Page 58 of Seal of Approval

I didn’t want to engage with Max. But with every word he spoke, it was harder not to. I clenched my teeth and took a deep breath through my nose, reminding myself that getting angry with him would serve no purpose. Telling him what I thought would serve no purpose. He wanted me to respond, and I would do everything in my power not to. He wouldn’t listen anyway.

“I’m here. They’re here. What would it hurt to see them?”

A middle-aged man came back to the boat. Before Ethan helped him onto the boat, I turned to Max. “Talk to my solicitor.”

Max scowled.

The swimmer was gushing. “That was fantastic. I could do this every day.”

Ethan smiled at him. “The sea lion that was swimming with you is a male juvenile.”

“How do you know?”

“I recognise him. Also, juveniles are small like the females and grey on top with a cream underbelly. But if I didn’t know I could read his tag number. Did you notice he had a tag on his fin?”

“One on each side.”

“The tag number starts with H B to show that it was first tagged in Haven Bay. Then it is followed by four digits. That’s its unique number. We can look it up in a database.”

The man started to take his wetsuit off.

“We prefer to take the wetsuits off when we get back. That way we don’t have them lying all over the boat causing a trip hazard.”

“No worries.”

More and more swimmers returned, their faces aglow from their experience. On the ride back, Ethan shared a bit about his research. I noted that he didn’t mention it was a six-month project like he normally would. When we reached the jetty, Jack was standing at the end with two male police officers. I smiled to myself. Either Jack had seen Max or the kids had. And they’d done the smartest thing possible.

It was time for Max to be reminded that our life didn’t involve him anymore.

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

Ethan

To say that I was pleased the police were here was an understatement. I was getting tired of Max... fast. He’d infiltrated every part of our life. Turning up to a tour where we had no option but to be polite and smile was a conniving and infuriating move.

Jasmine had done an amazing job. She’d hardly uttered a word until she told him to contact the solicitor. He didn’t like that. He didn’t like that he couldn’t connect with her, which meant he couldn’t sway her. His third arrival made me wonder if it was more Jasmine he was trying to connect with rather than the children. I thought he would have tried to see the kids on the sly, bypassing Jasmine altogether. Today would have been the prime opportunity. But it was her he kept making contact with.

Any person would understand that she wanted nothing to do with him. Any person other than Max. I just wanted to grab him and tell him to fuck off. I took a deep breath and willed calmness through my body. The police were here now. Surely, they would do something. Would it be enough?

We escorted the guests off. The police pulled Max to the side while Jasmine and I went through the normal routine with our guests. I didn’t like that idea. It gave him time to construct the narrative he wanted. At least Jack was there.

When we finished with the last guest, we headed over to the police.

“Jasmine, Ethan,” the older officer said. “Jack called us about Mr Reynard.”

Jasmine considered them both. I knew she was on first-name terms with them. It was a ranger thing and a small-town thing.

“I’ve told Max repeatedly that if he wants to see the children he needs to speak to my solicitor.”

The policeman turned to Max.

“It’s been five years, officer. I’m desperate to see my children.”

Here we go. Playing the victim card. Now we would see how far Jasmine’s relationship with the police would take her. The younger police officer shifted from foot to foot. The older one remained staunch.

“That may be the case. But papers we have on file state that Jasmine has full custody of the children and your visitation rights have been withheld.”

“I wasn’t aware of those papers, sir. As I’m sure you know, I’ve been tied up for the past five years.”

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