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Jake Farrell looks more ragged than Lucy’s ever seen him. Studying his face, she’s forced to confront her earlier betrayal – her willingness to trade his life for her family, should the chance arise. She’d kissed him, too. However well intentioned, it was a terrible abuse of his friendship.
‘Your phone,’ he says, handing it over. ‘You left it in the boat.’
‘Oh, Jake. You didn’t have to come all the way out here this late.’
He pauses, uncomfortable. ‘I needed to update you on a few things.’
Noemie delves into her bag and brings out Lucy’s keys. ‘Let’s get inside,’ she says. ‘And out of these wet clothes.’
They assemble in the kitchen. Noemie disappears upstairs, returning with towels and dry clothes. One by one, they slip away to change into the oddments she turned up.
In the living room, Jake builds a fire. ‘Reason I came,’ he tells Lucy. ‘This storm’s got every emergency service stretched to breaking. I figured they might not be keeping you as dialled in as they’d like. If it was me, I’d want to know.’
He grimaces. ‘We had to suspend the search. Only until morning, but right now the conditions are simply too dangerous. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime event. Once in a century,even. We couldn’t send the Skentel boat back out. The stations in Padstow and Appledore recalled theirs too. And the shoreline search has been stood down till first light. It’s just too difficult to see anything. I’m sorry, Lucy. I think …’ His grimace deepens. ‘It’s brutal, I know it is. I never imagined having to tell you this. But I think you need to prepare yourself.’
Silence, as Jake’s words sink in. A log pops in the grate, sending up a shower of sparks.
Lucy listens to the breath entering and leaving her chest. It’s like wind in a crypt. Not something belonging to the living. She stands, goes to the window. With the lights off, her view of the violence beyond the glass is panoramic: black trees bent sideways by wind; black sea veined with white. Far beneath the house, the pounding of waves against Mortis Point sounds like incoming mortar fire. ‘Their immersion suits,’ she says. ‘Their suits will keep them safe until morning.’
Lucy can’t look at her friends. She keeps her gaze on the storm.
‘Hon,’ Noemie says softly. ‘You have to tell us. What happened when you saw him at the hospital? What did Daniel say?’
She closes her eyes – thinks again of how he thrashed and fought when he saw her. How the detective had to hold him down.
She recalls Billie’s party, how all their problems seem to flow from that night. Suddenly she’s transported. Not to the darkened study and her crass encounter with Nick. Instead, she’s back outside, watching blood drip from her husband’s knuckles as he glares at his lifelong friend.
‘Tell her,’ Daniel growls. ‘Tell her what you just told me.’
Opposite, Nick tries to repair his ripped shirt. When he sees it’s useless, he scowls. ‘In my position, you’d have done exactly the same thing.’
Daniel’s lips curl back. Lucy sees what’s about to happen. She wraps herself around his arm.
‘You weren’t even going to tell me,’ he hisses. Horrified, she opens her mouth to respond. And realizes he’s still addressing Nick. ‘You only came because you thought the party was just family, no industry people. A happy little interlude to salve your conscience before you made your break.’
‘Daniel?’ Lucy asks. ‘What’s happening?’
‘He sold out, that’s what. Some broker offered him a boatload of money to sell his stake, and he took it. What he didn’t know – or didn’t bother to find out – was that it was a set-up. Turns out the buyer was actually Hartland, proud new owner of his fifty per cent share.’
Lucy stares in disbelief. For years, Locke-Povey Marine has fought a bloody competitive battle against the far larger Hartland International. Despite the strong opposition, they’ve grown their market share through a combination of Daniel’s creative genius and Nick’s aggressive selling.
‘But he can’t sell his shares just like that,’ Lucy says. ‘You’ve got pre-emption rights, surely?’
‘Jesus, Luce. Our partnership agreement was some worthless thing we printed off the internet years ago. There aren’t any protections. We didn’t need belt and braces when it was just the two of us. And now the word is out. Hartland will exercise their shareholder rights, put astranglehold on the entire business. I’ve had customers sidling up all evening, telling me they’ll have to transfer.’
Listening, Lucy can’t even begin to process the implications. Daniel survived a childhood more brutal than most people could imagine. At ten years old, he couldn’t read or write. Even now, he has difficulty with his spelling. And yet somehow, thanks to a love of numbers and an insatiable appetite for learning, he dragged himself up. He taught himself physics, engineering and CAD. He set up a business from nothing, expanding it year by year. And while Nick can take some credit for its success, Daniel was always the driving force.
Never has she fully trusted her husband’s childhood friend. Too often, the arm around Daniel’s shoulder – so visible in that Polaroid snap of them – has felt superficial; less like genuine guardianship and more the protection of an investment. She’s never been able to say anything. Nick’s loyalty might be questionable; Daniel’s, by contrast, is iron-clad.
How will this affect him? The collapse of everything he’s built. Daniel’s need for control doesn’t extend to those around him, but it rules every other aspect of his life: from his focus on the most inconsequential elements of his design work to his insistence on the very best life-saving equipment for theLazy Susan.
How will it affectthem? There’s a hefty business loan secured on the house. They could even lose Wild Ridge.
Her temples throb. The cocaine at the back of her numbed throat is making her gag. Billie appears in the doorway, flanked by Tommo and Bee. Lucy shakes her head, but nobody retreats.
‘You had the chance, six months ago, to sell,’ Nick says.‘Twice, they’ve offered to buy us out. I told you then it was a good idea. But that’s the trouble with you, Daniel. You hold on to things far longer than you should.’
He looks at Lucy, and she braces herself. But when he speaks, his accusations are for Daniel alone. ‘Something happened to you,’ he says. ‘You used to listen. These days you don’t.’