24. Miller
The campers aren’t just yelling. They’re yelling a name.
“Bayley!”
I exchange a glance with Becca, who’s already climbing out of her sleeping bag, her brows pinched with worry as she pulls her pants all the way up. I’m too worried about what’s happening out there to even enjoy the glimpse of her round ass, covered by a pair of deep blue boy short underwear.
“I’m coming!” she calls, pulling her shoes on. She leaves the laces undone in her rush to get to the campers.
I slip a shirt and pants on and quickly follow her out of the tent.
The campers are frantic, six of them standing throughout our campsite calling Bayley’s name.
Liam is the closest to me. “What’s going on?” I ask, breathless from running.
He looks up at me, his little face lined with worry. “We can’t find Bayley. When the girls woke up, she wasn’t in the tent.”
My stomach drops. This is potentially a huge problem. We’re not at camp, where there’s a finite number of places a camper could have gone. We’re in the middle of the woods, and not even at the campsite we’d planned to stay at, where the camp director thinks we are. There are any number of places she could be or things that could have happened to her.
Besides the possibility of bears or mountain lions or other predators, there’s always the even worse possibility of a human predator.
“Bayley’s missing,” Becca says breathlessly, coming over to me.
“I heard.” I place my hands on Becca’s shoulders, pressing down gently. “Take a breath, and then we’re going to figure this out.”
She does, exhaling a long breath.
“Again.”
Her shoulders rise and fall beneath my palms. The tension is still there, but she finally looks me in the eye and nods, and I drop my hands and step back.
“I’m good. I’ll go look for her. I took a class on search and rescue, and I can bring the map so I can find my way back. Can you stay here with the campers and figure out breakfast?” She glances anxiously toward the woods.
“Of course. And Becca?” I wait until her gaze comes back to meet mine. “We’ve got this. It’s going to be okay,” I assure her.
“Are you two going to kiss?” Liam asks, his little eyes sharp as he looks between Becca and me.
Becca startles and takes a step back.
I just smile. “No. She’s going to find your friend. Now, who wants oatmeal?”
* * *
It takes close to an hour, but I manage to get the stove set up and boil water. Yes, I know the joke about people who are such bad cooks that they can’t boil water, but camp stoves are a whole different beast. I pour the boiling water over the instant oatmeal in each of the campers’ cups.
“What if we can’t find her?” Lena asks, blowing on the steaming cup in her hands with a worried look.
Savannah’s eyes go wide. “You think we won’t find her?”
“We’ll find her,” I say firmly. “We will.” She’s a kid. How far could she have gotten?
The campers are occupied for the moment while they eat their breakfast. I wish I’d had the foresight to bring along some coffee, even if it was the instant kind. I could use a shot of caffeine right now.
If I were a kid, where would I go? I look around the campsite. The clearing is only large enough for the tents and some space to sit on the makeshift seats the kids have made out of logs and rocks. She must have gone into the woods, obviously.
Maybe more important is the why. What made her leave? Did she get up to use the bathroom and got lost coming back? Did someone say or do something that made her run off, or need time alone?
My money is on the second option. If she just went to pee in the woods, she wouldn’t have gone far. I’m willing to bet she wanted time and space alone. That’s the only reason she’d go so far that she couldn’t be seen.
I’m about to take a bite of my own oatmeal when the sound of approaching footsteps makes me pause. “Becca?” I call. “Bayley?”
There’s no answer, but Becca appears a few seconds later, out of breath. “I can’t find her,” she says, frantic. “And now it’s getting cloudy. Can you help me?”
I look around at the six remaining campers. There’s not one right option here. Should I go out on my own to look and leave Becca with the campers? Leave the campers alone while I go with Becca?
I look back at Becca. Her eyes are frantic as she looks around us, like she might have somehow missed Bayley sitting next to one of the trees right next to the tent.
“Okay. Here’s what we’re going to do.” I raise my voice so the campers can hear me. “Kids, come here.”
They hop off their rocks and logs and trot over to us.
“Should we all go look?” Mollie asks, her voice tinged with concern.
“No!” Becca exclaims. “I mean, no, Mollie. We don’t need anyone else getting lost. I need you to all stay in one spot.”
I reach over and squeeze her hand, then let it go before the campers get any big ideas. “Becca’s right. She and I are going to go find Bayley. But we need you guys to be extra helpful for us. So, here’s the thing. If we’re not here, you all still need to be following rules and behaving, right?”
They all nod, their faces serious. At least they understand the gravity of the situation.
“When I say go, I want you all to head into your tents and zip them up.” I hold up my hand as Noah turns to the tent and takes a step toward it. “Not yet. When I say go.”
Noah turns back. “Sorry.”
I give him a smile. “It’s okay, bud. Just want everyone to get all the instructions, right?” I make sure all six campers have their gaze fixed on me before I continue. “So, here’s the deal. When I say go, you’ll all go to your tents and zip them up, then hang out in there. You can play games, talk, relax. But you may not leave the tent. Does anyone need to go to the bathroom before you go to your tent?”
Six shaking heads are my answer.
“Okay, good. So, no leaving the tents, even to go to the bathroom. We won’t be gone that long. While we’re gone, Lena is in charge.”
Lena puffs up, a proud smile on her face.
“Which means you need to listen to her. Because if anyone does something they shouldn’t, not only will you be in trouble, but Lena will be, too.”
Her smile fades slightly.
“With great power comes great responsibility, Lena. I trust you. Make good choices.” I nod at her. “Any questions?” I turn to the others, raising a brow.
“What if you can’t find her?” Mason asks.
Becca stiffens beside me.
“We will, buddy. And if we can’t, we’ll move on to Plan B. There’s always a backup plan.” I don’t know what the backup plan is, honestly. I hope to God Becca has one. “Okay. Go.”
Becca and I stand there and watch as the campers scurry off into their tents and zip them up.
I turn to her and put my hands on her shoulders. “Take a breath. We’re going to figure this out. We’re going to find her. Got it?”
She nods, but the lines of worry between her eyebrows don’t ease at all.
“Good. Now, let’s go find our girl.”
* * *
I reach for her hand. Her fingers are small as they slide across my palm, and I give them a squeeze.
“We can do this. Now, which way should we go?”
She looks around. “I went the other direction, mostly. So maybe… straight and to the right? And we can adjust from there?” Becca tries.
I nod, trusting her sense of direction, and we set off hand in hand. I keep my eyes open for any kind of sign Bayley has come this way—footprints, a scrap of fabric or trash, a noise.
Becca starts to chew on her lower lip after we’ve been walking for a few minutes.
“So, what are you going to do after the summer? You said you had to repeat the year, right?” I ask, trying to distract her from her nerves as my gaze sweeps over the landscape.
She thinks for a minute before taking an unsteady breath. “Yeah. I guess I’ll just redo the year. That’s the only way I can keep going and eventually be a doctor.”
“That’s really impressive.”
She scans the forest in front of us. “Funny.”
I pause and look at her. “I’m not joking, Becs. I think it’s really fucking impressive that you failed and you’re getting back on the horse. That’s what makes people great, right? Not the lack of failing, but the ability to keep trying when you do fail.”
The fact that she’s willing to go back and try again makes me really proud of her.
“I… didn’t really think of it that way, I guess.” Becca lets out a sigh. “My whole life has been focused on winning, on getting top grades, on never failing. This experience just seemed like a… stumbling block, I guess. Another strike against me.”
I shake my head. “This is a chance to do it again and come back better. I have faith in you.”
We keep walking for another five minutes without any sign of Bayley. I look up at the sky, giving Becca’s hand a squeeze when I realize there are dark clouds rolling in. Not a good sign.
She follows my gaze. A shiver runs through her. “Miller, it looks like it’s going to storm again.”
I squeeze her hand again. “We need to find Bayley and then get back to the campers. They’ll be fine in their tents for now. Are you okay?”
She takes a shaky breath, then visibly swallows. “I’ll be okay until the thunder starts. So I’m good for now. Let’s go this direction and then turn back toward camp so we can cover another section.”
We turn to the right and keep walking. I have to shorten my stride to keep pace with Becca. I’ve got a good foot of height on her, and my legs are a lot longer.
“So, what would you do if you didn’t play poker for a living?” Becca asks after a while.
“Are you going to think it’s silly if I say I want to be a teacher?” I took a few education classes in college, enough for a minor, but never got a teaching certificate. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a while.
She smiles up at me. “Not at all. I think you’d be really good at it, actually. What would you teach? High school?”
I laugh, thinking of Addie. “Oh, hell no. My buddy’s girlfriend is a high school math teacher, and her students are nothing but drama. I’d teach special ed.”
“Why special ed? Is it because of your brother?”
The interest started because of Jordan, but it’s grown into more than that. “Kind of. Growing up with Jordan definitely shaped who I am. But I really like seeing who people are below the surface. And with kids who have disabilities, a lot of time people never look below the surface. There are a lot of people I’ve met who don’t see Jordan at all beyond his Down Syndrome. So… that’s why.
“I mean, teaching is cool and all. But it’s also that I want to be someone in their lives that can see them for who they are.”
Becca’s eyes are shiny. “That’s really… that’s beautiful, Miller.”
I wink at her. “And I hear a teacher’s salary is pretty sweet. So I’d be in it for the money, too, of course.”
She throws her head back as she laughs at my sarcasm, the sound filling the space around us. “God, you’re insane.”
I grin at her. “Yeah. You like it.”
Becca opens her mouth, but she doesn’t say anything. She freezes.
“You okay?” I look back at her from where I am, a few feet in front of her.
“Shh. I think I hear something.” She closes her eyes to listen, and I do, too.
The wind whistles through the trees, and the dried leaves on the ground rustle. I hold my breath, but there’s nothing besides the normal forest sounds. I let my breath out in a sigh. “Never mind. I thought there was something there, but maybe I was hearing things.”
Just as I’m about to start walking again, I see something that makes hope rise in my chest.
“Look,” I say to Becca, pointing.
The ground is soft from the rain yesterday, and even though most of the forest floor is covered in dead leaves, it’s still visible. Footprints.