Force of Nature (Aaron Falk #2)(77)

‘Where’s the other guy?’ Falk said as he handed over his card.

‘Steve? Called in sick.’

‘When?’

‘This morning.’

‘What’s wrong with him?’

The woman looked at him strangely. ‘How would I know?’ She passed back his card and turned away. Just another dickhead from the city.

Falk took his card. He could feel her eyes on him the whole way back to the car. Above the forecourt, the cyclops eye of the camera stared down with its impassive gaze.

If the lodge had been busy before, it was in overdrive now. High-vis vests and media vans were everywhere. There was nowhere to park.

Falk dropped Carmen off at the lodge entrance and she ran in while he looked for a space. Sergeant King had said he’d leave instructions at reception. Falk crept along at slow speed and at the end of the row, was forced to double-park behind a ranger’s van.

He got out while he waited. It was even colder than he remembered and he zipped up his jacket. Across the carpark, away from the hive of activity, the Mirror Falls trailhead stood still and empty.

‘Hey.’

Falk heard a voice and turned around. For a second he didn’t recognise the woman. She looked different out of context.

‘Bree. You’re out of hospital.’

‘Yeah, last night. Thank God. I needed to get some air.’ Her dark hair was piled up under a hat and the brisk chill had made her cheeks a little flushed. She looked, Falk thought, quite beautiful.

‘How’s your arm?’

‘It’s okay, thank you. Still a bit painful.’ She looked at the bandage peering out from under the sleeve of her jacket. ‘I’m more worried about everything else. Beth and I are supposed to be leaving later today. I’ve got an appointment with a specialist in Melbourne tomorrow morning, but . . .’ Bree looked over at a search party climbing into a van. She brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes. Her chipped nails had been neatly filed down, Falk noticed.

‘That cabin wasn’t really used by Martin Kovac, was it?’ She didn’t bother trying to hide the fear in her voice.

‘I don’t know,’ Falk said truthfully. ‘I suppose that’s what they’ll try to determine.’

Bree started to chew one of her neat nails. ‘What will happen now they’ve found it?’

‘I imagine they’ll concentrate their search around that area. Look for any sign of Alice.’

Bree didn’t say anything for a minute. ‘I know the Kovac stuff was a long time ago, but someone else knew about that cabin, didn’t they? To tip off the police? One of the searchers told me that’s how they found it.’

‘I suppose so. I don’t know much more than you right now.’

‘But if someone knew about it, then someone might have known we were out there?’

‘I’m not sure that’s necessarily the case.’

‘But you weren’t there. Sometimes the trees were so thick you couldn’t see anything. You don’t know what it was like.’

‘No,’ he admitted. ‘That’s true.’

They watched as the search group’s van drove away.

‘Anyway,’ Bree said after a minute. ‘I really came over because I wanted to say thanks.’

‘For what?’

‘Being fair to Beth. She said she told you about being on probation. Some people hear that and make judgements straight away. People quite often think the worst of her.’

‘That’s fine. Is she okay? She seemed a bit subdued when we spoke the other day.’

Bree looked at him. ‘When was that?’

‘A couple of nights ago. I saw her outside the lodge. She was watching the rain.’

‘Oh. She didn’t mention that.’ Bree frowned. ‘Was she drinking?’

Falk hesitated half a beat too long and Bree’s frown deepened.

‘It’s okay. I thought she might have been. She’s under stress. I expected it.’

‘I think it was just the one,’ Falk said.

Bree shook her head. ‘Just the one. Just the ten. She’s not supposed to have any, full stop. But that’s Beth for you. She always wants to be good, but somehow never quite manages it –’ Bree broke off and looked past him towards the lodge. Falk turned. On the entrance steps, out of earshot, a figure was standing and watching them. Too-tight jacket, short dark hair. Beth. He wondered how long she had been there.

Falk raised a hand. After a beat, Beth raised one in return. Even from that distance, he could see she wasn’t smiling.

Bree shifted. ‘I’d better get back. Thanks again.’

Falk leaned against the car and watched Bree walk across the carpark. On the lodge steps, Beth stood, doing exactly the same thing. She didn’t move until her sister was back by her side.





Day 3: Saturday Night


Bree could hear her own breath loud in her ears. Alice’s back was against the wall.

Jill held out her hand. ‘Give me the phone.’

‘No.’

‘Where is it? In your bag? Let me see.’

‘No.’

‘It’s not a request.’ Jill leaned over and grabbed the backpack.

‘Hey!’ Alice tried to snatch it back but it was pulled from her fingers.