Whitsunday Dawn

by Annie Seaton

  ‘What if he asks me if I’ve seen the files? Or if I’ve made a copy?’

  Fynn rubbed his hand across his chin before he started the small outboard. ‘Be upfront with him. We might as well put the fear of Christ into him.’

  He pulled the tender up on the shingled beach and secured the small anchor before they walked through the gate to Poinciana House. There was no one on the wide verandah but the back door was wide open. Fynn gestured to a chair and stood at the door while Liv sank into the soft sofa.

  ‘Anyone home? Aunty Tat?’ He passed his phone to Liv and called up the hall.

  ‘Looks like there’s no one here.’ Fynn walked over and sat beside her. ‘Byron has told everyone who collects Aunty Tat to lock the door, but it never seems to happen. Are you right to call now?’

  Liv swallowed and nodded. ‘Yes, I just want to get it over and done with.’

  Fynn took her hand after she called the company. She was so nervous she couldn’t remember his mobile number.

  ‘It’s Liv Sheridan. Would you put me through to Andrew, please.’

  She pressed the speaker button so Fynn could listen in when the call was picked up.

  ‘Dad.’ She kept her voice brisk. ‘I got your messages. I’ve been out of phone range.’

  The silence was deadly.

  ‘Are you there?’

  ‘I’m here. So you think one phone call and you can just waltz back into your job, Olivia?’

  ‘No. I told you why I don’t want to work with the company anymore. I’ll come and see you when I come back to Sydney.’

  ‘And when will that be?’

  ‘Oh, I don’t know. I’m having a good time up here. I just rang to tell you now that I’m back in town, I’ll send my work computer and phone back.’

  ‘About bloody time. Did you get into the folder?’ His voice held the usual belligerent tone.

  ‘Of course I did. And I can’t put my disgust into words.’

  ‘You’re naïve, Liv. Let it go. This is how business works up with the big boys. I’ll send someone to meet you. Where are you?’

  ‘So, Anthony is still up here?’ she asked, trying to sound surprised.

  ‘No. But I have a couple of staff up there doing some more research.’

  In a big black boat. Or a blue helicopter. ‘I tell you what, Dad. My friend lives near the police station at Cannonvale. I’ll drop the computer there and they can collect it.’

  ‘What friend?’

  ‘No one you know.’

  ‘Listen to me, Liv. I know where you are and who you’re with. You can tell Mr Pretty Boy that we’re watching him too.’

  ‘And others too, I hear.’ Her voice was cold as ice ran through her veins. ‘While I’ve got you there, tell me why Rod went. Did you sack him because he gave me access to the file? Was it an error or did Rod get sick of the dishonesty and corruption too?’

  ‘He was very foolish to tell you what he did in that email, but unfortunately, we’ll never know why. Poor Rod had a car accident on the motorway last weekend. He didn’t survive. I’ve sent the company’s condolences to his family.’

  Fynn caught the phone as it slid from Liv’s numb fingers. She gripped his other hand with hers as the ground seemed to tilt beneath her feet, even though she was sitting on the cane sofa.

  ‘Rod’s dead.’ Liv could barely speak.

  ‘Holy shit.’ Fynn’s whisper was harsh as he disconnected the call. ‘He thinks he’s untouchable.’

  ‘Oh, how lovely.’ Aunty Tat’s words reached them as the gate opened. She walked up the path followed closely by Byron. ‘I have visitors!’

  Liv pushed herself to her feet. ‘I have to go to the bathroom.’ She ran up the hall and closed the door before grabbing the cold porcelain of the basin, forcing back the nausea that threatened to choke her.

  * * *

  Byron looked across at the door and rolled his eyes. ‘I’m guessing the door was open when you arrived?’

  ‘It was,’ Fynn said distractedly as he heard the bathroom door close.

  ‘Liv okay?’ Byron frowned. ‘You’re a bit pale on it too, Fynn. What’s happened?’

  ‘It’s not good. She’s pretty upset.’ He shook his head slightly as Byron went to speak. ‘Later. We’ve just got a trip to make to the police station to drop off her computer. I’ve backed up the files, but I might grab another external drive and make another one just to be doubly sure.’

  Byron glanced down at his watch as he crossed to the desk and picked up a flash drive ‘They’ll close in about twenty minutes, so you’ll want to be quick.’

  ‘I think we may be there for a while. I think it’s time we got the police more involved. I’ll tell you when we get back.’

  ‘Okay, not a problem. Have you got any plans for tonight? Lou and I are cooking dinner here for Aunty Tat.’

  ‘You don’t have to now. Lily’s here and she can help me cook.’ Aunty Tat’s voice was excited.

  ‘Sounds good.’ As Fynn replied, his phone buzzed with an incoming message and he glanced down.

  ‘Good news. Greg’s been discharged early. He’s flying into Mackay on the late flight tonight and hiring a car. Jill’s with him. They’re going to stay in a motel tonight, but they’ll be here first thing in the morning.’

  ‘That’s good.’ Liv walked from the bathroom towards him. Although she was pale, her voice was composed and her eyes were bright. Fynn put his arm around her.

  ‘Okay?’ he asked in a low voice.

  ‘Still shell-shocked but I’m okay. Talking to him was much harder than I thought it would be.’ She clung to his arm and he found it hard to stay calm as anger choked him. How the bloody hell could a man do that to his daughter?

  Aunty Tat’s wavering voice broke the tension. ‘Lily. We’re going to cook dinner for the boys. Do you know if there’s any goat legs left in the ice chest?’

  Byron crossed to the elderly woman. ‘It’s all under control, love. You sit down and have a rest.’ He glanced over at Fynn. ‘Aunty Tat has been a bit nervous and Lou and I have spent a few nights here with her since you left.’

  Aunty Tat put one hand to her eyes. ‘Those rude men came to my door looking for you the other day, Lily. I told them you were missing and the Japanese had taken you away.’ She put a finger to her lips and her eyes were wide. ‘But I didn’t tell them that you came back. That’s our secret.’

  Fynn and Liv exchanged a glance.

  ‘They won’t come back now. It was just someone looking for my computer. That’s what we’re about to drop off at the police station,’ Liv said.

  ‘We’ll be back in a while. Dinner sounds good. Okay with you, Liv?’ Fynn put his arm around her waist and could feel her trembling against him. ‘We might sleep here tonight instead of going out to the boat.’

  Liv rested her head on Fynn’s shoulder. ‘Sounds good to me.’

  Byron raised an eyebrow. He looked at Aunty Tat and they both smiled.

  * * *

  As always at Aunty Tat’s, there was an open door and family came and went as the word of a barbeque got around. Fynn helped Byron cook while Liv sat and talked to Aunty Tat and Louise.

  ‘Looks like you’ve made a hit there.’ Byron nudged Fynn as he stirred the onions over the heat.

  ‘Just lookin’ out for Liv.’

  Byron smiled. ‘About time you found yourself a woman and settled down.’

  ‘Whoa there. Like I said, I’m helping her out.’ Fynn looked over to where Liv was deep in conversation with the two women. ‘But she is a pretty special lady.’

  ‘You were serious about sleeping here tonight?’ Byron’s smile disappeared. ‘Lou and I have to go to Mackay early tomorrow for an appointment.’

  ‘Sure. I’d feel a bit safer with Liv here rather than out on the boat.’ Fynn had already told Byron about the black boat that had harassed them in Solway Passage. ‘That wind’s come up too, and it’ll be a bit rolly out in the bay.’

  ‘Everything should be oka
y now that Liv’s handed the laptop over, shouldn’t it?’ Byron scraped the barbeque plate as Fynn lifted the last of the meat and onions onto the tray. ‘Or is that hoping for too much? You two haven’t done anything else to come onto their radar, have you?’

  ‘No. We’ve been lying low for the past week, but Greg’s “accident” shows they mean business. I’m gonna be really careful, especially with Liv around.’ Fynn’s voice was quiet as he stared out at the water.

  After dinner, Fynn and Liv sat outside chatting with Byron and Louise. As the breeze picked up, the temperature dropped and Aunty Tat came over to Liv and tucked a pashmina around her shoulders.

  ‘Look, Lil. It’s your favourite colour,’ she said as she tucked the purple scarf around her shoulders.

  Fynn smiled as Liv reached up and took Aunty Tat’s hand.

  ‘It is too,’ she said with a smile. ‘Thank you.’

  It was after midnight before Byron and Louise left, and Aunty Tat led Fynn and Liv to the guest room at the back of the house.

  She turned to Fynn as she opened the door. ‘Jack, you and Lily can sleep in here. But don’t tell anyone. I don’t want to get into trouble from Mama.’

  Fynn looked at Liv over the top of Aunty Tat’s head as he hugged the elderly woman. ‘Don’t worry, Aunty Tat. No one will get into trouble.’

  Fynn and Liv waited until she crossed the corridor to her bedroom.

  ‘I’m just going to check everything’s locked up.’ His muscles were tense and he rubbed his neck. He hadn’t been able to settle since they’d left the boat, jumping every time there was an unfamiliar noise.

  ‘I’m going to have a quick shower,’ Liv said.

  Fynn crossed to the window in the guest room after he’d checked all the doors and windows. He stared out over the water as he waited for Liv to finish in the bathroom.

  All was quiet. The harbour lights off Abell Point Marina flashed red and green. Way out in the Passage, the lights of a passing cruise ship lit up the night sky. As he reached up to close the window, a brief flash of light caught his attention and he stared at his boat. He leaned forward and held his breath as he waited.

  There it was again. There was someone on Footprint, and this time the light from the flashlight reflected off a boat bobbing on the swell behind the yacht.

  ‘Bastards,’ he muttered under his breath as he moved quickly across the room. On the way to the door, he tapped lightly on the bathroom door. ‘Liv, I’m just going out to the boat to check on something.’

  Steam billowed from the bathroom as the door opened.

  ‘Is everything okay?’ Liv peered around the edge, clutching a white towel to her chest.

  ‘Yes. Just a quick check. You go to bed.’ There was no point worrying her. ‘I’ll be back soon.’

  * * *

  Liv frowned as she came out of the bathroom. She put aside the boxer shorts and T-shirt she’d been going to wear to bed and pulled her jeans back on. Picking up Aunty Tat’s pashmina, she wrapped it around her shoulders and went to the back door. Opening it quietly, she let herself out and crossed the yard to the small wooden gate that opened to the beach. For a moment, she could just make out Fynn in the tender as he made his way to the mooring and then the dark night swallowed him.

  Why did he have to go back out there so late? The wind was cold as the low putt of the tender’s engine cut off and Liv shivered. The leaves of the trees beside the house rustled and she frowned as the noise of another boat reached her. She gasped and put her hand to her mouth as the whitewash behind a dark powerboat reflected in the moonlight as it roared away from Fynn’s boat.

  Suddenly, a boom echoed across the water and a silver flash lit up the night sky. There was a whoosh and grotesque shadows played over the dark water as flames shot high on Fynn’s yacht. Liv gasped as she ran towards the water, scanning the bay, desperately searching for the tender. Searching for Fynn in the water. She dug into her pocket for her phone, but she’d left it in the bedroom.

  ‘Lily! Lily! The Japanese have landed.’ Aunty Tat’s childlike voice came from behind her. Her eyes were wide with fear as she grabbed for Liv’s hand. ‘They killed Jack. We have to hide. I don’t want Fynn to die too. Don’t let them take you away again.’ Aunty Tat started to cry, her sobs drifting away on the night air.

  Liv took a deep breath. She’d heard him cut the motor, like he always did as the tender reached the back of the yacht. Then he’d throw the rope over and swing himself over the stern. All she could picture was Fynn pulling himself up onto the back of the boat as the flames engulfed the boat.

  Oh, God.

  Liv put her arm around the elderly woman and led her back to the house, trying to keep her voice calm despite sheer panic holding her in its relentless grip. Her chest tingled and it was hard to take a deep breath in.

  Aunty Tat’s eyes were clouded and Liv knew she needed to bring her back to the present.

  ‘Aunty Tat, it’s okay. Listen to me very carefully. You need to help me. It’s not the war anymore. But sweetheart’—she held the elderly woman’s cold shaking hands—‘can you ring Byron for me? Tell him we need him. He’ll come and help us find Fynn.’ Her voice shook as Tat hurried up the hall towards the kitchen where the phone was. Liv ran to the bedroom and grabbed her mobile phone and pressed triple zero, holding it to her ear as she raced outside and back to the water’s edge. Sirens sounded from the street behind her and she shoved the phone back in her pocket. The alarm had been raised.

  While she was inside, a small crowd had gathered along the edge of the water, and as they watched, a couple of yachts motored close to the burning hull. Liv looked over her shoulder as a car roared into the driveway. A door slammed and Byron ran across to her.

  ‘Liv? It’s Fynn’s boat, isn’t it? I heard it go up from our place on the hill.’ He looked around at the crowd gathered on the sand. ‘Where’s Fynn? Don’t tell me he’s gone out there. There’s nothing he can do to save it.’

  Liv dragged in a deep lungful of air, trying to push away the panic attack that was threatening. ‘He … he … went before the explosion. In the tender.’

  She stared at the burning boat until her eyes watered. Her back was rigid as the cold from the wet sand seeped into her bare feet. ‘He must be in the water.’ Her voice shook. If anything happened to him too, another ‘accident’, it would be her fault.

  Byron reached out and held Liv as her knees buckled. She couldn’t take it. The thought of Fynn on the boat, caught in the roaring flames, made her physically ill. Guilt seared through her; she had no doubt that the explosion was at her father’s direction.

  First Greg and Rod. Now Fynn.

  Am I next, Dad?

  Anger roared in, superseding the raw grief and the muscles in her legs quivered. Heat flushed through her body and she stood straight.

  He will not break me.

  ‘Liv, look!’ Byron released her and pointed to the water.

  She lifted her head and looked to the sea. From the swirling smoke, backlit by the orange flames, a small tender appeared. Fynn sat high on the back of the small boat, steering towards the shore.

  She ran and by the time the tender reached the shallows, she had waded in and held her arms out to Fynn as he stumbled from the boat, trying to drag it onto the shingly sand.

  Once the tender was safely on the sand, she turned to him.

  ‘He blew up my boat, Liv. The bastard blew up my lady.’ Fynn’s whole body was shaking and she held him tight against her.

  Strength and determination flooded through her. And in that moment, she knew that she had fallen in love with the man who she held in her arms.

  CHAPTER

  34

  Liv stood next to the bed, watching Fynn as he slept late the next morning. His lips were slightly open as he breathed slowly and deeply. It had been almost 3 am before the police had left, and even though they’d gone to bed, he hadn’t fallen asleep until almost dawn. Liv hadn’t slept at all and now her throat closed as she
realised how close she had come to losing him.

  A tap on the front door signalled the arrival of the community worker who was picking up Aunty Tat for her weekly bingo game at the senior citizens’ club. Aunty Tat seemed to have no recollection of last night, and Liv didn’t mention it. After she saw Aunty Tat safely onto the bus, Liv made a coffee and carried it outside. A bench seat sat on the edge of the lawn just inside the wooden gate and she could see across the Passage out to the islands when she sat down. She took a deep breath and sat straight. The events of the past few days had been difficult, but she was determined to stay strong.

  Greg Coutts was on his way up from Mackay, and she’d promised to wake Fynn when he arrived. But until then, she wanted to think over the conversation with her father yesterday. Something was niggling at Liv and she was trying to remember what he had said that she’d reacted to. Once her father had told her about Rod’s death, she had shut down and the explosion and subsequent destruction of Fynn’s boat had taken over her thoughts.

  She blinked hard as tears threatened but refused to give way to them. There was too much work to be done to indulge in emotion. A car door slammed, and she tipped out the coffee that had gone cold as she’d stared over the water.

  Fynn came out of the back door, hair wet from the shower, at the same time a man on crutches came through the side gate. A dark-haired woman followed him up the path, and Fynn reached over and kissed her cheek.

  Greg and Jill.

  Liv watched as Fynn held out his hand and Greg shook it. By the time she reached them, they were deep in conversation, but Fynn held his hand out and put his arm around her shoulders.

  ‘Greg, Jill … this is Liv.’

  Jill smiled at her, but Greg’s expression was impassive. Liv couldn’t blame him. What he knew about the Sheridans must have tainted his opinion of her. It was up to her to prove her worth.

  An hour later, they sat around Aunty Tat’s dining room table. Fynn had loaded the documents into Greg’s laptop, and Greg had read them, alternatively shaking his head and then smiling. He’d looked curiously at Fynn as they’d sat there. Fynn was either holding Liv’s hand, or had his arm around her shoulders as they spoke.