Wreck

by Fleur Ferris

  We sit on the edge, ready to climb down.

  ‘William,’ Carrington says. Zel turns to face him. ‘Take it easy … If you don’t find anything, just know things are going to be okay. I’ll make sure your case is fully investigated.’

  Zel reaches out for Carrington’s hand. They clasp hands tightly.

  ‘Thanks, Carrington,’ Zel says. ‘You don’t know what it means to me to have someone believe me.’ He breaks into a grin. ‘And I’m stoked you both don’t think I’m crazy.’

  Zel and I start our slow descent. The rocks are sharp in places and abrasive in others. It takes all of my strength to move carefully over them so I don’t cut myself.

  I’m relieved when we reach the bottom and I plant my feet in the damp sand. I look up and think about what it’s going to take to climb back out again. Carrington was right to stay with the helicopter.

  Rocks divide the beach in two and caves cut under the cliffs. Some are shallow and others look like they might tunnel deep into the headland. My phone has no service but it’s handy as a torch and camera. William walks to the entrance of the most prominent cave. The sand is damp, which tells me the tide comes right inside. Something to keep in mind if we go in for any length of time. Rubbish also litters the walls of the cave, caught in the rocks. It would have washed in here and got stuck.

  ‘That’s the same type of bottle I found the note in,’ I say, pointing to a plastic water bottle wedged into a space in the wall.

  ‘Yeah, we had those on the boat,’ Zel says, ‘but there’s nothing special about them. They’re everywhere.’

  I take a photo of it anyway.

  William is using his phone as a torch and camera too. He shines it around the walls of the cave and stops. His head tilts to one side like he’s trying to make something out. Something unnatural, taking up space in a crevice in the wall. I shine my torch in the same place as his.

  ‘What is it?’ I say. ‘I thought they said they picked up all of the rubbish? There’s stuff everywhere.’ I hate seeing rubbish in the ocean and washed up on beaches. Humans have no right to pollute the habitats of other creatures.

  ‘I guess rubbish from the boat could have drifted in for weeks,’ Zel says. He reaches deep into the crevice and pulls out something yellow.

  ‘It’s a cushion. These were on the boat,’ he says. ‘There are two.’ He pulls out another one. ‘That’s amazing, they’re still intact and still yellow.’

  I think about the logistics of what Zel is claiming. ‘If what you think is right, that Christian was injured, dragged in here by Knox and left to die, it’s possible he was able to write notes and put them into bottles that washed in. You saw Knox with Portia’s handbag, right? He must have dumped it in here with Christian, so it’s possible he had a pen and notepad. He’d just have to catch the bottles, put the notes inside and then throw them onto the floor of the cave for the tide to wash away. But if the tide came in, why didn’t he drown? It mustn’t reach all the way back into the cave … Or maybe Christian could move around? But if so, why couldn’t he make his way outside?’

  Zel suddenly looks heavy through the shoulders and leans against the rock wall. My torch light scans over him for a few seconds before I direct it away and walk over to him.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ I say. ‘That was insensitive of me … to talk about your cousin like that.’

  Zel sits down on a rock, his hands cupped over his nose and mouth, his eyes ready to spill. He breathes deep, saying nothing.

  ‘Do you want to take a few minutes? I can wait outside?’

  ‘No, it’s okay. We need to talk about the logistics of what may have happened, it’s just …’ He sucks in more air. ‘It’s just confronting now that I’m here. To think that this might be where he died … and … and to think he could have washed up alive and been saved like the rest of us. I miss him as much today as I did when he first went missing. Then I wonder if I have gone crazy, you know? I know Knox was a prick, but how could he do it? How could he leave him here?’

  ‘For the same reasons he killed anyone who came into contact with the notes, I imagine,’ I say. ‘Don’t forget the destruction that’s followed this. My friends are dead, and those other people who found notes. I would have been dead too if you hadn’t come along, so don’t question your sanity, Zel, question his.’

  Zel nods. ‘The act of Knox leaving Christian here to die is different to him hiring a sadistic thug to mop up his mess. Even his motives would be slightly different. What did he do? Did he show brutality, like he did to me, and drag him in here, telling him that he was going to die? Or was he smarmy about it and told him that he was putting him in a safe place, so he wouldn’t drown when the tide came in, and that he’d be back with help? Or was Christian unconscious and oblivious?’

  ‘You’re right,’ I say. ‘This first act is different. It was opportunistic, which also means it wasn’t thought out. He may even regret it now. I mean, five years later and he’s still having to worry about it being exposed. And with every additional crime committed he’s getting himself in deeper and deeper.’

  ‘Unless he can pin it on someone …’ There’s a hopelessness in Zel’s voice.

  ‘He won’t get away with that. We won’t let him. C’mon, we have to search this place. If this is where Christian was, there’s got to be something.’

  Zel stands up but stalls.

  ‘Are you going to be okay?’ I ask.

  Zel shrugs. I know this is hard for him, but being in jail would be harder. We have to use our time here wisely.

  The next hour is spent in the dark, searching by phone light, turning up nothing. My thoughts keep going to Christian possibly dying in this cave. It makes the darkness feel eerie. I try to visualise him being here five years ago, alive in this cave while his family and girlfriend were on the next beach over, worried sick about him. My thoughts shift from Christian to Portia.

  ‘I still think it’s weird that Portia was Christian’s girlfriend back then, and now she’s Knox’s wife.’

  ‘It is weird, but you don’t know Knox. He turned into Christian after that day.’

  ‘Are you sure Portia didn’t have anything to do with it?’

  ‘No. I think she’s as much a victim in all of this as anyone else. Knox wanted Portia before Christian went missing. With Christian out of the way, he was able to support her through her grief and made sure he became the person she needed.’

  ‘It sounds suss to me,’ I say.

  Zel kicks at something buried in the sand. I stare at it and a chill passes through my shoulders.

  ‘Stuff from the boat definitely washed up here. Your story is plausible,’ I say. To think that Zel’s theory is right makes me feel sick. ‘To go up against Knox in court means we’ve got a big fight on our hands. I’m scared, Zel.’

  Gab was right. This is something I should never have got involved in. I should have stayed away. Suddenly I’m scared of everything and everyone. I’m not getting out of this any easier than Zel is.

  ‘Zel,’ I whisper. ‘What if the pilot or Carrington is in on it?’ The air is disappearing. My chest is so tight I can’t draw breath. ‘Knox is never going to let us bring him down. He’s going to kill us.’

  Zel moves towards me and stops right in front of me.

  ‘Don’t let your mind run away with fear. Remember what you said to me, Tamara? It’s been playing over and over in my head ever since. You were so brave after you’d been held at gunpoint, abducted and found your friends dead. You have this inner strength that fed mine.’

  ‘What did I say? I can’t think. All I know is that Knox is not going to let his little brother and the girl from Tolsea destroy him.’

  ‘You said “truth without fear”.’

  ‘This isn’t what that means.’

  ‘You’re wrong. It’s exactly what it means. I have to seek and prove the truth without fearing what might happen. I’m not going to run and hide from Knox. I’m not going to sit by and let him get away with t
his. I have nothing to lose. My life is a wreck. My whole family is. We may as well have all died that day. Everyone who comes into contact with that day is destroyed. Except one person.’

  ‘Two,’ I say. ‘Knox and Carrington.’

  ‘Thank God Carrington stuck around while everyone else fell apart.’

  ‘Sharks are great hunters,’ I say. ‘But they also eat creatures that are wounded or dead. They are opportunists.’

  ‘Carrington isn’t in on this,’ he says. ‘I’m certain of –’

  Zel stops and stares at the ground.

  ‘What is it?’ I ask.

  He kicks at the sand again and reveals a blue cap. ‘I think it’s another bottle.’

  ‘Let me take a photo. I’m a witness. I will stand up in court and say that the bottle I found is the exact same type as this one, found in the cave.’

  ‘Yeah, but you could have picked up a bottle like that from any rubbish bin in town.’

  ‘Can they determine the age of the bottle to prove it’s five years old?’

  ‘Not sure,’ Zel says.

  I dig around the bottle until I can pull it free. Inside is a scroll of yellowed paper.

  ‘Oh my God,’ I say. ‘Zel!’

  Zel stares at it, then drops to his knees beside me.

  ‘It’s the same as what I found. The paper rolled like that. This one must not have been washed away. This is it, Zel. This is what we need to prove Christian was here.’ I spring to my feet. ‘Everything is going to be okay. We have to get the police here now. Let them search every inch of this cave.’

  Excitement rises into my chest. ‘We’re going to clear your name, Zel.’

  Zel leans both hands on his knees and sighs with a smile, like he can’t believe it.

  ‘How do we do this?’ I say. ‘Do we call the cops from here? On the chopper radio? I mean, we stay here, right, until they come?’ The questions blurt out of my mouth as quickly as they reach my mind. ‘Has anyone been back since this incident? Since the search was called off?’

  ‘I have.’

  The voice is deep and startles us. A silhouette stands in the entrance of the cave. He is tall and thickset, and down by his side, in his hand, is a gun.

  My breathing stops. My eyes can’t make out his face but he is familiar – his voice, his shape, his size. My heart drums in my chest. Zel stands and steps in front of me, his arm protectively ushering me behind him.

  ‘Willy, Willy, Willy … it’s been a long time. I’ve missed you.’ The man hisses a laugh through his teeth. ‘My, how you’ve grown. Bigger than your brother, I reckon, and you learned to fight too. You took me by surprise the other night. But hey, what goes around comes around, cos I just surprised you back, hey? Karma’s a bitch like that.’

  ‘How did you know we’d be here?’

  ‘Well, we didn’t know for sure, but thought it wouldn’t be long before you’d find a way to get out here. We’ve been doing regular sweeps of the joint, picking up anything incriminating, but Christian was pretty determined before he died. Knox didn’t think it through, which has been great for me. He’s been paying through the nose for my services ever since.’

  ‘You don’t need the money,’ Zel says.

  ‘No, I do it for kicks, Willy. It gives me a buzzzzz,’ he says.

  Zel hasn’t said it, but this must be Cameron Porter, the guy with the scar. Knox’s friend that he wasn’t supposed to associate with, now working for his family’s company as a PI. I realise he plans to kill us, otherwise he wouldn’t be telling us all this. There’s a resigned tone to his voice, like he’s speaking to two people who won’t be able to repeat what he says. His arrogance, his admissions, spoken through a smirk.

  Zel’s words about the power of ‘these people’ – about them not letting us survive, about the police not being able to protect us – ring through my head. They think they are above the law, and maybe in this case they are. Maybe they will get away with it. Maybe they will continue to kill anyone who comes into contact with evidence from that day five years ago. Clearly that is this guy’s specialty. It is his focus, his livelihood, hunting and killing innocent people – run-of-the-mill, everyday stuff for him. I think of Relle at home, searching for clues, and it sickens me to think that now she, too, is mixed up in this. Will she be their next victim? And Gab? Where does it end?

  ‘Where’s Carrington?’ I ask.

  I remember the cave looked deep, and I wonder how far back it goes. Does it lead anywhere or are we trapped? We have to try to escape. His gun is by his side. Can I make it out of his line of sight before he has the chance to aim and shoot? Does Zel have his gun with him?

  ‘Gone,’ Cameron says.

  ‘What does that mean, Cameron?’ Zel asks.

  ‘Gone, gone, gone, Willy.’

  ‘What have you done with him?’ Zel’s voice goes raspy with fear.

  Cameron laughs and takes a few steps towards us.

  So Cameron can’t see, I trace a letter on Zel’s back.

  R

  He stiffens, knowing I am trying to give him a message.

  ‘So what have you got planned for us?’ Zel says.

  ‘You’re easy. You’ll be found together, her naked.’ He chuckles. ‘Both of you dead.’

  ‘Another murder-suicide?’

  I trace the next letter.

  U

  ‘Another? Oh yeah, we did that to those two down south, didn’t we? But now we’ve changed our minds. We’ve staged you for that one, Willy. That gun will be the same one that shoots you and pretty miss here. Oh, and Carrington.’ His voice rises to a high pitch. ‘Knox will be pissed about that one. But fuck, what was I supposed to do? That bit’s your fault for bringing him here. But Willy … Willy, Willy, Willy, you’re still as dumb as dog shit. You’ve made it all so easy for us.’

  I trace the next letter.

  N

  ‘A large boulder falls from above and lands on your head, killing you instantly,’ Zel says.

  ‘What?’ Cameron chuckles.

  ‘It’s what I used to do when I was a kid. I would dream up your death. A tidal wave rises over you and pummels you from behind.’

  Cameron looks up at the roof. ‘You’re a fruit-cake, Willy.’

  ‘The police officer behind you shoots you in the back and my smiling face is the last thing you see.’

  Cameron turns to look behind him, a little nervously this time.

  There is only one way to run and that’s deeper into the cave. I tap Zel on the back to signal I’m going for it. He follows. A gunshot echoes through my ears but I make it out of Cameron’s line of fire. I don’t look back. I keep dodging rocks, running, making my way further into the cave. I can hear Zel behind me.

  ‘Keep going, Tam. Keep running,’ Zel whisper-shouts.

  It spurs me on. There’s another shot.

  ‘You can’t escape, even if you run,’ calls Cameron. ‘There’s no way off this island, Willy. You’re stuck.’

  The cave is getting narrower, the roof lower, until we can no longer stand up straight. I keep pushing forward, hoping that it will open up, lead to somewhere outside. My phone torch sways all over the place as I run, making the shadows distort and flash in front of me. I graze my head on a rock and the pain makes me cry out, but I keep scrambling forward. As the space gets tighter my panic rises and reaches its peak when we turn a bend and come to a dead end. Our dead end.

  ‘Shit!’ Zel says. He reaches down to his ankle holster, but it’s empty. ‘Dammit! I took it out in case Carrington called the police. Turn off your torch, hide!’

  We crouch behind a boulder. I struggle for breath and my heart feels like it might explode. I cup my mouth as if that will somehow quieten my breathing.

  ‘Wiiiilly, where are you? I know this cave, Willy. This is about as far as it goes.’

  Cameron’s voice carries through the cave, loud and menacing. A light sweeps over the wall behind us.

  ‘I know where you are, Willy. Your footprints …�
� Cameron laughs. ‘I explored this cave when Knox sent me back for Christian. I was going to finish him off, but he was already dead when I got here … had two broken legs, poor bastard. It was so easy to get rid of him out here, Willy, we just made him into burley. Do you know what that is Willy? Shark bait. It’s a great way to make people disappear.’

  Zel reaches out to squeeze my hand, then stands up. His face lights up from Cameron’s head torch.

  ‘And the girl,’ Cameron says.

  ‘Smarter than both of us. You already passed her back there,’ Zel says. He steps out from behind the rock, towards Cameron.

  ‘Oh, Willy, you were always a pain in the arse.’

  The light floods the wall of the cave as he moves in closer. I stand up and squint into his light.

  ‘There we are. Now, that wasn’t so hard, was it?’ His face is cast in shadow, but I don’t need to see him to know he’s smiling. This is all a big game to him and he wasn’t lying when he said he gets a kick out of it.

  Zel walks towards Cameron where he can stand up tall. Cameron takes a few steps back and points the gun at Zel’s chest.

  ‘I could pop you right now,’ Cameron says.

  I blink and Zel lunges suddenly, closing the distance between him and Cameron. He moves so fast, kicking up at Cameron, knocking the gun from his hand. He charges him, hitting Cameron into the wall behind him with a smack. Cameron holds Zel with one hand and punches him in the gut with the other. With each punch a nauseating groan escapes Zel. Zel snaps his head back and brings it down hard onto Cameron’s face. There’s a sharp crack and Cameron’s head slams back against the wall. Cameron brings up his knee and connects with Zel’s groin. He doubles over and Cameron punches him in the side of the head. Zel falls to the ground. Cameron walks over ready to kick into Zel, but Zel rolls away, springs to his feet and dives at Cameron. He grabs Cameron by the shirt front and brings him towards him, then spins him to one side and lets go. Cameron stumbles forward and trips, charging headfirst into the wall. The sound of bone hitting rock fills the hollow space and Cameron falls to the ground, his head torch a spear of light through the darkness.