The Survivors(66)

Verity didn’t answer, but continued to stare at him in a way that set him on edge.

‘What, Mum?’ he said. ‘For God’s sake, she’s my child.’

Verity still didn’t reply. Kieran could feel the others watching and he turned away, annoyed.

‘Perhaps it was a sea eagle,’ George said out of nowhere, and they all looked over. He shrugged at Liam. ‘Upsetting the birds. Could there have been a sea eagle around? Trying to get at the babies?’

Liam blinked at him. ‘I don’t know.’ He looked very tired. ‘Yeah. Maybe.’

There was a roar as Sean fired up the engine. ‘Jesus. Let’s just get back to land.’

If the journey out to the wreck had been quiet, the journey back was silent in a different way. The mood was still sombre as they disembarked.

George was off the boat as soon as they docked. He stripped off his wetsuit, pulled on a t-shirt from his bag and with a thank you that managed to sound at least partly sincere, he disappeared through the marina gate, shaking his head.

As Liam took the wetsuit away to rinse it down, Sean turned to Kieran and Verity.

‘I’m so sorry,’ he said, rubbing a hand over his face. ‘If you want to go out again another time –’

‘It’s fine, Sean. I wanted to see the wreck once more, and I did,’ Verity said as they headed to the shed to get changed. ‘So, thank you. Really.’

Kieran had less trouble getting out of his wetsuit than he’d had getting into it, and this time it was him waiting outside the shed for Verity. Still a little cold from the water, he moved around to stand in the sun and leaned against the wall, feeling tired suddenly. Over the sound of equipment being hosed down around the back, he could hear Sean’s voice.

‘– know you’re not having an easy time but –’

Liam gave a short hollow laugh at that. Sean ignored it.

‘– but you can’t leave people in the water. It’s bad enough now, but you do that with the real clients and I could lose this business. Or something worse happens.’

No answer.

‘I mean it, mate. Liam? It’s a serious safety issue. You know that. You can’t –’

‘I had to come up because I couldn’t stay down there anymore.’ Liam’s reply was so low Kieran barely caught the words.

‘What do you mean?’ Sean said.

‘I got water in my mask and I was clearing it but I sucked some in and –’ Liam stopped.

‘That’s nothing new though.’ Sean’s voice was soft now. ‘How many times has that happened? Hundreds.’

‘Yeah, I know. But this time –’ It seemed for a second like Liam might not say any more. ‘When the water was in my nose and mouth I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I mean, I could – the air was coming through and everything – but I felt like I couldn’t, you know? I couldn’t stand it. Being down there. So that’s what happened. All right? I needed to breathe so I came up.’

There was a silence.

‘Okay,’ Sean said. ‘All right, mate. You should have come and found me, though. Or anyone. Not disappeared like that.’

‘I know. But –’ Liam sounded embarrassed now. ‘I didn’t know how long I had. I was scared I was going to rip my mask off.’

Neither of them spoke for another moment.

‘Is it that bad?’ Sean said.

‘People thinking I killed a girl? Yeah, it’s pretty bad.’

Kieran heard movement around the front. Verity was ready. Still, he stayed where he was.

‘All right.’ Sean’s words were almost inaudible. ‘Maybe –’ A pause. ‘Maybe don’t mention this to anyone else for now, mate.’

Verity’s head appeared around the corner.

‘Ready?’ she said, and Liam’s reply was lost.

‘Yeah.’ Kieran stepped away from the shed and he and Verity walked together out of the marina. As they hit the road, they both opened their mouths at the same time.

‘Sorry,’ Kieran said. ‘You go.’

‘I was just going to say I’m going to get a coffee to take home to your dad.’ Verity’s voice was light but still frosty. ‘Apparently the Surf and Turf could do with the business. Do you want to come?’

‘I suppose,’ Kieran said. ‘You know it was Julian who told the cops about Dad wandering, don’t you?’

‘I do. It was also Julian who kept him safe until I got there. Not for the first time, either.’

‘Right,’ Kieran said as they started to walk. ‘Listen, though, I’m sorry about taking Audrey to the caves. You’re completely right. I was on the lookout and I could see the tide was out and –’ He looked over.

‘Okay,’ Verity said simply. Ahead, the Surf and Turf’s sign was lit up.

‘I won’t take her down again.’

‘That’s up to you.’

‘Mum –’

‘Like you said, Kieran, she’s your child.’ Verity’s voice was steely calm. ‘But you’d be very sorry if anything happened to her.’

Kieran stopped walking. After a few paces, Verity relented and stopped as well. She turned and they stood on the street and looked at each other.