Silent Hunter

by Maggie K. Black

  The lodge’s burned-out shell rose in front of her, wrapped in a maze of yellow police tape. Her chest ached as if someone had reached into her center and hollowed it out. Her mind spun with the list of jobs she needed to get done before she left to spend the night on a friend’s couch. But before she did anything, she should probably take a few minutes to settle her heart. She turned right and wound her way through the thick woods to the south of the camps. Then she started climbing.

  Her legs felt like sandbags. The sprinkler system and fire alarm had both failed. A brief conversation with someone from the insurance company told her they’d be investigating two possibilities: major electrical fault and arson. Which was worse? The idea the camp was in such bad repair that it had become a dangerous firetrap? Or that someone had intentionally tried to destroy the camp, her home? Both were unthinkable.

  She took a deep breath and pushed her body through the branches. The toes of her boots dug hard into the steep, narrow trail. Her mind pushed prayers to the tip of her tongue. Thanking God that George was alive and resting in hospital. Thanking God that the fire hadn’t spread to the forest. Thanking God that Luke Wolf had been there...

  As Luke’s name crossed her lips, suddenly the blue-gray eyes of the teenaged boy who’d once stolen her heart among these trees filled her mind. She grabbed a narrow trunk with one hand to steady herself as she suddenly remembered what she’d done—

  Just before she’d passed out, she’d asked the man who’d caught her if he was the same guy she’d known as “Louie.”

  What had she been thinking? It had been years since she’d stopped wishing that boy would ever return and apologize. Let alone feeling a flutter of hope every time she knew a man named Louie, Louis or Lou was about to come through the door. The nineteen-year-old rival camp counselor had broken her heart more than ten years ago. Guys like that didn’t just come back after a decade, all grown up in a sharp suit and tie, just to pluck her from danger.

  Yet, for a moment, she’d thought she’d seen the same white, telltale scar curving along the lines of his soot-stained chest. Maybe it had just been her mind playing tricks. Everything that had happened between seeing those flames and waking up in the back of an ambulance was still all a blur.

  Thick forest gave way to the edge of a sheer rock cliff. It was the highest point of the property. Nothing but sharp rock lay below, on all sides of the lookout. Yet if she raised her chin toward the horizon, sparkling blue waters filled her eyes. Dark clouds gathered in the distance.

  Once this had just been the place she’d come as a teenager to meet her secret crush from the camp next door. Now, as a woman, it was the old familiar ground she’d been walking daily, for years, to pray in solitude. Below her to the right lay the glistening buildings and sparkling beach of Ace Sports Resort. To her left, she caught a glimpse of the burned remains of Camp Spirit’s lodge. She dropped to her knees and let her forehead fall into her hands.

  Oh, Lord, I don’t even know what to pray right now.

  Footsteps crackled in the brush behind her. She jumped up. It was Luke. The sport’s reporter had changed into jeans and a plaid shirt, but somehow still managed to look as though he’d just stepped out of a magazine. Clouds reflected in the sunglasses hiding his eyes. Faint soot still traced the deepest lines of his face, as if someone had just sketched him out of charcoal.

  It had to be him! How else would he have known where to find her?

  “Hey!” Luke started toward her. “How are you feeling? You okay?”

  She nodded. “Yeah. I’m fine.”

  He reached out as though unsure whether to shake her hand or to hug her. Then he stopped and shoved his hand into his pocket. “How’s George?”

  “He’s okay. The doctors only let me talk to him for a few minutes. But he seems good. They’re just worried about his heart and want him to rest in the hospital for a couple of days. Canoe trip is still going ahead tomorrow, though. His son, Trevor, is going to alternate between camping with us and being back here for his dad.”

  “Glad to hear it. I filed a police report. I think I might have seen someone in the woods just before I called 9-1-1.”

  She rolled her shoulders back, like a duck shaking off water. “Thanks. But, honestly, I’m not ready to believe anyone would have set this fire intentionally.”

  Luke paused, then ran his hand over his jaw. His index finger brushed over his bottom lip as if trying to summon words he wasn’t sure how to say.

  “We need to talk.”

  She pressed her lips together and took a deep breath.

  “Told you we’d find her here!” a voice boomed.

  Neil Pryce, the director of Ace Sports Resort, came crashing through the underbrush. The former quarterback jammed a very large smartphone into his jacket pocket. “Sorry to leave you back there, Luke, but I had a quick email to sort and I knew that I’d probably lose our Wi-Fi signal once I left Ace Sports territory.”

  So much for their moment alone to talk.

  Neil reached for Nicky’s hand and squeezed like clamped-on jumper cables. “I’m so sorry to hear about what happened. A fire. Wow. Well, I guess that’s the danger you run with those rustic older buildings.”

  She smiled politely and pulled her hand away. “I didn’t realize you two knew each other. Though unless I have him mistaken for someone else, I think Luke used to be a counselor at Ace Sports? Back when we were both teenagers?”

  Neil’s grin grew so wide and toothy it reminded her of a shark. “Really? I didn’t know Ace Sports actually had an alumni working as a Toronto sports reporter.”

  Luke pulled off his sunglasses. Gray eyes searched her face. “Sorry, I never actually went to Ace Sports or worked there. I’ve never been a camp counselor kind of guy. In fact, my first legit job was actually stacking newspapers in the warehouse at Torchlight News. George helped me get it.”

  Nicky felt her heart drop a couple of inches. Did that mean he wasn’t who she thought he was?

  “Well, it’s never too late to get the Ace Sports experience,” Neil said. “Me and Luke met at the hospital. I could hear the sirens all the way from the tennis courts, so figured I’d follow the ambulance to the hospital to see if there was anything I could do to help.”

  She nearly snorted. It was more likely Neil had hoped to take advantage of George’s enfeebled state to snag a few of their potential donors for his latest vanity project. Neil might be the boss of the shiny camp next door, but he wasn’t an owner. He simply reported to a whole boardroom full of money-minded shareholders who’d probably love to snatch up Camp Spirit’s land to build another luxury sports complex. If the lodge fire did turn out to be arson, would police be questioning Neil and his staff? Neil might be both competitive and smarmy, but she hated to think he was actually capable of stooping that low.

  “When I discovered Luke here was a sports reporter, I offered to put him up in one of Ace Sports’ deluxe chalets,” Neil added. “Just finished moving him in. In return, we’re hoping he’ll give us some positive press on our new facilities. An hour in our heated pool and he won’t be able to help himself from giving us a full spread.”

  No surprise there. Nicky’s smile stiffened. Here George had assured her that Luke was a good friend, not the kind of person who would run to their competitor in exchange for a comfier bed and hot towels. Now she just had to hope she could keep the prospective donors from deserting them, as well.

  * * *

  Luke felt something twist in his chest as he saw the disappointment flicker in Nicky’s dark eyes. Not that the rest of her face gave that much away.

  “Well, then, I guess Camp Spirit’s loss is Ace Sports’ gain.” She flashed him a crisp, professional smile, which somehow managed to make him feel even worse. What else had she expected him to do? George was in the hospital. The closest hotel was an hour away.

 
Luke ran his hand across the back of his neck. “Actually, Torchlight News has a policy of never exchanging publicity for perks. The paper will pay for my stay.”

  “Well, I’m sure you’ll find it quite comfortable.” Nicky’s smile never faltered. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m taking a group canoeing this weekend and need to take a boat to the campsite to make sure everything is in order.” Before he could say anything more, she turned on her heel and disappeared into the woods.

  Neil chuckled. “She’s a pip, isn’t she? I pity the poor fool who ever tries to tame her. Now, how about you and I go take a tour of Ace Sports’ new facilities? Maybe try out the pool? Or are you more of an archery man?”

  Luke blew out a hard breath. Shooting off a few arrows sounded like exactly what he could use right now. In fact, he had his wooden bow stashed in the back of his car, just in case he was able to get some target practice in at the archery range. But, between the admission that he’d never actually been an Ace Sports counselor and where he was crashing overnight, he’d somehow just managed to make Nicky even more upset than she was already. He had to fix this.

  “Maybe later.” He glanced down the hill, searching for some sign of her among the trees. “Thank you again for your help. I’ll find my own way back in a bit and check in with your front office later.”

  Luke started down the hill, half jogging and half climbing. She’d been in such a hurry she’d just run off straight through the trees instead of bothering with the winding path. Same old Nicky. Sure, the past decade had softened some of the angles. But that fire in her eyes hadn’t dampened for a moment.

  He lost sight of her at the beach, behind a rack of canoes, but saw her again by the docks. She disappeared into the boathouse. He followed, took a deep breath and slid the door open. The boathouse was built like a barn with thin docks forming two separate channels. Faint light filtered through the windows, bouncing off the water and sending refracted light across the walls. Two identical four-person speedboats sat side by side. The door swung shut behind him. “Hello? Nicky?”

  A figure rose from the back of the nearest boat. A dark raincoat now engulfed her body. The hood framed her face, casting shadows down the curve of her neck. Dark curls trailed along her cheeks. His heart caught in his chest. All these years, Nicky had been like a phantom at the edges of his memory—and here she was even more beautiful than he’d remembered.

  How much did she remember? Did she remember the long conversations on top of the cliff? How he’d opened his heart to her? How close they’d gotten? Or had everything they’d shared been destroyed by how he’d left, then been lost under an avalanche of time?

  Her eyes opened wide. Then they narrowed, filling with a look that bordered on frustration. He took a deep breath and reminded himself that he’d walked out of her life for a reason. He’d needed to protect her then. He needed to protect her now. “Sorry to just barge in like this. We didn’t really didn’t get a chance to talk back there, and I wanted to make sure everything was okay.”

  “Yeah, I’m just busy doing the work of two people, trying to get ready for tomorrow.” She shrugged. “Obviously, I’ll feel better when George is back on his feet again. I’m guessing you didn’t get a chance to talk to him?”

  A bitter taste rose to his tongue. Yeah, he’d talked to George, for all of two seconds after he’d pulled him from the blaze. Just long enough for George to remind him he’d once been a liar and a thief who’d tried to steal the camp cash box. Which was the exact opposite of what he’d have ever expected from the old man, especially after George had pressed upon him how important it was to him personally that Luke come up this weekend. It made no sense.

  “Not really. Just a few words. Do you keep anything special in your camp cash box? I thought he said something about my going back for it, but obviously I couldn’t.”

  She blinked. “No. Just a couple hundred dollars in petty cash. Nothing worth running into a fire for. Maybe you misunderstood him.”

  He shrugged. “Probably.” She turned to the boat. He crossed the floor in three steps. “Wait. Before you go, I owe you an apology.”

  She didn’t even look at him. “Don’t worry about it. Please. You’re hardly the first person Ace Sports has lured away. Just make sure you double check your invoice carefully.” She slapped a button on the wall and the garage-type door rolled open. “Now, if you could close this door after I leave, I’d really appreciate it. The remote isn’t working and it’s going to rain.”

  Why were they still talking to each other like virtual strangers? For years he’d pictured what it would be like to see Nicky again. He’d imagined her crying. He’d imagined her yelling. He’d even imagined her tumbling into his arms. He’d never imagined her just brushing him off.

  She glanced back over her shoulder. Her eyes met his. Huge. Fathomless. Filled with questions she didn’t seem ready put into words, yet which still somehow managed to reach into his chest begging him for the answers. She slipped a key into the ignition. The engine roared to life.

  “Nicky, wait.” He crossed the floor quickly, feeling all the words he wanted to say get mixed up and jumbled inside him. Thunder rumbled in the distance.

  “I’m sorry, but I really must go.” The boat inched forward. She didn’t even look at him. “I’ve got to get the camping site ready for tomorrow and the storm’s moving faster than I expected. I’m short-handed as it is—”

  He grabbed the corner of the windshield. “I’m sorry I never showed up at the lookout that day and just left you standing there waiting. I never should’ve left without saying goodbye. As for telling you my name was ‘Louie’ instead of ‘Luke’ so you couldn’t find me, and pretending I was really a counselor at Ace Sports...that was pretty low.”

  A long pause spread through the tiny boathouse, filling his ears with the sound of water lapping against the boat. Her hood fell back. Her eyes were wet with unshed tears. Her lower lip trembled. He slid his hand down the windshield and onto the console, inches away from hers.

  But she kept both hands on the steering wheel. When she spoke, her voice was as clear and strong as the sound of the final whistle. “I don’t know what to say to that. Except, thank you for finally being honest. I thought I’d recognized you earlier, but I didn’t know what to think, especially when you said you’d never worked at Ace Sports.” She blinked hard. “I accept your apology. But I honestly don’t have time to talk about this right now. I just really have to go.”

  “Okay.” He let go of the boat and crossed his arms. “Then I’m coming with you.”

  THREE

  The thick mass of towering rock and dense pines rose out of the water, deep in the middle of the lake. Black-and-orange clouds hung heavy in the trees. Nicky eased up on the throttle and steered the boat toward the island. They’d barely exchanged more than a word or two since they’d left camp. Not that it was always easy to make yourself heard over the rush of the wind and the smack of waves hitting the boat. Maybe he was simply waiting for her to say something, but she didn’t have a clue what to say.

  So, her first love hadn’t just broken her heart, he’d lied to her about who he was and where he was from. Repeatedly and intentionally. Which probably meant he’d just been some bored teenager from a nearby cottage who’d thought it would be fun to sneak into a camp. Wouldn’t be the only time that had happened. Except, this time she’d been the foolish girl who’d been too quick to trust and to give her heart away. A mistake she wouldn’t make again.

  Nicky focused on coasting the boat through an obstacle course of jutting rocks and yellow buoys. Whatever she’d once felt for this man was ancient history. All that mattered now was saving her camp. Luke was nothing more to her now than someone her boss had invited up for the weekend.

  She cut the motor, filling the air with a silence that was so still it was almost deafening.

  Luke
whistled under his breath. “George told me that a former camper had given Camp Spirit an actual island in their will, but I’ve never seen it.”

  She almost smiled. “It’s about a two-hour trip by canoe, though way less by motorboat. It was bequeathed to Camp Spirit about three years ago, but we haven’t been able to do much with it, to be honest. George has this vision of turning it into an offshoot youth camp for older teens that are either in trouble with the law or at risk of going that way. But we don’t have the resources to make it happen.”

  “Do you get a lot of donations?”

  She steered the boat toward a small strip of beach. “Not really. A few former campers give us twenty or thirty dollars a month. But even though George kind of runs the place like a charity, he’s never applied to legally become one because we don’t hit all the criteria, and that turns off a lot of donors. Sometimes business people or organizations partner with us to build something specific. And then there’s Mystery Donor.”

  His eyebrows rose. “‘Mystery Donor’?”

  “That’s what the counselors call him or her. Seven or eight years ago, someone gave George a huge, huge donation. Close to a million dollars, actually. With careful management, George was able to use it to fund new buildings and new projects. It kept us going for years. But as only George knew their name, the summer staff got into the habit of praying, ‘Thank You, God, for the Mystery Donor!’ and it stuck.”

  She chuckled. But Luke frowned. His gaze ran over the steep stone crags. His brow furrowed. The whole trip there she’d been catching little sideways glimpses of him, without really meaning to. Evaluating the man he was against the boy she remembered. His shoulders had gone from husky to strong. Dark stubble on his jawline hinted of a man who didn’t like a close shave. No ring on his finger, implying he’d never settled down. There was still a slight curve at the corner of a mouth that looked just as soft as the day he’d first kissed her. “Well, I know things are tight financially, and I wish I had the kind of money that could help you guys out.”