15
While the state detectives were busy planning more moves, Kim and Rita had turned off the blacktop onto a minor road through the forest. The road led past the churned mud and cluttered buildings of a recently-abandoned logging operation then, a mile further on, to Kim's shooting cabin.
When Kim had shown Susan the fuel store and the contents of the freezer and had got the generator running, she and Rita left for the long drive back to High Breaks and White Springs. Susan and Nicola waved them off. As they went back into the cabin Nicola asked the question Susan was dreading to hear.
"Gran's told me about dad. Why didn't you?"
"The right moment never seemed to come. Things were always…difficult."
"How difficult? I mean, surely it would have been better just to be straight with me?"
