Page 7 of Darling Girls

‘Five bucks says I can.’

‘Make it ten.’ Frankly Alicia would have paid a hundred, but Aaron held out his hand to shake on it, so Alicia did.

Alicia wasn’t Aaron’s case worker, but she had a soft spot for him. At seventeen, Aaron had reached those precarious months before he aged out of foster care, and she always felt for those kids. The last time she’d seen Aaron she’d given him her card and told him to get in touch if he wanted some information about services and programs for kids ageing out, or scholarships if he was interested in university. So far he hadn’t reached out, and she suspected her card was in the rubbish bin, but there was always room for hope.

‘Watch and learn,’ Aaron said, grabbing a fistful of his crisps and holding them under the table, palm up, like a kid feeding an animal at a petting zoo.

‘Be careful,’ Alicia said. ‘He’s got a sharp set of chompers.’

As Theo glanced towards Aaron’s outstretched hand, Alicia’s phone rang. Normally she wouldn’t answer the phone in this situation, but given that she likely wasn’t getting out of here any time soon, she decided to make an exception.

‘Ten bucks,’ she said to Aaron. She stood up and accepted the call. ‘Hello?’

‘Am I speaking to Alicia Connelly?’

‘If you’re a debt collector, no,’ Alicia said. ‘If I’ve won the lottery, yes.’

She glanced at Aaron, who rolled his eyes. Theo was looking at Aaron’s outstretched palm.

‘Alicia, my name is Detective Ashleigh Patel,’ the woman said. ‘Have you got a minute?’

Alicia glanced at her watch. Six pm. Not the latest call she’d had for crisis care, but late enough that it would be a struggle to find a family who’d be ready to take in a child tonight. Usually, it was a case manager who called to give her the particulars of a child’s situation, but occasionally she did receive a call direct from the police. She got out her notebook and clicked her pen, waiting for the onslaught of grisly information – about the physical and emotional state of the child or children, their age or ages, and any previous history in the foster system.

‘Sure. What have you got for me?’

A pause. ‘Actually, this is related to an investigation I’m working on. I’m hoping you might be able to help me.’

Alicia unclicked her pen. ‘What investigation?’

Theo started eating the crisps directly from Aaron’s hand, like a baby goat. Aaron made a grossed-out face as he held his other hand out to Alicia, rubbing his index finger and thumb together.Ten bucks, he mouthed. Alicia reached into her pocket for her wallet.

‘It’s in relation to a discovery made at Wild Meadows foster home in Port Agatha. I understand you grew up there?’

Alicia froze, her hand still in her pocket. ‘What?’

‘I said it’s in relation to –’

‘Yes, sorry. I heard.’ She walked to the kitchen counter and leaned against it for support. ‘And yes, I . . . I spent a few years at Wild Meadows when I was a kid.’

Alicia’s chest became tight. She had been waiting for this phone call for twenty-five years. Not looking forward to it . . . but waiting. It felt important. Like the part of the movie when the truth starts to come out and the prisoner begins to believe they might have a shot at escaping death row.

‘Well, as you may or may not be aware, Wild Meadows has recently been demolished. And while excavating, the construction workers uncovered –’

Aaron lowered another fistful of crisps under the table for Theo. Salt and crumbs were all over the boy’s face and the floor.

‘– human remains. Bones, really. It looks like they’ve been there a while. Possibly since the time you were living there.’

Alicia began to shake. She may have been waiting for this call for years but that didn’t mean she was prepared for it. How could one prepare for something like this? Something that would, should, blow up her entire life?

‘Are you there?’ the detective asked.

‘I’m here,’ she said. But she wasn’t; not really. She was already back at Wild Meadows, reliving everything that had happened there twenty-five years ago with new clear eyes.

4

JESSICA

After the call from Detective Patel, Jessica cancelled her afternoon appointment (citing food poisoning, and offering the client a free ‘Garage Storage Intervention’ session valued at $599 – a little excessive, perhaps, but warranted under the circumstances) and drove directly home. By the time she got there, her sisters were already waiting in her living room.