Page 6 of The Sunken Truth
“Who else is coming?” Lily asked, kicking her sandals off on the sand, then wedging them in the side pocket of her backpack.
“Keira and Flynn.”
Surprise wrinkled her brow. “Flynn’s coming?”
“Is that a problem?” Kit asked with a mischievous glint in his eyes.
“No.” Flynn was her best friend, so there was no reason it would be a problem. Unless you considered the fact that she was completely in love with him. Or that he was moving back to London in a month. She was avoiding dwelling on either of those things.
“I’m just surprised,” she said. “I thought he was working today.”
“He is. Patrolling the sea!”
“Oh.” She wasn’t sure what else to say.
It wasn’t as though she didn’t spend time with Flynn. They’d been hanging out together regularly, and doing a decent job of pretending everything was fine between them, but the closer it got to him leaving, the more painful it became to be around him.
Don’t think about it,she coached herself as theyapproached the water’s edge.Pretend he isn’t leaving and enjoy hanging out with him while you still can.
“How long is it since you went diving?” Kit asked.
“Years. We spent a summer in Portugal when I was about sixteen, and I think we went most days.”
“I’m sure it will all come back to you,” Kit said. “I can give you a quick refresher course if you want.”
“I’d appreciate that.” She smiled at Seren as the cool water washed around her feet, then gave her a hug when she reached her. “I’m very excited,” she said, stepping into the boat and squeezing Keira’s shoulder in greeting. “Who’s driving the train today?”
“Noah.” Keira grimaced. “It was supposed to be me, but I talked him into covering for me. I didn’t want to miss out on the shipwreck.”
Lily plonked herself on the bench seat beside Flynn. “Are we expecting trouble out there?”
“The sergeant thinks fights might break out over the gold,” he said dryly.
“Seriously?” she asked, amused.
“No. I don’t think we’re really expecting there to be any drama.”
“That’s not true!” Keira said, while Kit and Seren walked the boat out into deeper water. “Seren and I have bets on how long until Flynn passes out from heat exhaustion.”
“You are a little overdressed,” Lily remarked, her gaze trailing over him, taking in the stuffy collar on his shirt and the neckline of his vest underneath it. The black trousers would absorb the heat of the sunshine, and his heavy boats made her toes squirm just looking at them.
“I left my stab vest behind,” he said. “So this get up is relatively light and breezy.”
“Take your shirt off,” Keira suggested. “We don’t mind.”
Seren cracked up laughing as she hopped into the boat. “I’m feeling more and more sorry for Noah. First you leave him to do your job while you have fun, then you’re trying to get police officers to strip and turn it into some kind of party boat.”
“I was only thinking about Flynn’s comfort!”
“Sure you were.” Kit brought the engine to life and took a seat beside the tiller.
When Lily swivelled on the seat to face forwards, Flynn did the same.
“You still haven’t convinced Sergeant Proctor that a police boat would be a good idea?” she asked, the noise of the engine making the conversation feel private.
“He’s still saying it’s unnecessary. But I think the real problem is that it would make the job too attractive. Everyone would want to work here if they thought they could spend their days on a speedboat.”
“That’s true. Imagine how much fun that would be.” She almost added that he’d never want to leave, but caught herself just in time.
