Force of Nature (Aaron Falk #2)(23)

Chase continued to stare at the ground.

‘You did see Alice Russell during the retreat, though,’ Falk said.

Bailey blinked. ‘On the first night, you mean?’

‘Was there any other time?’

‘No.’ His reply was almost too quick. ‘Only that first night. It was a social call between camps.’

‘Whose idea was that?’

‘Mine. It’s good for us to connect in a different space from the office. We’re all one company. All in the same boat.’

‘And you spoke to Alice Russell then?’ Falk watched Bailey closely.

‘Briefly, at the start, but we weren’t there for long. We left when it started to rain.’

‘What did you talk about?’

Bailey furrowed his brow. ‘Nothing, really. General office chat.’

‘Even on a social visit?’ Carmen said.

A tiny smile. ‘Like you say, I’m never really off the clock.’

‘And how did she seem to you that night?’

A beat. ‘She seemed fine. But we didn’t speak for long.’

‘You didn’t have any concerns about her?’ Falk said.

‘Like what?’

‘Anything. Her health, her mental state? Her ability to complete the course?’

‘If I had any doubts about Alice, or any of our employees,’ Bailey said, ‘I would do something about it.’

Somewhere, deep in the bush, a bird called, sharp and shrill. He frowned and glanced at his watch.

‘I’m sorry. Look, thanks for your help with the search, but I’m going to have to make a move. I want to drive up to the site in time for the night briefing.’

Chase shifted his weight. ‘I’m going up there myself. Do you want a lift?’

Bailey patted the roof of his BMW. ‘I’m good, thanks.’

He fished out his keys and with another round of handshakes and a brief wave was gone, invisible behind the tinted glass as the car drove away.

Chase watched him leave, then looked somewhat forlornly at the Executive Adventures minibus hulking in the corner of the carpark.

‘I’d better get up there myself. I’ll let you know if there’s any update,’ he said, and trudged off, keys in hand. Falk and Carmen found themselves alone once more.

‘I’d love to know why Bailey was late getting up here,’ Carmen said. ‘Do you believe it was a family issue?’

‘I don’t know,’ Falk said. ‘BaileyTennants is a family firm. That could cover pretty much anything.’

‘Yeah. Although, I have to say, if I owned a car like his, I’d have missed the bus too.’

They walked over to their own sedan, parked in the far corner. Grit and leaves had collected in the crevices, and flew up in a haze as they opened the boot. Falk pulled out his battered backpack and hoisted it onto his shoulder.

‘I thought you said you weren’t into hiking,’ Carmen said.

‘I’m not.’

‘You should tell your bag. It looks like it’s on its last legs.’

‘Oh. Yeah. It’s been pretty well used. Not by me, though.’ Falk said no more, but Carmen was looking at him expectantly. He sighed. ‘It used to be my dad’s.’

‘That’s nice. He gave it to you?’

‘Kind of. He died. So I took it.’

‘Oh. Shit. I’m sorry.’

‘It’s okay. He doesn’t need it anymore. Come on.’

Falk turned before she could say anything further and they walked across the carpark into the lodge reception area. It was like a furnace compared with the outside, and he felt the sweat prickle on his skin. The same ranger as before was behind the welcome desk. He checked the list of rooms reserved for police and searchers and handed them each a key.

‘Back out the way you came, follow the walkway round to the left,’ he said. ‘You’re at the end of the row, next to each other.’

‘Thanks.’

They headed out and around the side of the lodge until they came to a long, sturdy, wooden hut. It had been split into individual cabins with a shared porch stretching along the front. Falk could hear the tap of rain start against the tin roof as they walked along. Their rooms were right at the end, as promised.

‘Regroup in twenty minutes?’ Carmen said, and disappeared through her door.

Inside, Falk’s room was small but surprisingly cosy. A bed took up most of the space, with a wardrobe crammed into one corner and a door leading to a tiny ensuite. Falk shrugged off his coat and checked his mobile. No signal here either.

He propped his backpack – his dad’s backpack – against the wall. It looked tatty against the clean white paintwork. Falk wasn’t quite sure why he’d brought it. He had other bags he could have used. He’d found it at the very back of his wardrobe while he was digging out his hiking boots. He’d almost forgotten it was there. Almost, but not quite. Falk had pulled the bag out, then sat on the floor for a long time in his quiet flat, looking at it.

He hadn’t been fully honest with Carmen. He hadn’t so much taken the bag when his dad died seven years earlier as been handed it by a specialist cancer nurse at the hospice. It had been light, but not empty, containing Erik Falk’s final few possessions.