Chapter Fourteen - Camp Uncertainty
A hand on her bare shoulder brought Mandy out of a very deep sleep. She let out a groan, as the hand was really shaking her like crazy... moving the bed along with her with each movement.
“ What the hell...” She muttered sleepily into her pillow, as the hand was relentless in the task of waking her.
Mandy was almost irritated for a moment or two as she quickly slipped into the waking world. Who ever it was that was doing that, was not going to leave her alone, no matter how much she would play being asleep for.
She turned on her back and forced her eyes open, which was hard as hell. As her vision focused on whoever was waking her, she saw that it was Ol iva who stood over her.. She gasped and sat up.
“ What time is it? Did I oversleep? What?” Mandy rattled off, realizing how light it was in the room.
The woman chuckled and held out what appeared to be a large white colored mug of steaming coffee for the babbling gal. The sight stopped Mandy’s babbling and brought a sleepy smile of enjoyment on to her face.
“ Easy, kid...It only eight in the morning... The woman started
“ Damn, I slept in!!” Mandy squawked, stiffening to get herself up as quickly as she could.
Olivia gave the girl a look to calm down with, causing Mandy to pause in her attempt to leap out of bed..
“.. As I was trying to say before you started to babble like this... they told us to let you people in the search teams had earned the right to sleep a little longer.” She explained.
“ Extra sleep...?” She smiled with her question, as the information sunk in. “ We were given extra time to sleep?”
“ Hell... The whole camp has ended up getting to sleep in an extra bit...” Chuckled the woman, seeing that what she had said penetrated the sleepy lady’s mind. “... breakfast will now be in about an hour or so.”
Relived at the information that the girl was alright at least physically... mentally would be a longer road, she knew that all too well. The young lady took a long breath in, letting some of her tension go. She found that the events of the previous nights had fell back into place for her, and that made it harder.
“ How’s Tabitha?” She asked, taking the mug from her camp co-worker as she shifted the blankets over herself.
“ Scared, really confused and battered but she is physically going to be alright, the last time I heard..” Olivia said, sitting down on the edge of the bed.
“ That is the best news that we can have, I guess...” Breathed Mandy, taking a sip of the coffee.
“ It will take a lot of caring and perhaps some professional help, but I think Tabitha will be just fine...” Said Olivia hopefully.
“ Anything else do you have?” Asked Mandy, turning her head a little. “ Do the police have any leads yet?”
By the look that had suddenly appeared on Olivia’s face, it was clear that the woman did have some more information. Mandy waited for a second for the woman to tell her, but nothing came. She waited for a few moments more for Olivia to spit out the information, and when it still never came, Mandy quickly was becoming very uncharacteristically impatient
“ Well?”
“ I do have something to report on that.. but it’s not from the cops though...” Said the older councilor, her voice was full of hesitation..
Mandy was now awake fully, and was instantly curious at what the woman had just said to her. The cryptic way that Olivia was speaking about her as of yet untold information was more than odd.
“ When we took the Staff roll call this morning, Miss Ashfield and I... we found two of our councilors were missing.”
“ Missing?” Sputtered Mandy, not expecting that. “ Who are they ones that are missing?”
“ I have to warn you that this might not seem like what it could be...” Started Olivia.
“ Who?” Restated Mandy jumping in on Olivia’s statement, now with a little more force behind her words.
Olivia frowned and looked at the girl in the bed with such a serious air to her.
“ Alison Grey and Allen Perot.” She said so stiffly, her eyes were as cold as two cast iron frying pans.
“ Alison and Allen took off?” Echoed the young woman.
“ They were missing when we did the count at six, but there is no car gone out of the parking lot.” Olivia calmly said
“ Jesus!” She spat, her mind quickly playing with the possibilities with this revelation. “ They are gone?”
“ A initial search by the senior councilors found nothing.” Olivia said with a tight jaw. “ The police need to know this.”
Mandy fell silent, as the information was now hitting. She was now wondering if these two were involved in the rape of Tabitha last night, or something else altogether. This was making no damned sense at all.
“ So now what do you think the camp do about it?” She poised the question..
“ You finish your coffee and then go have a shower, We meet with Alexis and the other senior staff right after breakfast.”
Mandy blinked, nearly choking on a sip of coffee she had just taken.
“ Why me?” She asked.
“ It is because you know them both...” Plainly said the woman back. “ And might have something to contribute into it.”
Mandy frowned, as she heard the words. Her stomach started to turn wildly, as she felt herself being really upset with the woman.
“ You told Miss Ashfield about Alison and me... and about the thing with Allen as well, haven’t you?” Asked the younger lady.
“ I had to tell Alexis about it all...” Olivia said calmly. “ There really was no choice for me not to in the matter...”
“ Did you have to tell her everything like that?” Snapped Mandy with a voice that was way louder than normal, inside she was feeling almost guilty at this point.
“ After everything that has happened around here, the boss really needs to know everything she can....“ The woman said, after letting Mandy say her few words. “ The board of directors for Camp Pawa are going to meet in a day or so back in the city... because of all of this, they might just end up shutting down Pawa not just for this summer season.. but for good.”
Mandy hated that her private life... and private disappointment, had to be aired out like this. As she continued to think about it, she already came to the conclusion that Olivia was right in telling her sad story... Miss Ashfield needed to know, she was not wanting this place to be shut down. Dispite everything that had happened her over the years, to her and others as well... it was the only kids camp around other than the youth Gay one a ways away. She could not let that happen to good old Pawa.
Olivia left to let Mandy drink her coffee in peace and the go to have that shower This day was going to be something else indeed.
******
Miss Ashfield sat behind her desk when Mandy, Olivia and a handful of the main Senior staff councilors all met. The woman looked so tired sitting there, but was a sense of like she never had been before. Sitting there, she was the epitome of an administrator.
Mandy had just sat down, after explaining things to the lady. She had gone through everything, not missing any single hurtful detail as she layed it all out. As hard as it had been for her to do, She felt a sort of freeing sensation come along with it, a sense of closure that was surprising and plesant.
The woman leaned back in her large-backed chair, surveying the group that had assembled in her office. She had finished hearing everything that was there from not just Mandy, but the entire group.
“Guess it is now my turn to finally tell you what I know...” She said slowly, adding. “ I will try and explain everything that I can... but some things the Police have told me I cannot reveal at this point in their investigation.”
The woman paused for a moment, her face showing the stress of the past twenty four hours. The group sat, each one of them very stunned as they were waiting for the woman to continue. The room was so eerily silent, only the light humming of the air conditioner going could be heard..
Miss Ashfield leaned forward to look over at the group across her desk, her eyes seemed to be so cold at the moment.
“ Somehow, a registered sex offender has gotten work here at the Camp. The application process that is in place, did not catch it. I caught on when I saw something on television, ad the person they were profiling was this person” She said flatly. “ The police has confirmed this person’s record already for me.”
“ How did that happen? Letting a pervert like that actually to get hired here?” Asked a woman off to the side.
“ I do not do any of the hiring here, it is the main board who does this.” Alexis said.
“ The how did this person?” Asked the woman again.
“ As far as what the police have said...it seems like this person has manipulated the background check system because of his families wealth and influence.”
“ Who is this pervert?” Asked the tall and lanky Irene.
“ Yeah... who is this freak?” Called out a very chubby man from the back.
Miss Ashfield threw a mug shot on the desk in response to people’s questions. Mandy could see the picture from where she was, and gasped. It was a picture of Allen staring up at her almost mockingly.
“ He is Allen Perot... and he has already gone missing with one of our councilors, Alison Grey.” The woman said as calmly as she could. “ This man has a disturbingly long record of raping and beating young females who are homosexual or suspected to be, always saying after being caught that ‘A good fuck will straighten these girls out for good’.”
“ Are you sure of all of this, Miss Ashfield?” Mandy said, her mind now worrying about her ex.
“ All too sure, Mandy...” Alexis said. “ He likes to go after fairly young girls, twelve to around fifteen who are just starting to figure out their sexuality. He gets close to them by volunteering or working for teen youth groups and such.”
“ So he acts like it is his job to stop them from being Lesbians?” Irene asked.
“ In a short sort of way... Yes. He has been quoted in saying that if he does the ‘deed’ early enough, they will turn out normal and not Gay, showing them exactly what they were made for... all the while he goes out with a female of an older age to mask his twisted plans. The profile on him is quite extensive... but his very wealthy family has kept him out of prison for this long.”
Mandy felt a horrible chill up her spine, as she connected the dots. Alison had been used by this man for his own devious needs it seemed, and she has no clue to who she has made a child with. Alison seems to think that she loves this man, and has taken on the same smugness as Allen has directed on her. That bastard never loved her.
Snapping out of her own thoughts, Mandy looked at Alexis with a gasp on her lips. She found the woman already was looking at her.
“ Is Allen a suspect in what happen to Tabitha?”
“ The Police strongly think so, but Tabitha could not identify him from the pictures they showed her... DNA results will help that, cops have been clear to tell me that his DNA is on file from a earlier attacks....” Said a frustrated Miss Ashfield.
“ That will point to him then?” Mandy posed again.
” It is not as easy as that...” Said Alexis coldly. “ There was another male councilor that had been seen talking with Tabitha around the time she vanished, but I am not at liberty to reveal that name as yet. Only the tests can determine if this councilor or if Allen... are the perpetrator.”
“ How long will that take?” Irene asked.
“ The police have not said... only that it was top priority for the results.” Calmly said Alexis. “ They are investigating this other councilor while waiting for the tests from the lab.”
A low mummer went through the room, as every one of the assembled councilors seemed shocked at what has developed. The most shocked of them all was Mandy. Regardless of how Alison got into this shit, she knew that she would be... and was, in danger.
“ Are the police going to search for Allen and Alison then?” She said, hoping that the Police were going to do that.”
“ They are looking for them both as we speak...” Alexis said. “ But they have told me to inform you all that if any one of you actually see them, to contact either me or the department as quickly as possible, and not try and stop them yourselves.”
She swallowed and turned, her face still very much having a very serious look on it’s tired look.
“ Tell nothing to the Campers, or anyone else for right now... The police want this place working as normally as possible for the time being...” She warned. “ Just keep all of your eyes open, and mouth shut.”
“ What if one of the campers ask about the rape or about Tabitha and how she is doing... do we just out and out lie.. telling them there was no rape at all and what they saw last night with all the cops around was nothing?” Asked Irene.
“ I agree with that.. I’m going to have may girls scared of this... and many more who might be at risk as well...” Said another woman. “ I cant just fake it all, after what happened... It’s not right!”
Alexis nodded, as it seemed that she too had thought of that.
“ We just have to say that Tabitha is doing well, and that the police are doing what they have to keep everyone safe here at Camp.” The head administrator said, without a moment of hesitation. “ The fact that Allen is a sex offender has to be kept quiet for now as well...”
“ That just seems worse than plainly lying to them.” Said a dark skinned young man. “ Some of these kids need to know if they might be targeted, so they can protect themselves by budding up...”
Miss Ashfield looked at the group, as her eyes were now showing that she was a little frustrated herself with the situation. She leaned with one hand on the desk, never once turning away from the assemblage.
“ You just say what you can, without crossing the line between what you can and cannot say... so nothing can interfere with the police’s investigations.” Alexis snapped, obviously she was feeling overly strained by everything. “ We can’t do anything else.... only hope that this might not end up closing down Pawa... and pray that another girl will not be attacked in the meantime.”
“ We just have to make sure our children are safe the best that we can do until the cops have their ducks in a row.” Olivia said, her face showing the monumental strain as well as she jumped in to help the boss. “ We need to especially look over those kids who seem to be at the most risk.”
“ Keep an eye on everyone the best that you can over the next little while....” Alexis said, adding in. “ Police are going to be constantly patrolling through our camp on a regular basis for the next while, so we can go about our jobs a little better without excess strain.”
“ That is the only thing we can do at this juncture...” Added in Olivia, putting an accent on what had been told so far.
Mandy was angered and worried at the same time, but grudgingly knew that both women were right. Until the cops could figure out which one of these men was the one who did this and capture him... their job was to make sure that their kids were completely safe. She was so very worried about Alison, after hearing all of this... but the kids were the only priority here... no matter what her feelings were.
With out any fanfare or anything else, the meeting was abruptly ended by the head of Pawa. The group quickly dispersed and went back to start the day off the day’s activities with their kids. As they all did, it was clear that none of councilors were really wanting to put on a brave face. They simply had to, for the collective good of the Camp.
Miss Ashfield sat back down in her chair, showing the exhausted state she was in. She rubbed her eyes and lit a smoke for herself. She took a long drag and let the plume of smoke float off onto the breeze made by the air conditioner, and she seemed to relax a little as she sat there. She rolled her head to the side, as her face showed her mind was drifting far away from her office.
Her secretary suddenly appeared and hurried in to the room. The younger lady plopped a large folder on her desk.
“ This just came for you, Miss Ashfield...” She said.
“ What is it now...” Alexis grumbled, eyeing the folder with hesitation.
“ The lead investigator dropped it off while you were in speaking with the councilors.” She said.
The woman behind the desk seemed to perk up a little, as she looked at the folder with a bit more interest than before.
“ Is it that DNA test already?” She said hopefully.
“ He did not say what this was....” Started the secretary, with a shrug. “ But he did stress that you need to look at that immediately.”
Alexis flipped open the folder and began to read whatever was inside with voracious enthusiasm The secretary turned and left rather quickly, going to answer a ringing phone in the other room. Head of Pawa seemed not to even notice, as she was already engrossed in the words she was reading.
The woman finished reading what was in the folder and sat back in to the chair back with a strange heaviness. She looked up at the ceiling and let out a long sigh. The secretary came back in again, and noticed the blank look on her boss’s face.
“ It’s not the DNA test that you wanted to see?” She asked, looking at her boss with the question written on her face.
“ No, unfortunately...” Sighed the head woman.
“ Then... what?”
The woman sat up a little in her seat and looked at her secretary with a very intense yet blanked stare.
“ There has been a monkey wrench thrown into this now...” She said flatly.
“ Like what?” The younger lady said.
“ Call Olivia back here on the double...” The woman answered. “ She needs to see what this says.”
“ What is it?” Questioned the lady.
“ I have to show Olivia this first...” She said flatly. “ Get her here as fast as you can....”
The secretary hurried off, her face showing that she was not quite sure of just what it could be that her boss was not telling her. She was aware of one thing by how her boss was acting like, this was something very big that had been dumped into the mix of this horrible situation.