Page 47 of Hide And Seek

No one was alone.

Garrett had passed around beers at some point, and I held one loosely now, more for something to do than any real desire to drink it. The can had grown lukewarm from the heat of my hand.

“…I’m just saying, if they hit the road by sunrise, they could cover a good distance before it gets too hot,” Caitlin was saying from somewhere across the fire, her voice carrying just enough for me to catch it. “Especially if they keep a steady pace. So they’ll definitely be there by lunch tomorrow.”

“Yeah,” Logan replied. “Brad’s like a machine when it comes to that stuff. And Olivia’s pretty much the same.”

“Good,” someone else muttered. “The sooner they get to town, the better.”

As the conversation went on, I glanced around the circle, taking in the faces lit by the firelight. Everyone looked a little different tonight. More drawn. More alert.

Across from me, Sutton sat close to Rhys, her body angled toward him. He was looking outward, his gaze moving past the firelight and into the darkness beyond, steady and watchful.

For a second, it occurred to me that he looked less tense than the rest of us. Then he shifted slightly, and the thought was gone.

I took a small sip of my drink, and my eyes drifted over to the darkness between the nearby trees, like I was half-expecting to see something move there. Nothing did, but the worry didn’t go away.

“Guys?” Grace suddenly sat up straighter, her voice thin and tight. “What if something happens to them?”

“Who?” Maren asked.

“Brad and Olivia. What if they don’t make it to town?”

Everyone was quiet for a moment. Then Caitlin spoke up. “They will. They’re probably more than halfway there by now. I bet they’re settling into their tent as we speak.”

“But we have no way to contact them to make sure.” Grace’s voice was starting to sound slightly hysterical now. “Anything could happen to them. Or it could’ve happened already. The killer could’ve followed them out there, or a car could’ve run them over once they made it to Route 30. Or… a bear could’ve snatched them.”

“I don’t think so,” Caitlin said gently. “Whoever’s doing all this… I have a feeling they’re staying pretty close to camp, like Rhys said earlier. So I doubt he followed Brad and Olivia. He might not even know they left, because it was so early in the morning.”

“Also, a car’s not taking them out,” Zach added. “It’s summer. Full visibility during the day. And bears? Come on. That basically never happens here.”

“But itcan,” Grace insisted.

Sutton suddenly straightened. “Oh my god. I totally forgot!”

Everyone looked at her.

“Even if something happened to them, it wouldn’t even matter,” she went on.

“Excuse me?” Grace snapped.

Sutton frowned. “Okay, that came out totally wrong. Of course it matters if something happens to Brad and Olivia. I just meant… Piper and her boyfriend can get help.”

“Piper left,” Wren said, brows rising.

“Yeah, but she didn’t go straight back to the city. She went to stay with Ian in Saranac Lake for a few days, and she said she’d come back to visit us before she headed back to the city.” Sutton’s eyes moved across the fire to land on me. “Alissa, I showed you the message, right? Do you remember her exact words?”

I nodded slowly. “She said she’d come back in a few days. And that was… two days ago, I think.”

“So she could be here tomorrow,” Maren said. “Maybe even before Brad and Olivia make it to town.”

“Exactly,” Sutton said, nodding fervently. “That’s what I meant before. Even if the absolute worst-case scenario happens to Brad and Olivia, help is still coming anyway. As soon as Piper and Ian arrive, we can get them to drive a few of us to the nearest police station.”

Jasmine wrinkled her nose. “Are you forgetting how flaky that girl is?”

“I know she can be a bit of a flake, but she promised to visit,” Sutton said. “And I’ve known her my whole life. If she promises to do something, she does it.Always.”

Relief rippled through the group in small, almost imperceptible ways. Shoulders loosened. Postures eased. The brittle edge that had been sitting over everything since the afternoon softened just a fraction.