Chapter 91
Sabri spent the ferry crossing on deck. She’d seen more than enough of the sea to last a lifetime, but she didn’t want to delay a second in spotting her family, waiting on the dock.
Tara, bless her heart and rich husband, had bought a phone at St Mary’s and passed it around the group.
Jason and the kids had been worried to death about her after so many hours of radio silence, but they were absolutely fine and would meet her at Plymouth.
They didn’t give a toss that she’d given the token back, all they wanted was her home again. They wanted to go back to normal.
Sabri felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Robin. His hair blew in the wind and he smelled of the sea, but she imagined they all did. Around his neck hung the black binoculars she remembered from the yacht.
‘Finished eating?’ she asked.
He grinned. ‘Charlie and Cheryl were making their way through the dessert menu when I left. The others are on their way up.’
He passed her the binoculars.
‘Did you nick them?’ Sabri asked.
‘Bastard owes us something.’ Robin blinked in the sunshine. ‘Even if it is just an early glimpse of some friendly faces.’
Sabri fixed the binoculars on the distant land, but it was still too far away to see anything much.
‘They’re going to get away with it, aren’t they?’ she said. ‘Quick, Thomas, that woman, what was her name?’
‘Lauren,’ Robin reminded her. ‘And probably.’
After their uneventful arrival at St Mary’s the group had attempted to contact the local police.
It had taken a while: the police station was only open for a couple of hours every morning and the telephone number took them straight to a voice message.
Eventually, though, they’d given their story to a bemused young constable.
Sceptical at first, especially as he’d never heard of the personal locator beacons Tug told him could have enabled both Quick and Thomas to be picked up out of the water, even in a storm, he’d finally been sufficiently convinced to take statements and pass them on to his superiors on the mainland.
Someone, he’d told them, would be in touch.
‘What I don’t get,’ he’d kept repeating, ‘is why? Why would Logan Quick leave you these tokens, only to lure you out here and try to kill you all? It makes no sense.’
Acting on Holly’s advice, they’d said nothing about the accident thirty years ago. All had insisted they had no idea why Quick had singled them out in the way he had.
‘Quick will be miles away by now,’ Robin said. ‘As for the other two, we don’t even know if Thomas and Lauren were their real names.’
Movement behind Sabri told her the others had arrived. They spread out around her, all leaning against the rail. Charlie climbed up onto the first rung and was quickly pulled back down by his mother and Tug.
‘Can you see anything?’ Charlie asked her.
Sabri scanned the railings surrounding the waiting area on the dock. There they were. The kids all intent on their phones, of course, but Jason staring out at the white ship heading his way. He couldn’t see her, it wasn’t possible at that distance, but she lifted her hand all the same.
‘I think your mum’s on the dock,’ she told Cheryl, before handing over the binoculars. She’d caught a glimpse of a large woman in her seventies standing at Jason’s side.
‘Yes, I can see her.’ Cheryl didn’t sound overly keen on the idea of meeting her mum. ‘She’s talking to a woman in black leather.’
‘What?’ Robin grabbed the binoculars from Cheryl. ‘Bloody hell,’ he muttered under his breath.
‘What is it, a reception party?’ Tug was standing directly behind Sabri, tall enough to see even over her shoulder. ‘You expecting anyone?’ he went on, and Sabri glanced back to see Tara at his side.
‘Not unless they’re psychic,’ she replied, and the two of them stepped a little apart, intent only on each other.
‘Can I have a look? Robin, can I see, please?’
Reluctantly, it seemed, Robin handed the binoculars to Charlie.
The boy focused the glasses. Then, ‘It’s Coffie. Mum, Coffie’s come to meet us.’
‘I don’t think so, sweetheart.’ Holly looked oddly sad. ‘He wouldn’t even know we’re coming back.’
‘He does. I called him. Tara let me use her phone. I told him everything.’
‘Is Coffie a very tall, good-looking Black guy in a sharp suit?’ Sabri asked.
The younger woman’s face transformed. ‘I guess,’ she replied.
Charlie was waving frantically. ‘It is him.’ He passed the binoculars to his mum. ‘Isn’t it?’ he pressed her. ‘Isn’t that Coffie?’
Holly held the binoculars up to her face. For a second or two, she stood as still as stone. Then, Sabri saw a tear appear from under the black plastic rim and roll slowly down her face.