Chapter 64
Then
amy
‘Where’s Mac?’ Iris asked.
‘He’s gone back out to search,’ Amy said. ‘Where’ve you been?’
Iris glanced back along the darkened shore.
‘Rose was looking for you,’ Amy said, before Iris had a chance to answer. ‘They just found Emma Miller and Sophie Thompson way over on the New York side of the lake,’ she added. ‘They’re alive.’
‘After all this time in the water?’
‘Less than two hours,’ Amy said. ‘I know it seems longer, but it’s less than two hours since the collision.’
‘You think maybe Finn—’
‘Emma and Sophie said there were several boys with them when they first went into the water,’ Amy said quickly.
‘They heard other kids calling out to each other, though they don’t know who.
This is good,’ she said, catching at her sister’s shoulders, her face alight with hope.
‘This proves there could be other survivors out there. The water isn’t cold, not really.
And these kids are young, and strong. Maybe it won’t be as bad as we thought. ’
‘Not as bad?’ Iris said, taking a step backwards, putting a wall of space between herself and Amy.
‘I didn’t mean—’
‘Tell that to Raylan’s parents,’ Iris said, her voice hard. ‘Or Conrad’s.’
‘Iris—’
‘You know where most of those boats are going?’ Iris said. ‘They’ve set up a mortuary beyond the headland. Those helicopters aren’t on a rescue mission. They’re recovering bodies, Amy. And you and I know that when they search the Lady, they’re going to find more.’
Amy looked away. When the rescuers found Raylan and Conrad, they’d also find Finn.
She hadn’t spotted him till the very last second, when she’d looked back through the porthole at the nightmarish vision of bodies tangled together in the corridor and seen her nephew’s dark red hair.
After Finn had escaped out of the Lady himself, he must have gone back into the boat looking for another way to rescue Ashley.
Finn, the boy she’d nursed alongside Nicky, the boy she’d always thought of as her son. The child she’d have given anything to protect.
Anything except Nicky.
When she’d been forced to choose which child to save, it was her son, her flesh and blood and marrow and bone, the very heart of her, who came first.
Amy would never be able to forgive herself: because forgiveness required remorse, and she knew that, if she had to, she’d do exactly the same thing again.
A shout went up now as a small rescue boat came ashore. Three teenagers wrapped in foil blankets were sitting on a bench in the centre, clinging to each other.
Nicky wasn’t among them.
Amy watched as parents rushed thigh-deep into the water, frantic to see who was on board. There were shouts of joy and relief from the lucky few. Those whose arms were still empty returned to their vigil on the pier, their fear and desperation almost tangible.
The next rescue boat to return had no survivors.
Nor did the one after that.
Helicopters passed back and forth across the lake, their searchlights illuminating the water in every direction.
Every so often, one of them stopped and hovered over something floating on the surface, and a rescue boat sped towards it.
A few minutes later, after it had loaded its cargo, the dinghy turned and headed not towards the marina, but to the charnel cove beyond the headland.
‘I can’t just sit here and wait,’ Iris said suddenly. ‘I have to look for Finn.’
She turned and headed towards the north shore, not bothering to see if Amy was following.
‘We should wait for the boys at the marina,’ Amy said, catching up to her. ‘That’s where they’ll bring them when they’re rescued—’
‘They haven’t brought anyone ashore alive in almost an hour,’ Iris said. ‘I’m not waiting for a corpse.’
Amy cast her flashlight on the sand, her stomach lurching as they saw the detritus washing up on the shore. Plastic cups. A girl’s prom corsage. Evidence of a tragedy that had ripped the heart out of their town. Right now, she couldn’t imagine how it’d ever recover.
‘Jesus!’ Iris exclaimed. ‘Kate!’
Kate was staggering along the shore towards them, half-naked, clad only in her blouse and underwear.
There was a deep gash on her forehead, and an entire hank of her scalp and hair above her left ear had been ripped away, exposing her bloody skull.
Her bare feet were torn and already black with bruises.
Amy unzipped the thick fleece Susan had given her earlier. ‘Here,’ she said, going to wrap it around Kate’s shoulders.
Kate pushed her away. ‘Don’t touch me!’
‘Kate—’
‘Who are you?’
‘Kate, it’s Amy. We just want to help you—’
‘I don’t know you,’ Kate shouted, backing away from them. ‘Where’s Maggie? What have you done with my daughter?’
‘She’s in shock,’ Iris said. ‘She’s lost a lot of blood. We need to get her to the paramedics.’
One of them was already running down the shore towards them, alerted by the commotion. ‘It’s OK,’ he said, putting his arm around Kate and comforting her as he would a frightened horse. ‘It’s OK—’ He glanced at Amy. ‘What’s her name?’
‘Kate. Kate Walker.’
‘It’s all right, Kate. Come on, dear, let’s get you sorted out.’
They watched him lead her back towards the marina like a small child.
‘I don’t think I can bear this,’ Amy said.
Iris was already turning back to the shoreline. ‘You don’t have a choice.’
Amy followed. The knot of fear in her stomach was tightening with every passing minute. It had been over an hour since she and Iris had been brought ashore by the rescue dinghy; Nicky had escaped the Lady ahead of them, and there were boats and helicopters scouring every inch of the lake.
Her son should have been found by now.
She knew he’d made it out of the boat; she and Iris had been right behind him, so they’d have seen him if he’d got into trouble.
But what if he’d rushed his ascent, panicked and forgotten to breathe out the way she’d taught him?
Or been too exhausted when he reached the surface to swim to shore, and the rescue craft had missed him?
What if he’d gone back inside the boat, like Finn had? What if he’d gone back to look for Maggie?
The adrenaline that had powered her through the last three hours was wearing off, and her shoulder hurt unbearably. She wanted to go back to the marina, to find Mac, to look for Nicky with her husband.
She stumbled after her sister. ‘Iris, I think we should—’
They both saw the body on the sand at the same time.
Iris broke into a run, shouting Finn’s name. Amy froze, her heart thumping painfully in her chest. If this was her child, if Nicky was dead, she didn’t think the blood in her veins would ever thaw enough for her to breathe again.
Iris’s flashlight played across the sand, illuminating the figure in front of them.
Amy didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
‘You fucking psycho bitch,’ Ashley spat, leaping to her feet. ‘You tried to kill me!’
The girl was goddamn indestructible. She’d been trapped in an airless corridor at the bottom of the lake, and not only had she escaped, but there wasn’t a mark on her.
‘Ashley—’
‘Stay away from me!’ Ashley cried, picking up her wet skirts and moving in a wide, wary semicircle across the sand. ‘Don’t you come anywhere near me, you crazy bitch. You locked me in that corridor on purpose!’
‘Of course I didn’t! Why would I—’
‘It was just a kiss! I’m gonna tell the whole world what you did. You’re going to fucking jail for this!’
And then suddenly Ashley fell to her knees, her beautiful, slanting eyes wide with surprise. She pitched forward onto the sand, and lay still.
Behind her, Iris still held the rock in her hand.