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“Nothing. ” Aaron let out a sigh. “I was just worried about you. ”
“Oh, Aaron, I’m sorry,” Mariah said. “I went down to the stream for some more water. And it was so beautiful in the moonlight! I was looking across the water—hoping maybe I’d see the general on his horse on the other side. ”
Somewhere, far in the distance, a coyote howled at the moon. The sound was so forlorn, so chilling—and foreboding.
“Well, we’re all here now,” Sandra said with a shrug. “Let’s get some sleep. ”
“Dustin, you’re going back in the tent, right?” Joey asked. As he spoke, Brent, too, came out. He looked frightened. Brent was a joy to be around, always loving, but he was also easily frightened when things weren’t precisely as they were supposed to be.
“Livia?” he said worriedly.
“I’m here, Brent. We’re all here. Everything’s fine,” she assured him, going over to give him a hug.
“Oh, for God’s sake,” Sandra said. “We’ve got to get some sleep!”
“Okay, okay, everyone back where they belong. ” Grinning, Aaron joined Olivia and put his arm around Brent. “It’s all good, buddy. ”
Brent nodded solemnly. “The general is watching over us,” he said.
“Yeah, that’s right, Brent. ”
“He is watching us. I saw him. I saw him—he was on the other side of the stream. I saw him with Livia when we were washing the plates,” Brent said.
Sandra shook her head. “I’m not so sure we should’ve brought him,” she whispered.
“He’s fine,” Olivia said. “Half the world sees the general. ”
“He thinks he really saw him,” Sandra snapped.
“Come on, buddy, back to bed,” Aaron said.
“Yeah, come on, we’re all going in,” Joey added kindly.
“Good night, all,” Aaron said, and, ducking through the entrance, escorted Brent back into the tent. Joey followed.
“I’m going to sit by the fire awhile,” Dustin said. “You all go back to sleep. Sorry. I’m just restless. I like to watch the dying embers—helps me sleep. ”
Sandra went back in. Mariah waited for Olivia, then returned to the tent. Olivia fell into a deep sleep.
She awoke to early daylight—and the sound of a high-pitched scream. Bolting out of bed, she collided with Sandra as they both tried to get out at the same time.
Drew was already outside, looking around wildly, trying to ascertain where the scream had originated.
“Stay here!” Olivia ordered Sandra. “Watch the boys. Drew, come with me!”
It wasn’t really her place to give instructions, but Olivia hadn’t thought it out. She started running into the bushes, assuming the scream had come from the women’s side of the “bathroom” area. But when she saw a glimmer of light through the trees, she realized it must have come from farther back. Olivia kept running, with Drew on her heels. They burst into a little clearing. The gray skies of dawn made it hard to see clearly.
To her astonishment, Olivia found Dustin there—bending over Mariah, who was crouched on the ground. His small flashlight didn’t reveal much detail but did show her horrified expression.
“What’s going on?” Olivia shouted.
Drew barely managed to stop himself before colliding with her; she felt his hands on her shoulders.
Mariah rose, shaking, clinging to Dustin. “Oh, Lord, I am sorry. . . again!”
Olivia frowned at Dustin.
He shrugged. “I wake easily and run fast,” he said.
“What’s going on?” Olivia demanded a second time.
“I—I thought I saw. . . oh, this is so stupid!” Mariah apologized. “I thought I saw the general when I went to use the, uh, bathroom, and I tried to follow him and I got here and. . . ” She stepped aside, displaying what she’d stumbled on.
The torn remnants of cow’s hindquarters lay there, blood trailing off into the bushes.
“A coyote got a cow,” Olivia said calmly. “Unfortunately, it happens. ”
“I know, I know. I just wasn’t expecting it!” Mariah groaned.
“Let’s get the hell back now,” Drew suggested. Olivia could feel him close behind her—and she could tell that he was shaking. “The others are going to be worried. ”
“Yes, let’s go!” Mariah said. “Oh, Lord, I’m going to have to apologize to the kids and tell them what an idiot I am!”
They walked back. By then, the others were milling around by the fire, waiting wide-eyed.
“What happened?” Sandra asked anxiously.
“Freakiest camping trip ever!” Mason said.
“Cool,” Nick murmured.
Sean jabbed him with an elbow. Mariah went into her explanation, but before she’d finished Dustin interrupted.
“Where’s Aaron?”
They looked around; Aaron wasn’t among them.
“He must be. . . I don’t know, in the bushes, too?” Mason asked.
“With this much commotion going on?” Dustin demanded.
“We’ll all go look for him,” Joey said.
“No, you boys stay here. Drew, you, Sandra and Mariah stay. Mason, check out the bushes. I’ll try the stream. Liv. . . ” His eyes were on hers.
He didn’t want her alone with any of them, she realized.
“I’ll go with you,” she said. “We can cover most of the stream that way. ”
They headed off together.
When they reached the stream he stood dead still for a few seconds. Then he swore and ran straight in.
Olivia saw why.
They’d found Aaron.
He was floating facedown in the water.
10
Dustin was afraid that Deputy Sheriff Frank Vine simply didn’t like him. Vine arrived with Jimmy Callahan, but Vine did most of the talking. Callahan was younger, more sympathetic, more concerned about those who’d witnessed the event, especially the boys.
Dustin knew damned well that he’d done everything right, performing artificial respiration competently and with determination.
And he’d gotten Aaron Bentley breathing again, although not conscious, before the rescue crew made it to the campsite via helicopter.
The med techs had commended him. Everyone around him had been in shock; they’d watched helplessly, holding one another while he brought Aaron out of the cold water. Olivia had run back for blankets, and the others had followed her to the stream. They’d carried him back to the campsite, where Drew had gotten the fire going again.
But Frank Vine. . . He and Callahan had arrived on the medevac helicopter, then stayed behind at the campsite.
Now Vine stared at him as if he were the Antichrist.
Dustin had watched as Frank tried to find out what had happened. The group had mostly talked at once, trying to explain where they’d been, how no one had any idea that Aaron was down at the stream. Mariah was nearly hysterical, certain that it all was her fault. If she hadn’t been startled and screamed, they might have found Aaron earlier.
No one could say just how long he’d been in the water. The med techs didn’t know if he’d live. If he did, they didn’t know if he’d suffer brain damage. He was breathing; he was alive. That was all anyone knew. He might walk out of the hospital, perfectly fine, the next morning.
Or he might live for years in a vegetative state.
They’d find out when they got him to a hospital.
“So, no one saw Aaron get out of the tent and walk to the stream?” Frank demanded.
Sandra was sobbing. “No. We heard Mariah scream from the other direction. Some of us stayed right here. . . some of us went to look for her. ”
“It’s all my fault!” Mariah said again and again. “All my fault. If I didn’t want to see the general so much. . . ”
“That’s right. You were chasing a ghost,” Vine said sarcas
tically.
That made Mariah cry harder. Olivia went to slip an arm around her. So did Deputy Callahan.
Olivia looked at Deputy Sheriff Frank Vine and spoke evenly and clearly. “None of us was anywhere near the stream. The fact that Mariah was in the bushes had nothing to do with Aaron. Even if we hadn’t run after her and she hadn’t screamed, Aaron was still at the stream. He probably thought nothing of being down there. We’ve all been camping here dozens of times. ” She turned to her friend and coworker and said, “Mariah, there’s no reason you should feel guilty. What happened was not because of you. Aaron was already there when you screamed. And think of it this way—we were all up, and Dustin found him at the stream because of you. If it hadn’t been for you, we might not have known he was missing. We might not have searched for him until it was too late. ”
“Really, Liv?” Mariah whispered. “You think so?”
“Definitely,” Olivia said.
Frank Vine looked at them and shook his head. “There’s something not right with you people. How can so many bad things happen in one group? Pretty careless if you ask me. First Danby and now this. . . How could Aaron have such a ridiculous accident?”
“Accident?” Dustin asked, entering the fray despite the look Vine had given him. “A grown man, Aaron’s size, accidentally falls face-first into a stream, knocks himself out and nearly drowns?”
“If it wasn’t an accident, what did happen, Agent Man?”
“I don’t know. That’s why law enforcement investigates such situations,” Dustin said flatly.
Frank Vine scowled at him. Everyone was quiet. Dustin almost felt as if they were on some dusty street in the Old West—about to have a shoot-out.
“And you’re going to investigate and figure out what happened, is that it? When you’re under suspicion?”
“Of causing an accident?” Dustin raised his eyebrows.
“You found him, didn’t you?”
“And saved his life. Before that, I was the first one to dash into the forest when I heard Mariah scream,” Dustin told him.