Cisco moved closer to Hilly, took her face gently between his palms, and looked down into her troubled visage. “We’ll get this sorted out, Hilly. I promise. I’m not letting you lose this camp. I’m going to help turn over every stone until we find out who’s behind this.”

“Ditto,” Buffy stated, moving in to hug Hilly from behind.

“Count me in, too.” Mrs. S joined the trio, throwing her arms around them all as best she could.

Adeline nodded and added her body to the clinch.

The five stood like that for a few heartbeats, before Cisco eased his way out of the hug and broke things up. “Okay. No more lamenting. We have things to do,” he told them, resolutely. “Hilly, go call all the campers and counselors into the pavilion.”

Hilly nodded, squaring her shoulders.

He dropped a quick kiss on her tight lips. “Nothing will stop me from finding out how this happened.”

Cisco strode off.

To say he was pissed, was an understatement. He was absolutely furious on Hilly’s behalf. Clearly, this was an act of defiance from someone who’d made it a point to know the ins and outs of camp, and he was determined to get to the bottom of it.

His phone rang in his pocket. He picked it up and saw it was Mason.

“Yeah, LT?” he answered.

“I hear you’re having some problems at camp.”

Leave it to Mase to cut right to the chase.

Cisco gave a wry snort. “You talked to your mother?” It was the only way his SWAT boss could have heard the news.

“I did. And she’s really upset. Which I can’t stand. I’m just calling to make sure you’re trying to get to the bottom of things, and will make this right.”

“I am,” Cisco told him. “I’m about to read the entire camp the riot act to see if I can shake anything loose.”

Mason grunted. “I think your problem more likely stems from someone not on site. I’m in the mindset of it being Langford Cottins, Marty Smittfield, or that drunk nurse Hilly canned.”

Wow. The boss was well informed. But with the man’s mother on staff, he probably got a phone call and an earful every night.

“It most likely is,” Cisco agreed. “But I’m not ruling anyone out at this point.” Cisco would go over every possibility, thoroughly.

Mason continued. “Good. If you need help or back-up, let me know. Your posse is already champing at the bit to come out and help with the investigation.”

That would be Kyle, Mike, and Welker.

“Thank them for me, but hold them off. I’ve got this meeting, then I’m going to do some recon on the grounds and see if I can find anything suspicious.”

“Okay, Cisco. But keep us posted.”

“Will do, Chief.”

Cisco hung up, a little calmer than he’d been. Knowing his team would have his back went a long way toward making him feel more in control. Where Hilly was concerned, he needed that affirmation. His heart was way too involved with this one. Which meant his emotions could get in the way.

Ten minutes later he stood in the pavilion, hands clasped behind his back, his body in the at-ease position, even though he was feeling anything but.

The kids and counselors began filing in, and the mood was low, to say the least.

Cisco would play on that.

He examined the myriad of faces as everyone took seats on the concrete, examining the crowd for one person who might seem more anxious than the rest, or even smug.

A few kids were giggling uneasily amongst their peers, but under the circumstances, Cisco figured that was normal. Unforeseen, distressing events could cause uneasy laughter.

What Cisco looked for, and didn’t observe, was anybody shifting nervously, or gloating.

When the entire group had finally settled, he began speaking. “As you all are aware, Bailey had an allergic reaction this morning which sent her to the hospital. She’s going to be fine, but that’s only thanks to Crash, who happened to be with you and had the necessary EpiPen to counter the reaction she suffered.”

He scowled out at the crowd, now that he had their attention. “For those of you who don’t quite understand what happened, I’ll tell you. Bailey’s peanut allergy is nothing to be taken lightly. It’s a serious condition, and this is what went down. After ingesting something that was peanut based, Bailey’s airway swelled and was in the process of closing up. In other words, she couldn’t breathe. If Crash hadn’t been there, Bailey might have died.”

Now, the eyes glued to him went wide. It was clear that a lot of the younger kids had no idea that things had been that serious. A few of the older counselors, however, were nodding their heads. They’d all been trained in first aid as a prerequisite for getting their jobs, so they’d one-hundred percent understand what had been at stake.

“Now, I have something else that’s equally as troubling to tell you.” He’d thought about whether to couch his remarks, and had decided not to.

No one so much as twitched.

“Bailey was poisoned deliberately.”

Gasps arose, as well as cries of “no!”.

“Yes,” Cisco countered. “The snack she was eating had been spiked with peanut oil.” Cisco didn’t know that for a fact, but evidence pointed that way, and he was willing to bet on it.

Using scare tactics, he hoped, would lead to everyone on site becoming extra vigilant.

One, tentative hand came up from a little girl in the front. “Why would anyone do that?” she asked.

Cisco wondered how much more he should share, but this affected them all. There might not be this nurturing camp if a lawsuit was brought against Hilly and she was shut down.

“We can only speculate at this time, but it could be that she has an enemy among you who wanted her gone. And I mean ‘gone’ in the sense of getting her out of camp, because I’m going to be nice here, and assume that if someone on site did this, they had no idea Bailey’s reaction could have led to her death. I’ll be looking into that. But I’ll also let you know that a few outside influences might be holding a grudge against Miss Hilly, and would love to see her camp shut down.”

Lance, from the back, spoke up. “Like that nurse who left a few weeks ago, yelling all over the place that she was going to make Miss Hilly’s life a nightmare?”

Carter nodded angrily from his position next to Lance, clearly agreeing with his colleague wholeheartedly.

“Yes. Like her,” Cisco agreed. “So, what I’m asking from all of you, is, first and foremost, remain vigilant and stay safe. Never go anywhere alone, and if you see anything suspicious, anyone who you even suspect doesn’t belong here, let me or one of the other adults know, immediately.”

Everyone nodded.

Yeah. Cisco planned to be here. There was no way he was going home until this mystery was solved. Cisco knew that Crash was more than capable of handling things, but his gut told him he couldn’t leave Hilly.

Cisco wondered how Chief Ildavorg would react if he asked for an immediate leave of absence, and instantly knew, with certainty, that his boss would give him the time off he needed. Which was the type of thing that made Cisco glad he worked for a smaller police department in a close-knit town. People here watched out for each other; neighbors, friends, and acquaintances, stepping up when help was needed.

Cisco would definitely be given all the time he needed to make sure Hilly was safe.