Silent Hunter

by Maggie K. Black

  Neil clicked a remote and the big white doors of the boathouse rolled open. Three boats sat inside. They practically gleamed. Neil patted Nicky’s shoulder. “Don’t look so glum, kiddo. I’m sure it goes without saying that if your new board of directors don’t like you, or you don’t like them, I’ll definitely suggest bringing you on here as my right-hand gal.”

  He docked the boat. They disembarked and Neil led them through a maze of Ace Sports’ buildings and chalets to the parking lot.

  Nicky trailed behind the group. Luke dropped back and matched her stride. “Look, I know this whole thing must come as a shock, but George has a point wanting to sell sooner rather than later. He’s not as young as he used to be and the place needs a lot of work. If he’s ready to pack it in and move on to retirement, then good for him.”

  Her eyes grew wide. “So you’re defending him?”

  “Defending George’s right to sell the camp he built and retire? Yeah. Of course. It’s his baby. Not yours.”

  She stopped walking so suddenly it took him a few steps to realize she was no longer keeping up. He stopped and turned back. She’d crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Unbelievable.”

  She’d muttered the word so low he wasn’t sure if she was talking to him or to herself. The rest of the group had stopped now and was watching them. Luke waved them on. “Neil, how about you go ahead and take Aaron and Gracie to the hospital? Nicky and I can grab our vehicles from Camp Spirit and meet you there.”

  Aaron and Gracie hesitated, but Nicky waved at them, too. “It’s a great idea. Neil’s got a really comfortable sports utility vehicle. I’ll meet up with you at the hospital in a bit.”

  Hopefully, Nicky would calm herself down a whole lot before then. Level heads were what was needed right now, and her hands were clenched so tightly she looked ready to scream. The others kept walking. Luke waited until they disappeared from view, then he walked back to Nicky.

  “Look, I get it,” he said softly. “You love Camp Spirit and are afraid to imagine working anywhere else. But if these past few days have showed you anything, it’s that the camp is in worse shape than you realized and needs far more than you and George are able to put into it.”

  She snorted. “That some kind of joke? Why would you say that? Because we were sabotaged and attacked by the Hunter?”

  “Honestly? Yes. Partially.”

  Now the fury building behind her eyes looked ready to erupt into a shout. But she pressed her lips together and kept her voice level. “Are you kidding me? You’re blaming us, blaming me, for the fact someone sets fire to our lodge, vandalizes the island and kills two people?”

  “That’s not what I’m saying.” How could she not get this? “Stop making everything personal, and don’t twist my words.

  “No, of course no one is to blame for that evil criminal’s actions but himself. But if you’d owned more motorboats and bigger boats, we might not have gotten stranded in the first place. If anyone on our camping trip had owned a state-of-the-art satellite phone like Neil’s, we’d have been able to call the police right from the island. If Camp Spirit had a larger off-season staff, someone might have rescued us sooner. If the camp had invested some serious money in revitalizing the waterfront and doing more to the caves than just slapping up some No Entry boards then maybe the Hunter wouldn’t have been able to hide as long as he did.”

  She tossed her head. “You are blaming Camp Spirit, because we aren’t wealthy enough to afford fancy toys and haven’t managed to get charity status yet. You’re making us sound like a death trap.” She flung her arms open wide then practically spun in a circle. “So, this should be my future? Forget about running a small, special camp which works to change the lives of people who need help the most, like those troubled teens we talked about this morning. Instead, I should accept being just another cog in a gleaming sports machine for the rich and elite, where we pick and choose campers based on how far they can throw a ball and how much money they’ve got. Forget about kids who need a second chance. Forget about kids who are poor, or uncoordinated, or misfits and outsiders who don’t fit in.”

  Luke crossed his arms. “You’re being absolutely ridiculous.”

  “Am I? You heard Neil. You go ask him what it’s like to work for some commercially minded board of directors, beholden to hundreds of shareholders, whose only priority is figuring out how to use what could be the most important summer of a kid’s life as nothing but another money-making opportunity. How sad.”

  “No, what’s sad is how little you believe in George if you’re this quick to take everything Neil says at face value.” He could feel heat building at the back of his neck. “I know you were hoping this sponsorship trip might mean George could hang on to this place for a couple more years. But if the next heart attack ends up being fatal, Trevor probably won’t put anywhere near enough thought and care into finding buyers who respect George’s faith and priorities.

  “So, rather than seeing it as some kind of personal betrayal, maybe you should just recognize that George has the right to give up, say goodbye to this place and move on with his life. Sometimes the kindest thing to do is pack it in and walk away.”

  “Well, you’re the expert on saying goodbye—” Nicky swallowed her words as a group of Ace staff came out of a building. She turned to the right and cut through the buildings. He followed. She kept her lips closed tightly together until they reached the path to Camp Spirit.

  “I’m sorry. That came out a lot harsher than I intended. But you don’t know what it’s like. You’re an outsider who’s barely set foot here. You were never a camper, a counselor or a volunteer. You’ve never seen a kid’s face light up the first time they pick up a paddle or gotten caught in the happy stampede of people racing to the lodge for breakfast.”

  Their footsteps crested the hill. The setting sun brushed across Camp Spirit in a wave of golden light, deepening to red at the horizon.

  “Yes, maybe all I was ever going to get was one or two more summers. But every day this place has campers in it is a chance to change someone’s life. George, our counselors, our staff, me, the campers...people poured themselves into this place and got so much back in return. So if I don’t think you should get a vote, it’s not personal. It’s because you’ve never invested anything in this place, let alone an actual piece of yourself.”

  He could tell she meant it rhetorically. But still his shoulders stiffened. “Yes, actually, I have. I gave everything I had to this camp you claim I know nothing about.”

  Her head shook. “No, not the way I mean—”

  “Nicky! Listen!” His hands touched her shoulders, turning her toward him. “Listen to what I’m saying. I have. I’ve invested every single cent I could into this place you love. You told me some mystery donor friend of George’s gave you a giant lump sum of hundreds of thousands to help this place stay afloat? That was me.”

  SEVENTEEN

  He watched as her golden eyes grew wide. Her face paled. Nicky’s lips parted, but no words came out.

  “I’m sorry.” Luke grabbed her hand. “I didn’t mean to just drop something like that on you. George and I agreed it would remain our secret. But yes, that big donation that kept you going was from me.”

  “No, I can’t believe you.” She was shaking, but he couldn’t tell whether it was more from anger or shock. “I can’t believe after everything we’re going through, I’m still discovering lies. You told me straight-up that you didn’t have money—not big, serious life-changing money. You told me that you were just a sport’s reporter.”

  “I didn’t lie.” A long sigh left his chest. “I just didn’t tell you, because I didn’t want you treating me any differently. I definitely don’t have money like that anymore...

  “When I was twenty-two, a lawyer showed up at my tiny little apartment and told me my father had died and left me eve
rything. I didn’t know my father. Never met him. Definitely didn’t want anything to do with him. But apparently he knew who I was.

  “I can only guess that my mother wasn’t a total stranger to him and when she had me he’d found out about it somehow. For all I know she called him up drunk one night and told him herself. Maybe they talked throughout my childhood. I don’t know. They both had substance abuse problems and she wouldn’t tell me anything about him. But he named me as his only heir—to his house, his life insurance policy, his savings, everything.”

  “I’m sorry, that must have been hard.” She was still holding his hand.

  He looked down. Her toes were barely an inch away from his. “It was incredibly hard. I ignored it for months. Eventually, I hired someone to clear out his house, sell his property and basically liquidate his life. Then, one day, while I was still sorting out my father’s estate, Mom took an overdose and suddenly I had her estate to deal with, as well.”

  His eyes closed as he remembered the police showing up to inform him. Those were some of the darkest days of his life. “If it hadn’t been for my boss, my coworkers, my church and for George, I don’t think I’d have made it.” He pulled his hand out of hers.

  “Anyway, Mom didn’t really own much of value—just a small run-down house. But the market happened to be really good in that part of town and a developer wanted the land. Plus there were envelopes of money from my father stashed under her mattress. Thousands of dollars of, I’m guessing, guilt money he’d apparently sent over the years to help her and me. She’d never even opened any of the envelopes. There were no notes inside, just cash.”

  Luke turned and walked toward the tree line. The setting sun cascaded through the treetops beneath him. “So there I was, barely twenty-three years old, in possession of the spoils of my parents’ lives, desperately knowing I needed to put the past behind me and move on with my life. Thankfully, I had a good job and a place to live. I didn’t have any intention of going to university and, considering my family history, I thought having a family of my own was completely out of the question...”

  A hand brushed his arm. He turned. She’d followed him. “So, you gave it all to George?”

  He rolled his shoulders back. “Believe me, I didn’t want anything to do with it. I didn’t want even one single cent going toward something I was going to have to ever see again. Donating it to Camp Spirit felt right. I felt like I owed George my life.”

  She nodded slowly. “So that’s why you never wanted to volunteer here or to talk to the campers. Maybe that’s even why you’re happy to see this place sold.”

  He turned toward her. “What on earth are you talking about? That’s not it at all.”

  “Are you sure?” The anger had faded completely from her face. Instead, her eyes were filled with compassion and a willingness to understand. “Your gift kept this place alive. You have to have looked around here and known that cabins have roofs, boats are running, obstacle courses are standing—all because of that money you gave. I saw you frown when you first got out of your car on Thursday. Maybe it was because you knew your parents’ money helped build this.”

  His shrug was so big his arms practically did a backstroke. “If I frowned it was because seeing the lodge again reminded me of how immature and selfish I’d once been. Even George reminded me of that when I pulled him out of the fire. Bottom line is George was wrong to think I should be up here playing camp counselor. I’m not the kind of man anyone would want kids looking up to. Maybe even he gets that now.”

  Her eyes closed for a moment, as though she was listening to a piece of music only she could hear. “You’re wrong.” She looked up into his face. “You’re exactly the kind of person kids like that need. I’ve seen you in action. I’ve listened to you. I’m alive because of you. I heard what you said to Gracie and Aaron—”

  He bristled. “I only told them that because I didn’t want Gracie to give up on herself.”

  “But I’m supposed to just stand here and listen to you give up on yourself? Maybe it wasn’t just guilt that made you donate that money. Maybe deep in your heart you really believed in what we were trying to do. And if I have any hope of talking George out of this sale, you are exactly the kind of person I need by my side. If you and I went to George together, I know he would listen.”

  “I appreciate what you’re trying to do, but I’m not your champion here.” Luke stuffed his hands into his pockets. “I totally respect George’s decision and I’m not about to argue with him about something that’s ultimately none of my business.”

  All he’d ever promised was to get Nicky home safely. His job here was done. Now it was time to book into a hotel, get into some clean clothes, call the police to see if they wanted anything more from him and check in at work.

  Nicky’s slim shoulders sagged like a deflated balloon. “So you’re giving up.”

  “You can’t give up something that was never yours to begin with.”

  Her eyes were still locked on his face—beautiful, vibrant, asking him for something neither of them had the courage to put into words. It rattled him. Part of him wanted to make her see sense. Part of him wanted to kiss her. Part of him even wanted to be nineteen again and come running through the woods to the place he knew she was waiting for him, instead of breaking into the lodge and running away.

  “What do you want from me, Nicky? Really? If you’re thinking something, just come out and say it.”

  A sad smile crossed her lips. “What I want is to never have trusted my hopes and my dreams to George or to you.” She raised her head toward the horizon. “Well, I’m going to go hit my cabin, call the police and get changed—not to mention pray for a bit. Then I’m going to head over to the hospital. Will I see you there?”

  “Probably not.” His heart pricked with every beat, as if there was a splinter stuck in his chest. He should say goodbye properly this time. He should tell her how thankful he was to have been able to get to know her again. He needed to tell her how he admired her and how he hoped she’d have an amazing future. Maybe even admit how deeply he suspected he was going to miss her. But to say something like that would be to acknowledge that this was their final goodbye and he knew he wasn’t coming back.

  She stepped toward him. His heartbeat raced. Her hand brushed his chest. “Goodbye, Luke Wolf, and thanks for everything.”

  “Do you want me to walk you back to camp?”

  “No, thanks.” She stepped back then turned toward the horizon. “I’m okay on my own.”

  * * *

  Nicky’s footsteps stumbled through the woods back into Camp Spirit. Long shadows crossed the ground under her feet. She felt numb. Part of her wanted to just curl up under a tree and cry. But if she did that, she might not get up again. These old familiar buildings had been part of her world her entire adult life. She’d hammered some of these nails. She’d shingled some of these roofs. She knew every root and rock under her feet. There was no way she’d let this place go without a fight.

  The kids who came here were the kind who needed a place to belong and someone to believe in them. Every summer they stayed open allowed them to reach a few more. Maybe George no longer had enough steam to keep it going. But to just sell it out from under her like this? One didn’t give up on things that mattered just because they were in a bad place and needed fixing. She’d get washed up, go see George and they’d sort this out.

  The hollow husk of the burned-out lodge loomed ahead. The few remaining crossbeams stretched bare above her, like the skeleton of a mythical beast. Yellow warning tape lay twisted on the ground, spilling out from the wood beams. A mountain of boards and debris filled what was once the lodge floor. A figure was standing on top of the heap in the middle of the destruction.

  “George?”

  It looked as though her boss had been discharged from hospital and was checking out the rema
ins of the lodge for himself. Words bubbled out of her mouth as she tripped and picked her way over the police tape. “I can’t tell you how thankful I am to see you. Neil told me what you’re planning. Please, don’t sell. I know the camp is in trouble. I know the situation is bleak. But, please, don’t just give up. Not like this.”

  He turned. She was wrong. It wasn’t George. It was Trevor.

  “Oh, hey! I’m sorry. I thought you were your father.” Her feet slid to a stop just inside the threshold of what was once the dining-room door. She stepped through carefully. Scorched gray wood crumbled to ashes beneath her boots. “How are you doing? Neil told me you all came down with food poisoning.”

  “Yeah.” He nodded slowly. “Pretty bad, actually. I was out for a few hours there.”

  “Sorry to hear it. The dinner stew was laced with some kind of sleeping pill. I’m guessing the Hunter did something to the soup, too.”

  Trevor stared at her for a long moment. “You call him ‘the Hunter’? Interesting. I didn’t realize you’d given him a name.” He walked down the heap toward her. Broken glass and charred pieces of ceiling tile snapped and cracked under his feet. He stopped while still a full head above her. “Did Neil actually tell you my father is thinking of selling this place?”

  “Yes. Well, no... Not exactly.” She paused as her brain scrambled backward to remember Neil’s exact words. “He told me that your dad was stepping down and there were going to be new owners. We never discussed specifics.”

  Rather, her worst fears had taken over at that point. Then again, Neil had also said that George wanted Trevor to get his inheritance sooner rather than later, and she could hardly expect Trevor to disagree with that.

  “Look, I get it,” she added. “Your father’s health is failing. Our financial situation is terrible and there’s a lot of work to be done. But still, he can’t give up and sell it off.”