Force of Nature

by Jane Harper

  ‘Are you feeling okay?’

  Bree looked up. Her sister was standing over her, holding out a water bottle.

  ‘I’m fine.’ She didn’t take the drink.

  ‘Do you know where we’re going?’

  ‘Yes. Christ, why does everyone keep asking me that?’

  ‘Maybe because it seems like you don’t.’

  ‘Just shut up, Beth.’

  Her twin shrugged and sat on the log. It creaked under her bulk. Bree wondered how much she weighed now. They’d been able to swap clothes all through their teens. Not anymore, that was for certain.

  When Beth had called six months ago, Bree had let it go through to voicemail, as always. When the message asked if she could name Bree as a referee on a job application, Bree had done precisely nothing. A week later, a second message shared the news that Beth had secured an entry-level data-processing position at BaileyTennants. Bree had assumed it was a joke. It had to be. She had been through too much to get her role and she didn’t just mean her degree in commerce and two unpaid internships. And now she had to work in the same place as her sister, with her cheap haircut and size Large clothes and her mistake that had to be legally declared on job applications?

  Their mother had confirmed it was indeed the case.

  ‘She’s inspired by you. I’ve told you.’

  Bree thought her sister was more likely inspired by fear of her benefits being cut off. She had made a subtle inquiry to human resources. Apparently Jill Bailey herself had approved the unusual appointment. Unofficially, Bree was told, it seemed her own stellar service to the company had tipped the balance in her sister’s favour. Bree had locked herself in a bathroom stall for ten minutes and blinked back tears of rage as she processed that information.

  At that point, she had only seen her sister once in the past eighteen months. It had been coming up to Christmas when their mother had called, asking Bree, begging her, to forgive. Bree had listened stony-faced to her mum crying down the phone for fifty minutes before she caved. It was Christmas, after all. So she had returned to her childhood home, armed with presents for every family member except one.

  Beth, unemployed and broke, of course, was looking surprisingly clear-eyed after her stint away. She’d given Bree a photo of the two of them as children, printed out and placed in a cheap frame that would look terrible in Bree’s flat. The accompanying Christmas card simply read, I’m sorry. Because their mother was watching, Bree had not pulled away when her twin moved to hug her.

  Back at her own home, the festivities over, Bree had removed the photo and dropped the frame off at a charity shop. An hour later, she’d returned and bought it back. Photo reinstated, the gift was last seen shoved in the back of a high cupboard behind the Christmas decorations.

  On Beth’s first day at BaileyTennants, their mum had called Bree and asked her to do everything she possibly could to help her sister keep this job. Now, looking at her sister smoking and sitting on a log, Bree wished she hadn’t promised.

  ‘Are you girls ready over there?’

  A voice came up the path and Bree turned. Jill, Alice and Lauren were already on their feet, eyeing their backpacks with reluctance.

  ‘Yes. Coming.’ Bree grabbed the map and jogged back. Too fast. She felt a bit dizzy.

  ‘Is it left or right from here?’ Jill hauled her pack onto her shoulders. Where the trail split, both routes were narrow with overgrown shrubbery crawling out on to the path. The earth on the left-hand trail looked more compressed, but Bree knew that at every fork for the first part of the day they had to go right. She checked again, feeling four pairs of eyes resting on her. They were impatient to get going now they had the weight on their backs again. She ran a finger over the route, her hand shaking a little and her empty stomach swirling. Yes, they had turned twice today, this was the third time.

  ‘If you need help, Bree . . .’ Alice shifted her feet.

  ‘I don’t.’

  ‘Okay. So, which way . . .?’

  ‘Turn right.’

  ‘Are you sure? That looks a little rough and ready.’

  Bree held out the map. Pointed at the fork. The red line. ‘Here. Right turn.’

  ‘We’re there already?’ Alice sounded surprised. ‘Yeah, okay then.’

  Bree snapped the map shut along its folds.

  ‘See, we’re making good time. There’s nothing to worry about.’ Or bitch about, for once. Bree forced a deep breath into her lungs and a smile on her face. ‘Follow me.’

  Chapter 9

  It was like stepping into a funhouse mirror. Two faces, each a distorted reflection of the other, looked up in unison at the knock on the hospital room door.

  ‘Breanna McKenzie?’ Falk said.

  The woman in the bed had lost the healthy glow she’d had in her staff photo. Dark circles now hung under her eyes and her lips were pale and cracked. Her right arm was heavily bandaged.

  ‘We’re from the police. Did the nurse tell you we’ve been waiting to see you?’

  ‘Yeah.’

  Falk had been speaking to Breanna, but it was the woman sitting on a plastic chair next to the bed who answered. ‘She said you had some more questions about Alice.’

  ‘That’s right. It’s Bethany, is it?’

  ‘Beth’s fine.’

  It was the first time Falk had seen Beth McKenzie in person and he looked at her with interest. The likeness was a strange one, almost as though Breanna’s neat features had melted in the sun, becoming slacker and fleshier. Beth’s skin was ruddy with broken veins around her nose and jawline. Her hair had the harsh flatness of a poor home dye job and hung in a style that was neither long nor short. She appeared ten years older than her twenty-something twin, but when she looked at him, her gaze was firm.

  A tray with the remains of lunch lay waiting to be cleared by the side of the bed. It didn’t look like much had been eaten. They had found the community hospital two streets behind the service station. It seemed to be one step up from a GP clinic, designed to cater for everything from locals’ ailments to tourists’ injuries. The nurse behind the reception desk had firmly pointed them back towards the door and told them to return in ninety minutes when Breanna’s sleeping pills should have worn off. They walked up and down the town’s row of shops three times, then sat in their car for seventy-eight minutes. When they went back in, they were informed that lunch had just been served.

  ‘No visitors during meal times. No exceptions.’

  Finally, the nurse crooked a finger and beckoned them to the reception desk. They could go in. Breanna McKenzie was in the shared overnight ward at the end of the hall, the nurse told them, but she was the only patient. Winter season.

  In the room at last, they dragged a couple of chairs to the bed.

  ‘Have they found Alice yet?’ Beth was watching Falk and Carmen closely. ‘Is that why you’re here?’

  ‘Not yet,’ Falk said. ‘I’m sorry.’

  ‘Oh. So what was it you wanted to ask?’

  ‘It was your sister we wanted to speak to, actually,’ Carmen said. ‘Alone, preferably.’

  ‘I think I should stay.’

  Bree shifted against her pillow. ‘For God’s sake. It’s fine, Beth. Go and let them get on with it.’ She winced. ‘Are there any painkillers?’

  ‘It’s not time yet.’ Beth didn’t appear to glance at the clock.

  ‘Ask the nurse.’

  ‘It’s too early. They won’t give you any more until tonight.’

  ‘Jesus. Go and ask. Please.’

  Beth hauled herself out of the chair. ‘All right. I’ll be out the back having a smoke. And yes –’ she said as her sister opened her mouth, ‘I’ll ask the nurse. It’s too soon, though, I’m telling you.’

  They watched her leave.

  ‘Sorry. She’s upset because they don’t trust her wi
th the medication in the room,’ Bree said as the door swung shut.

  ‘Why not?’ Carmen said.

  ‘It’s not a big deal, really. She had a couple of substance abuse issues in the past, but she’s been fine now for more than a year. I guess the nurses feel they can’t be too careful. It would probably be easier if she weren’t here, but she . . .’ Bree looked down. ‘Wants to stay, I guess.’

  ‘Is anyone else coming up to be with you?’ Falk said. ‘Boyfriend? Your parents?’

  ‘No.’ Bree started picking at her bandage. Her nails had at some point been painted a deep bold pink. Several were now chipped or broken. ‘Mum’s got MS.’

  ‘I’m sorry.’

  ‘It’s okay. Well, it’s not, but it is what it is. She can’t make the trip. Dad has to stay with her most of the time these days. Anyway –’ She tried for a smile. ‘I have Beth.’

  There was a heavy pause.

  ‘We wanted to ask you about Alice Russell, if you don’t mind,’ Falk said. ‘How long have you worked for her?’

  ‘Eighteen months.’

  ‘As her assistant?’

  ‘Administrative coordinator.’

  Falk thought he saw Carmen suppress a smile. She recovered fast. ‘What does that involve?’

  ‘At first it was mainly administration duties, but then the role became more of a mentorship. I shadow Alice, learning skills to help prepare me for internal promotion.’

  ‘Good boss?’

  A fraction of a heartbeat. ‘Yes. Definitely.’

  They waited, but Bree said no more.

  ‘So you feel you know her well?’ Falk said.

  ‘Yes. Very well.’ There was an odd note in Bree’s voice. Falk watched her, but could see no sign of recognition when she looked back. Like Daniel Bailey, if Bree knew who they were, she wasn’t letting it show.

  ‘So how did Alice seem to you on the retreat?’ Carmen said.

  Bree picked at her bandage. The edges were already growing frayed. ‘Before we got lost she was her normal self, really. She can be snappy sometimes, but none of us was at our best out there. After we got lost?’ Bree shook her head. ‘Everyone was scared.’

  ‘Did she mention anything she was worried about?’ Carmen said. ‘Other than being lost, of course?’

  ‘Like what?’

  ‘Anything. Work, home, any issues with colleagues?’

  ‘No. Not to me.’

  ‘But as someone who knew her well,’ Carmen said, ‘did you sense anything wrong?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘What about back in the office? Before the retreat. Any strange requests or appointments that caught your eye?’

  ‘What does that have to do with what happened out there?’

  ‘Nothing, necessarily,’ Falk said. ‘We’re trying to get a sense of what went wrong.’

  ‘I can tell you exactly what went wrong.’ Something rippled across Bree’s face. ‘And it wasn’t all my fault.’

  ‘What wasn’t?’

  ‘Us getting lost. It was that stupid kangaroo trail on the second day. That’s what the other officers said. They said it was an easy mistake to make.’ Bree stopped, and the only sound was the gentle beep of the hospital machines. She took a breath. ‘The others shouldn’t have dropped me in it with the navigation. I didn’t know what I was doing. I got sent on a half-day course with coffee breaks every twenty minutes and I’m supposed to be an instant expert?’

  She moved her injured arm and grimaced, sweat breaking out on her forehead.

  ‘What happened when you realised you were off track?’ Falk said.

  ‘Everything went wrong after that. We never found the second campsite so we never got our supplies for that night. We were low on food. We were stupid and the tents got damaged.’ A small laugh. ‘It’s almost funny how fast it all fell apart. But we weren’t thinking straight, and we were making bad decisions. It’s difficult to explain what it’s like out there. You feel like the only people left in the world.’

  ‘How did Alice react to being lost?’ Falk said.

  ‘She was quite pushy about what we should do. When she’s feeling stressed that can make her seem aggressive. She’d done a lot of camping and hiking when she was at school – one of these outdoor campus years. I think she felt that gave her more of a say than the rest of us. I don’t know.’ Bree sighed. ‘Maybe it did. But Lauren – Lauren Shaw? She was in our group too – she’d done the same course at school and she didn’t think Alice was always right either. Like when we found that cabin on the third day. I mean, it was horrible. I didn’t like it there, but it was the best of our bad options. The weather was getting worse and we needed the shelter. So we stayed.’ Bree paused. ‘Alice was the only one who didn’t want to.’

  ‘She couldn’t convince you to leave?’ Falk said.

  ‘No. And she wasn’t happy about it. She said she knew how to find our way out, wanted us all to keep walking. But we wouldn’t. That’s what got us in trouble in the first place. Walking blindly. There was a bit of an argument. Alice said she’d go alone but Jill wouldn’t let her. In the morning when we woke up, Alice had taken the phone and gone.’

  ‘Did Jill Bailey say why she didn’t want to let Alice go?’ Carmen said.

  ‘Because it was dangerous, of course. And obviously, she was right.’

  Bree looked from one to the other, daring them to argue.

  ‘What did you do when you realised she wasn’t there?’ Falk said finally.

  Bree shook her head. ‘I’m not the best person to ask. I thought I was the first one awake so I went out to go to the toilet in the bushes. I was walking back when I tripped. I didn’t realise what had happened at first, I thought I’d fallen onto something sharp. Broken glass maybe. Then I saw the snake disappear, and I knew.’

  Bree bit her bottom lip so hard it turned white. Her gaze went straight through them.

  ‘I thought I was going to die out there. I really believed that. We’d been told there were tiger snakes. I had no idea where we were. I thought I would never see my family again, never get to say goodbye to my mum.’ She took a shaky breath. ‘I remember feeling dizzy and like I couldn’t breathe. The doctor here told me I was probably having a panic attack, but at the time I thought it was the venom. I made it to the cabin, and I don’t really remember the rest well. They put something tight around my arm. I was in pain. I’m not sure at what point I realised Alice wasn’t with us.’

  Bree picked at her bandage.

  ‘When the others said we should leave – leave without her – I didn’t argue. I walked where I was told. Lauren managed to get us north until we found a road. I don’t really remember much about it. The doctor says I was probably in shock by then. I had this idea that Alice had gone ahead to get help and would be waiting for us at the meeting point.’ Bree looked down. ‘I think I even asked for her, but my head was really in a bad state. I didn’t know what I was doing.’

  The tears finally brimmed over and Falk handed her a tissue. They waited, listening to the hum of the machines, while she wiped her eyes.

  ‘Alice had her phone out there,’ Carmen said. ‘Did she make any calls while she was with you?’

  ‘No.’ The answer came quickly. ‘I mean, she tried, obviously. She called triple zero a lot, but we never got through. It was completely useless.’

  ‘But she still took the phone when she left?’

  A tiny shrug. ‘It was hers, I suppose.’

  She looked fragile against the pillow, with her long loose hair and bandaged arm. Her chipped nails, her story.

  ‘You say you know Alice well,’ Falk said. ‘Were you surprised she left you?’

  ‘Under normal circumstances, I would have been.’ Bree’s eyes were wide as they looked back into Falk’s. She knows how to lie to men. The thought came out of nowhere.

  ‘Bu
t like I said, it’s different out there. I wish now we’d listened to her. Then maybe none of this might have happened.’

  ‘But then all of you could be lost.’

  ‘Maybe. But maybe anything else would have been better than the way it’s turned out.’

  She shifted her bandaged arm and a jolt of pain crossed her face. Falk and Carmen exchanged a glance.

  ‘That’s probably enough for now. We’ll let you get some rest,’ Carmen said as they stood. ‘Thanks, Breanna.’

  She nodded. The shadows under her eyes looked darker than when they had arrived.

  ‘When you see my sister out there, tell her to either send in the nurse with the painkillers, or to bloody leave so they can put me on a drip. Please.’

  The room was cool, but as he pulled the door closed, Falk could see that a fresh band of sweat had broken out across Bree’s forehead.

  Day 2: Friday Afternoon

  The pale sun had moved across the narrow band of sky and the grass was as high as their ankles before someone finally said it.

  ‘Is this right?’

  Beth breathed a silent sigh of relief at Jill’s words. She had wanted to ask the same question for twenty minutes but couldn’t. Bree would have killed her.

  Her sister stopped and looked back.

  ‘It should be right.’

  ‘Should be? Or is?’

  ‘Is.’ Bree didn’t sound sure. She glanced down at the map. ‘It has to be. We haven’t turned off anywhere.’

  ‘I realise that. But –’ Jill swept a hand at their surroundings. The overgrown path, the trees closing in tighter every few dozen steps. Forget what the map said, it didn’t feel right.

  All around, hidden birds shrieked at each other in call and response. Beth couldn’t shake the feeling that the bushland was talking about them.

  ‘We haven’t seen a marker flag all day,’ Jill said. ‘Not since the one in the tree yesterday. There are supposed to be six. Surely we should have seen another one by now. At least one.’

  ‘Maybe that fork we took after lunch was wrong. Can I see?’ Alice had plucked the map from Bree’s fingers before she could answer. Bree froze with her empty hand extended, looking lost in every sense. Beth tried to catch her eye, but wasn’t able to.