“Let’s get the dolls inside.” Andy looks Olly and me over and seems to make a decision. “You are both going to help me go through the staff files. We’re looking for someone with the initials LC. Even better if we find a woman with those initials.”
“Are CITs allowed to look at staff files?” Olly asks.
I want to punch him in the throat. I’m sure we’re about to break all sorts of confidentiality laws, but who cares?
“Not technically, but I need help here,” Andy says. “The faster we find out who LC is, the better.”
“Can we please get some coffee before we start?” I ask as we walk to the staff cabin, each of us holding plastic dolls.
Andy nods. “That might be a good idea. It is five-thirty in the morning.”
Fab, I’ve had about an hour of sleep. Will this night never end? Lillian’s ramping up, her taunts coming thick and fast now.
Grumpy Esme will be coming out to play tomorrow. Or rather later today. Not that I’m planning on staying at camp.
We drop the dolls in the staff cabin.
“Would you two go make the coffee? I’ll get the files out and we can get started,” Andy says.
The last time Olly and I were alone in a cabin…
Olly senses my unease. “I’ll go. It’s probably best if Esme stays with you.”
Andy’s eyes drift to me and then Olly. “I agree. Take this radio and let us know if you have any trouble.”
I have no objections. I don’t want to go back out there. I want to sit in here, snoop through staff files and wait for my coffee. Maybe we won’t find an LC in these files, but I might get some information on who Lillian’s accomplice is. I’m pretty sure it’s Rebekah, but I need evidence.
Olly takes the radio and clips it to his jeans. “I’ll be right back.”
“The files are in here,” Andy says, leading me into his office. “Let’s take them into the staff room and put them on the table. We’ll need the space.”
“Do I have a file?”
He smiles and unlocks the metal cabinet. “Yes. It’s not very thick.”
“Is that good?”
“This is your first year with us and you haven’t done anything wrong, so I’d say yes, it’s good.”
“Does anyone have a thick file?”
Smirking, Andy says, “Take these to the staff room.”
He stacks a bunch of files into my waiting hands and I carry them to the table. In the staff room there are two comfortable couches, a vending machine, a battered foosball table and a CD player. Yep, CDs. I don’t think I’ve ever owned one. This room is stuck in the nineties.
“Do you think Olly is okay?” I ask.
“He would radio if he wasn’t.”
Olly has only been gone a couple of minutes. The coffee probably hasn’t finished brewing yet.
I flip the first file open and stifle a yawn.
Misty Allen.
She’s too old.
“Not this one,” I say, putting the file on the floor. That can be the No pile.
“Nor this one. I remember her, lovely girl,” Andy says.
I look at Andy over the top of the next file. “Please tell me you’re not basing this on who you remember liking?”
“Her name is Sandie. No LC.”
“Okay.”
Andy leaps up to unlock the door as Olly returns. It’s locked again straightaway. Olly comes into the room holding three cups of coffee. They’re stacked on top of each other and his chin is resting on the top one.
Andy jumps up and helps him.
The second I thank Olly, I take a sip. Wonderful caffeine-laced liquid burns my tongue. Fatigue has begun to set in, and I need a pick-me-up badly.
Olly sits next to me.
“You okay?” I ask.
“Tired but ready to find our hugely unwelcome friends.”
Me too. “I suggest we look for someone who’s been here in the last few years,” I say. “Things change at camp, and this person knows our current routine. And remember, this LC isn’t alone, so we can’t limit our search to just those initials.”
“Why do you think only those initials were left?” Andy asks.
Olly clears his throat. “Maybe they didn’t have time to write the other ones? I don’t know. We shouldn’t rule anything out, though, right?”
“Agreed.”
I put my coffee down and open the next file.
Rebekah’s file.
My face falls.
I pull the folder closer to my chest and scan it. I quickly find what I’m looking for—her home address. It isn’t in Kansas. It’s in Texas. In this town.
I close the file with a racing heart and put it in the No pile, but not before I memorize her address.
“Not this one,” I say out loud.
Slowly, we make our way through the files. Even though I’ve found what I was looking for, I continue, which is tedious, but I need to keep up the pretense. I don’t want Andy to know yet.
I’ll tell Olly when I get him alone.
I roll my neck and yawn.
“It’s six,” Andy says. “We should try to get an hour of sleep.”
“I really like the sound of that,” I reply, covering my yawn with the back of my hand.
Olly stands and stretches. “All right, let’s put these away first.” He looks at me out of the corner of his eye. I pick up my stack of files and stand. Does he know that I’m hiding something? Hopefully he will understand that it’s because of Andy.
By now he must know I’ll tell him. I hope.
Andy locks the cabinet and we part ways. He goes into his room; Olly and I head out.
We walk to my cabin and I stop on the porch. “Go to yours and we’ll head inside at the same time.”
His lips quirk, amused. “You worried about me?”
“Yes. I’m worried about all of us.”
I have so much to tell him, but right now all I can think about is sleep. Olly seems to sense this.
His fingertips trace my jaw. “Get some rest, Esme.”
“I’ll try.”
I’m sure he’s going to kiss me, but he doesn’t. Instead he bites his lip, drops his hand and turns. I watch him walk along the trodden path to his cabin. He looks over his shoulder when he opens the door.