Page 89 of Hide And Seek

I nodded. “Uh-huh.”

“I don’t know if anyone told you this, but they’re both endurance athletes. Olivia does marathons, and Brad does track and field sprinting. So I didn’t question it when they volunteered. No one did. Because it made total sense.”

I nodded again. “Yeah, they were the obvious picks.”

Rhys went quiet for a moment. Then he leaned forward. “What if they never intended to go to Millhaven at all?”

I blinked. “What?”

“What if it was just an excuse?” he said. “A way to leave without anyone questioning it. And once they failed to return, we’d all assume the worst. That they got caught. That they were killed.”

“Are you saying you think they might be alive?” I asked, frowning.

He nodded. “I think it’s possible, yeah. You know how it goes in every horror movie. If you don’t see the body, they’re not really dead.”

“So… wait.” I shook my head slightly, trying to catch up. “You think Brad and Olivia are actually out there somewhere. Together.”

Rhys didn’t look away. “Yeah.”

I swallowed. “And… you think they could be the ones doing all this?”

“No one would ever suspect them, would they?” he replied. “At least not at first. Because we all thought they were walking to Millhaven. And then we all assumed they were dead.”

I considered it for a moment, picking at a nail as my mind whirled.

“No,” I finally said, though it came out less certain than I wanted it to. “Surely not. I mean… why would they do this? What motive could they possibly have?”

Rhys’s expression shifted slightly at that, something sharp settling in behind his eyes. “That’s the question, isn’t it?”

“I’m guessing you have an answer,” I asked, lifting a brow.

“I do.” He tipped his head slightly. “Have you noticed that only Legacies have been killed so far?”

“Yeah. I was just thinking about that the other night.”

“Well, there might be a reason for that. And if Brad and Oliviaarebehind everything…” He paused briefly. “Then I’m pretty sure I know why.”

I frowned. “Why?”

“They’re obsessive about their athletic careers,” he said. “Constant training, strict diets, hired nutritionists. The works. The only real break they ever take is this camp, and even then, they’re still active all day with the kids, so it barely counts.”

I nodded slowly, waiting.

“Two summers ago, they skipped working here altogether,” he continued. “They both qualified for the US Olympic trials that year, so everything else took a back seat.”

“Oh, wow. So they’re seriously elite.”

He nodded. “Yeah. We were all pumped for them. I mean, what are the chances that not just one, buttwopeople you know are thatclose to the Olympics?”

“Yeah, that’s amazing.”

“The trials were going to be held in New York that year, so they didn’t have to travel far for them,” he went on. “So then someone in the group chat convinced them to come up here for the last night of camp. Not with the kids around. After they’d all left. We usually stay an extra night after the shutdown. Party in the woods, blow off steam.”

“You mean the Legacies, right? Not all the counselors?”

“Yeah, just the Legacies,” he said. “Anyway, Brad and Olivia usually don’t drink much. Too strict with their training. And with the trials only five weeks out, they said no to alcohol completely. Just wanted to hang out with us for the night.”

I had a feeling I knew where this was going.