Page 51 of Deep Waters

Christian’s knees went from under him. He dropped, but the policeman swung an arm around him and kept him from going down.

“Take it easy,” the cop said, his tone a lot kinder this time.

“Oh my God. Who is that? What the fuck has happened?”

Still supporting him, the PC gestured for help. A second constable came over and took hold of Christian from the other side. Christian didn’t want their help. He wanted to know what was happening on that boat.Right now. Who the hell was on the stretcher and why?

A second later, he got his answer when Harry stumbled out of the wheelhouse.

Oh, thank God.

Harry’s skin was a ghastly shade of grey. His face was a mask of shock and horror. One of the officers on the boat was talking to him. Harry nodded blankly. His hands were red. So were the front of his clothes.

Oh fuck. That’s blood. What the hell has happened now?

“I need to go down there,” Christian pleaded with the police officers.

“Sorry, mate,” the first cop said, his tone far kinder than it had been before. “You can’t go on that boat. It’s a crime scene now.”

“Crime scene?” The words sounded so foreign, so strange. Christian shook his head in denial. If it wasn’t Harry on the stretcher, then who was it? “This doesn’t make sense. Where’s Tom? What’s happened to him?”

Christian’s manic behaviour was drawing even more attention. All around, people murmured and speculated about what had happened.

“It’s Tom Renner,” a loud voice carried over the crowd.

Christian felt the ripples of interest all around him.

The second police officer raised the cordon. “Come on through. We need to get you away from here.”

As he slowly began to pay more attention, he recognised the PC from Monday night. She’d been at the lifeboat station, taking statements after they’d returned with Niko’s body. He checked her name badge—Probationary Constable Indina Shah.

“Can I see Harry?” he asked. “Just for a moment.”

“Sorry. Not yet. No one can go on that boat until it’s been cleared by forensics.” She led him by the arm to a police van, shielding him from the curious onlookers.

“I just want to know that he’s all right.”

“As soon as it’s possible, I’ll see what I can do. You said you are in a relationship with the boat owner. Is that correct?”

“Yes. It’s very recent. But…PC Shah, please tell me what happened here? Did someone attack Harry and Tom? Does it have anything to do with the murder of Niko Jasinski? You know we were the ones who found him on Monday?”

She narrowed her eyes, looking at him more closely. “You were there, too? Oh, yes, of course you were. I remember you now. In that case, I’m going to get someone else to speak to you. Stay here, and don’t move.”

After twenty minutes of waiting without being seen, Christian had had enough. There were even more police officers on the dock now, and it was impossible for him to get anywhere near Harry or the boat. He spotted a bunch of fishermen on the other side of the cordon and recognised more than half of them from around the lifeboat station and the town. They might not know much, but something was better than nothing. Christian went over to them.

“Do any of you know what’s happened?”

One of the older men stepped forward. “I was getting my boat ready so we could sail as soon as the fog lifted when I heard this God-awful scream fromThe North Star. It was young Harry calling for help. I knew straight away that something bad had gone down, especially after all that’s gone on this week. I thought to myself, oh Lord, here’s another one.”

“What happened, though? The police won’t tell me anything.”

The fisherman looked grim. “It’s Tom. Harry’s cousin. Harry came back from fetching their breakfast and found him in the wheelhouse all cut up, just like those other two lads.”

Christian folded his arms across his stomach and shook his head. He glanced over his shoulder, towards the boat. Harry was still on the deck. The police had not released him yet. He turned back to the fisherman and tried to speak, but there were no words.

“I don’t know what’s become of this town,” the man said. “It used to be such a nice place to live. Now it seems like no one is safe anymore.”

Chapter Eighteen

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