Page 67

>> Daniel (Not Work)
Over and Out
03 Mar
You thought I didn’t know but I do. And you might think you know me but you don’t. You don’t have the first clue. Nor does Nick.
Do you have the slightest understanding of how it feels to be betrayed by both your wife and your best friend?
People reap what they sow.
Lucy reads the message five times before she can breathe. The earlier rushing of blood fills her ears, a roar like the sea. Jake said Daniel broadcast his distress call at 12.37. When she looks at the timestamp, she sees this email was sent two minutes later. Two minutes in which she’d imagined Daniel hustling Billie and Fin into their immersion suits.
Daddy, no—
Lucy closes her eyes. When she concentrates, she can suppress her son’s voice. Other times, like now, it boomerangs back.
You thought I didn’t know but I do. And you might think youknow me but you don’t. You don’t have the first clue. Nor does Nick.
Tacked to the wall is a photo of theLazy Susan. Daniel crouches on the foredeck, his arms around Billie and Fin.
Ray-Bans hide his eyes.
Lucy controls her breathing: slow in, slow out. She knows he loves her. Sheknowsit. But this email changes everything.
She hears commotion in the passage leading to the bar. Checking the door is still closed, she reads the message one last time. Footsteps now, outside. Lucy deletes the email, opens the trash, deletes everything there too.
‘Luce?’
She leaps up. Blood rushes into her cheeks.
Tommo stands in the doorway. ‘Didn’t mean to startle you. But you might want to see this.’
3
A TV hangs from the wall behind the pool table. Every face in the Drift Net is turned towards it. Onscreen, the crag-faced detective is talking.
Abraham Rose.
It’s clear he hates the cameras. Likewise, the microphones held towards his face. Gone is the gruff self-assurance from their car journey. Rose holds himself awkwardly and speaks haltingly. He relates yesterday’s events and appeals for CCTV and dashcam footage. He confirms that the search-and-rescue operation has resumed. Then a reporter asks if Daniel Locke’s going to be arrested.
Abraham Rose hesitates before answering. Lucy senses the atmosphere inside the Drift Net change – as if all the oxygen has escaped.
‘At this time,’ the detective says, ‘our efforts are focused squarely on recovering Fin and Billie Locke.’ He holds up his hands, signalling the end of the press conference.
Off-camera, a female reporter shouts, ‘Did Daniel Locke kill his children for money or was there some other reason?’
Shoulders raised, Abraham walks back towards the police station. The live feed cuts to the studio.
Silence, from everyone inside the Drift Net.