Chapter 27

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Cisco prowled the grounds, attempting to look blasé while the campers and counselors made their way to their cabins to settle down for the night. A few minutes earlier he'd passed a smirking Buffy as she'd carried her belongings to her new digs. She fanned a hand across her face and winked.

Yup. The girls had talked. But Cisco found that he didn't mind. Buffy would definitely be on his side, attempting to bolster Hilly's ego and tell her she was more than worthy of his attention.

As soon as the scuttling back and forth to the washrooms by the residents had died down, Cisco took his investigation deeper. He entered the barn, leaving no nook or cranny unexplored. He then went through the camp store and the bathhouses, finally making his way to the picnic area, searching beneath tables and around fire pits.

Nothing.

He was just about to head back to Hilly's cabin, anticipation growing over how the rest of their night would unfold, when a shadow emerged out of the trees.

It was…

…Carter.

Right. That was the slim, nervous looking kid's name.

"Officer Andera?" Carter approached quietly, his gaze shifting from side to side, like if he looked Cisco directly in the eye his head might explode.

"Yes, Carter. What can I do for you?"

And make it quick , Cisco added to himself. I have a woman waiting.

"I think…" The boy coughed, then began again, glancing around all the time he conversed. "I was, uh, out walking earlier while everyone was watching the music and the magic show, and I might have, um, found something."

Cisco's ears perked up. "Found something? What?"

Cisco tempered his outward reaction. It could be nothing, and he wasn't going to let Carter get him jazzed up over a figment of the boy's imagination.

"Yeah. I… Well…" Carter sighed. "You have to come with me to see."

The boy was twitchy, but that was nothing new. Cisco had observed the teen's jumpy behavior for several weeks during self-defense classes. The kid was the nervous sort—definitely a needy, "follower" type—always up Lance, or Hilly's ass. Not that Hilly saw it that way. She said the boy was simply insecure, had been severely bullied, and wanted to be closest to people he trusted.

"Okay," Cisco agreed, recalling Hilly's fondness for the boy. "Lead the way."

Without a second's hesitation, Carter headed for the woods beyond the picnic area, took a turn to the right, and headed into a part of the forest which Cisco had yet to explore.

What would have had the young man wandering so far afield? And why? Carter was in charge of ten campers, and was supposed to be supervising them at all times.

Speaking of which…

"Are your kids going to be okay while we do this?" Cisco asked, easily keeping up with the youth as they bushwacked.

"Yeah. They're good. I told them I'd only be gone a little while, and to stay in the cabin."

Cisco didn't know the rules, but he seemed to remember Hilly saying that once the counselors had their kids settled for the night, they were allowed to do their own thing; convene at their firepit, relax, hobnob with each other.

Cisco figured the kid knew the rules. He attempted small talk while they walked. "How are you enjoying camp this year?" he asked. "Do you like the group you have?"

Carter mumbled something before throwing over his shoulder, "Camp's good, and the kids are well behaved."

"That's great." Cisco tried to engage further. "It seems like you've struck up a nice friendship with Lance."

Carter stiffened ahead of him, but didn't respond.

Cisco didn't let it deter him. "Camp can be a place you make friends for life," he continued. "I wouldn't be surprised if Lance and some of your kids want to stay in touch once camp is over."

"Maybe," Carter muttered, but he didn't slow his pace or show any overt interest in the subject. He simply brought them deeper and deeper into the woods.

Silence reigned for about ten minutes before Cisco started to get antsy. Something wasn't quite adding up. He needed clarification before he went any farther. "How, exactly, did you find where we're going, anyway?" he asked. "We're a long way from camp."

"There's an old cabin out here, and I ran across it one day before the kids arrived when I was out exploring."

Okay. That made sense. Cisco relaxed just a little. When he'd been young, he'd covered his share of woods behind his childhood home, having adventures and scouting deep into what he'd then considered, wilderness.

"And we're going there now because…?" Cisco let the question hang.

"You were looking for what made Bailey sick." Carter finally supplied after they'd covered at least another quarter mile. "I think I discovered something."

Cisco's immediate thought was that whatever he was going to be shown, Carter had known about it for a while. It was just a gut feeling, but usually Cisco's instincts were right. Which posed the question, why hadn't the kid offered up the information earlier in the day?

Grimly, Cisco bit his tongue and continued to follow. If this was Carter's way of making himself feel important, Cisco would know fairly soon.

Another few minutes passed, and in the fading light, Cisco could see a small clearing up ahead. As they approached, he noted a dilapidated cabin that sat in the center of the area, amidst tall, unkempt grasses, weeds, and saplings.

"Wow," Cisco chuckled, trying to lighten the atmosphere. "It looks like it could be haunted."

Carter shot him a withering look as they both stopped several feet away from the small building. "No such thing," the boy grunted, pragmatically. "Anyway, I think what you're looking for is in there." He gestured that Cisco should go ahead of him.

Cisco gave an internal sigh. The last of the sun had almost set, and if he didn't get a move on, even with the light from his cell-phone, they'd eventually be stumbling back to camp.

He took a deep breath and approached the shack. It was nothing more than a mess of aged boards graced with one smashed-out window, a door hanging from a single upper hinge, and a front porch held up by—if he wasn't mistaken—encroaching vines. Not the sturdiest of structures, and not the kind of place that instilled confidence that one wouldn't put a foot right through some of those rotted floor-planks.

Still, if Carter had been inside, it had to be capable of holding some weight. Of course, the kid weighed, easily, a hundred pounds less than Cisco, so he'd have to step carefully.

"Where do I look once I get inside?" he asked, lighting up the flashlight on his phone.

"Back corner," Carter grunted from behind.

Gingerly making his way from the granite step, up onto the narrow porch, Cisco felt somewhat better when the boards didn't give way, but when he reached for the edge of the door to pull it open—the knob was long since gone—the entire thing came loose from its one pivot point and fell. Cisco had to dodge left to avoid being beaned.

"Nice construction," he hissed as the dust of the ages settled around them.

"Yeah. I've had to tack it up a couple times," Carter grumbled.

Oh really ? The teen didn't appear like he'd know a hinge from an eyebolt, or a hammer from a drill, but looks could be deceiving, so…

Cisco walked cautiously into the shack, sending his light around in a full arc. There wasn't much inside. A broken chair, a stove-pipe that had long since fallen to the floor, and a lot of old, mouse-chewed papers strewn underfoot. The place gave Cisco's skin the crawls, and that wasn't just his OCD speaking. The single room was actually disgusting, and he had the urge to pull his shirt up over his nose to avoid possible hantavirus infection.

"Over there," Carter stood close behind him and pointed so Cisco could see where he meant.

Cisco shined his light in the direction indicated, and…

"Holy hell," he hissed.

The kid had been right.

There was one, shiny new bottle propped up in the corner, and Cisco didn't even need to move close to see the label.

Peanut Oil .

No longer concerned with germs and bugs, Cisco carefully walked forward and dropped to his haunches in front of the damning find. It was a smoking gun, alright, and there was approximately one-half inch of liquid missing.

"You're right, Carter. This has to be?—"

Something hard smashed down on the back of Cisco's head. Pain exploded in his cranium, and he pitched forward. His phone flew from his fingertips. Before he could clear his suddenly blurred eyesight, another blow struck him on the temple, and the world immediately slipped away…

Hilly had long since given up her sexy pose on the bed. She gotten up and put on more practical clothes than the sexy robe she'd had draped over naked body.

What was taking Cisco so long? He'd been gone for over an hour and a half, and given the scope of where he'd said he'd be looking, the savvy cop should have been back long before now.

Hilly didn't want to be one of "those women" who checked in on a man every time he wasn't around, but her fingers itched to call his number, and see if he was okay.

Another fifteen minutes passed before she said "fuck it", and stomped outside in the dark, an equally agitated Nel by her side.

Yeah. Her best four-legged companion could always pick up on a mood. Together, they checked the big barn first, then each outbuilding in turn. There wasn't a sign of Cisco, and the fear gnawing at her gut increased. She then strode to the parking lot, and his bike was still there. Grabbing her phone from her pocket where it had been practically burning a hole, she finally hit his number and waited.

It rang, and rang, then went to his voice mailbox.

What the hell ?

Her fingers tightened on her phone. Something wasn't right. She could feel it, sure as shit.

Before she realized what she was doing, she'd dialed Mason.

"Hey, Hilly. What's up?" His cheerful voice told her that he and his wife, Everlee, were having a relaxing evening.

"I'm not sure," she responded worriedly. "I… Something might have happened to Cisco."

"Tell me." She could almost see Mason's posture snapping upright.

She took a deep, shaky breath. "He left my cabin almost two hours ago to snoop around camp and see if he could find anything suspicious that might have led to Bailey's allergic reaction. He said he was going to check the outbuildings and the surrounding area, but I just went through all of them, and he's not there." She continued to walk around camp, peering off into the trees. Her voice rose with the panic that gripped her chest. "I can't see him anywhere, and he's not answering his phone."

All of a sudden, Nel's head came up, she sniffed the air, and took off into the woods.

"Nel!" Hilly called. "Get back here."

The pup didn't respond. Indeed, she was clearly fixated on some kind of nose-mission.

"Now Nel has taken off," Hilly told Mason shakily, before getting back to business. "I think Cisco's in trouble."

"I'm on my way, Hilly. And I'm bringing SWAT."

Hilly chewed on her lip. "What if I'm wrong, Mase? What if he's just taking a long walk and you all come out here for nothing?"

"Then we'll consider it an exercise; which is something we do all the time. I'd rather play it safe, than sorry."

Hilly nodded, even though he couldn't see her.

He continued. "Keep all your campers inside their cabins, and promise me you won't go off looking for Cisco on your own."

It was a difficult vow to make. Every one of her instincts told her to run off, like Nel; scour the surrounding acreage, but she understood where Mason was coming from.

She didn't exactly promise…

"When you get here, I'm going with you."

"Find Crash," Mason ordered, completely ignoring her decree. "Stay with him until we arrive."

Damn. She'd forgotten all about the tall, able-bodied firefighter on site. That's how discombobulated she was.

"Okay. I'm headed that way, now."

Mason hung up.

Hilly's footsteps took her to the medical cabin, where she knocked once, hoping she wasn't disturbing the couple. Coco barked from within, and scratched at the wood. Damn . The last thing Hilly wanted was for Nel's best friend to run into the woods, too.

When she heard footsteps on the other side of the door, she called out. "Grab Coco. Nel took off, and he'll want to follow."

There was a bit of shuffling before the door opened to show a shirtless Crash, his hair in all kinds of disarray, and…a hickey on his neck?

Shit. The couple had clearly been enjoying themselves.

"What's up, Hilly?" he asked, his face a study in concern. Because, yeah, she'd never disturbed him after-hours before.

"Cisco's missing. Mason and SWAT are on the way, and he told me to stay with you until he gets here."

Crash opened the door, wide. Adeline stood just behind him dressed only in one of the man's long-tailed shirt, but she didn't seem embarrassed. She held onto Coco and invited Hilly in, her face filled with worry. "Tell us what happened."

Hilly hesitated, taking a long look over her shoulder, not exactly thrilled to step inside. She didn't want to miss Cisco if he came back.

Crash must have noticed her hesitation. "Stay put and give us a minute. We'll come out to you," he stated.

He didn't even bother to close the door behind him as the pair disappeared.

Hilly sank to the steps, her mind refusing to quiet. She just knew something was very wrong.

Reappearing two minutes later, both Crash and Adeline were fully dressed and ready to engage as they sat, one on either side of her. Coco unhappily whined as he was restrained on his leash.

"Okay. Spill," Crash ordered.

Hilly gave them all the details she had, and when she was finished, the pair looked equally as worried as she.

Crash picked up his phone and dialed a number. Clearly it rang and rang before he disconnected and grunted. "Cisco's not picking up for me, either. I've caught your bad feeling. But first things first. We need to secure the cabins and make sure no one comes out if trouble is brewing."

"Dammit. I forgot. Mason already told me to do that."

She fumbled for her phone and hit her emergency call list. It gave her immediate access to each and every counselor, including Buffy. She quickly typed out a message.

As of this moment, we are all in lockdown. If anyone is outside, they need to be recalled immediately. No one is to leave their cabin until further notice. Acknowledge, please.

She hit send, and within seconds, responses pinged in.

Is everything okay ? Several texted.

Do we need to worry ? A few asked.

From others, she got a simple thumbs up.

She quickly sent off another missive. I'll explain when I can. But for now, I need to know that everyone is contained.

This time she got only agreement, until her phone rang, showing Buffy's number.

"What's going on?" her friend asked, worry in her voice.

Hilly didn't hesitate. "Cisco's missing," she said. "SWAT's coming to find him."

"Flock," Buffy cursed cleanly, clearly concerned for any of her charges young ears listening. She huffed. "And I'm stuck here, not able to help."

"You're helping by keeping those kids inside," Hilly assured her.

Buffy drew in a loud breath. "Don't panic, Hill. Mason will take care of this," she said, still keeping details cryptic for her charges. "Where are you?"

"With Crash and Adeline," Hilly told her.

"Good. Now promise me you won't do anything stupid."

Hilly crossed her fingers behind her back. "I won't."