Her gaze darted around her. Woods. Everywhere stood trees, underbrush, rocks. The forest surrounded them. Each tree might as well be the boogeyman.
Just like when she was a little girl. She’d been lost—and alone—in the wilderness while her mom partied at the campground with a new boyfriend. The search parties hadn’t found eight-year-old Molly until the next morning. She’d wedged herself between two trees to ward away the cold and intruders. If it hadn’t been for the red outfit she’d been wearing, rescuers might not have found her the next day. She’d been dehydrated and hungry, but otherwise okay.
She closed her eyes, half afraid she might pass out and half praying she would.
Because anything would be better than facing this nightmare around her.
* * *
Nick looked beside him, noting that Molly somehow reminded him of a little girl all of the sudden. The pain of her cut, the memories of her childhood seemed to be attacking her now. Her eyes began drooping shut.
“Stay with me, Molly.”
She jerked them open, but a glazed look replaced her earlier focus. “I’m here.”
Using his index finger, he turned her chin toward him until her gaze locked with his. “Don’t look at the woods. Look at me, okay?”
She nodded, but Nick could tell he was losing her. He had to keep her distracted from everything around her—her cut, the woods, the men with guns.
“We’re going to be okay, do you understand?”
She nodded again, but her eyes had a paralyzed look to them. He had to get her away from this place, somewhere he could check out her wound and know she was safe. He just needed to buy a few more minutes first.
He gripped her hand and began tapping out a rhythm there. “Do you remember that?”
She nodded. “It was our silent way of communicating so no one else would know.” They would give one tap for the letter A, two taps for B, all the way down the alphabet.
“What am I saying now?” He tapped out his message and waited until she grinned.
“You’re trying to make me blush.”
He shook his head. “No, I mean it. You’re beautiful, Molly. Have I ever told you that?”
A slight hint of a smile played on her lips. “It’s been awhile.”
He swiped a lock of her auburn hair behind her ear and cupped her face with his hand. “You’re even more beautiful than before. Time’s been good to you, you know.”
“You’re just saying that so I won’t panic.” She attempted a laugh, but it came out a sigh.
He caressed her cheek, wanting nothing more than to cover her lips with his. But this wasn’t the time or the place. When he kissed her again it wouldn’t be at a time she was scared and vulnerable. “I don’t want you to panic, but I do mean it when I say you’re beautiful, Molly. Even after all of these years, I still look at you and forget about everything else.”
Her eyelids fluttered. “Now you really are trying to make me blush.”
“It’s kind of cute when you blush.” He grinned, but let it slip away. “Listen, my grandfather has a hunting cabin not too far from here—it’s closer than the rest of the camp. He has a first aid kit there. I’m going to take you there and get a bandage on you. Okay?”
“Okay.”
“Do you want me to carry you?”
“Just help me walk.”
He stood, confident that the men pursuing them had passed, and held out a hand to Molly. Her eyes squeezed with pain as he pulled her to her feet. He wished there was another way. But every other plan he could think of involved leaving her in the woods while he went to get help. He knew he couldn’t do that.
Nick slipped his arm around her waist and waited until she got her balance. “You sure you can do this?”
“No, but I’m willing to give it a shot.”
“Okay, here we go then.” They stepped forward, Molly hobbling on one leg. Nick tried to help her as much as he could. Finally, after a few steps, they fell into a nice rhythm together.
His grandfather’s hunting cabin wasn’t far from there. He’d get Molly bandaged up, let her rest a few minutes and then take her back to the camp.
Please, Lord, cover the eyes and ears of the men who were following us. Help them not to hear or see us.
Slowly, surely, they made it to the cabin. Nick carried Molly up the steps to the landing at the front door. He reached for his keys when he noticed the door was open a crack. Cautiously, he pushed at it, watching as it slowly creaked open. He and Molly exchanged a glance. Someone had been here. The question was, who?
He made sure Molly was secure against the porch railing before stepping back toward the door. “Wait here while I check out the inside.”
Molly leaned against the rough exterior of the cabin and nodded. Nick stepped inside, his gaze darting about the dark one-room cabin. The place was small enough that it would be hard for anyone to hide out there. Everything appeared still, quiet.
Still on guard, he moved through the darkness to the kitchenette in the corner. Never turning his back on the rest of the cabin, he reached below the sink until he found a propane lantern. The wick flared to life and the cabin came into view. No one was inside, but it was apparent someone had been there.
Molly stepped inside, looking gaunt and pale. Her gaze wandered the space around them. “What happened in here?”
Nick placed the lantern on the kitchen table and shook his head. “I have no idea. The cabin’s obviously had visitors.”
Food wrappers were on the ground, the mattress leaned against the window, dirty pots littered the stove.
“Someone made themselves at home.” Molly picked up an empty bag of potato chips. “Someone very messy made themselves at home.”
“Could have been one of the local hunters. They’ve been using the camp’s property for years. My granddad used to hunt before he gave the property over to the camp. Now, if you’re hunting this close to the cabins it can be dangerous.”
Molly lowered herself into a rickety wooden chair. From the intense look on her face, her cut felt worse.
“Let me get that first aid kit.” He rifled around in the bathroom cabinet until he found it. He knew the place was stocked. It had been a provision of his grandfather’s will giving the camp this property—the cabin had to remain in case Nick wanted to use it. Nick never hunted, but it was nice to know that there was a place he could go to get away.
He knelt in front of Molly. “Let’s see that cut.”
Slowly, she rolled up the leg of her jeans. A deep gash sliced through her skin. Nick resisted a flinch as the blood came into sight. Molly had to be in pain from a cut like that.
“You’re going to have to take me to the doctor when we get back.” Her voice sounded brittle.
Nick knew she was trying to be strong, and he admired her for that. “I’ll take you wherever you want when we get back.” He pulled out some ointment. “Until then, let’s get some antibiotic on this and some butterfly bandages. Okay?”
She nodded and shut her eyes. Nick worked quickly and carefully to bandage up the wound. When he was done, he rocked back on his heels and observed Molly again. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately, and not just when the woman was injured.
He thought he’d put this woman behind him, but the fierceness that welled in his heart when he thought about someone trying to hurt her clearly showed that he still cared about her. It didn’t matter, though. A relationship between them would never w
ork. Nick needed freedom from obligations right now, and Molly would never forgive him for abandoning her.
* * *
“You always liked nature, didn’t you?” Molly leaned back in the chair and tried to get her thoughts off of the situation at hand.
“Always. I guess I got that from my granddad. He loved nothing more than being out here on his land. I think he saw that same passion in me, which is why he left all of this to me.”
“He was the one person who understood you, wasn’t he?”
Nick nodded. “He was. I still miss him. He taught me how to build things out of wood, how to cultivate a garden, how to track animals. I used to beg my parents to let me stay with him for the entire summer. Two weeks never seemed like enough.”
“What did your dad teach you?”
“How to act like a Christian.” He shook his head. “I shouldn’t say it like that. My dad’s a good man. He just desperately wanted me to follow in his footsteps. I think he’d think of himself as a failure if I didn’t.”
Molly shook her head. “That’s crazy. You have to let your children be who they’re created to be.”
A slow grin cracked Nick’s face. “I like that. That’s who I want to be—the person God intended.”
Molly brushed Nick’s cheek with her thumb. “You’re too hard on yourself, Nick.”
A rustling sound outside caused them both to straighten. Nick extinguished the lantern and crept toward the door. “Get down.”
Molly sank to the floor, praying for safety. Had the men found them? If so, what would they do to them? Simply put a bullet through their head, or would they draw out the process into something much more painful?
“Do you see anything?” Molly whispered.
Nick crouched below the window, peering out through the corner. “Nothing. But I know I heard something.”
Molly pushed herself into the wall. “I heard it, too.”
He peered out the window a moment. Finally, he sank back down. “I think it was just a wild animal.”
“I hope that’s all it was.”
He turned to her. “Look, Molly. I need to go out to the shed behind this cabin. There’s probably a shovel in there. I want to find something that can help you walk, and something to use for added protection, just in case.”
She stood. “I’m going with you. You’re not leaving me in this cabin all by myself.” She felt safer with Nick in the wide open than she felt tucked away by herself.
“Stay close, though.”
“Got it.”
Pain screamed down her leg as she stood. She gripped Nick’s arm, using his steadiness for support. Slowly, they hobbled down the steps. Their feet crunched across dried leaves and cracked twigs lying in their path. Crickets chirping and various other sounds Molly didn’t recognize completed the night symphony around them.
“This is an old outhouse that my grandfather converted into a shed,” Nick whispered. “I haven’t been in here for years—I haven’t really had the need to—but I’m pretty sure he should have some tools out here.”
Molly nodded, her throat still dry with fear. Though nature didn’t hint of any impending attacks or hiding intruders, she still couldn’t rest. Letting down her guard would be foolish. For all they knew, their attackers could be at the edge of the woods waiting for them to emerge again. Cody was probably already sleeping and hadn’t noticed their absence.
Was this how the previous director had disappeared? Had he been minding his own business when intruders had driven him into the woods? And what had happened if they’d caught him?
Or had Gene simply left? Had he decided camp life wasn’t for him and been too much of a coward to let anyone know?
As they got closer to the shed, a foul smell permeated the air.
“It smells like it used to be an outhouse,” Molly mumbled.
“I can’t argue that.”
Nick fumbled for a minute until he found the right key on his key ring. The lock finally clicked and Nick pulled open the door. The stench became stronger, more nauseating, so much so that Molly took a step away.
“An animal must have fallen to the bottom of the place and died. That’s the only thing I can imagine would smell that bad.”
Molly agreed and let Nick step inside. She wrapped her arms over her chest, suddenly chilly.
Nick suddenly stumbled backward and moaned.
“What is it?”
Nick turned away from the shed, his eyes closed. “It’s Gene. He’s dead.”
TWELVE
Molly looked around the table at the various people gathered at the camp. Nick had called an emergency meeting after the events of last night. Not only were the camp’s staff members there—including Cody, Ernie and Molly—but several members of the board of directors and Sheriff Spruill had gathered. They had to make some serious decisions before the next round of campers arrived tomorrow. This meeting just happened to coincide with the board meeting that was supposed to take place today anyway.
“The cause of Gene’s death is still undetermined,” Sheriff Spruill said. “It’s obvious that a wild animal got to him, we just don’t know if that happened postmortem or not. The medical examiner is looking at him now, so we should have answers soon.”
“This is going to be hitting the newspapers soon and no one will want to send their kids here,” Richard Grayson spoke up.
Another board member shook his head. “And someone chased two of our staff with a gun. That’s more than a threat. Their lives were in danger. We can’t put campers’ lives in danger also. We just can’t do it.”
“None of the campers have been threatened, though.” Cody, who’d looked practically comatose earlier, now raised his head from the table. Fire flashed in his eyes. “I’d hate for this place to shut down. Whoever’s doing this will win if it does.”
“Word’s already spreading around town.” Ernie, the groundskeeper, stood at the back of the room and looked as if he’d just come from plowing the fields. Dirt and grime were smudged across his face and grass stains decorated his pants. “How will the parents feel if they find out they sent their kids here after all of this violence has been going on?”
Nick ran a hand through his hair and left even more strands than usual standing on end. Molly could tell the situation was getting to him—and rightfully so. She wanted nothing more than to tell him that everything would be all right.
But would it? Would everything be okay?
Finally, Nick straightened his stance at the front of the table and drew in a deep breath. “We have to be honest. I’m not going to let parents leave their children here under the false pretense that nothing’s been going on. I refuse to try to cover up the circumstances happening at the camp.”
Another board member raised his index finger. “What if we hire some off-duty sheriff’s deputies to patrol the camp twenty-four-seven? What if we instigate some new security procedures? And then if a parent still isn’t comfortable, we give them a full refund.”
“You think parents are going to go for that?” Ernie’s eyebrows raised, suspended in doubt.
Nick shrugged and tapped his finger against the table. “They might. Either way, we’d be letting them make the decision. I really don’t think the people behind this will hurt the campers. They only seem to be after me and Molly, for some reason. Even last night, I’m not sure they intended to hurt us as much as scare us.”
“What about Gene?” someone else asked.
Nick’s tapping
stopped and he leaned—or was it sagged?—against the table. “We don’t know anything for sure.”
Sheriff Spruill nodded. “I’m going to have to agree with the board members on this one. I think we need to shut the place down until the people behind these incidents are behind bars. We just can’t risk the campers’ safety.”
Molly’s heart sank. The last thing she wanted was for the camp to close. A scandal like this might tarnish the camp’s reputation forever. But more than that, she didn’t want anyone to be hurt.
They simply had to figure out who was behind this and stop the harrassment as soon as possible, before any more damage was done.
Nick raised his head and nodded. “I agree. That’s the only smart thing to do. I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to one of our campers. Shutting down the camp is the most responsible thing.”
The meeting wrapped up with a promise to convene again in two weeks. In the meantime, the sheriff and his men would continue to investigate the happenings around the camp. At least, Molly tried to reason optimistically, they’d have some time to fix the camp up more.
Molly saw a man, very businesslike in his khakis, button-down shirt and tie, approach Nick after everyone else had cleared away. Molly stayed close by, curious about the conversation.
“I’ve been checking the books like you asked me to, Nick. There are large sums of money missing.”
“Missing?”
The man nodded. “I don’t know if Gene was simply a terrible bookkeeper or if something else was going on. But there’s a large amount of unaccounted-for funds. I thought you’d want to know.”
“Thank you. I appreciate your work.” The lines seemed to deepen on Nick’s forehead.
When the man walked away, Molly hobbled toward Nick, her leg still aching. She placed her hand on his arm. “You doing okay?”
He nodded solemnly. “I think the decision to shut down the camp is for the best. I’m just afraid this will be the final nail in the coffin, so to speak, when it comes to this camp’s survival.”
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