Force of Nature (Aaron Falk #2)(35)

‘She’s a bit uncomfortable,’ Carmen said as they walked over. ‘She reminded you to ask the nurse for painkillers.’

‘I did. It’s too soon. She never listens to me.’ Beth turned her head to blow smoke away from them, fanning the air. ‘What’s the latest with Alice? Still no sign?’

‘Not as far as we’ve heard,’ Falk said.

‘Shit.’ Beth picked a fleck of tobacco from her lower lip. She glanced at the trees encroaching on the back of the hospital lot. ‘I wonder what’s happened to her.’

‘What do you think?’

Beth focused on her cigarette. ‘After she walked off? Who knows. Anything could happen out there. We all tried to tell her.’

Falk watched her. ‘What is it you do at BaileyTennants?’

‘Data processing and archiving.’

‘Oh, yeah? What does that involve?’

‘Pretty much what it sounds like. Filing, data entry, making sure the partners can access the documents they’re looking for.’

‘So you have access to the company’s files?’

‘The unrestricted stuff. There are confidential and deep archive files the senior partners have to access themselves.’

‘So did you see much of Alice Russell at work?’

‘Yeah, sometimes.’ Beth didn’t sound happy about it. ‘She was down in the data room a fair bit, getting bits and pieces.’

Falk felt Carmen shift next to him.

‘Did you two chat much while she was down there?’ Carmen said mildly. ‘Talk about what she was looking for?’

Beth cocked her head, something flitting across her face. Calculating, almost.

‘No, she didn’t talk to anyone in data processing unless she had to. Anyway, it’s all Greek to me down there. I don’t get paid enough to think.’

‘And what about out on the retreat? Did you get along any better with her out there?’ Falk asked, and Beth’s face hardened, her cigarette frozen halfway to her mouth.

‘Is that a joke?’

‘No.’

‘Then no. Alice Russell and I did not get along. Not at work, not on the retreat.’ Beth cast a glance at the hospital doors. ‘My sister didn’t mention it?’

‘No.’

‘Oh.’ Beth took a final drag and ground out her cigarette butt. ‘She probably thought you knew. Alice didn’t like me, and she didn’t bother to hide it.’

‘Why was that?’ Carmen asked.

‘I don’t know.’ Beth shrugged. She pulled out her cigarette pack, offering it to Falk and Carmen. They both shook their heads. ‘Actually,’ she said, putting one in her own mouth. ‘I do know. She didn’t like me because she didn’t have to like me. I didn’t have anything to offer her, I wasn’t interesting, I’m not Bree –’ Beth waved a hand vaguely up and down herself from her sallow face to her thick thighs. ‘It wasn’t hard for Alice to make things difficult for me and she took her chance.’

‘Even with your sister there?’

Beth gave a crooked smile. ‘Especially with my sister there. I think that’s what made it fun.’

She cupped her hands and lit up. The wind ruffled her hair and she pulled the coat tighter around herself.

‘So Alice gave you a hard time,’ Carmen said. ‘Did you stand up to her? Push back at all?’

There was the briefest ripple across Beth’s features. ‘No.’

‘Not at all? It must have been frustrating for you.’

She shrugged. ‘There’ll always be someone acting like a bit of a bitch. It’s not worth me rocking the boat. Not while I’m on probation, anyway.’

‘What are you on probation for?’ Falk asked.

‘Don’t you know?’

‘We can find out. It would be easier if you tell us.’

Beth’s eyes flicked to the hospital doors. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other and took a deep drag before answering.

‘What kind of cops did you say you were again?’

‘AFP.’ Falk held out his Federal Police identification and Beth leaned in to look.

‘I’m on probation . . .’ She stopped. Sighed. ‘Because of that thing with Bree.’

They waited. ‘You’ll have to give us more than that,’ Carmen said.

‘Yeah, sorry. I don’t really like to talk about it. A couple of years ago I –’ She seemed to inhale the rest of the cigarette in a single draw. ‘I wasn’t doing so well. I broke into Bree’s flat and stole some of her things. Clothes, her TV. Some stuff she’d saved up for. Some jewellery our nanna had given her before she died. Bree came home to find me loading it into the back of a car. When she tried to stop me, I hit her.’

The last words tumbled out like they had a bad taste.

‘Was she badly hurt?’ Falk asked.

‘Physically, nothing too bad,’ Beth said. ‘But she’d been smacked on the street by her twin trying to steal her possessions for drug money, so yeah. She was badly hurt. I badly hurt her.’

It sounded like a phrase she’d had to repeat often in front of a therapist. She finished her cigarette but took her time putting this one out.