Force of Nature (Aaron Falk #2)(78)

‘If you want to go so badly, Alice, you just bloody go.’ Jill thrust her arm into the bag, then, with a grunt of frustration, she upended it, spilling the contents onto the floor. ‘You’re on your own, and it’ll serve you right if you die in a ditch on the way. But you’re not taking the phone.’

‘Jesus.’ Alice crouched, gathering up her things as Jill pawed through them. Damp fleece, compass, water bottle. No phone.

‘It’s not here.’

‘It’ll be in her jacket.’ Beth’s voice came out of nowhere and Bree jumped.

Alice looked barricaded in her corner, with her possessions clutched to her chest. Jill shone the torch in her eyes. ‘Is it in your jacket? Make this easy.’

Alice flinched and turned away. ‘Don’t you touch me.’

‘Last chance.’

Alice said nothing. Then Beth lunged at her, grabbing fistfuls of her jacket with both hands.

‘This is bullshit, Alice. You were happy to search my stuff when you thought I was hiding something –’

Bree tried to pull her sister back, as Alice writhed and squealed.

‘Get off me!’

Beth scrabbled at her pockets and then, with a satisfied sound, pulled out her prize and held it aloft. The phone. With her other hand, she shoved Alice away.

Alice stumbled a couple of steps then lunged forward, grasping for the phone. The pair struggled, locked together, then hit the table with a crash. There was a clatter as a torch fell to the floor and the room went dark. Bree could hear the grunts of a scuffle.

‘It’s mine –’

‘Let go –’

Bree could hear herself shouting. ‘Stop it!’ She wasn’t sure who she was talking to. Something heavy rolled against her foot. The torch. She picked it up, and shook it and the light bounced back on, blinding her. She fumbled as she turned it towards the noise.

Alice and Beth were on the floor in a tight knot. Bree almost couldn’t tell them apart in the tangle of limbs, then one of them lifted an arm. Bree started to cry out but it was too late. The beam cast a swooping dark shadow as Beth’s hand came down fast and hard. The crack as it connected with Alice’s cheek seemed to shake the walls.





Chapter 20



Carmen came out of the lodge holding a map marked with a large red X.

‘We’re going here,’ she said as they climbed back into the car. ‘It’s a fair way, about forty minutes. The North Road is the closest access point.’

Falk looked at the map. The cross was buried deep in the bushland. A handful of kilometres to the north, a thin vehicle access road cut through the green.

Carmen put her seatbelt on. ‘Sergeant King’s already at the site. And Margot Russell’s here as well, apparently.’

‘Not by herself?’ Falk said.

‘No. I saw Lauren in the lodge. A liaison officer drove them both up early this morning. Margot’s still refusing to see her dad. He’s driving up separately.’

As they pulled out of the carpark, Falk glimpsed a figure watching them from inside the lodge entry door. One of the twins, he thought. In the shadow, he couldn’t tell which one.

The wind was whistling through the treetops again as they drove along the rural routes, Carmen speaking only to give directions. The roads became smaller and tighter until at last they found themselves bumping along a badly paved track towards a swarm of officers and searchers.

The site was buzzing with a strange mixture of concern and relief. Finally, a breakthrough of sorts, if not quite the one everyone was hoping for. As they got out of the car, Falk saw a splash of red. Ian Chase in his Executive Adventures fleece stood on the fringe of a group of rangers. He was hovering, not quite in the group, not quite out. When he saw Falk and Carmen, he gave a brisk nod and headed towards them.

‘Hey, is there an update? Have they found her? Is that why you’re here?’ His eyes kept flicking towards the bushland and back again.

Falk glanced at Carmen. ‘Not as far as we know.’

‘They’ve found the cabin, though.’ Chase was still looking back and forth. ‘Her body could be near.’

‘Unless she’s still alive.’

Chase stopped and blinked, unable to wipe the clumsy look from his face fast enough. ‘Yeah, of course. Definitely. Hopefully that’s the case.’

Falk couldn’t really blame him. He knew the odds were low.

An officer at the lodge had radioed ahead and Sergeant King was waiting for them at the edge of the bushland. His face was grey, but when he moved it was with an undercurrent of adrenaline. He gave a wave as they approached and glanced down at their feet with a nod of approval at their hiking boots.

‘Good. You’ll need them. Come on.’

He led the way, plunging into the bushland with Falk and Carmen in his wake. Within a minute, the chatter and bustle behind disappeared and a thick hush enveloped them. Falk spotted a strip of police tape flapping on a tree, guiding them along the route. Beneath his feet, the trail was faint, mostly defined by flattened patches where boots had recently trampled through.

‘So how did you finally find this place?’ Falk said.

They were alone but King kept his voice low.

‘A prisoner out at Barwon called in with a tip-off. He’s ex-bikie gang, facing a long stretch for assault, and has had enough, apparently. When he heard on the news we were looking for the cabin, he recognised a bit of leverage when he saw it. He says he had some mates who used to do the odd drug deal with Sam Kovac.’