Page 38 of Dead in the Water (Lily Larkin Mysteries #4)

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Vic closed his eyes while the sergeant arrested him. He didn’t speak, nor resist. Calmly, he peeled his eyelids open and remained still as the handcuffs clicked into place.

That ominous sound seemed to snap the others from their shocked silence.

“Did you say he’s not dying?” Russell asked, his accusing gaze on Kerry. “You told me he has cancer and he doesn’t have long to live.”

“I’m so sorry.” Kerry shuffled towards Russell. “I really am.”

“They’ve been having an affair.” Lily aimed the comment at Sergeant Proctor but spoke loudly enough for everyone to hear.

Vic eyed his restraints with agitation as he spoke. “I don’t think you can really call it an affair when I knew all about it.”

“What?” Russell said through gritted teeth.

“It was my idea.” Vic’s voice held a note of pride. “She was only stringing you along. I thought it would be a good way to encourage you to go along with our plan for you to buy Joseph’s share of the boat, so we could finally make use of it.”

Russell shrugged Kerry off and paced away from her.

“It all got out of hand,” Kerry said, following him. “I’m so sorry.”

Vic released a surly laugh. “You weren’t sorry when he started showering you with expensive jewellery. Thanks for that, by the way. That was an unexpected boost for my finances.”

“You sold the jewellery?” Russell asked, glaring at Kerry. “All those excuses about not being able to wear it around Vic and the real reason was because you didn’t have it any more?”

“It’s true that I’m not dying,” Vic said. “So you won’t be getting my wife to yourself anytime soon.”

Joyce let out a yelp of surprise and pressed her hand to her chest while mumbling her disbelief.

“You’ve been lying to me about everything,” Russell snarled at Kerry. “You said you loved me and the only reason you wouldn’t leave him was because he was dying. You must think me an absolute fool.”

“There’s no fool like a gullible, rich fool,” Vic said. “I’m surprised you fell for her story about me dying, though. I did tell her she may have gone a bit far there.”

“You just made it up?” Joyce asked, staring at Kerry with disbelief.

“He wanted me to leave Vic. I don’t know why I said it. I just panicked.” Tears sprang from Kerry’s eyes as she inched back towards Russell. “I’ve been an idiot. We just wanted to be able to travel the world like we’d planned, but I shouldn’t have used you like that.”

Russell shook his head while his entire body radiated tension. “You knew you wouldn’t find anyone else to buy a third share of the yacht. I can’t believe I fell for all the lies. I really thought we had a future together.”

“I might have been using you to start with,” Kerry said tearfully. “But not any more. And we can be together properly now. Vic will be in prison.”

“You really think I want to be with you now?” Russell shot.

“You can figure out your personal drama later,” Sergeant Proctor said testily. “For now, I’d like to get back to the station to formally interview Mr Cooper.” He turned to Russell. “Would you mind returning us to St Mary’s?”

“With pleasure,” Russell said, brushing Kerry off again. “From there, I think I’ll get a plane home.”

“Don’t say that,” Kerry whined. “We can work all this out.”

“I’m just happy I didn’t sign any papers and I don’t actually own any part of this boat.” He stalked back to the wheel.

At the back of the boat, Joyce cuddled up to Keith and sobbed against his shoulder.

After firmly telling Vic not to move a muscle, the sergeant approached Lily and rested a hand on her shoulder.

“Are you okay?”

“I think so,” she said, but she was shivering despite the warmth of the sunshine, and her stomach felt vaguely queasy.

The sergeant smiled. “Thanks for all your help with this.”

“Thank you for coming after me. I thought I was going to end up in a foreign country. Or possibly dumped overboard if Vic had found me.” She felt even more queasy remembering the fear she’d felt while hiding in the wardrobe.

“It seems you have a lot of friends on the islands.” The sergeant looked out at the boats surrounding them. “I’ve never had such an easy time rounding up support. As soon as your name was mentioned, people fell over each other to help.”

Lily smiled nervously as she glanced around.

“Hey!” Kit shouted. “Do you want to get a ride home with us?”

After a quick nod, Lily looked questioningly at the sergeant.

“Whatever you want,” he told her, patting her shoulder.

She’d only taken one step when she swung back and caught Keith’s eye. “What would you gain from Joseph selling his share of the boat to Russell?”

“What?” Keith pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose. “How do you mean?”

“I overheard you saying it would be financially beneficial for you if Russell bought the boat. I don’t understand why.”

“Oh.” He glanced nervously at his wife who let out a dainty sob. “It’s only that Joseph could be a bit of a stickler when it came to money.”

“He always insisted all costs should be shared equally,” Joyce said while dabbing at her eyes. “It wasn’t as bad when Lisa was around. He wasn’t as uptight about everything.”

“We used to split the cost between three couples,” Keith said, scratching at his jaw.

“But after Lisa died, each couple had to pay two-fifths and he’d pay one-fifth.

Which I realise is technically fair, but it felt petty.

” His lips stretched to a sheepish smile.

“Whenever Russell was out with us, he’d just pay for everything. ”

From behind the wheel, Russell let out a laugh that was entirely humourless.

Lily stared at Keith and Joyce for a moment. Speechless, she turned on her heel and headed for the lifeboat.

Passing Flynn, she gave him a grateful smile, then felt an undeniable sense of loss as she moved away from him.

Watching Kit help Lily onto the boat, Flynn felt a sting of panic at letting her out of his sight.

“Go with her if you want,” the sergeant said, beside him. “PC Hill and I can handle things here. I don’t think Vic will cause any problems on the way in.”

“Thanks, Sarge. If you’re sure?”

He gave a nod. “Tell Kit to stick close, just in case. And I’ll need you to meet us back at the harbour. I guess we’re going to have a busy afternoon.”

“Of course. I’ll see you back there.”

He moved quickly, sharing a relieved look with Kit as he held the boat steady for him to board.

“Well that was fun,” Kit said, sitting beside Lily and slinging an arm around her shoulders.

At the helm, the lifeboat volunteer who’s name Flynn hadn’t caught was quietly cheerful as he steered them towards St Mary’s along with the convoy of other boats – all of them sticking close to the yacht in case the sergeant and PC Hill needed assistance.

“Are you okay?” Flynn asked Lily from his place opposite her.

She nodded, but he could see her teeth were chattering and moved to shrug his jacket off for her.

Kit got there first, giving her his hoodie, then keeping an arm around her shoulders. When she leaned into him, Flynn’s chest tightened. It wasn’t as though he thought there was anything more than friendship between them, but even so, the jealousy was intense.

He kept his eyes on Lily as the boat skipped gently over waves – only occasionally glancing away to catch the sergeant’s eye and confirm that everything was under control. Lily didn’t look at him the whole way back. Most of the time she kept her eyes closed as she shivered by Kit’s side.

Kit, who usually talked incessantly, remained quiet and exchanged a worried glance with Flynn once or twice.

“I think she’s in shock,” Kit said as they stood on the jetty together, waiting for the yacht which was arriving just behind them.

“I’m okay,” Lily said through chattering teeth. “I just need to get home.”

“I have to help the sergeant,” Flynn said, directing the words at Kit. “Can you stay with her and make sure she’s okay?”

“Of course,” Kit said.

It was a worrying sign that Lily didn’t complain about them fussing over her.

“Come on,” Kit said. “Let’s get you home.”

She nodded and finally looked up at Flynn. Her lips parted, but she closed her mouth again and swallowed hard. “Thank you for coming to get me.”

He shook his head – her gratitude both unwanted and unwarranted. In what world wouldn’t he start running if he thought she was in trouble?

“I’ll come over after work,” he said.

“You don’t need to.” She sniffed and wiped her knuckle under her nose. “I’ll be all right.”

“I want to.”

She didn’t object, just shrugged and turned away.

Kit stayed close by her as they walked along the jetty and up the harbour steps.

At the top, Seren was waiting and wrapped Lily in a prolonged hug.

When they set off again, with Kit and Seren flanking Lily protectively, Flynn felt another stab of jealousy.

While he was happy that Lily had people looking after her, he couldn’t help but wish it was him who got to take care of her.