Force of Nature (Aaron Falk #2)(46)

Falk remembered the shadowy figure he’d seen leaving the trail. ‘Were you out there last night as well?’

She nodded. ‘I know it’s probably ridiculous, but I thought Alice might find her way back to the start of the trail. We passed the waterfall on the first day and it’s a really distinctive landmark. I was driving myself crazy sitting around the lodge, so I’ve been sitting out there instead.’

‘Right.’ Falk clocked her purple hat for the first time. ‘We saw you out there yesterday afternoon.’

‘Probably.’

There was a rumble of thunder and they both looked up.

‘Come on,’ he said. ‘We’re nearly at the lodge. I’ll walk back with you.’

They moved slowly, their torch beams throwing cones of light on the uneven ground.

‘How long have you been with BaileyTennants?’ Falk said.

‘Nearly two years. I’m strategic head of forward planning.’

‘What does that involve?’

A heavy sigh. ‘It involves identifying the future strategic needs of our firm and putting together action plans –’ She stopped. ‘Sorry. It all seems so pointless, after what’s happened to Alice.’

‘It sounds like you all had a very difficult few days.’

Lauren didn’t answer straight away. ‘We did. It wasn’t any one thing that went wrong, it was a hundred little things. It all kept adding up until it was too late. I just hope Alice is okay.’

‘Did you two work together a lot?’ Falk asked.

‘Not so much directly. But I’ve known her on and off for years. We were at secondary school together and then we ended up working in the same industry, so our paths crossed a bit. And our girls are the same age. They both go to our old school now. When Alice found out I’d left my old firm she put in a good word for me at BaileyTennants, and I’ve been there ever since.’

‘We heard it was you who managed to lead the group to a road,’ Falk said. ‘Get the others back.’

‘That’s probably overstating it. I’d done a bit of navigating at school, but we just walked in a straight line and hoped for the best.’ She sighed. ‘Anyway, it had been Alice’s idea to take that path. When we realised she’d gone, I thought we’d only be a couple of hours behind her. I couldn’t believe it when she wasn’t at the end.’

They rounded a corner and the start of the trailhead came into sight. They were back. Lauren shivered and wrapped her arms around herself as they emerged. The air seemed heavy with the threat of a storm and the lodge up ahead looked warm and inviting.

‘Shall we talk inside?’ he said, but Lauren hesitated.

‘Can we stay out here? Do you mind? Nothing against Jill, but I don’t have the energy for her tonight.’

‘Okay.’ Falk could feel the cold coming through his boots and wriggled his toes inside his socks. ‘Tell me about this school camp you and Alice went on.’

‘McAllaster? It was out in the back end of nowhere. We did academic subjects, but the main focus was on the outdoor activities. Hiking, camping, problem-solving activities, that sort of thing. No TV, no phone calls, the only contact with home during term time was through handwritten letters. They still do it, my daughter went two years ago. Alice’s daughter too. A lot of private schools run them.’ Lauren paused. ‘And it’s not easy.’

Even in Falk’s childless world, he had heard tell of the dreaded full-year camp. The odd story over the years from colleagues who had graduated from one of the more prestigious establishments. The tale was usually told in the hushed tone of someone who has survived a bear attack or walked away from a fatal plane crash. Disbelief mixed with pride. I got through it.

‘It sounds like it helped you a bit at least,’ Falk said.

‘A bit, perhaps. But I keep thinking that having rusty skills might be worse than having no skills. If we hadn’t gone on that camp, maybe Alice wouldn’t have got the stupid idea that she could walk out alone.’

‘You didn’t think she was equipped to do that?’

‘I didn’t think any of us were. I wanted to stay put and wait for help.’ She sighed. ‘I don’t know. Or maybe we should have gone with her and at least stayed together as a group. I knew she might try to go alone once she’d been outvoted. She always –’

She stopped. Falk waited.

‘Alice always overestimated her skills. At camp she was a group leader a lot of the time, but she wasn’t chosen because she was particularly outstanding. I mean, she was good. But she wasn’t as good as she thought.’

‘Popularity contest?’ Falk said.

‘Exactly. She was voted team leader because she was popular. Everyone wanted to be her friend, wanted to be in her group. I can’t blame her for buying into the hype. If everyone around you is constantly telling you you’re fantastic, it’s easy to believe it.’

Lauren glanced over her shoulder at the trees.

‘I suppose in one way she did us a big favour, though. If we’d stayed at the cabin and waited for help, we’d still be out there waiting. Apparently they still can’t find it.’

‘No. That’s true.’

Lauren looked at him.

‘They’re searching very hard, though, from what I can tell,’ she said. ‘That cabin is the only thing some of the officers want to talk about.’