and scrub the counter. “Do you think Esme’s mom is going to cause trouble?”
She frowns. �
�I hope not, but there’s nothing I can do if she does.” Her gaze leaves mine to stare out the window. “Camp New Horizons is . . . it’s home. It’s where I belong. So many kids get help there that wouldn’t otherwise.”
I chew on my bottom lip. “But what if it’s too dangerous? What happened was—”
“An accident, that’s all.” Her fierce expression dares me to disagree.
A loud knocking breaks the tension. Danny stands on the other side of the huge glass window. He waves at us before sauntering toward the door.
“Just what I need,” Phoebe mutters.
My mom pokes her head around the corner and beckons her friend into her office. Phoebe wags her finger at her brother. “Don’t drink that. It’s mine.” She points at her coffee before disappearing into the back.
Danny snags her seat and her coffee. “Morning.” He salutes me with the cup before taking a long drink. “Geez, Feebs,” he mutters. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think she didn’t want me to drink it.”
“Probably.” I toss the dishcloth in the bin and lean against the counter.
He points at a bagel in the display case. “Can I get one of those with cream cheese?”
“Sure.” I cut the bagel and put it in the toaster, trying to weed through all the questions running through my head. Maybe if I ask the right ones, Danny will give me a straight answer. “I heard the DNR figured out it was a mountain lion that attacked us last night.”
He chuckles. “That’s what they want you to think. They had to find something, or people would panic.”
My heart skips a beat. Suddenly all the growls and screams come rushing back to me. “You think it was something else?”
“Cougars don’t have six-inch canines.”
My mom’s office door slams, and Danny manages to take another drink before Phoebe snatches it back. “Jerk,” she grumbles, but there’s no heat in her voice. “Sorry I can’t stay and chat, brother dearest, but the Detroit Free Press is on its way to the camp. Esme’s mom made good on her threat.”
“Just great,” he mutters. The theme song for the X-Files fills the air. “Crap. I’ll be right back.” Danny plucks his phone from his pocket and strides away.
When Darkness Falls Page 8
