Force of Nature (Aaron Falk #2)(100)

Get the contracts. Get the contracts.

He had stared and scrolled for more than an hour. Then he’d picked up the phone and dialled a number.

‘Thank you,’ he said.

On the other end of the line, he heard Beth McKenzie take a breath.

‘Did you hear BaileyTennants has done the dirty on Bree?’ she said. ‘They’re all distancing themselves, trying to wash their hands of her.’

‘I had heard that.’

‘I’m not working there anymore either.’

‘No. I heard that too. What will you do now?’

‘I don’t know.’

‘Maybe something with that computer science degree,’ Falk said. ‘You were wasted in that data room.’

He heard Beth hesitate. ‘Do you think so?’

‘Yes.’

It was an understatement. He scrolled through the files as they spoke. They were all there. Copies of the documents Alice had requested and sourced through the BaileyTennants archives. Some things she had already passed to them. Some she had not. The contracts stared back at him in black and white, and he felt a rush of relief and adrenaline. He could imagine Carmen’s face when he told her. Falk scrolled back to the start of the files.

‘How did you –?’

‘I just never trusted Alice. She was always rude to me. And she and Bree worked too closely, it would have been easy for her to blame Bree if she was doing something wrong. So I made copies of her requests.’

‘Thank you. Sincerely.’

He heard her sigh. ‘What will happen now?’

‘To Bree?’

‘And Lauren.’

‘I don’t know,’ Falk said truthfully.

An autopsy had confirmed Alice had died from a bleed on the brain, most likely from hitting her head on the rock near where her body was found. Both Lauren and Bree would face charges, but Falk privately hoped the final count wouldn’t be too severe. Whichever way he looked at it, he couldn’t help feeling sorry for them.

The Baileys were already embroiled in a very public investigation into indecent images allegedly circulated by Daniel’s son Joel. The media had got wind of the scandal, publishing double-page analysis pieces complete with photos of Joel’s leafy private school. He had been expelled, according to reports. Margot Russell’s name had been kept out of it, for now at least.

Thanks to Beth, the Baileys now had more trouble coming their way. Falk couldn’t muster any sympathy for them. The family had profited from others’ misery for two generations. Jill included. Whether she’d felt she had a choice or not, when it came to the family business, she was very much a Bailey.

Since leaving the ranges, Falk had spent a lot of time thinking. About relationships and how little it took for one to turn sour. About holding grudges. About forgiveness.

He and Carmen had attempted to visit both Margot and Rebecca. Margot was refusing to see anyone, her father told them. Refusing to speak, refusing to come out of her room. He had looked terrified.

Rebecca had at least consented to leave the house and sit silently across from them at a café table. Carmen ordered sandwiches for all of them without asking, and the girl watched while they ate.

‘What happened on the waterfall?’ she asked eventually. Falk gave her an edited version. As truthful as he could make it. Heavy on love, low on regret.

The girl looked at her untouched plate. ‘My mum hasn’t said much.’

‘What has she said?’

‘That she loves me and she’s sorry.’

‘That’s the bit you should pay attention to,’ Falk said.

Rebecca fiddled with her napkin. ‘Was it my fault? Because I wouldn’t eat?’

‘No. I really think it ran a lot deeper than that.’

The girl looked unconvinced, but when she got up to leave, she took her sandwich wrapped in a napkin. Falk and Carmen watched her through the window. At the end of the street, she stopped by a bin. She held the sandwich over the lid for a long while, then with what looked like physical effort, put it in her bag and disappeared around a corner.

‘It’s a start, I suppose,’ Falk said. He thought of the hundreds of little things that had added up to go so wrong. Maybe hundreds of little things could add up to go right.

After a few days thinking at home, Falk had then spent a few more acting. He’d gone to a furniture shop to buy a couple of things, then bought a couple more while he was there.

Now, he sat in his new armchair in the corner of his flat as a patch of sunlight moved across the carpet. It was comfortable and had been a good decision. It made the place look different. Busier and fuller, but he thought he liked it. And from his new vantage point he could see his latest change clearly.

The two photographs of him with his father hung on the wall, framed and polished. It changed the feel of the room, but he thought he liked that as well. He had meant what he had said to Lauren at the waterfall. Families can forgive. But it wasn’t enough to mean it, you had to live it.

Falk looked up now, checking the clock. It was a beautiful Friday afternoon. Carmen was getting married the next day in Sydney. He wished her well. They had never spoken about what had passed between them on the bank of the falls. He sensed for her it was an encounter that was best kept fleeting. He understood. His suit jacket and a wrapped wedding gift were waiting with his bag. Ready for his flight to Sydney.