Salt (7 page)

Chapter 11

Eva knelt to
face Danny. He sat on the edge of the bunk, rubbing the tears from his face.

“I know, Dan, but they’re doing the right thing. I’m sure your dad will be fine. It’s just a precaution. You want him to be okay, don’t you?”

“But I just want to see him. I don’t understand.”

“We don’t know where he’s been or what’s happened to him. We just want to make sure he’s okay. Listen, I’ll go speak with the doctor and find out when you can visit, okay? But you’ve got to stay here and relax. Everything will be okay.”

“You promise?”

She hated when kids demanded that. How could she promise anything? If she didn’t, though, Danny would just fear the worst. Even with Emily, Eva was made to feel like a liar when her promises weren’t kept. Lying to a child was a necessary evil to protect them, allow them time to learn the truth in their own time. Eva just hoped that her promises and false hope would come true, and she could be spared the grief of the child knowing she lied to them.

She held his hand between hers. “I promise. But you’ve got to promise me something in return. You have to promise me you’ll stay here; don’t go running off anywhere, okay?”

“Okay, I guess,” he said.

“There’s a good lad. It’s getting late. You try to get some sleep, and we’ll hopefully go and see your dad in the morning. I’m sure he must be very tired after his adventure. The sooner you sleep, the sooner you’ll get to see him.”

“Like Christmas,” Danny said. “Dad always said to go to sleep quickly so we would get our presents sooner.”

“Exactly like that.”

Eva kissed him on the head and pulled the blankets of the bunk over him. “I’ll see you in the morning. If you need anything, Duncan and Jim are just in the next cabins.”

“Where will you be?”

“I’ll be back here later, Dan. I just have to take care of a few things.”

After saying their goodnights, she closed the cabin door behind her and headed out to the Alonsa. She wanted to see Mike, find out what the situation was.

“Hey,” Duncan said, coming out of a narrow corridor, his great bulk filling up the space. “I’ve got it.”

“Got what?” Eva said, her head full of thoughts and her memory failing.

Duncan pulled her into the corridor and looked around before placing a key into her palm. He leant in close and whispered, “The key to the scuba storage as promised.”

Of course,
she thought, the case suddenly rushing back to her.

“Be quick, while my dad’s preoccupied. They’re kept in the hold. Everyone is too busy gossiping to pay attention. You should be able to get there and out without anyone seeing you. But if you’re caught, I didn’t give you the key, okay?”

“Won’t Jim know they’re gone?”

“Probably not. He’s freaking out over this Mike thing. People are going to be bugging him for hours.”

“Thanks,” Eva said, giving Duncan a quick hug, but as she made to move away, Duncan’s arms squeezed her close.

“Be careful,” he said before releasing her.

“I… will.” She turned away, hiding her blush, and set off. She still intended to see Mike first. She could come back and get the scuba gear a little later. By then everyone would be back on their respective boats gossiping about the news.

Eva made her way through the tight corridors. Ducting, cables, and tubes ran overhead. Every footstep rang out, echoing. Shadows gathered at every turn. She didn’t understand why Jim and the others, elected to oversee the running of the flotilla, chose this old destroyer instead of the more comfortable surroundings of the Alonsa. She’d hate to live in the tight confines of this vessel. All the grey decor and sparse, militaristic stylings reminded her of the time before the drowning: all those unnecessary wars. Perhaps what they had now was better. As soon as she thought that, she admonished herself. For all she knew, those on the flotilla were the only ones left. That much death was never preferable in any circumstance.

Humanity wasn’t perfect, but that didn’t mean it was better they didn’t exist at all.

She climbed the metal steps to the upper decks and bumped into Jim along the way. He looked distracted, tired.

“Sorry,” Eva said. “I didn’t see you there.”

Jim backed up to let her by, mumbled something, but then reached out and grabbed her arm. She spun round. “What is it, Jim?”

He gestured to a low open doorway into the wheelhouse. She went in as he followed behind her. He closed the door.

“Jim?”

“You’ve got to stay away from Mike,” Jim said. His face was harsh, serious.

“Why? What’s going on? What are you hiding from us?”

Jim closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Why does everyone have to question everything? I’m telling you, stay away from Mike. He’s sick. Really sick.”

“The bacteria?”

“Worse. Far worse. We don’t know what it is. But he can’t talk, and he looks real bad. Singh’s running what tests she can to figure this out, but he’s in quarantine until we know more. We have no idea what he found out there. I can’t afford to let anyone else near him. Do you understand what I’m telling you?”

Eva took a step back, not liking Jim’s expression. She always knew he had a lot of pressure, but for the most part he handled it like the true captain he was, but now, it was as though she were looking at someone else completely.

“Okay, Jim, I get it. Did he say anything at all?”

“No. He can’t talk.” Jim’s shoulder relaxed as he exhaled and slumped against the door. He rubbed his face and seemed to age a decade. “God knows what we’re gonna tell his kid. It’s not looking good. Mike’s just murmuring a load of gibberish. It’s like his body is alive but no one’s at home.”

Eva reached out and touched Jim’s shoulder. “I understand. You’re looking tired, Jim. Why don’t you get some sleep? We don’t want you getting ill too. Who else is going to hold us all together, huh?”

Jim looked at her, opened his mouth, and was about to speak when he gave her a wan smile and nodded. “You’re right. I’ll head off now. Give me time, and I’ll make sure you’re one of the first to see Mike when Singh gives me the go-ahead. But please, Eva, trust me on this.”

“I trust you, Jim. Now, go, get some rest.”

Jim nodded, turned, and opened the door. Together they left the wheelhouse. Jim headed down to the cabins. When he was out of view, Eva turned the other way and headed for the hold storage in the lower decks. She’d stay away from Mike for now, but she would still take advantage of this opportunity to grab the scuba gear and take a look inside the sub.

***

Eva took the scuba gear from the locker, placed it inside one of the storage sacks, and left the ship. Once on the upper deck, she lowered herself down onto the trawler where Jean was killed and took the long, remote route around the flotilla until she reached Marcus’s yacht, fighting the wind and rain as she went.

Through the window she could see Marcus and his family sitting with Ade around a table, playing cards. She tapped on the window.

Ade came out.

“You get the gear, girl?”

“Yeah, Duncan came through. You ever scuba-dived before?”

“Like a fish.”

“Come on, then. Let’s go check it out.”

The rain ran off Ade’s face. His wide grin seemed to catch the moonlight through the parting clouds. Eva shivered at the thought of diving down in the dark.

Although the sub wasn’t very far from the flotilla, just fifty feet off the rearmost vessel and thirty feet below the surface, the thought of spending any time in the water at all without seeing what was swimming around them almost made her change her mind. But then she remembered Jean. She had to find the killer, and this was her only lead. She had to see it through.

Chapter 12

Jim locked the
door behind him and performed his ritual with the practised movements of a junkie preparing their next fix: bunk up, panel off, box out, bunk down, radio on and send. He waited, watching the little black square on the screen, waiting for it to flash twice to indicate the message had got through. Nothing. No one home.

He disconnected the antenna and slammed the radio back into the box, spilling the papers and notebook onto the bunk. His hands shook, and he became lightheaded with a thousand unanswered questions. If
they
weren’t answering, then it would likely mean
she
wasn’t there any more. His one guiding light, his one focus that kept him believing they would eventually find a future, a home. And worse, there was nothing he could do to find out, not without leaving the flotilla, not without leaving his only son behind.

Taking the dozens of paper messages with the printed encrypted text, he folded them neatly and placed them back in the box. The notebook with the last agreed encryption key went into his shirt pocket.

Placing the box back behind the panel, Jim collapsed onto the bunk and forced himself to think things through, find a way forward out of this mess. That Mike wasn’t talking gave him time, but how long that would last, he couldn’t tell.

The plan of sending Susan Faust was of no use now.

With Mike back, there was no way he could justify sending her, and although Graves had agreed to take care of her in exchange for Frank’s release, there was no point in sending her out when there was no one to receive her.

But she still posed a problem with her mad rhetoric. He still suspected her and her group of acolytes of sabotaging the hydro and wind turbines. Then there was Frank. He was one problem Jim didn’t want to have to deal with.

The weight of responsibility threatened to crush his chest as his breath became shallow. He pictured himself before the world drowned, captaining the
Alonsa
on her maiden voyage. A nice cruise around South America. He pictured the warm weather, the beaches that he managed to enjoy for a few snatched hours during stops. He pictured the guests on board enjoying the ship’s roster of entertainment and how they would all greet him with smiles and admiration.

In those days, his leadership was something to respect, and he worked hard to live up to those standards, but here, on the flotilla, things had a chaotic nature that he was increasingly finding difficult to cope with. Perhaps he should just step down, hand it over to Graves or Faust or whoever thought they could do a better job.

Burdened by indecision, he left to pay Mike another visit, just in case those murmurings turned to words, and those words turned to accusations and revelations.

***

Jim decided to take the route through the container ship. Might as well check on the stocks and storage while he was out and about. An opportunity to make sure none of Faust’s congregation were trying to steal any more fuel, water, or food.

The rain had thankfully stopped, but the wind still cut a cold edge, attacking his extremities with a ruthless prejudice. He pulled his hat down lower over his ears and pulled his collar up, but still the winds bit deep.

As he navigated his way through the dark tunnels created by the containers, he passed a number of flotilla citizens huddled around their small driftwood fires, the smoke twisting out the cracks of the metal doors within their container homes. He moved quickly to avoid recognition. They’d only bug him about Mike.

Throughout his walk, passing through the maze of paths, he heard the same questions over and over within the boat’s cabins:

“What do you think Mike saw?” “Is it true he found someone?” “Will we be saved, finally?” “I heard he’s sick; has he brought a new bacterium back with him?” On and on, endless conspiracy theories, conjecture, and rumour.

By the time morning came around, the information and rumours would have twisted into wild flights of fancy. But that wasn’t something Jim could worry about now. He just had to make sure Mike’s return remained a mystery, one way or another.

He came to the container that Faust had earlier tried to break into. To Jim’s satisfaction, the chains and locks were still in place. He tested them just to make sure. Still solid, secure. Although their drinking-water stocks might be in peril, individuals would be able to boil the seawater and gather the condensation. It would be tough, but they could survive for a while like that, at least long enough to get the desalination units up and running again.

Coming to the edge of the Chinese carrier ship, Jim prepared to climb down to the lower level created by a number of damaged pleasure craft that were lashed together with boards and sheet metal, fibreglass and sails. He turned around to grip the rail. A dark figure appeared in front of him, making him jump. He let out a surprised breath.

“Jim, old son, need a hand?”

“Marcus, you scared me for a moment there. What are you doing?”

“Just having a lovely stroll about. Nice night for it, innit?”

“It’s cold,” Jim replied, his voice tightening. Graves wasn’t the kind of man he wanted to bump into on a dark night.

Graves didn’t say anything, just stood there, looking grim.

“About our deal,” Jim said, thinking he should just get it over and done with while he had the chance. “It’s off. There’s no need to… deal with Faust now.”

Marcus raised an eyebrow, said nothing, and expected Jim to continue.

“You see, things have changed. I’m going to release her, make things right with her people. Work out a peaceful solution to this.”

“Oh, peaceful, huh? Yeah, that’s not going to work. That lot are beyond peace. They pose a threat that needs dealing with. Besides, Jim, you forgetting that I want Frank out.”

“He tried to kill me,” Jim said.

Graves shrugged as though that had no meaning.

“He stays inside,” Jim said, “until I can trust he won’t pose a threat.”

“Jim, my old son.” Graves gripped Jim’s shoulder, pulling him close. “I don’t think you fully understand the situation here. You made a deal, and we’re sticking by it. There’s no negotiation on this now. You understand? It’s done. I thought you were a man of honour, Jim. A man of your word. Or is Faust right? Are you a liar and a betrayer? Are you a sinner, Jim?”

“We’re all sinners here,” Jim said, pushing Graves’ hand off his shoulder.

Graves grabbed Jim by his coat and pushed him back until his feet started to slip on the edge. Jim tried to push out with his arms, but the jacket material had bunched beneath them, restricting his movement.

“I’ll make this real simple for you,” Marcus said as he pitched Jim towards the edge. “If you don’t release Frank by the morning, we’ll take him by force, and you and I will have some serious words. You get me?”

Anger bloomed inside Jim, and all he wanted to do then was smash Graves in the face and send him over, watch his body get ripped apart by sharks, but he had no choice but to nod and agree.

“Say you understand,” Graves said.

“Fine, I understand.”

Marcus smiled and pulled Jim from the edge, letting him go.

Jim had to throw his arms and body forward to prevent himself from losing his balance and toppling backwards off the container ship’s deck. He steadied himself, bunched a fist ready to strike out, but when he looked up, Graves was already walking away in the dark passages of the containers.

Jim kicked out with frustration and stifled a shout. It seemed wherever he turned, trouble waited for him, and Marcus wasn’t the kind of trouble he wanted. He took a moment to gather his cool, and slowly, with shaking hands, made his way down to the lower level and headed for Singh’s medical facility, all the while concocting murderous scenarios of how to deal with Marcus, Frank, and Susan Faust. Would he have to add Mike to that list? He hoped not. He was one of the good guys. But if it came to it…

If it came to it.