Nel didn’t like being picked up at the best of times, but right now, she was beyond frantic to get down.
Hilly complied, and the dog danced agitatedly around her. “Okay. What is it, girl?” she asked as Nel whined and twirled. “Do you know where Cisco is?”
The dog didn’t let out a bark, but spun on her paws one last time before heading north at a fast clip.
“Wait,” Hilly hissed. “I’m coming.”
Hilly broke into a sprint.
Once she was well clear of the camp, she turned her flashlight on, and it was a good thing. She’d had to run quickly to keep up with her dog, but now that the terrain was rougher, she needed it. With good light, and Hilly being in shape—along with a few soft whistles when Nel went too far ahead—she managed to keep up.
After fifteen minutes of nothing, and with Nel still on the move, Hilly’s anxiety grew. Why had Cisco gone this far? Had he found something concerning? Had whatever he’d discovered put him in a different kind of danger from that which Hilly had imagined?
A sharp bark up ahead had her double-timing it again, and when she heard footsteps heading her way, her body almost collapsed in relief.
“Cisco?” she cried.
“Miss Hilly?”
Damn. Hilly wilted. It wasn’t the voice she’d expected, but she recognized it. Carter. What the hell was he doing outside when she’d given explicit instructions for everyone to stay in their cabins?
“Carter?”
The boy came stumbling toward the beam of light she sent purposely his way. He looked a wreck. His face was tear-stained and one cheek was bright red as if he’d suffered some kind of injury.
“Are you alright?” she asked, as he approached, his breath hitching. “Why are you out here?”
“Oh, Miss Hilly,” he wailed. “I really screwed up.” His tone was regretful, but also filled with terror.
Hilly’s blood chilled. “What did you do?”
“I… I…only wanted to help; to make things right. I didn’t know it would—”
Hilly shook him a little. “Focus Carter. Tell me what’s wrong.”
“I… I put the peanut oil in Bailey’s snack bag. And…I lured Cisco out here by telling him I had what he was looking for.”
“Where’s Cisco now?” Hilly wasn’t sure she wanted to hear more. Carter had almost killed Bailey, which didn’t bode well for what he might have done to Cisco.
“In a shack. I hit him on the head and tied him up. Just to scare him.” Carter’s voice got stronger, and he pushed his shoulders back. “He bullied you when you were in school. I heard him admit it to Miss Adeline. He needs to feel bad, but…”
“But what, Carter?” Hilly feared she’d be sick to her stomach.
He studied his feet. “I need you to understand,” he simpered. “It wasn’t like I started out to do this… I was spying on Lance and Bailey one day, watching how badly she treated him, when a guy snuck up behind me and asked what I was doing.”
“Go on.”
“I was so mad, I told him everything; how I wanted to get back at all the jerks who made other people feel bad.”
Hilly’s gut flopped. “Who was the man, Carter?” she asked shakily.
“Mr. Cottins,” he supplied uneasily.
Shit, no.
“And what did Mr. Cottins tell you to do?”
“He said he’d help me make the bullies pay.”
Her voice sounded hollow to her own ears as she kept probing. “He gave you the peanut oil.”
“Uh, huh.” Carter’s face grew pained. “A couple days after I told him she was allergic. But he said it would only make her sick. He never said it could kill her.”
Hilly would deal with the Bailey situation later. Right now, she needed to know Cisco’s condition.
“What did you do to Cisco?” Her throat felt tight as she swallowed dryly around her question.
“Mr. Cottins showed me a shack…”
Hilly immediately knew which one.
“…and told me to bring the next bully there; to hit him on the head and tie him up.”
Hilly shook. “And you followed his orders.”
Carter refused to look at her as he shuffled his sneakers and answered. “I did.”
Hilly slowly walked backwards in the direction of the shack, not wanting to wait around another minute. If Cisco was unconscious; perhaps bleeding…
