Force of Nature (Aaron Falk #2)(67)

‘Rebecca, for God’s sake!’ Lauren’s voice seemed to come out louder than intended and she bit the words short. She took a breath. ‘I’m sorry. Please, just go.’

With a mutinous glance, Rebecca turned and left the room, followed by Margot. Lauren waited until she heard their footsteps disappear down the hall.

‘I’ll make sure Margot’s settled in. Keep her offline if I can.’

‘Thank you for this,’ Carmen said as they walked to the front door. ‘A liaison officer’s spoken to Margot’s dad. He’ll pick her up tomorrow when she’s calmed down.’

‘It’s fine. It’s the least I can do for Alice.’ Lauren followed them out into the driveway. She glanced back at the house. There was no noise or chatter coming from the kitchen. ‘It hasn’t been easy around here lately, but at least I got to come home.’





Day 3: Saturday Evening


The fire was something, at least.

It glowed in the small clearing outside the cabin door. The flames were too weak to give off any real warmth, but as Lauren stood beside it she felt a little better than she had in the past two days. Not good, not by a long way, but better.

It had taken more than an hour of solid coaxing to light it. Lauren had turned her back to the wind, her hands numb as she held Beth’s lighter to a pile of damp kindling. After twenty minutes, Alice had unfolded her arms from across her chest and come over to help. She was obviously more cold than she was angry, Lauren thought. Jill and the twins had retreated into the cabin. Eventually Alice had cleared her throat.

‘I’m sorry about before.’ Her voice had been hard to hear. Alice’s apologies, when they came at all, always managed to sound begrudging.

‘It’s okay. We’re all tired.’ Lauren had braced herself for another argument, but Alice had continued fiddling with the fire. She’d seemed distracted, putting sticks into small piles, then breaking them down to rebuild them.

‘Lauren, how’s Rebecca?’

The question had come out of nowhere and Lauren had blinked in surprise.

‘Sorry?’

‘I was just wondering how she’s coping after that photo thing last year.’

That photo thing. It made it sound like nothing. ‘She’s all right,’ Lauren said, finally.

‘Is she?’ Alice sounded genuinely curious. ‘Is she going back to school?’

‘No.’ Lauren picked up the lighter. ‘I don’t know.’ She concentrated on the task in front of her. She didn’t want to talk about her child with Alice, sitting there with her healthy daughter and her prize nights and her prospects.

Lauren could still remember the first time she’d seen Margot Russell, sixteen years ago at the maternal health centre’s vaccination clinic. It was only the second time Lauren had crossed paths with Alice since school, but she recognised her straight away. She’d watched as Alice wheeled a pink bundle in an expensive pram up to the nurses’ desk. Alice’s hair looked like it had been washed and her jeans were not straining at the waist. Her baby was not crying. Alice was smiling at the nurse. She looked rested and proud and happy. Lauren had slipped out into the hall and hidden in the toilets, staring at the contraception advert on the back of the cubicle door while Rebecca screamed at her. She had not wanted to compare daughters with Alice Russell then, and she certainly did not want to now.

‘Why are you asking?’ Lauren focused very hard on flicking the lighter.

‘I should have asked ages ago.’

Yes, you really should have, Lauren thought. But she said nothing and flicked the lighter again.

‘I think –’ Alice started, then stopped. She was still fiddling with the kindling, her eyes downcast. ‘Margot –’

‘Hey, here we go!’ Lauren breathed out as a spark bloomed, rich and bright. She cupped her hands to shelter it, feeding the small flame until it caught, just in time for nightfall.

Jill and the twins came out of the cabin, relief visible on their faces, and they all stood in a circle around the flames. Lauren glanced at Alice, but whatever she’d been going to say had been lost with the moment. They stared at the fire for a while and then eventually, one by one, they spread their waterproofs on the ground and sat down.

Lauren felt the damp start to lift a little from her clothes. The way the orange light danced on the others’ faces reminded her of that first night, back at the first campsite with the men and the booze. And the food. It seemed very far away and long ago now. Like it had happened to someone else.

‘How long do you think it will take for them to realise we’re lost?’ Bree’s voice broke the silence.

Jill was staring glassy-eyed into the fire. ‘Not long, hopefully.’

‘Maybe they’re already looking. They might have worked it out when we didn’t make the second campsite.’

‘They don’t know.’ Alice’s voice cut through the air. She pointed upwards. ‘We haven’t heard a search helicopter. No-one is looking for us.’

The sound of the spitting fire was the only reply. Lauren hoped Alice was wrong, but she didn’t have the energy to argue. She wanted to sit there and watch the flames until someone came out of the trees for her. Until searchers came out of the trees for her, she corrected herself, but it was too late. The thought had already planted a rotten seed and she glanced around.