Force of Nature (Aaron Falk #2)(56)

Falk and Carmen both shook their heads.

‘No. Well, every time you turn your back, there’s bloody something,’ she said, as though that explained it. Falk waited, but she said nothing more.

They passed the marker signalling the official boundary of the park and as they headed into the tiny town, Falk could see the familiar glow of the service station sign up ahead. He checked the gauge and pulled in. It was the same guy behind the counter.

‘They haven’t found her then,’ he said when he saw Falk. It wasn’t a question.

‘Not yet.’ Falk looked at the guy properly for the first time. The beanie cap hid his hair, but his eyebrows and stubble were dark.

‘Haven’t found any of her stuff? Shelter? Bag?’ the man asked, and Falk shook his head. ‘That’s probably a good thing,’ he went on. ‘You find the belongings or shelter, the body’s always next. Always is. You can’t survive without equipment out there. I reckon there’s a good chance they’ll never find her now. Not if there’s been no sign so far.’

‘Well, let’s hope you’re wrong,’ Falk said.

‘I’m not wrong.’ The guy glanced outside. Carmen and Lauren had got out of the car, their arms folded across their chests in the cool air. ‘You planning on coming back this way again?’

‘I don’t know,’ Falk said. ‘If they find her, maybe.’

‘In that case, hope to see you again soon, mate.’

The words had the finality of a funeral.

Falk walked back to the car and got in. The park and the town were ten kilometres behind them before he realised he was well over the speed limit. Neither Carmen nor Lauren objected. When the horizon of the ranges was small in the rear-view mirror, Lauren shifted in the back seat.

‘Apparently they think the cabin we found might have been used by Martin Kovac,’ she said. ‘Did you know that?’

Falk glanced in the mirror. She was staring out of the window, chewing her thumbnail.

‘Who told you that?’

‘Jill. A searcher told her.’

‘I think it’s only a suspicion at this stage. It’s not confirmed.’

Lauren winced and pulled the tip of her thumb from her mouth. The nail was bleeding, a black half-moon crescent welling around the bed. She looked down at it, then started to cry.

Carmen twisted round to hand her a tissue. ‘Do you want to stop? Get some air?’

Falk pulled over on the hard shoulder. The road in both directions was empty. Woodland had finally given way to farmland and he was reminded of the drive out to the ranges. Only two days earlier, but it seemed like a long time ago. It was a week tomorrow since Alice had first plunged into the bushland. We search until there’s no point anymore.

Falk climbed out and got a bottle of water from the car boot for Lauren. The three of them stood by the side of the road as she took a sip.

‘I’m sorry.’ Lauren licked her lips. They were pale and dry. ‘I feel bad leaving while Alice is still out there.’

‘They’d let you know if there was anything you could do,’ Falk said.

‘I know that. And I know –’ She gave a hard little smile. ‘I know Alice would do exactly the same in my position. It doesn’t make it easier though.’ She took another sip of water, her hands a little steadier now. ‘My husband called me. Our daughter’s school is contacting parents. Some photos of a student have been leaked online. Explicit, apparently, whatever exactly that means.’

‘Not of your daughter?’ Carmen said.

‘No. Not Rebecca. She wouldn’t do anything like that. But – I’m sorry, thank you –’ Lauren took the fresh tissue Carmen offered and wiped her eyes. ‘But she had some trouble last year with this kind of thing. Not explicit stuff, thank God, but a lot of bullying. Other girls were taking pictures of her getting changed after sport, eating her lunch, stupid things. But they were sharing them on their phones and on social media. Encouraging students from the boys’ school to comment. Rebecca –’ Lauren paused. ‘She’s had a difficult time.’

‘I’m sorry to hear that,’ Carmen said.

‘Yes, well, us too. It’s unbelievable really, when I think of the amount I’ve paid to send her to that school. They wrote to us saying they’d disciplined a couple of the girls responsible and held an assembly about respect.’ Lauren wiped her eyes a final time. ‘I’m sorry. When I hear something like this, it brings it all back.’

‘Girls can be real bitches at that age,’ Carmen said. ‘I remember. And school was hard enough even without the internet.’

‘It’s a whole different world, what they get up to now,’ Lauren said. ‘I don’t know what I’m supposed to do. Delete her accounts? Take away her phone? The way she looks at me, I may as well be asking her to cut off her hand.’ She finished the water and wiped her eyes once more. She managed a watery smile. ‘Sorry. I think I just really need to be at home.’

They climbed back in the car and Lauren leaned her head against the window as Falk started the engine. Eventually he could tell from her breathing that she’d fallen asleep. Curled up, she looked like a husk, he thought. Like the bushland had sucked the spirit out of her.

He and Carmen took turns driving and dozing. The rain spots on the windscreen grew lighter the further they travelled, as they left the bush and its weather in their wake. The radio crackled softly as stations came back into range one by one.