‘They say that when you were my age, you were always in trouble. Kinda like me and Lilly.’

  ‘That’s probably a fair statement.’

  ‘They say you got arrested a lot, then had a mental breakdown. That you got locked away in a hospital for it.’ She pauses and watches for my reaction.

  ‘That’s all true, Britt, but I’m better now.’

  ‘Do you think there’s any chance Herm took you into the station more often than you deserved?’

  I eye her cautiously. ‘My father left, and my mother kicked us out. I grew up with Mimi, and unless you’re my brother, people around here assume who and what you are by your family.’

  She nods but doesn’t seem convinced. ‘Or maybe Herm had other reasons to take you in,’ she suggests. ‘He took Lilly into the station a lot. Sometimes for things we both did, but he’d put her in the car and then make me go home. You spent a lot of time there as a teenager, Mia. Do you really need convincing that he’s the father?’

  Chapter Thirteen

  I BARELY slept. The encounter with Britt played out over and over in my head as I tossed and turned and stared up at the ceiling. For most people, being awake all night would leave them feeling tired and lethargic, but as I busy myself in the kitchen getting Koda’s breakfast and making a coffee, my body is buzzing. I’ve never felt so wired. Since the moment we found Lilly, it’s been nagging at me. Her fingernails. Herm’s persistent warnings not to go anywhere near Willow’s Crossing, and now finding out she was pregnant.

  My mind flashes back to the times I spent at the police station with Herm. Britt was right. I don’t need convincing that he could be the father. He’s a vile excuse for a man – a predator. To think he could have set his sights on a young woman like Lilly, who had no one to look out for her, doesn’t surprise me at all. It’s what he does. Now she’s dead.

  I stir my coffee and watch Koda as he finishes off the last of his kibble. Britt isn’t the only one struggling with her conscience. Maybe if I had spoken up about what Herm did to me back then, Lilly would still be alive. Maybe I’m just as much to blame as anyone. I should have. I could have. But I always felt like it was my own fault somehow, like I must have done something to encourage him. Like I must have acted a certain way or dressed too provocatively. Maybe it was the tone of my voice. The way I walked. I thought if I said something, everyone would call me a liar or a slut. Either way, it would be my fault, but knowing what he went on to do to Lilly, I feel even more ashamed.

  And what if…

  I cast my mind back to Koda’s behaviour as we made our way across Willow’s Crossing. Someone else was out there. It was a definite alert.

  As if on cue, Koda comes over and sits in front of me, staring as though he knows what I’m thinking.

  ‘You were facing north,’ I tell him quietly. ‘The land is flat in that direction, so if I couldn’t see anyone, does that mean…’

  Could there be another body out there? I wonder.

  For Koda to pick up on the scent, whoever they are, they can’t have been out there for more than a week. After that long, human scent deteriorates, overpowered by decomposition and the smell of other functions that take place as a body begins to break down. Only a cadaver dog could detect that kind of scent.

  My mind is spinning. If Britt is right and Herm killed Lilly because she was pregnant, then who else is out there? And why?

  I look back at Koda. ‘I’m not sure how to tell you this, mate, but I have a very bad idea.’

  THE moon hangs low, a lantern illuminating the frost-bitten paddocks of Willow’s Crossing. Fences run in perfect white rows, the boards shining faintly as if they’ve stored the day’s light. The air smells of damp earth, and a faint breeze stirs the leaves in the trees just beyond the boundary.

  Despite my thermals, beanie, and gloves, the bitter cold seeps into my bones. I pull my parka tighter, hoping to block out at least some of the chill. Being out here in the freezing cold, I’m more certain than ever that there’s no way Lilly would have been in that ravine all night without trying to climb out. Absolutely no way.

  Koda and I come to a stop at the edge of the park. Our breath hangs in the air as I gaze out over Willow’s Crossing. There’s no fence on this side. The cattle are all confined to northern paddocks, and Jack’s prize horses are tucked away safe in the barn.

  ‘This is it, Koda,’ I whisper, turning off my headlamp. ‘If we take one more step, we’re on Jack’s land.’

  Lights from the house glitter in the distance. It’s almost 10 pm. We’re too far away for anyone to hear us, but my heart races at the idea of trespassing in the middle of the night. I’ve worked so hard to gain the respect of people in Wildling. If we do this and I’m wrong, it will all have been for nothing. Then again, if I do this and I’m right, that’s a whole other problem. Either way, I’m setting myself up for a fall, but Koda doesn’t make mistakes. Someone is out here.

  Beside me, he whines and pulls against his harness.

  ‘I know you don’t understand English, Koda, but we need to do this quietly. No barking.’

  He licks his lips and prances on the spot.

  ‘Shit, you’re going to bark, I just know it,’ I say with a sigh. ‘What was I thinking?’

  But deep down, I know exactly what I was thinking – that Herm Drinkwater is a sexual predator. He did not want me to come back out here. I’ve never told anyone what he did to me all those years ago, but if he killed Lilly, and maybe someone else, something has to be done.

  ‘Koda,’ I whisper. ‘Quiet as you can, search!’

  He pulls forward, nose to the air, ears alert. I’m not letting him off-lead in the dark. Not that I think he wouldn’t come back, but I have no idea who or what could be out here, and I’m not putting him in danger. Instead, I keep a steady pace beside him as he begins to bracket, searching for the scent.

  Together, we move silently across the field. From somewhere in the darkness, I hear the sound of hooves rustling against the earth. Koda’s ears prick up, and he glances off toward the mountains. I can’t see them, but I know they’re there. The Sovereign Plains brumby mob.

  ‘It’s all right, mate,’ I tell Koda. ‘They’re not going to bother us. Keep going.’

  We push ahead, and I keep him close, searching across each section of the field in a sweeping formation.

  The breeze picks up around us, clutching my hair and tossing it into my eyes. I direct Koda to move crosswind to give him the best chance of identifying which direction the scent is strongest.

  After two hours and no alert, I begin to wonder if perhaps I was wrong. Koda has never given a false alert before, but maybe that day, there was someone out working in the paddocks. Maybe they were just too far away for me to see. Maybe they are very much alive and at home in bed, where we should be. I glance down at my watch. Almost midnight. It’s going to be a long, cold walk home.

  ‘I think we’re done,’ I tell Koda. ‘It’s for the best. At least there’s no—’

  Before I can finish the sentence, Koda stops and points his nose to the sky. He sniffs the air and barks in rapid succession. Once, twice, three times, then pulls forward, almost knocking me off my feet.

  ‘In scent,’ I whisper, my pulse pounding in my ears. ‘Shit, this is actually happening.’

  I run as fast as I can alongside Koda as he bounds across the field. Tall grass whips against my legs in the dark, the cold night air sharp on my face. It won’t be long now. Once Koda’s in scent, nothing will stop him.

  After a five-minute sprint across the field, he slows at a spot where the land dips slightly, forming a natural hollow. He sniffs the ground, then begins to dig, his paws furiously working the soil. In my heart, I knew there was another body out here, but now that it’s happening, I’m sick inside. As Koda digs, his paws unearth the damp smell of freshly turned soil. Around us, the crickets have stopped chirping, and all I can hear are the laboured sounds of Koda’s breath as he digs, desperate to show me the scent source.

  I can’t let him contaminate the scene, so I pull him back and take his tug rope out of my pack. I haven’t seen the body yet, but I know it’s there.

  ‘Good job, Koda,’ I whisper in the most excited tone I can muster. ‘Good boy. Oh, you’re such a good boy.’

  Koda pulls at the rope, his front feet lifting off the ground with joy. He has no idea that what he’s found is likely the remains of a young girl, her life cut short by a monster.

  When he’s satisfied with his reward, reluctantly, I kneel and take a small set of tools from my pack. A flashlight, small brush, latex gloves, and a trowel. After glancing over my shoulder to make sure we're still alone, I snap on the gloves and get to work.

  As I begin to dig, I notice immediately how the earth feels soft and pliable. In a paddock this big, and so far from the house, the ground should be firmer, compacted. Someone else has been out here digging.

  It’s hard to control the tremble of my hands as I remove the top layer of soil. Despite the cold air, sweat beads across my forehead, and I wipe at it as best I can with the back of my arm.

  Ten slow minutes drag by, each scrape of earth feeling louder in the quiet. Every so often, I glance back toward the house to make sure no one is coming.

  When the beam of my flashlight reveals the edge of something pale, I catch my breath and sit back. A piece of cloth, dirt-streaked and torn. Beside me, Koda watches intently, and I whisper a silent thank you to the night sky that I'm not out here alone.

  I shift my knees in the soil, take a breath, and will myself to keep going. I’ve come this far. I can’t stop now.

  I gag as the first waft of decay reaches my nostrils. A few seconds later, the trowel pushes against something solid, and more than anything, I just want to be home. To be anywhere but here. I put down the tool and carefully brush away the soil. When I see it, my eyes immediately fill with tears, and the skin on my face prickles. The female hand looks unnaturally pale in the moonlight, almost translucent against the dark earth.

  For a heartbeat, I can’t breathe. The night presses closer, the cold air turning to glass in my throat.

  ‘I don’t know if I can do this,’ I whisper to Koda. ‘I’m not… I can’t…’

  I sit back on my haunches and let my head loll toward the sky. Above us, the night stretches out, stars unblinking, waiting to see what I’ll do next. Beside me, Koda nudges his nose up under my chin. His way of telling me I can do this.

  ‘Why are you always so sure, huh?’ I ask, tilting my head to rest against his. ‘What if I can’t?’

  I draw back and meet Koda’s eyes. He edges a little closer, a thin whine escaping his throat. Whoever this is, she’s been calling out to me, wanting to be found. Not the earth, the dark, or even the privileged hush of Willow’s Crossing could silence her.

  ‘All right, mate,’ I tell Koda, with a deep breath. ‘You’re right, I can do this.’

  Seconds pass, maybe minutes. Time feels like a blur as I gently remove more soil, careful not to let the trowel touch any part of her. My throat closes, and I stumble back as the outline of her face peers up through the earth. In places, the skin has turned a dark, mottled green. Peeling and blistering make it difficult to tell what she might have looked like when she was alive, but despite her condition, I can guess she would have been no more than seventeen or eighteen. The elements have altered the tone of her skin, but there’s no doubt in my mind this was an Indigenous girl. I shine my torch closer and notice an unusual shadow on the side of her head. Reluctantly, I lean in and carefully move her hair. Just behind her right ear, a gaping hole stares back at me, the shattered edges of her skull protruding like jagged teeth around a screaming mouth.

  A wave of nausea hits me, and I pull myself up and stumble away. As I throw up, vomit and bile burn the back of my throat. I cough and gag. Someone did this to her. Someone decided she didn’t matter. That she was dispensable. The thought forms an ache in my chest that I can’t shake, no matter how many deep breaths I try to take.

  I wrap my arms around myself in a desperate bid to hold the breaking pieces together. I squeeze my eyes closed as despair and anger take over. Koda whimpers and pushes his nose against my leg. Unable to hold myself up, my knees buckle, and I wrap my arms around him. He stays close as I continue to cry, his fur soaking up my tears. There was a time when I could have stopped this, but I was too afraid. All I had to do was speak up. All I had to do was say his name.

  Chapter Fourteen

  WITH trembling hands, I fumble with the buttons on my shirt, trying again to pop them out through the holes. I need to get these clothes off. The reek of damp soil clings to me, rot threaded through every fibre of the fabric. I inch my shoulders out of my shirt, and step out of my pants, throwing them both into a heap on the bathroom floor.

  I close my eyes as hot water pours over my head, and try to convince myself that I’m not a monster. Whoever she is, she’s already dead and has been out there for days. A better person would have called it in immediately. Stayed there by her side until emergency services arrived and took care of her. They wouldn’t have gathered their things, removed all traces of themselves, and left the scene.

  But that’s what I did. I left her there. Alone.

  I can feel Koda staring up at me from his usual spot over by the vanity. I haven’t taken a shower in private since the day I brought him home. Usually, his presence comforts me, but tonight I feel like I owe him an explanation. I open my eyes and look over at him.

  ‘I just need to think about how to do this,’ I tell him. ‘It’s not like I’m going to let her lie out there forever. I’ll call it in, I swear.’

  His head drops down between his paws, and he looks up at me, the whites of his eyes showing.

  ‘I know what you’re thinking – that I’m horrible, but we need to do this right. If I’d stayed, they would have taken my credentials. It was an illegal search. Then I’d never be able to figure out what really happened. You know that, right?’

  It’s not as though I expect a response from Koda. I just need to hear myself say out loud that I’m going to do the right thing – that I’m going to make sure she is laid to rest properly.

  I need to think. I can’t call Herm, and I can’t tell Daley. If they alert Jack, he’ll raise holy hell that I went onto his property uninvited, but I can’t just leave her out there.

  I rest my head again against the wall of the shower. More than anything, I just want the water to keep falling long enough to carry the visions of her away. To wash her from my memory.

  I reach behind me and turn the tap until the water is scorching. It needles my skin, and I press my palms against the tiles, gritting my teeth just to tolerate it. The burn doesn’t drive the images of her away, but I stand there until my skin is red-raw.

  When I’m done in the shower, I dress and throw my clothes into the bin outside. More than anything, I ache to call Will, to beg him to come home, but how would I explain what I’ve done?

  Instead, I pick up the phone and find Jason’s number. He’s the only one I trust and the smartest person I know. Together, we can figure this out.

  When my brother arrives, his hair is mussed, and he smells like sleep. Under the harsh porch light, he looks older. Tired. ‘It’s four in the morning, Mia,’ he mumbles. ‘This better be good.’

  Over his shoulder, I scan the street outside and notice the first snow of the season drifting down onto the grass. I shiver as I think of her lying out in the cold, and wonder again, what kind of person am I to have just left her there?

  ‘Mia? Hello? It’s freezing out here.’

  I snap back and grab my brother’s arm, quickly pulling him inside. As he trips forward, he pulls away and looks at me as though I’ve gone mad. ‘Okay, now you’re starting to scare me. What’s going on?’

  ‘Jason, something happened tonight out on Jack’s property.’

  He looks at me for a moment, then sniffs and scrunches up his nose. ‘What’s that smell? Is that Koda?’

  ‘Listen to me,’ I say urgently. ‘We found a body.’

  His head snaps back, and he stares at me. ‘You what?’

  ‘Out on Jack’s property. We found her. She can’t have been out there more than a week, or Koda wouldn’t have found her. The decomp would have—’

  ‘Whoa,’ he says, palms up, signalling for me to stop. ‘Just slow down. You and Koda went out to Jack’s property in the middle of the night? And without Daley, or an invitation from police?’

  ‘Koda alerted on the way back from finding Lilly.’

  ‘Does Herm know?’

  ‘He knows Koda alerted. He’s been threatening me not to go back there.’

  ‘So, you thought the best thing to do would be to go back out there?’

  I shrug and pull at the corner of my fingernail. ‘He alerted. I had to know.’

  ‘Christ, Mia,’ he barks. ‘You know damn well I need Jack’s support to make the geothermal drilling project work. If you go pissing him off and he pulls his support, I’m dead in the water. You know how much influence he has. Why would you go snooping around on his property?’

  ‘Jason…’ I manage, taken aback by his response. ‘A girl is dead. She’s lying out there right now. That’s someone’s daughter… or sister.’

  He shakes his head, and rubs at his forehead. ‘I have everything invested in this, Mia. Everything. Once Will gets the sign-off from Jess, we can start.’

  ‘Jess?’

  ‘The woman he’s been liaising with in the Minister’s office down in Canberra,’ he says with a wave of his hand. ‘It’s nothing. But, Mia, we need the community on board, and that means Jack.’

  ‘I can’t believe this,’ I say, getting to my feet. ‘You’re not even going to ask who she is?’

  ‘Fine, Mia. Who is she?’

  ‘I think she was from the First Nations mob.’

  ‘Right.’ He thinks a moment and then says, ‘Was it obvious what happened to her?’

  ‘She had a hole in her skull.’