Something rustled in the forest behind them. They both spun sharply. She searched the tree line. But she couldn’t hear anything but the whispers of trees in the afternoon breeze. The Hunter could be anywhere. Lurking behind any tree. Silent. Deadly. Considering how far a high-tech bow like his could shoot, the campers wouldn’t be any safer sitting in the canoes on open water than they would be at the campsite. Nowhere was safe anymore. Lord, please bring Trevor back soon and with reinforcements.
“We don’t have any choice,” Nicky said. “I’m going back to camp to make sure everyone has a good, solid dinner in them. The stew’s cooked, so we might as well eat it and get our strength up, instead of trying to get out of here on an empty stomach. When we’ve eaten, we’re going to pack up and paddle out of here. Just because no one’s been seriously hurt by the Hunter’s antics so far doesn’t mean I’m about to take the risk his next stunt won’t be fatal.
“As much as I hate the idea of asking people to risk the danger of canoeing at night, we have flashlights. I don’t know what’s taking Trevor so long. I’d much rather we rendezvous with Trevor on the open water twenty minutes after leaving here than risk us having to spend the night.”
“Agreed,” Luke said, pulling his wet T-shirt on.
Slowly they made their way upstream, toward the campsite. Trees whispered around them. The ground cover rustled beneath their feet.
She couldn’t shake the feeling they were being watched. “I hate the idea that one of those four people I left back at camp could be behind this—or part of it, anyway. For all I know, I’m about to ask the hunter himself to climb in a canoe with me. But I’m not about to leave potentially innocent people behind either.”
Luke’s face was grim. “You know, we keep saying ‘he’ but it could have been anyone in those fatigues. Those things were huge enough to mask almost anyone’s shape, and you don’t need that much strength or power when you’ve got a two-thousand-dollar high-tech bow on your side. Bows like that even come with scopes to make sure you hit your target.”
“Well, it can’t be Gracie,” Nicky said. “She’s the only one I’m convinced couldn’t have attacked me. Not because she’s a girl, but because she’s too short and I’m pretty confident I could overpower her pretty easily. Bear’s just too huge. I’d have known if that much weight was pressing into me. But that doesn’t mean either of them can’t be working with whoever attacked me yesterday. I’m not even sure Aaron could successfully get the jump on me, even though the Hunter did have the advantage of surprise. Not that learning Aaron tried to warn Gracie off coming here doesn’t worry me silly, especially coupled with how blatant it is she’d do just about anything for David.”
She ran her hands over her arms. “You know, if I ever caught one of my counselors staring at a guy the way she looks at him, I’d be bringing her into my office for a heart-to-heart on the dangers of liking a guy so much you give up your own self-esteem. In fact, the most compelling evidence that Gracie had nothing to do with the course falling is that David was on it.”
“Which just leaves Russ,” Luke said.
“Who could have been in those fatigues, yeah.” Nicky shoved a branch out of her way. “But as far as I’m concerned, both Russ and Bear are worth worrying about. Suddenly your theory that Neil at Ace Sports might be involved doesn’t seem as silly as I thought. Bear built every single one of Ace’s big shiny buildings and Russ is on Neil’s bowling team.”
The ground sloped steeply upward. Her heart weighed heavy in her chest. “It’s going to kill George to see his camp go down in flames like this, and whoever’s doing this is basically robbing Trevor of his inheritance, too. I can’t imagine anyone hating the Dales enough to do this to their family.”
A panicked cry filtered through the trees. Nicky grabbed Luke’s arm as the screams grew louder.
Gracie was pleading for help.
ELEVEN
Nicky sprinted through the trees, Luke on her heels, as Gracie’s high-pitched screams echoed through the forest. “Hang on! We’re coming!”
They burst into a clearing, nearly falling onto the fight unfolding in front of them. Gracie was standing, shaking, eyes wide, hands pressed to her lips, as Russ threw Aaron up against a rock. Russ pulled back his fist, prepared to plunge the full force of his weight into the younger man’s jaw.
“Stop it! Now!” Nicky could hear her own voice echo, as if coming from somewhere outside herself.
Luke lunged, grabbed Russ’s arm and yanked it back. Aaron crumpled to the ground and Gracie tumbled down onto the dirt beside him.
Russ swore loudly. “Let me go.”
Luke held him firm. “Not until I know you’re not going to hit anyone.”
“You kidding me?” Russ was practically foaming at the mouth. “I was defending myself. That little twerp jumped me!”
Luke glanced at Nicky. She nodded. Luke let Russ go, but kept his hands in the air, just inches away from the man. Nicky let out a long breath mingled with prayer. God, I’m sorry I ever griped about You sending Luke along on this trip. I don’t want to guess how I would have pulled these two men apart without him here.
Aaron wiped a drop of blood off his lips. “He attacked Gracie. I was just defending her.” He wrapped a protective arm around the girl’s shoulders.
Russ’s face grew red. “I did nothing of the sort. She looked sad. Upset, like she was about to cry, you know? So I just gave her a hug and she got all hysterical. Typical overly emotional woman.”
“He grabbed me from behind.” Gracie’s voice was quiet, but Nicky could almost hear Tabitha’s strength moving through her daughter’s words.
Russ spluttered and spun back toward the couple as if ready to hit whichever one flinched first.
Nicky stepped in front of them, without even glancing at the fist hovering inches from her face. “Is that true?”
Russ snorted. Then he looked at Luke as if she wasn’t even there. “That girl is lying. I just hugged her. She was looking sad. Her mom isn’t back yet. So I walked up and I gave her a hug. Since when is that a crime?”
Yeah, Nicky had seen enough young, female counselors duck Russ’s unwanted, impromptu hugs that she could guess how that had gone. He’d known better than to ever try it with her. “You hugged her from behind and without asking her.”
“So what? That boy’s the criminal who jumped me. I should have him arrested.”
Right, as if Russ would risk the damage to his reputation a court case would cause.
“Aaron was just protecting me!” Gracie’s voice rose. “He didn’t even hit you. He just tried to pull you off me!”
“He threatened to kill me!”
“He didn’t mean it! He was just trying to get you to stop!”
Nicky held up a hand. “Is that true Aaron?”
Aaron nodded. “Yeah. Close enough. I didn’t hurt him. But he’d have deserved it if I did. He was trying to take advantage of her.” Aaron’s arm tightened protectively around Gracie. The gesture was almost brotherly.
“See!” Russ jabbed his hand in their direction.
Nicky squared her shoulders. “Russ, you owe Gracie an apology. Whether you meant to or not, you scared her pretty badly. Not that Aaron was justified in threatening you, if he did...
“The stew should be about finished. I suggest we all head back to camp and take a few moments to calm down. Once we’re no longer running on empty stomachs, we’re going to pack up camp and head back to the mainland. Hopefully, Trevor will be back by then. If not, we’re going to canoe it. Feel free to head to the police station and report this incident when we all get back. In the meantime, I suggest everyone take a few deep breaths and try to calm down.”
“So the camp mommy is trying to tell me to apologize and try a time-out?” Russ spluttered a laugh that was more like a bark. Once again, his words w
ere directed straight at Luke. “I can’t believe what I’m hearing. You going to just stand there like a moppet and let her call the shots?”
Luke’s angry grin stopped just short of a snarl. “Yeah, I am. It would do you good to remember that Nicky is the boss of the place and we’re here as her guests.”
Russ let out a string of swearwords that was more shout than understandable syllables. His fat finger waved in front of Nicky’s nose. “You think a little girl like you can tell me what to do? You need someone to teach you a lesson.” Then he stepped back and swung his arms wide. “As for this camp? It can fall apart and rot. The moment I get back to my office, I’m tearing up every single one of our contracts for this summer. Then I’m going to march into that hospital room and tell that old geezer George that until he sees some sense, fires you and puts a real man in charge of this place, my company will never do business with him or Camp Spirit ever again. Good luck finding enough paddles and life jackets to stay afloat now.” He turned toward the trees. “Yeah, I’m going to go get my bag. And then I’m going to grab whichever canoe I want—canoes that I sold you—and paddle myself back to shore.”
“No one should be going anywhere alone right now.” She could rise above Russ’s rudeness. But that didn’t mean she was about to let him go charging alone through the woods without a warning. “We now think there might be a trespasser on the island and he’s armed with hunting arrows. We think he might have intentionally sabotaged the obstacle course. I don’t know if anyone’s in actual danger, otherwise we wouldn’t have waited this long for the motorboat to come back. But we’d rather not risk having anyone go running off alone.”
Russ snorted. “I’d like to see anyone try to stop me.”
* * *
A bright fire crackled in the stone pit in front of Luke. Behind him, only two tents were still left standing. The others had been packed and rolled, and were now lying in a pile of equipment waiting to be shipped back to shore. A half-empty stew bowl lay by his feet.
Luke’s watch beeped. He glanced down. Eight o’clock at night. It was hard to believe any son of George’s could be this flaky and unreliable. Then again, maybe Trevor just didn’t want to face the music about having gone rummaging through people’s bags, so was now sulking in some bar on the mainland. Either way, Luke was rapidly losing both respect and patience for him.
Luke hadn’t seen Russ since the man had shoved his things into a bag and charged off through the woods like a rhinoceros. Luke had made one final attempt to stop him, but Russ had been too angry to listen and Luke wasn’t about to physically attack the man just to keep him from canoeing alone.
Now just five of them remained around the campfire. Aaron and Gracie sat side by side on a log to his right. Aaron was eating. Gracie just turned a hunk of bread around in her hands, barely nibbling at the edges.
As for getting home, they now had bigger problems. Bear sat on the other side of the fire pit, a wobbly grin on his face. He stank of alcohol. It appeared that on top of the flask Trevor had found in his bag, there’d also been one stashed in his pockets. While Luke and Nicky had been in the woods, first inspecting the obstacle course and then trying to calm the conflict between the others, Bear had managed to get enough hard liquor into himself that he was too drunk to walk without staggering.
Great. Now they had one camper both furious and missing, and another too drunk to safely risk getting into a boat. Hopefully that was the only thing someone had managed to smuggle onto the island.
Luke’s eyelids felt heavy. He let them close for a moment as he muttered a prayer under his breath. Dear Lord, now what? Then he felt the weight shift under him. He opened his eyes. Nicky had dropped down beside him on the log. “How are you holding up?”
She shrugged, her gaze lost deep inside the burning fire. Firelight danced across her skin, sending dark shadows down the lines of her throat. There was almost something ethereal about her. Nicky was this odd, unexplainable combination of both fierce strength and aching vulnerability—and the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.
“I’m okay.” She sighed softly. “Not much we can do. I’d just managed to get my head around getting everyone to canoe home safely after dark. I never factored in maneuvering a huge drunk into a canoe with us.”
“We could wait until he passes out,” Luke suggested, “then I could take him alone in a canoe with me. That way if he woke up suddenly, flailed around and capsized the boat, I’m the only one in danger.”
Nicky shook her head. “He could take off his life jacket or hit his head and drown. Besides, I’m not about to risk your life, either.” She leaned into his side. The back of her hand bumped against his. “Right now, I just have to hope that Russ makes it back safely and that Trevor’s delay is nothing more serious than his usual, unreliable self-centeredness.” Her body nestled even closer into his. Then her head drooped so low that her forehead landed on his shoulder. “Just promise me you’re not about to run off without me this time.”
“What?” He tilted her face up toward him. “Of course I’d never leave you alone here in danger. I’m sticking as close to you as I can until everyone’s home safely. That’s a promise.”
Dark, haunted eyes looked up into his. She looked ready to fall asleep where she sat. “I feel like I’ve been praying in the back of my mind for hours.”
“Me, too.”
“Funny. You used to make fun of me for praying.” Her head fell into the crook of his neck. Cascades of curls tickled his skin. His lips brushed the top of her head before he could catch himself. Then his shoulders stiffened. What was happening here? Nicky had hardly been willing to let her guard down this way before. Could it be that he had somehow dropped his guard just enough to let her see how much he was still drawn to her? No, he couldn’t let them get any closer. Her life and his were in very different places. And he was hardly the kind of man she deserved.
A deep yawn left her lungs and Luke nearly chuckled in relief. For a moment he’d been worried, but she was probably just too exhausted to hold her head up a moment longer. In fact, he knew the feeling. Well, if she needed a friend, she had one in him.
Luke let one hand slide over hers, just long enough to squeeze it. “Yeah, Nicky, I pray now. I have prayed every single day for many, many years. I gave up a lot of the person I used to be when I met George. Mocking people who believed in God was one of the first things I stopped doing.”
A faint smile crossed her lips. “How did you even meet George? You’ve never told me.”
He took a deep breath. It was the wrong time to tell her this. But maybe he’d run out of better chances to tell her the truth.
That night she’d been standing alone on the lookout cliff side between Camp Sprit and Ace Sports waiting for a guy who was never going to show, he’d been sitting alone, in a jail cell, facing the future he so fully deserved. Well, you see, I wasn’t just a liar when you knew me, I was also a thief. George caught me stealing the camp’s cash box...
“Well, if this isn’t the most depressing campfire I’ve ever seen!” Bear’s voice boomed. Luke didn’t think he’d seen Bear smile once since they’d set off that morning, but now Bear’s intoxicated grin was wide enough for ten men or more. “I don’t know why everyone’s in such a big hurry to get out of this place. This island is amazing. I say we all get a good night’s sleep and worry about leaving in the morning.” He tore off a mouthful of bread and chewed it with his mouth open.
As much as Luke hated to admit it, it might be the only option they had left. His own body ached with fatigue and Nicky was yawning so deeply he half expected her to pass out on the ground. Her eyes had already closed.
Luke lowered his head toward her. “How about it?” he asked softly. “Why don’t we all plan to get some sleep and head out at first light?”
She shook her head, but her eyes didn’t open. “Can’t. Need to leave. The
re’s a hunter.”
A flurry of whispers yanked his attention across the circle. Aaron and Gracie were arguing about something, but he couldn’t make out what they were saying.
Another yawn from Nicky. Luke’s fingers brushed under her chin. Her eyes fluttered open. “Nicola? Sweetheart? You’re exhausted. Why don’t you go lie down for fifteen or twenty minutes at least? Have a nap. I’ll wake you if Trevor arrives.” Even if they didn’t see Trevor until morning, she was in no position to paddle. “I promise, if Trevor doesn’t come back with the boat, and we all end up having to stay the night while Bear sleeps his liquor off, I will stay up all night and keep watch by the fire while you sleep.”
Her head bobbed drowsily. “I’ll keep watch for you to sleep, too. We’ll do shifts.”
A smile crossed his lips. Same old, stubborn, independent Nicky. “Deal.”
Aaron and Gracie’s argument seemed to be growing. Gracie knocked a bowl of stew from Aaron’s hands and bolted into one of the tents. Aaron turned and strode off into the woods. Luke glanced at Nicky. She hadn’t even seemed to notice. “Gracie’s gone into the tent. Why don’t you follow her?” He stretched. “I think it’s about time Aaron and I talk.”
Not to mention, it probably wasn’t the safest idea for Aaron to be running alone and upset through the woods right now. Either Aaron was in danger or he was part of the danger. Regardless, he was going to confront Aaron now, once and for all. And just let him try to squirm out of telling Luke the whole truth this time.
He waited just long enough to watch Nicky stumble into the same tent as Gracie and close the flaps behind her. Then Luke stood. Vertigo swept over him like an ocean. His head swam. He blinked hard. Must be more tired than I’d realized. Luke waved in Bear’s direction. “I’ll be back in a minute.”
Silent Hunter Page 8
