The Lost Man(84)

Katy hesitated. ‘I don’t know. I’ll think about it.’

Nathan pushed himself away from the wall. ‘Anyway, look, take it easy from here. We’ll cope without you.’

‘Thank you. Really. I honestly don’t know how it came to this. I was just so confused and lonely.’ She breathed out. ‘Thank you for believing me.’

He might not have, Nathan knew in the most honest part of himself as he opened the bedroom door. He might very well not have, had it not felt so unnervingly familiar. Maybe he should have paid more attention to the warning signs back when he had the chance. There was nothing he could do about that, but he could heed them now.

It was time to find Steve.





Chapter 31



‘Mate, what do you want me to tell you? That Cameron attacked a backpacker on the sand dunes after they both got drunk at a party?’

Steve’s gaze was firm and steady and Nathan had trouble meeting it.

‘No. Jesus. I don’t know.’

Nathan ran his hand through his hair and took a breath. The air was cloying. He had found the nurse in the living room and gripped his arm. He’d seen Liz notice, with a spark of hope in her eye, as Nathan wordlessly led Steve out onto the verandah and around the side of the house, where they could talk in peace. Now, though, he was finding the conversation exceptionally difficult.

‘I just want to know what really happened,’ Nathan said.

‘I can’t tell you that, mate. No, listen –’ Steve raised a finger to cut him off. ‘I’ll tell you exactly what I told Ilse earlier – I’m guessing it’s no coincidence you’re both asking about this – I don’t know what happened that night any more than you do.’

Nathan made a frustrated noise. ‘But at the time –’

‘Yeah, at the time, I had an opinion, same as everyone else.’

‘That’s what I’m asking.’

‘But it’s important that you understand –’

‘Understood. Get to the point.’

Steve squinted into the fierce afternoon light. They could see the graves in the distance. One old, one brand new. He ran his tongue over his teeth.

‘There was some light bruising on Jenna’s inner thighs. And a mark on her upper arm. Here.’ Steve touched the soft flesh below his own armpit. ‘No tearing or bleeding to speak of, but that doesn’t necessarily tell you anything either way.’

‘But it looked like it had been, what –?’ Nathan’s mouth felt dry and gritty. ‘Rough?’

‘Possibly. Or possibly just clumsy. Inexperienced, even. Some people bruise in situations where others might not.’ Steve pressed his lips together. ‘But that’s what I’m trying to tell you. Physically, I would say it wasn’t possible to draw a conclusion. The benefit of the doubt would probably fall Cameron’s way, in fact.’

Nathan waited for a trickle of relief that never came. He shifted his weight. He could see some movement around the front of the house. The odd person wandering out, making a move to leave. He turned back to Steve.

‘So what else was there?’

‘Honestly, nothing. It came down to what she said.’ Steve watched as a few more people came out into the open air, shielding their eyes against the sun. ‘Her boyfriend – this real soft-spoken English boy – had convinced her to come in, and I know most people thought that was because he was angry, but that wasn’t the case as far as I saw. He was worried about her, a bit scared even. Like he didn’t have a clue what to do. He probably didn’t, I think he was doing a degree in botany or something. I remember he kept blinking at me behind his glasses like I was going to be able to fix everything.’ Steve shook his head. ‘I don’t think they’d been together very long. Anyway, he waited outside while Jenna and I talked, so whatever she told me wasn’t for his benefit.’

‘And what did she tell you?’

‘You already know,’ Steve said. ‘You’ve heard the story. That she’d been drinking, and she’d started flirting with this kid because she was bored and didn’t know anyone and she was annoyed her boyfriend had stayed behind at the station rather than come to the party. Cameron was young.’ Steve frowned as he remembered. ‘She told me she’d thought he was harmless. It was all just a bit of fun to pass the time. And there were a lot of other people around, so she said she’d felt safe. I remember her saying that.’

The crowd at the front of the house was growing. Nathan could hear car doors slamming and engines starting up, but didn’t look over. He stayed focused on Steve.

‘Then Cameron offered to drive her back to town.’ The nurse’s voice had a darker note now. ‘She’d been drinking, she said. And was feeling a bit unsteady. Apparently, she’d thought she was following him to the car, but realised she was actually alone with him on the dunes. He started kissing her, picking up where they’d left off around the campfire. Jenna told him she’d had enough and asked him to stop.’

Steve looked at Nathan.

‘Cameron didn’t want to. And I know he was only seventeen, but he wasn’t a child, physically at least.’

Nathan thought of the calf, struggling underneath him. A knee in the right place, an elbow. A little bit of pressure. The struggling could be managed.