Force of Nature (Aaron Falk #2)(65)

‘You are such a manipulative bitch. How dare you? Scaring everyone to death because you didn’t get your own way for once in your bloody life! You should be ashamed!’

‘I’m not! I –’

‘You are!’

The words rang out through the bushland.

‘He had a dog.’ Alice’s voice was quiet. ‘We shouldn’t stay here.’

Beth took a breath, her chest rattling with anger, then made herself take another before she spoke.

‘Bullshit. That was all twenty years ago. And it’ll be night in half an hour. Jill? You already agreed. Stumbling around in the dark is going to get one of us killed.’

‘Beth’s right –’ Lauren started, but Alice turned on her.

‘No-one asked you, Lauren! You could be helping get us out of here but you’re too scared to try. So stay out of it.’

‘Alice! Stop.’ Jill looked from the dog bones to the trees and back again. Beth could tell she was torn. ‘Okay,’ she said at last. ‘Look, I’m not keen on staying either, but ghost stories can’t do us harm. Exposure actually might.’

Alice shook her head. ‘Really? You’re really going to stay here?’

‘Yes.’ Jill’s face had darkened with an ugly flush. Her damp hair was plastered to her head, exposing a badger stripe of grey down the parting. ‘And I know you’ve got a problem with that, Alice, but for once keep it to your bloody self. I’m sick of hearing from you.’

The two women stood face to face, blue-lipped, bodies tense. Something invisible shifted in the undergrowth and they both jumped. Jill stepped back.

‘That’s enough. Decision made. Someone get a fire going, for God’s sake.’

The gum trees shivered and watched as they searched for firewood, jumping at every little noise, until it was too dark to see anymore. Alice did not help.





Chapter 16



Margot Russell didn’t speak much in the car.

She sat in the back seat, staring down at her mobile as Falk and Carmen drove to Lauren’s house for the second time that day. She watched the videos obsessively, the screen close to her face and the tinny sound of teenage sex floating through to the front seat. Falk and Carmen exchanged a glance. After the second time through, Carmen gently suggested focusing on something else. Margot simply turned off the sound and continued to watch.

‘We’ll make sure the officers running the search know where you’re staying tonight, in case there’s any news,’ Carmen said.

‘Thank you.’ Her voice was small.

‘And I suppose the school might want to talk to you, but I guess they’ll have Lauren’s contact details. Maybe her daughter can collect anything you need from your locker if you don’t want to go in.’

‘But –’ Margot looked up at that. She sounded surprised. ‘Rebecca doesn’t go to school anymore.’

‘Doesn’t she?’ Falk glanced at her in the rear-view mirror.

‘No. She stopped coming to classes about six months ago.’

‘Stopped completely?’

‘Yeah. Of course,’ Margot said. ‘Have you seen her?’

‘No.’

‘Oh. Well, no, she hasn’t been for a while. She was getting teased a bit. Nothing serious, just some stupid pictures. But I guess she felt –’ She broke off. Looked down again at her screen, her mouth tight. She didn’t finish her thought out loud.

Lauren was waiting for them with the front door open as they pulled up outside her house.

‘Come in,’ she said as they trooped up the driveway. At the sight of Margot’s tear-swollen face, Lauren reached out as though to touch her cheek. She stopped herself at the last moment.

‘I’m sorry, I’d forgotten how much –’ She stopped. Falk knew what she’d been about to say. How much you look like your mother. Lauren cleared her throat. ‘How are you coping, Margot? I’m so sorry this has happened to you.’

‘Thank you.’ Margot stared at the long gash on Lauren’s forehead until the woman’s hand fluttered to it.

‘Come on, give me your bag and I’ll show you to your room.’ Lauren looked at Falk and Carmen. ‘The living room’s at the end of the hall. I’ll be through in a minute.’

‘Is Rebecca home?’ Falk heard Margot ask as Lauren led her away.

‘I think she’s taking a nap.’

The hallway led into a living room that was surprisingly untidy. Half-drunk cups of coffee languished forgotten on the side table and beside the couch, while magazines lay open, abandoned. There was a deep shaggy rug on the floor and framed pictures on every surface. At a glance, Falk could see they were mostly of Lauren and a girl who was obviously her young daughter. At some point, there had been what looked like a small family wedding and a man appeared in the shots. New husband and stepdad, he guessed.

He was surprised to see Lauren’s puppy fat from school come and go over the years, her body swelling and deflating almost with the turn of the seasons. The tension around the eyes was constant, though. She was smiling in every photo, looked truly happy in none.

There were no pictures of the daughter beyond her early teens. The latest one seemed to be a photo of the girl in her school uniform, captioned Year Nine. She was pretty in an understated way, with a shy smile, smooth round cheeks and shiny brown hair.