12

Kye thrust the car into park and spilled out the door. “Is everyone OK?” The tight huddle of Camp Moshe staff parted to let him through.

“It looks worse than it is.” Bobby stepped in front of Kye and placed a hand on his chest to stop him from rushing into the building.

Everyone else shuffled back, as if uncertain how Kye would react to being stopped.

Kye looked from the hand on his chest to Bobby and back to his chest.

Bobby dropped his hand.

Kye dragged his eyes across the nightmare scene. Two firemen exited the kitchen, and several others worked together retracting hoses and cleaning up. It was far calmer than he had expected. Organized. Could the worst be over?

He focused on Bobby, now uncomfortably shifting his weight from foot to foot, still blocking his path. “No one was hurt?”

“No, sir.”

“Thank you, God!” Kye’s tight neck and shoulder muscles released like a ripple one tiny section at a time. He tipped his face heavenward inhaling a sweet breath of relief. This could have been bad. He rubbed the heel of one palm into his eye and swallowed hard. He had to get a grip.

He methodically met each pair of eyes watching him fight against a mental breakdown. By God’s grace each person appeared unscathed.

“What happened?” Kye finally broke the quiet.

“Grease flared the minute I lit the stove so I dosed the whole thing with baking soda, but it got big fast. The smoke triggered the alarm, but I managed to put the fire out.” Bobby pulled back his shoulders and puffed out his chest.

“Why was the fire department dispatched if you handled it so quickly?”

Bobby deflated. “I couldn’t find the security code to halt dispatch’s automatic call to them.” Red crept up the sides of his face. He likely recalled that Kye gave him the code on his first day and told him to memorize it.

“Why didn’t someone call me?” He raked his eyes over Kate, Kaleb, Eric, and the others.

Kate turned toward the distant lake. Kaleb and Eric studied the ground like it had just sprouted magic beans. Only Bobby met his eyes.

Bobby raised his hands in front of him in mock surrender. “I tried to call you. Multiple times. You never answered.”

Kye shut his eyes, reliving the earlier moment he had put his phone on silent. Never again.

“Who left the stovetop greasy?”

A droplet of sweat beaded on Bobby’s forehead. Was he nervous he’d lose his job in the kitchen or was he hiding something? “I keep a clean kitchen, so I don’t know. Maybe a staffer came in and made himself dinner and never cleaned up.”

Bobby didn’t look away and didn’t blink.

Kye relented. He couldn’t blame the guy for freezing up and forgetting a six-digit code. Bobby was a cook, not a first responder trained to react well under duress. He forced a smile. “Thanks for acting fast enough to prevent it from spreading.”

Relief flooded Bobby’s face. His entire frame relaxed.

“You don’t think someone—” Grace started.

Kye silenced her with a look. He hadn’t noticed Grace following him from the car, and he didn’t need her spouting sabotage theories in earshot of the fire chief and in front of the camp staff. This couldn’t possibly be connected to the other mishaps.

Grace’s hand on his forearm pulled him back to the present scene. She slid her fingers into his and gently squeezed.

“It’ll be OK,” she whispered.

He wasn’t sure anything would be okay ever again. Besides, she shouldn’t be making impossible promises. She needed to be concerned about the camp and whoever was trying to shut it down. Until they figured out what was going on, no one was safe.

He tugged her a few steps away and dipped his head grazing her ear with his words. “Do you think this was an accident?”

Her face paled, and she visibly swallowed. Her voice lowered to match his. “It has to be. If this was on purpose, then—”

He placed his finger to her lips to hush her words. They were softer than he expected. He let his fingers linger. “Can it be another hit in a string of bad luck?”

Neither of them wanted to voice the alternative. If this was arson, their villain had considerably raised the stakes.

“What matters is that no one was hurt.” She clasped his hand and squeezed.

“But how long will we be able to say that? The campers arrive tomorrow.” Assuming campers even arrived after parents got wind of this. Another round of bad press could sink their ship for sure.

The chief headed his way. Maybe now they’d get some answers. He let go of Grace’s hand, and a news van rolled into the lot blocking the fire chief’s path. Great.

Kye’s fingers curled into his palms. Why couldn’t he catch a break?

“You OK?” Grace wrapped her arms around her middle and rocked back on her heels. The breeze of the lake billowed her thin blouse as she stood beside him and studied the cameraman propping a camera on his shoulder and focusing the lens on the reporter who’d already sidelined the chief.

“I’ll have to be.”

They watched the interview. “So what are you going to do?”

What was he going to do? That was the million-dollar question. “I’m going to ask the chief for some advice.”

“Bobby implied the stove can be repaired, and the rest of the damage is cosmetic. Maybe we won’t have to go through insurance if we fix this ourselves.”

The chief wrapped up with the reporter and made a beeline for Kye. The reporter caught Kye’s eye and motioned she’d like to speak with him. Kye nodded and held two fingers indicating he’d need a minute.

“Malachi Campton?” The chief held out his hand for Kye to shake. “Chief Paul. Can I have a minute?”

Kye shook the chief’s hand, and the staff, who had clustered off into groups of twos and threes, eagerly pressed in to listen. Bobby boldly joined Kye and Grace.

“Do you think we should cancel the first week of camp?” Bobby asked. “I mean, how are we going to get this cleaned up by tomorrow and make sure it’s all safe for the kids?”

Bobby’s voice carried, and the reporter looked their way again. She motioned for the cameraman to roll tape.

“Quiet down!” Kye sliced through the air with his hand. “No one is cancelling anything until after I speak with the chief.”

“But—”

“But nothing,” Kye interrupted.

The smile stretched across Grace’s face provided the boost of confidence he needed.

Kye eyed the remaining staff and settled his gaze on Bobby. “I don’t want to see any of you on the news, unless it is to say ‘no comment’.”

“We could always add firefighting to the extreme camp experience.” Bobby laughed at his own joke while the others groaned. He gave Kaleb a good-natured punch to the arm.

The chief frowned.

Was Bobby being funny, or was that glint in his eye a challenge?

“Let’s get to work cleaning up.” Bobby slapped his hands together and rallied the troops before Kye could decide.

A tight smile stretched Kye’s features. For now, he had no choice but to trust the men and women he’d hired to do their jobs. But from here on out, he was watching all of them. Closely.

The staff disbanded, providing Kye and the chief a private minute.

“There are some things here that don’t add up.”

Kye’s pulse spiked. “Like what?”

“All fires need three things: oxygen, a fuel source, and heat. In arson cases, one of those items has been tampered with.”

“This was arson?” Kye looked around. Every TV show he had ever seen that involved an arsonist said the villain watched his fires. Was he here now? Watching?

“I suspect the fuel load was increased—”

Kye snapped his attention back to Paul. “Can you please explain in layman terms?”

“Someone introduced flammable material or an accelerant.”

“Are you sure?”

“I can’t say for certain. I wasn’t able to collect sufficient evidence, but my gut tells me something is going on here.” The chief’s words carried a sharp edge. His tone implied this had been no ordinary fire. A lack of evidence didn’t prove innocence. Paul trusted his gut enough to warn Kye.

The word accelerant looped in his mind. Grace and Bobby organized the clean-up a few feet away, assigning various responsibilities. What did he know about his staff? He recalled their applications. Nothing looked suspicious, but when he’d been hiring he hadn’t been trying to smoke out a rat.

Paul followed his gaze. “That your staff over there?”

“Yes. And we have campers arriving tomorrow. What do you recommend?”

“Sleeping with one eye open.”

~*~

Grace looked at each eager face glowing in the flickering campfire flames. The campers had arrived without a hitch, got themselves settled into their assigned cabins, and had just finished cooking s’mores over the fire pit. Kye said he fielded surprisingly few calls from concerned parents following the news report of the fire. It had been officially listed as accidental, and the reporter even praised Bobby for his quick thinking in smothering it with baking soda.

Grace stood in a horizontal line of staff members, waiting for her turn to explain the water electives and what participants could expect from her this week. Right now, Eric and Kaleb tag-teamed telling rock-climbing stories.

“One time Kaleb was rappelling down a mountain and he reached a cliff—”

“Aw, don’t tell that one,” Kaleb cut in. “It’s too embarrassing.”

“Tell us! Tell us!” the kids chanted.

“Kaleb reached a cliff edge and lowered himself into a seated position.” Eric shot his brother a grin, and Kaleb dropped his head in mock shame. “He didn’t see the cactus under him.”

The kids howled.

“It was the kind with many small thorns,” Kaleb solemnly added.

“My dad and I had to pick the thorns from his bottom with tweezers,” Eric finished.

When the kids calmed down, Eric assured them there were no cacti in Northern Ontario.

The rapt expressions on the kid’s faces made Grace’s stomach roll. The climbing program would be full.

Kye stood off to the side, observing. He folded his arms across his chest and scanned the kids looking a bit like a proud parent. And he should be proud. It had been a hard run getting here, but now that the camp season had officially begun, maybe whoever had been trying to shut the place down would admit defeat and cease?

A girl could hope.

When Kye scanned the staff, his eyes noticeably darkened. Like he didn’t know who he could trust.

Why the wariness? This moment should feel pretty victorious. Less than twenty-four hours ago the place was crawling with firemen and now it was crawling with happy kids about to embark on some crazy adventures.

She pushed that aside.

What was Kye’s problem?

He caught her eye and his expression softened.

She winked.

His gaze lingered on her a moment too long, and a few oohs rumbled through the pre-teens nearest to her.

A blush heated her cheeks. So much for rapt attention on Eric and Kaleb.

Two snickering boys poked at each other and whispered while casting conniving glances around. She frowned. Having been a camper herself, she recognized the mischievous spark in their eyes.

“Thank you, Eric and Kaleb.” Kye led the campers in applause. “Now, Kate will explain the hands-on, not-your-normal-camp-craft experience, awaiting those majoring in crafts.”

Kye directed everyone’s attention to Kate who moved front and center and held up a piece of driftwood intricately engraved. “Those of you who choose the wood-burning elective will scavenger for driftwood…”

Grace slipped out of line and circled behind the gathering to tap Kye on the shoulder.

“Yes?”

“See those two boys there?” She nodded at the brown-headed, gangly pre-teens perched on a log by the fire a few feet away from the rest of their cabin crew. Their heads bent close together, drawing some sort of map or scheme into the dirt with a stick.

He followed her head nod. “I see them.”

“Watch out for them. I have a feeling they have a few camp tricks up their sleeves.”

He smirked. “Relax. They’re kids. It’ll be fine.”

“Famous last words,” she chuckled. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Kye studied her.

“What?” Did she have graham cracker crumbs in her teeth?

“I like hearing you laugh. With everything that’s happened, I haven’t heard it much.”

She tucked a loose strand of hair around her ear. “Now camp’s started, I feel like I can finally breathe.”

He quizzically raised his brows.

“Running my program is one of several steps I need to complete to qualify for a government grant. If I win the grant, I can expand and train more instructors than just Debbie.”

“That would be wonderful.” A genuine smile spread across his face forcing his dimples to pucker into his cheeks.

“If things go according to plan, I could have my program in schools as early as the New Year.”

“That’s really important to you, isn’t it?”

Her eyes filled but she blinked back the tears. “I need to properly honor the memory of my dad and sister. Maybe then I’ll find the peace I need to move on.”

“I’ll be praying you do.” Kye gave her hand a brief squeeze before stepping forward and introducing Grace.

She slipped back into line just as Kye announced her title as the Director of Water Activities. Grace succinctly summarized the offered lifeguarding certification program, Water Survival for Non-Swimmers, boat licensing, water skiing, and other typical water-based activities.

Kye led the group in appreciative applause.

The shorter boy Grace had warned Kye about snorted and elbowed his buddy.

Grace stepped back into line. These boys were going to make the first week of camp quite the adventure. She was sure of it.

The next morning the sun rose early. Grace stood half asleep in the breakfast line wishing she had gotten herself a coffee first. At least she didn’t have a crew of kids to contend with. As a director, she enjoyed a cabin to herself. Her night had to have been far more restful than the cabin leaders’.

Eric slid into line behind her.

“Good morning.”

“What’s so good about it?” He snagged a plate and shuffled down the buffet.

“What, you’re not fond of pancakes?”

“No, I like pancakes fine. I’m just not fond of short-sheeted beds and put-the-sleeping-cabin-leader’s-hand-in-a-bucket-of-warm-water-to-make-him-pee-in-his-sleeping-bag trick.”

Grace gasped. Then she laughed so hard kids turned in their chairs to discover the source of the noise.

“You think that’s funny?” Kate piped up from behind. Dark smudges shadowed her eyes. “There was a snake in our cabin. By the time we got it out of there, none of the girls would sleep.” She shuddered.

Grace tried to suppress her giggling, but these two had no idea what kind of summer was in store for them. One of the job requirements should have been previous camping experience. “Sorry to break it to you, but the fun has only just begun.”

Grace scooped up a stack of pancakes, called a thanks to Bobby in the kitchen, and headed toward Kye’s table. She sat down across from him. Hopefully his night went better.

“How did you sleep?”

He smiled. “Good, considering how many kids are here.”

“No homesick kiddos making late night calls to mom and dad? No bears slinking around cabins?”

“None yet.” He stabbed a slice of bacon. “And I doubt we’ll ever have to worry about bears. If the noise doesn’t scare them off, the smell certainly will.”

“Ah, the aroma of youthful boys in the summer. You never quite get used to it.”

“Youth that need a lesson in hygiene.” Kye wrinkled his nose.

A chuckle bubbled out of her. “Once they get into the lake, it’ll dissipate.” Grace was familiar with all the sounds and smells of boyhood, thanks to Jeremy.

She repeated the tales she had heard from Eric and Kate, pleased to see some of yesterday’s tension had lifted from his eyes.

“I’ll take cabin pranks over sabotage any day.” He leaned back in his chair sipping his coffee. “Hey, aren’t those the boys you warned me about?”

Grace caught the tail end of the duo sneaking past the window. They must have come from the trail that led from the boat shed. She pushed back her chair. “I’m gonna see what they’re up to.”

“Wait for me.” Kye deposited their trays in the proper place and followed her outside. They parted ways where the path forked.

“Call me if anything is missing or rigged to explode.” His lips turned up at the corners.

“You can count on it.”

Acting on the assumption that the boys were up to no good, she took a methodical inventory of the boat shed. Sure enough, her CPR dolls were missing. A quick search uncovered them on display in the park perched on the see-saw as if they were enjoying the ride. She snapped a few pictures and texted them to Kye.

See what they did?

That doesn’t look rigged to explode, he texted back.

Lol, at least it was nothing serious.

Or so she thought.

She stepped through the trees and saw the pier jutting out into the deep water. It held a mini platform with an extended diving board. They had cling-wrapped a kayak to the board. Not cool.

A few pictures and forty-five minutes later, Grace had the boys in Kye’s office standing before him.

“We didn’t hurt anyone. What’s the big deal?” The larger boy, Deacon, defiantly stood his ground. Will, the younger of the two, and likely the more easily influenced, looked scared. He probably thought they’d call his mother.

“The big deal is that you could have fallen into the lake and hurt yourself. That kayak is expensive and the water is off-limits without supervision.” Kye shot them such a severe look that Grace’s knees knocked. She’d have to remember to compliment him on his enforcer glare.

Kye stared them down. The boys shifted their body weight from side to side. “We’re sorry. We won’t do it again.”

“Were you behind last night as well?” Grace cut in, not ready to let them completely off the hook.

Their eyebrows hit the roof.

“We know about the trick on Eric, and the snake in the girls’ cabin.”

“We wanted to see if we could get someone to go home on the first night.” The whine in Deacon’s voice set her teeth on edge. Talk about a boy only a mother could love.

Kye’s cell vibrated on the desktop and shattered the confession. “Kye here.”

Grace stared at the boys. Clearly her enforcer glare wasn’t as scary. Deacon stared right back.

“What? Stay right there. I’m on my way.” Kye pushed back his office chair and stood.

“What’s going on?”

“There’s some trouble on the bike trial.” He shot the boys a look.

Deacon backed up a step. “Hey, don’t look at us. We’re here with you!”

“This isn’t over,” Kye promised. “For now, go find your cabin mates and join the activities.”

The boys left. They weren’t ten steps away before their heads bent together with furious whispers bouncing between them.

Kye held the door for Grace. “Are you coming with me?”

“You bet. Jeremy is in that group.” She paused in the doorway. “Just curious, do you still prefer cabin pranks?”