Force of Nature (Aaron Falk #2)(61)

Carmen put a glass of water in front of Margot. ‘And you think Joel Bailey posted them?’

‘He’s the only one who had them. Or he was, at least.’

‘And that’s him with you in the photos?’

‘He thinks they’re funny. But he promised me he’d deleted them. I made him show me his phone to prove it. I don’t know, he must have saved them.’ She was rambling now, the words falling over each other. ‘We took them last year, before we broke up. Just for –’ a humourless twitch of the mouth, ‘for fun. It was supposed to be fun anyway. When we broke up, I didn’t hear from him for a long time, but then he messaged me last week. He wanted me to send him some more.’

‘Did you tell anyone? Your mum?’ Carmen said.

‘No.’ Margot’s eyes were incredulous. ‘As if I would. I told Joel to get lost. But he kept messaging. He said I should send him new ones, or he’d show his friends the old ones. I told him he was full of shit.’ She shook her head. ‘He’d promised me he’d deleted them.’

She put a hand to her face and finally the tears spilled over, sliding down her face as her shoulders heaved. She couldn’t speak for a long while.

‘But he lied.’ It was hard to hear her. ‘And now they’re out there and everyone has seen them.’

She covered her face and cried as Carmen put a hand out and rubbed her back. Falk made a note of the website on Margot’s screen and emailed the details to a colleague in the cyber division.

Uploaded without consent, he wrote. Age 16. Do your best re: removal.

He didn’t hold out much hope. They could probably get the images taken down from the original site, but that didn’t help if they’d already been shared. He was reminded of an old proverb. Something about trying to catch feathers scattered in the wind.

After a long while, Margot blew her nose and wiped her eyes.

‘I really want to talk to my mum,’ she said in a tiny voice.

‘I know,’ Falk said. ‘And they’re searching for her, right now. But Margot, you can’t stay here alone. We need to call your dad and get him to take you home.’

Margot shook her head. ‘No. Please. Please don’t call my dad.’

‘We have to –’

‘Please. I don’t want to see him. I can’t stay with him tonight.’

‘Margot –’

‘No.’

‘Why not?’

The girl reached out and to Falk’s surprise gripped his wrist, her fingers vicelike. She looked him in the eye and spoke through bared teeth.

‘Listen to me. I cannot go to my dad’s because I cannot face him. Do you understand?’

The only sound was the tick of the kitchen clock. Everyone has seen them. He nodded. ‘I understand.’

They had to promise they’d find somewhere else for Margot to stay before she would agree to pack an overnight bag.

‘Where can I go?’ she’d asked. It was a good question. She’d shaken her head when they’d asked her for the name of another relative or friend she was willing to stay with. ‘I don’t want to see anyone.’

‘We could probably line up some sort of emergency foster care,’ Falk said in a low voice. They were standing in the hallway. Margot had finally agreed to gather a few things and the sound of her crying floated from her bedroom and down the stairs. ‘I don’t feel good about handballing her over to a stranger, though, not in the state she’s in.’

Carmen held her phone in her hand. She’d been trying to get through to Margot’s dad. ‘What about Lauren’s place?’ she said finally. ‘Just a thought. It’s only for one night. At least she’s aware of the photo situation.’

‘Yeah, maybe,’ Falk said.

‘Okay.’ Carmen glanced up the stairs. ‘You try to call Lauren. I’m going to have a chat with Margot about where her mother might keep confidential documents.’

‘Now?’

‘Yes now. It might be the only chance we get.’

Get the contracts. Get the contracts.

‘Yeah. Okay.’

Carmen disappeared up the stairs and Falk took out his phone, wandering back into the kitchen as he dialled the number. Outside the large windows, the afternoon was already growing dark. The cloud patterns were reflected in the smooth surface of the pool.

He leaned against the kitchen counter and stared at a cork noticeboard on the wall as he put the phone to his ear. A number of a handyman had been pinned to the board, alongside a recipe for something called quinoa power balls written in Alice’s handwriting. There was an invitation to the Endeavour Ladies’ College awards night which had come and gone last Sunday, the same day Alice was reported missing. A receipt for a pair of shoes. An Executive Adventures leaflet with the weekend’s dates scribbled across the top.

Falk leaned in a little closer. On the cover of the leaflet, he could make out Ian Chase in the back row of a group staff shot. Chase was turned a little away from the camera, partially obscured by the colleague to his right.

The phone line was still ringing in his ear and his eyes wandered to a number of framed photo collages lining the kitchen walls. The pictures were all of Alice and her daughter, separately or together. Many of the shots mirrored each other – Alice and Margot as babies, on their first days of school, at dances, lying by pools in bikinis.