Anna and Sara were sitting on the floor, leaning against one of the beds. They stared up at her as she entered.
Georgie sank next to them and crossed her legs. ‘Having a good time?’
The sisters nodded, yet a shadow flitted over Sara’s face. They were too bloody sad for their age and it made Georgie’s heart twist. She wished she had something better to offer them than I’ve been through it too, except that it was my dad nearly nineteen years ago, and I still miss him like crazy. It’d be zero consolation for them losing their mum.
She wanted to believe camp would be a positive turning point for Sara and Anna, but doubt niggled.
The three sat awkwardly for a few minutes, then Georgie said, ‘Coming out?’
Anna glanced at Sara and waited for her to answer. Georgie had noted that Sara, a year older than her sister, often acted as their spokesperson.
‘In a bit.’
Georgie sighed inwardly and left them to it. She was about to knock on the other girls’ bedroom door when she heard someone exit the bathroom.
She turned away from Nicole and Hannah’s room and spotted Josh stop beside Kat in the foyer. When the backs of their hands grazed, Georgie figured she had two options: embarrass them or disappear.
She slipped through the external door and shivered on the front steps.
Sam turned to pull the drapes and a face on the other side of the window made her jump.
She clamped down her reaction when she recognised Willem Agterop. The caretaker smirked and continued to secure external shutters over the French doors. Sam didn’t like the man. Franklin had taught her to trust her instincts, so she decided to keep a watch on him.
Jags of lightning ignited the skyline through the unshuttered windows, illuminating Agterop and a horizon of massive trees. The storm was almost on top of them. Sam closed the drapes, unsure if Agterop or the proximity of the gumtrees bothered her more.
Rain fell harder, pounding down on the roof, and Noah squealed from upstairs. ‘This is so cool! It’s hailing marbles now!’
Some of the others belted up the spiral staircase to the mezzanine, chattering excitedly, leaving Sam to suspect she was the only one who didn’t enjoy electrical storms.
She saw Georgie enter from the kitchen. Struck by a thought, she asked, ‘Have you seen –’
A crack of thunder cut off the first syllable of Hannah? but Georgie nodded and said, ‘She’s with Sara.’
Sam rubbed her hands together, pleased. She hadn’t expected the kids to mingle beyond their own siblings on day one. At that, a loud bang came from outside and the house groaned and trembled.
Georgie raised her brows saying, ‘Sounds like a tree came down.’
Sam’s neck tingled. Maybe the camp wasn’t going so well after all.
At a loose end, Georgie propped on the island bar and scoffed popcorn.
Lunny touched her arm. ‘Georgie. A word?’
She followed him into the glitzy room off the kitchen. ‘What’s up?’
‘How do you think Noah and Nicole are going?’
With an apologetic grimace, Georgie lifted her shoulders. ‘I’m not the right one to ask. I don’t know any of the kids well.’
‘Yes, but that means you’re more objective.’
‘Maybe.’ She wrinkled her nose. ‘I’d say, as well as any of the others. They’ve all got their problems. But Noah’s obviously enjoying the storm, and everyone’s cracked a few smiles.’
Except for the arrogant caretaker.
Lunny smiled at her last comment, but the skin pulling across his cheekbones revealed his strain.
‘They’ll be okay.’
‘You don’t think all this,’ he swept his hand around the room, ‘is rubbing their nose in things at home?’
Georgie was truthful. ‘Who knows. Hopefully not.’
Lunny nodded.
‘Maybe being spoilt for a change will lighten things up when they go back.’ She frowned as she said it.
If they’d been able to go to Camp Silvan as planned, Lunny’s question would’ve been moot. The trip would’ve been cheap and cheerful, in no way exacerbating Noah and Nicole’s situation. She looked around. How could kids from a family virtually on poverty line come to a place like this, live richly and return home in five days without a chip on their shoulders?
Still doubtful, she told Lunny, ‘They’re good kids and they’ll be okay.’
She flicked her eyes around again. Something else bothered her.
Sam’s mouth watered at the aroma of roast beef wafting from the industrial-sized oven. She couldn’t wait for dinner, not that anyone could cook a roast as well as her mum. Mamma made a special concoction of garlic, red wine, Italian herbs and spices rubbed in with olive oil. She wouldn’t even tell her daughters the exact recipe. Whenever they asked, Mamma gave a huge wink and a shrug saying, If I tell you, I have to kill you. She’d then point to Sam adding, Or my police-girl will!
Sam smiled to herself, then spoke to the housekeeper. ‘Are you sure I can’t help, Elke?’
‘No need.’ The woman glanced at the wall clock. ‘I am not sure what time my husband will be in though.’
Sam frowned. Was the caretaker still outside? She barely knew the man and hadn’t taken to him, but felt uneasy at him being out in this weather. Perhaps he’d been injured when the tree came down…or perhaps all was well and she was just letting the storm get to her.
She decided to give it a little longer before she shared her concerns with the pregnant woman. With any luck, her husband would return in the meantime.
‘Holy sh–heck.’
Georgie swivelled towards Lunny. She didn’t care if he swore, but it’d be out of character in front of kids. And his tone was weird. Shrill, panicked.
The lanky white-haired man raced down the spiral staircase calling, ‘Riley? Cooper?’ He repeated the names, his increasing anxiety obvious. Then he added their sister. ‘Hannah?’
Georgie trailed him to the bedroom wing, shadowed by Kat. Lunny rapped on the bathroom door.
A voice said, ‘What?’ It was one of the girls.
‘Hannah?’
‘No!’
A pause followed. Over the toilet flushing, the girl said, ‘Anna!’
Georgie and Lunny locked eyes, then split between the bedrooms.
He moved to check the one she shared with Sam and Kat. A moment later he yelled, ‘No one in here.’
Georgie knocked, then burst into Sara and Anna’s room. Sara screamed. She was alone.
Kat pounded on the panelled door to Nicole and Hannah’s bedroom. She flung it open, disappeared, then shouted, ‘Empty.’
The three of them knotted together and Georgie’s stomach fell as Lunny’s face drained and Kat wrapped her arms around herself. Sam sprinted down the hallway and joined them.
‘The Savage kids.’ Lunny searched Sam’s face and looked back to Georgie and Kat. ‘When did you last see them?’
Chapter 2
Hannah
Hannah guessed it wasn’t even five o’clock. It shouldn’t be dark yet but it was, and she couldn’t see where they were going. She’d lost all sense of direction too and suspected they were going around in circles.
She headbutted a branch and a twig scratched her eye. It stung and she rubbed at it, angry at herself, making it hurt worse.
They were in so much trouble, unless she could get them out of this. Riles and Coops were only here because of her. It was all her fault and that made her feel sick to her guts.
She called out ‘Hello?’ and cocked her head, listening.
She thought she’d heard someone a while ago, although she couldn’t think why anyone else would be as dumb as them to be out in a storm. Something was running near them, but it could easily be some type of animal.
Her shoulders sagged. It was hopeless. She couldn’t yell loud enough for her voice to carry. With all the racket of wind and thunder and stuff, she had to shout for Riles and Coops to hear her just a few metres aw
ay.
Sam dug her fingers into her hair. She had to find the Savage kids because she couldn’t face Franklin and admit, Camp started well but, oh, then we lost three kids on the first day.
She turned to Georgie, who propped against the wall nearby. ‘You saw Hannah with Sara, right? About fifteen minutes ago?’
‘Sorry?’
‘Remember, I asked if you’d seen Hannah and you said she’s with Sara. Right when that huge crash of thunder came.’
‘I thought you said Anna.’
‘Shit.’
Sam’s eyes darted to the white-faced kids, all too quiet. She glanced again at Georgie, who wore her journo’s game face, and set a smile on her own face. Her lips stretched weirdly; luckily the kids didn’t scream.
‘All right! All of you into the family room.’ Falsely bright, her voice pitched when she added, ‘And then we’ll find Hannah and her brothers. Okay?’
Each set of siblings huddled together, while Tom stood alone. A moment later, the housekeeper joined them. Georgie eyed Elke’s hands massaging her baby bump, straining the fabric so that her protruding belly button seemed bloody enormous. She hoped the fast swirls didn’t mean contractions had begun.
Lunny pointed his finger as he repeated the headcount. He was pasty-faced but otherwise back in control. This seemed to rub off on the rest, except for Kat, who had a fist pressed to her mouth.
‘Righto.’ Full of copper’s authority, Lunny’s voice silenced the room. ‘When did each of you last see Hannah or her brothers?’
No one spoke straightaway.
Georgie panned back in her mind, picturing Hannah Savage and Willem Agterop enter the summerhouse together. The girl had poked her tongue out behind his back, then sprawled in an armchair, while Riley and Cooper jostled on the other side of the room.
The run from the summerhouse to the main house wasn’t so clearly imprinted and she worked on that, while the kids answered, vague and contradictory. Except for Tom – the eight-year-old’s eyeballs grew to golf-ball size and he shook his head mutely. As if cataloguing the scene for an article, Georgie noted that Kat’s forehead was screwed up and Lunny’s right eyebrow twitched.
‘We left the summerhouse.’ Sam gestured between her and the sergeant. ‘The kids, Seb and Georgie ran ahead and Hannah was right behind us. Josh and Kat were behind her.’
Sam frowned at Kat, who raised her head with a startled jerk.
Georgie wondered what Sam knew. She guessed it had something—everything—to do with the electricity sparking between Kat and Josh.
Sam spoke again. ‘I’m sure Cooper and Riley looped back towards Hannah. You must’ve seen them?’ She addressed Josh and Kat.
Kat gave a headshake, paling further. ‘We went back…to check the summerhouse.’
Curiously, Josh’s response was off-point. ‘I’ll go check outside and –’
Lunny cut in. ‘Not yet.’ His gaze took in the entire group. ‘So, who saw the kids after they left the summerhouse?’
His question hung, unanswered.
Georgie slanted the scant facts towards the bright side. ‘If the boys looped back to Hannah, then presumably they’re together. And presumably they’re in on this together.’
She searched the faces processing her comment. No one looked relieved.
‘True, Georgie.’ Lunny nodded, then leaned in so only she could hear his addendum. ‘But that doesn’t alter the fact that we don’t know what this is. We don’t know if they’re acting of their own volition. Is it mischief, a game? Have they nicked off? Or were they lured away? Where are they? And are they okay?’
She felt the lines between her eyebrows pinch.
Sam checked her watch. It seemed like hours had passed since they’d gathered, but it was actually only five minutes – another five minutes on top of however much time had elapsed since the kids disappeared.
And everyone had been struck dumb by the dreadful reality that the kids were really gone.
She noticed Josh step beside Kat and gently squeeze her shoulder. Kat shrugged him off, her face creased in misery.
Sam inhaled sharply. ‘We haven’t checked the library!’
Everyone froze as she sprinted up the spiral staircase, clearing two timber treads at a time. But once she reached the top, her heart sank. The mezzanine was deserted.
After Sam had given an empty palm-lift over the bannister, the energy in the room flatlined. Georgie was amazed none of the kids was crying, although six-year-old Noah looked close.
She and Lunny exchanged a glance, then he said, ‘Nicole, Sara, Anna.’ He nodded to each girl. ‘It’s your job to look after Noah and Tom.’
The boys protested and he knelt in front of them. ‘And it’s your job to look after the three girls. Okay?’
Georgie hid a smile. She suspected the older girls were quite capable of looking after themselves and wouldn’t need the help of these two little boys. But giving the kids equal responsibility was smart.
‘You can have fun but everyone must stay in this room while we go find Hannah, Riley and Cooper.’ Lunny paused for each child’s nod. ‘Elke and Kat will be just a holler away if you need help.’
As the housekeeper said yes, Kat blurted out, ‘I’m not staying behind!’
He looked at her, then the others. Seb’s face was the only one not set stubbornly. ‘You’re it.’
Seb shrugged his agreement and Lunny beckoned to the other supervisors, leading the way to the kitchen just as thunder quaked through the house. Georgie’s throat constricted.
As the boom died off, Kat said, ‘I’m gonna check the summerhouse and grounds.’
Lunny glanced at her. ‘Not on your own.’ He added, ‘Not in this weather…not with a possible abductor in the area. Everyone in pairs.’
Eyes on Josh he said, ‘You and Kat go through the guesthouse,’ he pointed in the direction of the sleeping quarters for the males in their group, ‘and continue on to check the grounds. Work your way down from the front perimeter to just beyond the pool area, for now.’
Josh nodded tightly and Georgie saw him try to catch Kat’s gaze, but she angled away.
Lunny spoke again. ‘Sam, you and Georgie go through the house from the bedrooms to the garage.’ He gestured to the attached triple garage in front of the family room. ‘Nowhere’s off-limits, including Belfrage’s suite.’
Georgie dwelt on the pregnant housekeeper. She was the only person here who knew the property well, but they couldn’t send her out to search. Where was her caretaker husband when they needed him?
Lunny seemed to pick up her thoughts. ‘Elke!’
She came in. ‘Yes, sir?’
‘Your husband?’
She hesitated, her lips thinning. ‘Still not home. And I cannot get him on his mobile phone. It is probably in our kitchen…he is always leaving it behind.’
‘Ah. Righto, can you find us some torches please?’
‘Of course.’
Elke arched backwards with her belly pushed out as she moved to the intersecting door between the family room and garage. She reached for the door lever but let her hand hover. ‘You know about the coolroom and cellar downstairs?’
Georgie’s eyes widened. This place was made for an episode of Criminal Minds.
Lunny hitched his white brows. ‘I do now.’
He announced, ‘That’s where I’ll start. In that case, Georgie, you skirt around the main building and check the glasshouse, then come back and join Sam.’
She nodded.
‘We’ll regroup after that first sweep, and if we’ve no luck, we’ll cover the rest of the grounds, including the caretaker’s quarters.’ At Georgie’s confused expression, Lunny pointed. ‘Elke and Willem have a separate cottage in the corner of the yard. But –’
‘But?’ Kat sounded frustrated.
‘But I expect we’ll have found them well before then.’
‘Of course.’ Sam’s strangled tone made Georgie doubt she believed it. ‘They’re probably safe and so
und…in the summerhouse or guesthouse.’
Lunny gave his junior colleague a strange look, then pointed to his wrist. ‘Okay, it’s 5.08pm – synchronise your phones and watches.’ They did. ‘We’ll meet back here at 6.15pm. If you need longer or need help to complete your section, let me know. Mobile phones on ring and vibrate?’
Georgie checked hers and while the others did likewise she stared at her screensaver: a photo of Franklin on his motorbike.
I should call him. Nah. We’ll find the kids soon and he’ll never need to know that we fucked up. But what if…?
She silenced the thought.
Kat almost bowled over Sam in the hallway as she made a pit stop in their bedroom for her jacket. Urgency made the whites of the teenager’s eyes prominent and her long hair flowed behind. Sam opened her mouth to say something reassuring. Then it hit her that she had nothing to offer.
This search couldn’t be more different to those she’d assisted in since joining the police force. This was no mock incident conducted at the academy. Likewise, even the brutal first month out of the academy in her first post at Daylesford that left Sam debating for many nights afterwards if she was cut out for policing—what she’d always wanted to do—didn’t compare with the nightmare unfolding right now.
As she watched Kat retreat, fear fluttered in her stomach.
Three missing children, a wild storm and a long way from home – a horrific combination.
Chapter 3
‘Hannah? Riley? Cooper?’
Georgie’s voice funnelled into the storm as she splashed through puddles towards the glasshouse. Although the gap between lightning and thunder had stretched to three seconds meaning the storm front had moved about a kilometre away, the wind alternated in howls and moans, and branches scratched against the windows.
The bottoms of her jeans were already drenched. The kids would be wet through and frozen if they were out in the elements rather than hiding in one of the buildings.
Into the Fog Page 2