Chapter 3
Chapter
Three
FRAY
Well, this was all fucking awful.
Fray had grown used to the heartache over the years. The constant aching reminder that Tobin didn’t see him.
Oh, he saw him just fine.
But he didn’t see him. He didn’t acknowledge Fray’s crush or the way Fray looked at him.
He had to have known.
Tobin wasn’t stupid. Far from it. He was almost as smart as Kellan. And not just book smart but world and street smart too. He was the quiet, watchful kind.
So, yeah, he had to have known.
And he’d never acknowledged it. Which was an answer in itself, really.
Fray had lived with the painful reminder that Tobin didn’t see him as anything more than a friend. But now Fray was beginning to wonder if they were even that.
Tobin had grown distant these past few days and more withdrawn. Fray couldn’t even begin to think about Tobin bringing that girl to town. Or what on earth he was thinking...
Or what they’d done all night.
Fray didn’t want to think about that the most.
It made the ache in his chest burn hotter. The sting of rejection was bitter and cloying, but the ache behind his ribs was the worst.
He knew he had to go through it. He knew he had to embrace the pain, wallow in it until the sharpness subsided or until he was so used to the pain, it didn’t burn so bad. Only then would he be able to move on.
“You okay?” Sawyer asked.
Fray was pretty sure Sawyer had been talking as they waited for Ciaran, but Fray hadn’t heard a word of it. “Uh, yeah. Sure. Of course.”
Sawyer’s stark blue eyes met Fray’s with nothing but concern in them. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”
“Sorry for what?”
“That things aren’t going the way you’d hoped,” he said gently.
Fray winced at the way he’d said that, at the acknowledgement. He wanted so badly to turn around, to look at Tobin’s place, to go see him and ask him what the fuck, but he refused to. He needed to be strong because if moving on was his only path forward, it needed to start now.
“Yeah, me too.” He let out a low breath, trying to snuff out the embers of heartache before they could catch fire.
Sawyer looked at him then, at the way Fray was rubbing his sternum. His concern now looked a lot like curiosity. “You sure?”
Fray wasn’t even aware he’d been rubbing his chest, so instead he ran his hand through his wet hair and deliberately let his hands drop to his side. “Yeah. Nothing like having your heart broken to make you feel alive, huh?”
He’d kinda meant it as a joke, but Sawyer’s half smile was more pity than humour.
“How are you feeling?” Fray asked instead. He needed to change the subject. He needed to stop thinking about Tobin. “No eerie calling to go back into the water?”
Sawyer had gone in with Ciaran earlier, and it had been uneventful, mostly.
Apart from Sawyer laughing underwater and learning he could not, in fact, breathe water.
But he was dressed in warmer clothes now, and they were standing between Tobin’s and Fray’s places, waiting for Ciaran to finish talking to Tobin.
Sawyer was a wary, safe distance from the water’s edge but close enough to where Ciaran was so neither one of them would freak out.
Fray was still wearing only shorts, dripping wet from his swim, so at least the cold air whipping around him made him feel better.
Sawyer grimaced at the misty water. “Kind of. I can feel some kind of pull, but I’m good this far back. Don’t want to get much closer, though. Not without Ciaran.”
“The wetsuit worked well.”
“Yes. It was a great idea, thank you. I really do appreciate it.” Then he shrugged.
“I mean, I know you guys gave it to me more for Ciaran’s sake than mine because, you know, if I die, so will he, but I still appreciate it.
Maybe more so because of that reason. And Ciaran does too.
He’s quite touched, I think. He said it was like you guys accepted me now, which was sweet. ”
Before Fray could unpack any of that, he heard the crackle of the radio coming from his place.
“Shit,” he said, running inside. He jumped down off the mezzanine to the dock area below and snatched up the radio transceiver.
He’d caught the last of the message but not all.
“Tenebrae Cove here, please repeat, over.”
The radio crackled again, the voice coming through strong. “Copy Tenebrae Cove,” a man’s voice said. He rattled off his call-sign and registration, his current satellite location. “Got ourselves some electric system issues. Limping into port, hoping you can help. Over.”
“Roger that,” Fray replied. “Bring her in. We’ll see what we can do. Over.”
As they were signing off, Ciaran appeared with Sawyer right behind him. He’d no doubt heard the end of the call. “Trouble?”
Fray hung up the receiver. “Electrical issues. ETA forty-five minutes to an hour.”
“Okay,” Ciaran said. “Need my help?”
Fray shrugged him off. “Won’t know until they get here, but I should be able to manage. Hopefully will get ’em fixed up and they’ll be gone soon enough.”
Ciaran gave him a smile that didn’t look quite right, and Fray knew without even asking that it had something to do with whatever Tobin had said to him.
Fray wanted to know what that was so freaking bad, but he knew, he just knew it would do him no favours.
And he didn’t want to put Ciaran in a position that betrayed Tobin’s trust. Being their leader meant Ciaran was often the keeper of secrets, and lord only knew he’d kept Fray’s secret for years.
So, in a futile attempt at diversion, Fray put on his best smile and clapped his hands together.
“A mechanical distraction is exactly what I need.”
The boat couldn’t get here quick enough, as far as Fray was concerned.
But when the boat did finally arrive, it wasn’t limping at all.
The captain, Gary Houseman, was a portly middle-aged man with a voice that somehow reminded Fray of a cheese grater. He was friendly enough, but he obviously wasn’t comfortable in Tenebrae. His two deckhand-fishermen weren’t either, if their watchful eyes and nervous smoking were anything to go by.
“We’re just gonna check out the store,” one of them said.
The other one was eyeing off the water over the edge of the boat, but his crewmate tugged on his arm, and they hightailed it outta there as if they couldn’t get away from the water quick enough.
That left Fray with Gary.
Fray had met him before a few times, albeit briefly, when he’d refuelled over the years, but never for a mechanical reason. Until now. When the boat was secure, he came out of the wheelhouse, and Fray greeted him warmly with a big smile and a positive energy he didn’t truly feel.
“Long time, no see,” Fray said.
“Yeah, haven’t needed to call by lately,” Gary replied.
Fray tried not to snort at that. Because no one called in here voluntarily.
“What seems to be the problem?”
“Dunno what happened,” Gary said. “Lost all electrics, navigation, and satellite. But a few miles out, it all came back on like nothing happened.”
Fray made a face. “That’s odd. Battery connection okay?” It was the equivalent to asking if he had a computer plugged in when it wouldn’t start, but he still had to ask.
“Yeah, yeah,” he replied. “Just had it all serviced a month ago. The multimeter said it was all good, and she’s been goin’ like a dream, but it all went a bit haywire out there today.” Then he shrugged. “Well, until a few miles out, like I said. Didn’t wanna push my luck.”
“Then we better take a look,” Fray said.
And look they did—power flow through fuses, switches, connections—and found absolutely nothing. They ran system checks on batteries, wiring, circuit breakers, and distribution panels. The engine was in better shape than most.
“Well, it’s got me beat,” Fray admitted, wiping his hands on a rag. “And you said everything came back online a few miles out?”
Gary gave a nod. “Yep. Like there was a dead zone or something just off the continental shelf. It was the weirdest thing.”
Ciaran walked in just in time to hear that, his eyes darting to Fray’s before he smiled at Gary. He was about to say something when Sawyer came through the door behind him. He grinned and stuck his hand out. “How’s it going?” Sawyer asked. “Detective Sargeant Douglas Sawyer.”
Gary was quite surprised, but he shook Sawyer’s hand. “Gary Houseman. You’re... you’re a cop here?”
“Sure am,” Sawyer said proudly. “I hail from Hobart, but I’ve been here a while now. Great little town.”
Gary looked at him as if he’d sprouted a second head. “Uh, sure. Sure it is. It’s a... It’s quiet, I’ll give you that.”
Fray bit back a smile, but Ciaran managed a serious nod to Gary’s boat. “Engine trouble?”
“Kinda,” Gary said. “Well, we did have. Thought we were gonna be adrift out there forever. Couldn’t even get a call out for the coastguard.
When we got power back, there weren’t much point in calling them.
Figured I’d be better off pulling in here to get it checked over before we head back to Southport.
Didn’t wanna risk getting stuck out there overnight, that’s for damn sure.
” A visible shudder ran through him. “I mean, my two young fellas are easily spooked. You know how it is.”
Yeah, because he didn’t look spooked at all...
“Better to be safe than sorry,” Sawyer said. “Was that your two guys I saw heading over to the store? I can vouch the fish and chips are good, if you missed lunch? My shout.”
“Nah, I appreciate it,” Gary said. “But we should start heading back. Lost a day’s fishing today, so we’ll need to be back at it early tomorrow. Not that anyone’s catching anything in this southwest corner anyway.”
“No fish?” Ciaran asked as conversationally as he could.
“No anything.” Gary made a face. “No fish, no crab, no anything for over a week now. Most of the trawlers are tracking south now instead. I thought it’d give us an advantage being the only one out this way, but look where it got us. Nothing but trouble and down a day’s income.”