"Wow!" I exclaimed, carefully lifting Beth back up. "You guys caught all those?"

"Impressive, right?" Grant beamed.

"Very! I should’ve collected wood for a fire. I’ll do it now, okay?" I suggested.

"That’d be great!" Grant replied.

I ignored the looks Beth was giving both Grant and me. Grant used the lighter from the backpack and started to cook the fish. We were starving; no one said a word practically the entire time as we ate. While we were eating, I tried to picture Will watching out for Beth. He handed her water, asked her if she needed anything, and was super attentive.

Who are you and what did you do with Will?

Beth just answered him sweetly, her face lighting up whenever she looked at him. She appeared even more petite next to Will’s large frame. Even for fifteen, she was tinier than most of her friends, she had told me. Her delicate features complimented her well, though. Especially as she sat next to Will, his broad shoulders casting a large shadow against the fire’s flames. I was glad he had found her. He caught me looking at him and I smiled, not saying anything. He gave a funny look and went back to eating.

As soon as Grant had finished his fish, I nudged him.

"Hey, can you come help me with something really quick?" I asked.

Grant looked at me and raised an eyebrow, which I pretended to ignore. I stood up and he followed me as I walked until I was sure Will and Beth couldn’t hear us.

"Beth told me some guys captured Cal," I told him bluntly.

He sighed and looked down to the ground. "I know. Will told me the same."

"Okay, good. Then we don’t have to waste any time going over the story. We need to come up with a plan on how to rescue her," I said.

"Ryleigh," he said. "I don’t know where she is. This isn’t like with Aaron. At least with him, we knew the general direction he went in. But with Cal?"

"You’re joking, right?" I scoffed. "Beth knows the direction they went in. How is this any different?"

"It’s not that I don’t want to find her," he said. "I do! I’m just not sure...I mean, Beth clearly can’t go anywhere. Not with her leg. And I won’t leave you hiding somewhere again."

"Then leave Beth with Will," I suggested.

"And do what?" he asked.

"And go get Cal! With me," I replied.

He rubbed his hands over his face. "Just you and me? We’re going to rescue Cal, just the two of us?"

I put my hands on my hips. "Do you have a better idea?"

He stared at me. "Yeah, maybe. Let’s get off this island and call the police."

"By the time that happens, Cal could be-" my voice cracked as I choked back tears.

Grant sighed and stepped towards me. He put a hand on my shoulder.

"If you don’t want to go, that’s fine," I told him. "Get off this island and call the police."

"Good. I’m glad you agree," he said softly.

"Then I’ll just go get her all alone," I said stubbornly.

His eyes widened. "What? No! That’s crazy. I won’t let you go off alone!"

I turned to face him. "Let me? It’s not up to you, sorry."

I started to walk back to Beth and Will, but Grant grabbed my arm.

"Ryleigh, that’s not how I meant it," he said. "But it’s not safe for you to go alone."

I looked at him, making the biggest puppy dog eyes I could. He sighed and let go of my arm.

"Fine, but we can’t just run out there without a plan," he said sternly.

I threw my arms around him. "Thank you!"

As I hugged him, I suddenly felt so embarrassed. Sure, I was happy he would come with me to find Cal, but did I really have to hug him like that? My face felt hot as I started to release my grip. He grabbed hold of my hands as they slid down his chest and our eyes locked.

"Grant?" Will called out.

"Yeah," Grant called back. "Coming!"

He squeezed my hands and then walked back towards Will and Beth. I followed behind, hoping no one could see my flushed cheeks.

"We have a problem," Grant told them. "Cal."

Beth shot me a look and I shrugged. "We have to go find her."

The fire was slowly going out as we sat around it. As soon as they heard that Grant and I were going to look for Cal, they wanted to help. I wasn’t sure what Beth could realistically do, but I didn’t say anything. I didn’t want to hurt her feelings, and I knew she had the best of intentions. Plus, I could already tell that Will wouldn’t put her in danger.

As Grant drew a map of some sort in the dirt with a stick, I noticed Will fidgeting. Beth kept glancing at him from the corner of her eye and then refocusing on Grant. He didn’t notice either of them since his head was down towards the ground; but I did.

I placed a hand on Grant’s shoulder, stopping him mid-sentence as he was explaining what each line in the dirt represented.

"Sorry," I told him. "I don’t mean to interrupt, but what’s going on?" I looked at Will and Beth.

They exchanged looks and Beth nodded. "Tell them," she whispered.

I braced myself for more bad news. After Cal getting taken, what else could there be?

Will cleared his throat. "When those guys were chasing us? You know, when we all got separated at the stream? One of them was chasing me pretty closely. But, I lost him for a bit. I crossed back over the stream and ran up the hill. I hid. The one guy, he caught up to me, but couldn’t find me where I was hiding. Then the other guy came running, too."

Grant and I sat silently listening to him. Beth nodded, encouraging him to continue.

"They couldn’t see me, but I could hear them talking. One of them said something like, ’How’d we lose them? They were all together just like we were told’." He looked up at us.

"What do you mean ’like they were told’?" I asked him.

Will sighed. "I think they knew we - you, me, Grant, and Aaron - would be walking down towards the stream."

"Well, we know there are cameras," Grant confirmed.

Will shook his head. "If there were? I didn’t see them over there. I looked. Also, after I found Beth, we had a few close calls. It was as though they knew where we would be."

I thought of the two who had come after Grant and me. The girl who attached Grant had jumped out in front of him, rather than behind him. Grant must’ve been thinking the same thing because he told them what happened.

"I think someone is telling them where we are, or who’s going where or which of us have teamed up together..." Will said.

"Them? Like Dean and Gina? Who would be telling them anything about us?" I asked. "I’m confused."

"Them, as in Dean, Gina, or whoever." Will looked me. "But I’m telling you, it seems like these guys who we’ve come across - and keep running into - it’s like they know more than they should. Stuff they would normally never know, with or without cameras."

I looked at Beth. She seemed so frightened, and then quietly spoke. "Will went to get some berries and I sat down to wait for him. As soon as he walked away, this guy came out of nowhere! It could’ve been a coincidence. But the way he looked at me? It was so creepy. And then he looked at my leg and he knew all about my injuries. He said so!"

"I knocked that guy out real quick!" Will laughed. "Grabbed his binoculars, too!"

"Do you think someone’s spying on us?" I asked.

Will shook his head. "I’ll put it this way. I think someone in our group isn’t on our team, got it?"

I was still confused and shook my head. Will waited quietly. When neither Grant or I spoke, he sighed.

"Okay, I’ll be blunt, alright?" he said. "Aaron. I think Aaron isn’t who he says he is. I think he’s on the other team, like one of those teams that keeps attacking us. Team or group, I don’t know what to even call it. But, yeah, I think Aaron’s a snitch."

Beth gave him an encouraging look and then said, "We think Aaron is a mole."

Next Chapter: Thirty One