Page 4 of The Sunken Truth (Lily Larkin Mysteries #5)

Chapter Four

Being out on the water should have been a pleasant distraction for Flynn, but his mind was still on the superintendent’s visit when he leaned casually against the edge of Ted’s fishing boat.

Blinking his thoughts back to the present, his eyes went to Lily.

Then he whipped his head away, averting his gaze.

Lily in a bikini was more distraction than he needed.

The laughter on the boat went mostly over his head, but he managed a gentle smile at the sight of his friends’ comical attempts to get into their wetsuits. Actually, it was only Lily and Keira who were making a meal of it.

After slipping his on without a problem, Kit went to help Keira.

“Help me!” Lily said, giggling as she stepped in front of Flynn.

Amused, he shook his head, but took hold of the suit at her thighs and dragged it upwards. Her joy drew a proper smile from him as she bounced and wriggled into the tight neoprene.

She turned for him to zip her in, and his fingers trailed over the smooth skin at her neck when he moved her hair aside.

Far too distracting.

“Thanks,” she said, her excitement at her imminent dive almost palpable, and utterly mesmerising.

It kept him smiling while Kit talked her through the diving equipment and reminded her of hand signals. The smile she flashed him before she dropped into the water made his chest flutter.

“PC Grainger!” a friendly voice called from the next boat over. “Drink?” The guy who he recognised as the hotel owner lifted a bottle of beer.

“I’m afraid I can’t.” Which was a shame because he had an inkling that alcohol would solve all his current problems. At least for a little while.

“Do the usual rules still apply on the water?” the man asked jovially.

“Sadly, they do.”

Ted reached into a cooler and pulled out a bottle of water and held it out with a questioning look.

“Thanks,” Flynn said, taking it.

“You must be sweltering,” Ted remarked. “I’m off to mingle. Make yourself at home.”

Flynn thanked him again, then watched him move from boat to boat until he stopped at another fishing vessel.

A couple of divers surfaced nearby and Flynn checked his watch, making a note of the time. Kit had said they’d be forty minutes, and he was sure he’d be clock watching until Lily resurfaced.

Under normal circumstances, he’d probably mingle himself. He should have a wander through the boats and make his presence known. Small talk felt like a massive effort, though.

Staring out at the water, he wondered if the superintendent had already arrived. He’d had a knot in his stomach ever since he’d heard about the visit, and it tightened now. Anytime Flynn was around him, there was some kind of drama, and he couldn’t imagine this time would be any different.

Why was he even visiting? He must have a motive. As far as Flynn could tell, the man never did anything without an agenda. He wasn’t only there to check how the Scilly police force operated – Flynn would put money on it.

A female voice called out to him and he snapped his gaze to the three middle-aged women on the next boat. They sat at a table on the top deck of their motor yacht, the hotel guy no longer in sight.

“Hi,” he said weakly.

“We’ve got plenty of sandwiches,” the blonde woman said. “Come and join us.”

He hesitated. Maybe he wasn’t feeling like making small talk but it was difficult to say no to sandwiches.

Chatting with them made time go faster, and the small piece of shade under the cover on their deck was welcome, though after half an hour it was uncomfortable even in the shade.

While the women speculated about what treasure might be found, he slipped away and walked down to the back of the boat.

It was one of those where the back section was almost at water level, and he was sorely tempted to remove his boots and dangle his feet in the water.

He could break protocol out on the water.

Besides, he imagined a lot of emergency situations on the water would benefit from him already having his boots off.

He was still contemplating it when a head broke the surface, halfway between the boat and the red marker buoy. Kit waved at him. Keira came up next, then Seren.

Flynn exhaled a full breath when Lily appeared. She didn’t look at him, but chatted with her fellow divers before they set off swimming towards the boats. Finally, she caught his eye and veered in his direction while the others swam to Ted’s boat.

Taking hold of the boat, she dragged her hand through the water to splash him.

“I can pull you in if you want,” she said. “You looked as though you were thinking of jumping in for a cool off – if I pull you in you can blame it on me and not get into trouble with the sergeant.”

“Tempting as that is, I was only thinking about giving my feet a dip.”

“Do it,” she said, handing her oxygen tank up to him.

He set it aside, then glanced around.

“Surely you can’t get into trouble for keeping cool,” Lily said, her brow wrinkled as she regarded him from the ladder. “Besides, you’re on a boat in the middle of nowhere. Who’s even going to know?”

She had a point. And the water did look very inviting.

Crouching, he unlaced one boot and then the other, feeling stupidly circumspect as he did.

Lily was right though – there really wasn’t any harm in letting standards drop for a few minutes.