Force of Nature

by Jane Harper

  ‘Where’s my jacket? It had the phone in it. Shit. That bitch has taken it.’

  She threw her belongings down and turned, slamming the cabin door behind her.

  ‘She’s bloody gone and she’s taken the phone.’ Jill’s voice was muffled outside. Lauren heard a cry of outrage that could have come from either one of the twins.

  She pulled her boots on and stumbled outside. She knew where the jacket was. She had seen Alice stuff it behind a log the night before. Lauren wished now she’d never got up in the night to go to the toilet. She wished she’d taken a minute to wake the others instead of chasing after Alice in the dark. She wished she had been able to stop her from leaving. She wished a lot of things were different.

  Lauren could see the splash of colour behind the log. She reached down.

  ‘The jacket’s here.’

  Jill snatched it from her and rummaged through the pockets. ‘No. She’s definitely taken it.’

  Beth was standing over Bree, who was still slumped on the ground, her arm immobilised in a makeshift splint.

  ‘All right. What are our options?’ Jill was breathing heavily. ‘We stay put. Or we split up, leave Bree here –’

  ‘No!’ the sisters said in unison.

  ‘Okay. Okay, then we’ll have to walk. We’ll all have to help Bree, but which way –’ Jill spun around.

  ‘Keep going north,’ Lauren said.

  ‘Are you sure?’

  ‘Yes. Stick to the plan. Keep as straight as we can, as fast as we can, and hope we hit the road. It’s our best bet.’

  Jill considered for a fraction of a beat. ‘All right. But first we need to look for Alice. Just in case.’

  ‘Are you kidding? In case what?’ Beth was open-mouthed.

  ‘In case she’s gone to the toilet and twisted her bloody ankle, I don’t know!’

  ‘No! We have to go!’

  ‘Then we’ll be quick. The three of us. Leave Bree here.’ A hesitation. ‘And don’t go too far.’

  Lauren was already running through the long grass towards the trail.

  ‘Alice had better hope someone else finds her,’ she heard Beth say. ‘If I get to her first, I’ll bloody kill her.’

  Lauren was breathless as she ran. She could still feel the weight of Alice as they’d fallen and the shock as the air was knocked out of her lungs. She could still feel the sting of the words.

  At the memory of that, Lauren slowed a little. The trail looked different in the daylight and she nearly missed the spot. Nearly. She was past the large smooth rock almost before she realised it. She stopped, turning, understanding in an instant what she was seeing. Nothing. The rock stood alone. The path was empty.

  Alice was gone.

  Lauren felt dizzy as the blood rushed to her head. The trail was deserted in both directions. She looked around, wondering how far Alice had got. The bushland gave no clue.

  She scanned the ground, but there was no sign of her bracelet. Could she have lost it at the cabin and not realised? There was nothing to see, but the air had an odd tangy scent and she had the sensation that the area had been disturbed. She supposed it had been, in a way, but as she looked around now, she could see little evidence of their fight. Her legs shook only a little as she turned and walked back.

  Nearer the cabin, Lauren could hear the faint shouts of the others calling for Alice. She wondered if she should do the same, but when she opened her mouth, the name stuck on her lips.

  Chapter 33

  Lauren stared down at the water. She took a breath through clenched teeth and Falk seized the chance to take a fast step towards her. She was so focused, she didn’t notice.

  Falk could see they were both shaking with cold, and he was scared Lauren’s frozen fingers could lose their grip, whether she – or he – was ready or not.

  ‘I honestly didn’t mean to kill her.’ Lauren’s voice was almost lost in the crash of water.

  ‘I believe you,’ Falk said. He remembered their first conversation. It seemed a long time ago, out there on the trail, with the night all around them. He could still picture her face, overwhelmed and unsure. It wasn’t any one thing that went wrong, it was a hundred little things.

  Now, she looked determined. ‘I wanted to hurt her, though.’

  ‘Lauren –’

  ‘Not for what she did to me. That’s my own fault. But I know what Margot did to Rebecca; that she prodded and baited her. And maybe Margot was smart enough to hide it, and Alice shouted loudly enough to make the school look the other way. But I know what that girl did. She is exactly like her bloody mother.’

  The words hung in the freezing mist. Lauren was still looking down.

  ‘So much is my fault though.’ Her voice was quiet. ‘For being so weak. I can’t blame Alice or Margot for that. And Rebecca will realise that one day, if she hasn’t already. And she’ll hate me for it.’

  ‘She still needs you. And loves you.’ Falk thought of his own father’s face. His handwriting scrawled across his maps. With Aaron. ‘Even if she doesn’t always realise it.’

  ‘But what if I can’t make it right with her?’

  ‘You can. Families can forgive.’

  ‘I don’t know. Not everything deserves to be forgiven.’ Lauren was looking down again. ‘Alice said I was weak.’

  ‘She was wrong.’

  ‘I think so too.’ Her answer caught him by surprise. ‘I’m different now. Now, I do what I need to do.’

  Falk felt the hairs on his arms stand up as something shifted in the atmosphere. They had crossed an invisible threshold. He hadn’t seen her move but suddenly she seemed much closer to the edge. Over the side, he could see Carmen looking up, poised. He made a decision. This had gone far enough.

  He was already moving before the thought was fully formed. Two fast steps across the rocks, the surface as slippery as glass under his soles, and his fingers outstretched. His hand closed around her jacket – his jacket – grabbing a handful of fabric, his grip clumsy with cold.

  Lauren looked at him, her eyes calm, and with a single fluid action, she shrugged her shoulders, folded her slim torso forward and shed his jacket like a snakeskin. She slid from his grasp and with a movement marked by both decision and precision, she was gone.

  The edge was empty, as though she had never been there.

  Day 4: Sunday Morning

  Jill could see her own fear reflected in the three faces staring back at her. Her heartbeat thumped and she could hear the others’ rapid breathing. Overhead, the pocket of sky carved out by the trees was a dull grey. The wind shook the branches, sending a shower of water down on the group below. No-one flinched. Behind them, the rotten wood of the cabin groaned and settled as another gust blew through.

  ‘We have to get out of here,’ Jill said. ‘Now.’

  On her left, the twins nodded immediately, united for once by their panic. Bree was clutching her arm, Beth supporting her. Their eyes were wide and dark. On her right, Lauren shifted, the briefest hesitation, then nodded. She took a breath.

  ‘What about –’

  ‘What about what?’ Jill had lost patience.

  ‘. . . What about Alice?’

  An awful hush. The only sound was the creak and rustle as the trees gazed down on their tight circle of four.

  ‘Alice brought this on herself.’

  A silence. Then Lauren pointed.

  ‘North is that way.’

  They walked and they didn’t look back, leaving the trees to swallow up all that they left behind.

  Chapter 34

  Falk yelled Lauren’s name but it was too late. He was talking to empty air. She was no longer there.

  He scrambled across the rocks in time to see her plunge like a dead weight into the water. The splash as she hit was swallowed up by the roar of the falls. Falk counted to three – too fast –
but she didn’t surface. He dragged his jumper over his head and wrenched off his boots. He tried to suck in a deep breath, but his chest was tight as he took a step forward and jumped. All the way down, the only thing he could hear over the rush of water beneath him and the rush of air above him was the sound of Carmen shouting.

  He slammed into the water feet first.

  An eerie nothingness enveloped him and he felt suspended in a void. Then all at once the cold hit him with brutal force. He kicked upwards, fighting the urge to gasp until he broke the surface. His chest was burning as he sucked at the damp air, the cold of the water forcing the oxygen out of his lungs as fast as he could take it in.

  The waterfall spray blinded him, stinging his face and eyes. He couldn’t see Lauren. He couldn’t see anything. He heard a faint noise over the deafening roar and twisted around, wiping his eyes. Carmen was on the bank. Next to her two officers were grabbing a rope. She was yelling at him and pointing to something.

  Lauren.

  The thundering curtain of water would pull her under, he knew instinctively. He could already feel the fingers of undertow snatching at his feet, threatening to drag him deep. He took a breath, trying to force air into his seized lungs, then swam in a mongrel mix of strokes towards her.

  He was a reasonable swimmer, he had grown up by a river, but the pull and thrust of the water made it difficult to gain any traction. His clothes were weighing him down, dragging him backwards, and he was glad he’d had the presence of mind to pull off his boots.

  Ahead, the figure bobbed towards the danger zone. She wasn’t thrashing, she was barely even moving, as her face dipped into the black water for seconds on end.

  ‘Lauren!’ he yelled, but the noise was swallowed up. ‘Over here!’

  He caught her just metres from the pounding base of the falls and grabbed hold of her, his fingers frozen and clumsy.

  ‘Leave me!’ she screamed. Her lips were a ghoulish purple-blue and she fought now, kicking him away. He swept an arm across her, pressing her back to his chest, gripping tight. He could feel no heat at all from her body. He started kicking as hard as he could, forcing his heavy legs to move. He could hear Carmen calling to him from the bank. He tried to follow her voice but Lauren was pulling away harder, clawing at his arm.

  ‘Let me go!’ She was lashing out, dragging them both under water. Falk was blinded, his face plunging below the surface before he had a chance to draw breath. Lauren sent an arm flailing backwards, slamming into him and sending his head under again.

  Everything was muffled, then he resurfaced, water in his mouth, half a breath, not enough, and he was under again, his grip loosening as the woman struggled against him. He held on, fighting against the animal instinct to let her go. He felt a shift in the water and another arm reach out, not Lauren’s, not struggling. It hooked under his armpit and pulled. His face broke through the surface and something else looped under his arm, a rope, and suddenly he didn’t have to fight to stay afloat. His head was above water and he gasped, sucking in air. He realised he was no longer holding Lauren and panicked.

  ‘It’s okay, we’ve got her,’ a voice said in his ear. Carmen. He tried to turn, but couldn’t. ‘You’ve done the hard bit, we’re nearly at the shore.’

  ‘Thank you,’ he tried to say, but could only gasp.

  ‘Just focus on breathing,’ she said as the rope tugged painfully under his arm. His back scraped across the rocks as he was hauled out by two officers. As he lay on the muddy bank he turned his head to see Lauren being dragged out. She was shaking, but she had stopped fighting, for now.

  Falk’s lungs ached and his head pounded, but he didn’t care. He felt nothing but relief. He was shivering so hard his shoulderblades were knocking against the ground. A blanket was thrown on him, then another one. He felt a weight on his chest and opened his eyes.

  ‘You saved her.’ Carmen was leaning over him, her face in silhouette.

  ‘You did too,’ he tried to say, but his face was frozen and he struggled to form the words.

  He lay back, trying to catch his breath. The bushland parted around the falls and for once, he could see no trees. Just Carmen leaning over him and the night sky above her. She was shivering hard and he pulled part of his blanket over her. She moved closer and all of a sudden her lips were on his, cold against cold, and he closed his eyes. Everything was numb except for the singular warm rush inside his chest.

  Too soon it was over and he blinked. Carmen was looking at him, not embarrassed, not regretful, her face still close, but not as close.

  ‘Don’t get the wrong idea, I’m still getting married. And you’re a bloody idiot, you shouldn’t have jumped.’ She smiled. ‘But I’m happy you’re okay.’

  They lay quietly, breathing in unison until a ranger approached with another space blanket and she rolled away.

  Falk stared at the sky. Out of sight, he could hear the treetops swaying, but he didn’t turn to see. Instead, he watched the faint stars above, looking for the Southern Cross, like he had all those years ago with his dad. He couldn’t see it, but it didn’t matter. It was up there somewhere, he knew.

  His body was cold where Carmen had been, but a warmth in his core had begun to spread through him. As he lay there, watching the stars and listening to the rustle of the trees, he realised his hand didn’t hurt at all anymore.

  Chapter 35

  Falk sat back to admire his handiwork on the wall. It wasn’t perfect, but it was better. The early afternoon sun was streaming through the windows, illuminating his flat with a warm glow. In the distance, the Melbourne skyline was shining.

  It had been two weeks since he and Carmen had left the ranges for the last time. Falk hoped it was the last time, at least. He felt he could go a long while before needing to walk among those trees again.

  He had been home for three days when the anonymous brown envelope had arrived. Posted to the office for his attention, it contained a memory stick and nothing more. Falk had opened the contents and stared at the screen. He’d felt his blood quicken.

  Get the contracts. Get the contracts.

  He had stared and scrolled for more than an hour. Then he’d picked up the phone and dialled a number.

  ‘Thank you,’ he said.

  On the other end of the line, he heard Beth McKenzie take a breath.

  ‘Did you hear BaileyTennants has done the dirty on Bree?’ she said. ‘They’re all distancing themselves, trying to wash their hands of her.’

  ‘I had heard that.’

  ‘I’m not working there anymore either.’

  ‘No. I heard that too. What will you do now?’

  ‘I don’t know.’

  ‘Maybe something with that computer science degree,’ Falk said. ‘You were wasted in that data room.’

  He heard Beth hesitate. ‘Do you think so?’

  ‘Yes.’

  It was an understatement. He scrolled through the files as they spoke. They were all there. Copies of the documents Alice had requested and sourced through the BaileyTennants archives. Some things she had already passed to them. Some she had not. The contracts stared back at him in black and white, and he felt a rush of relief and adrenaline. He could imagine Carmen’s face when he told her. Falk scrolled back to the start of the files.

  ‘How did you –?’

  ‘I just never trusted Alice. She was always rude to me. And she and Bree worked too closely, it would have been easy for her to blame Bree if she was doing something wrong. So I made copies of her requests.’

  ‘Thank you. Sincerely.’

  He heard her sigh. ‘What will happen now?’

  ‘To Bree?’

  ‘And Lauren.’

  ‘I don’t know,’ Falk said truthfully.

  An autopsy had confirmed Alice had died from a bleed on the brain, most likely from hitting her head on the rock near where her body
was found. Both Lauren and Bree would face charges, but Falk privately hoped the final count wouldn’t be too severe. Whichever way he looked at it, he couldn’t help feeling sorry for them.

  The Baileys were already embroiled in a very public investigation into indecent images allegedly circulated by Daniel’s son Joel. The media had got wind of the scandal, publishing double-page analysis pieces complete with photos of Joel’s leafy private school. He had been expelled, according to reports. Margot Russell’s name had been kept out of it, for now at least.

  Thanks to Beth, the Baileys now had more trouble coming their way. Falk couldn’t muster any sympathy for them. The family had profited from others’ misery for two generations. Jill included. Whether she’d felt she had a choice or not, when it came to the family business, she was very much a Bailey.

  Since leaving the ranges, Falk had spent a lot of time thinking. About relationships and how little it took for one to turn sour. About holding grudges. About forgiveness.

  He and Carmen had attempted to visit both Margot and Rebecca. Margot was refusing to see anyone, her father told them. Refusing to speak, refusing to come out of her room. He had looked terrified.

  Rebecca had at least consented to leave the house and sit silently across from them at a café table. Carmen ordered sandwiches for all of them without asking, and the girl watched while they ate.

  ‘What happened on the waterfall?’ she asked eventually. Falk gave her an edited version. As truthful as he could make it. Heavy on love, low on regret.

  The girl looked at her untouched plate. ‘My mum hasn’t said much.’

  ‘What has she said?’

  ‘That she loves me and she’s sorry.’

  ‘That’s the bit you should pay attention to,’ Falk said.

  Rebecca fiddled with her napkin. ‘Was it my fault? Because I wouldn’t eat?’

  ‘No. I really think it ran a lot deeper than that.’