The Survivors, стр. 28
She nodded and Ash put his arm around her.
‘Let’s get going,’ he said, and then turned back to Kieran. ‘Speak to you soon, mate.’
‘Yeah.’ Kieran watched them walk away together.
He had never told Ash about his meetings with Olivia at the caves, or that she had been with him on the day of the storm. Whether Olivia had told him, he supposed, depended on how close she and Ash were. Kieran couldn’t guess.
He turned towards home himself, raising a hand to Julian. ‘See you around.’
‘Sure,’ Julian said. ‘And hey, is your dad okay? After last night?’
Kieran stopped. ‘What?’
‘Hope he wasn’t left too confused. It was me who found him this time.’ Julian clocked Kieran’s own confusion and frowned. ‘Sorry, I thought Verity would’ve said. Brian was out wandering again.’
‘Wandering? Again?’ Kieran stared at him. ‘How long has he been doing that for?’
‘I’m not sure,’ Julian said. ‘But he was doing it last night.’
‘Where?’ But Kieran was already picturing the hallway of his parents’ house that morning. The broom propped up against the wall. The sand scattered across the floorboards. He felt a sudden overwhelming urge to get home, right now.
‘He was walking along the road here, a bit after midnight, when I was driving home.’
‘And you saw him, did you?’
‘Yeah, luckily. I was doing the quarterly payroll, so it took me a while to cash up, otherwise I might have missed him. I called Verity, let her know. Your dad won’t get in the car with anyone he doesn’t recognise these days, so –’ Julian shook his head. ‘Well, you know how he is. So I followed him along the road. Drove behind until your mum came out and got him.’
‘Right,’ Kieran said. ‘Thank you.’
‘No worries. I didn’t want him getting himself into any trouble.’
Through the cottage windows, Kieran could see the outline of police officers moving around. He looked back, his unspoken question of whether or not Julian had shared this information with them answered by the shadow of guilt on the man’s face. He absolutely had.
‘Look, I told them straight,’ Julian said, reading his mind, his voice low. ‘I’ve known your folks for years, I’m not looking to cause problems for them. But I’ve known Liam his whole life. I love that kid like my own. Sarah’s devastated. We all want this sorted out. And not even for Liam, for Bronte.’
When Kieran didn’t reply, Julian shrugged.
‘I mean it. Bronte was a good girl, the customers loved her, all the other staff too. We just want whatever bastard did this to her found before he’s halfway across the mainland. If he’s not already. I’m serious. The cops are wasting their time looking at Liam.’
It was an echo of what Sean had said earlier and Kieran didn’t reply. He could see Julian’s silver four-wheel drive parked a little way along the road, surfboard still strapped to the top.
‘That’s the only reason I even told the cops about your dad,’ Julian said. ‘So they’d know that it was possible other people were around last night. People who weren’t necessarily seen, you know?’
‘I’m not sure Chris Renn needs your help reminding him what his own town’s like at night,’ Kieran said.
‘Maybe not, but it’s not him running this show, is it?’ Julian said. ‘They’ve got some woman over from Hobart.’
Through the window, Kieran thought he could see Sergeant Renn talking to another officer. It was hard to tell from that distance, but Renn seemed to be watching them through the glass.
‘And who knows?’ Julian said. ‘Maybe your dad could tell them something that might help?’
Kieran looked at him, annoyed now. ‘Have you seen the state of my dad lately?’
‘I have, mate, yes,’ Julian said pointedly. ‘Have you?’
‘Yeah, all right.’
‘Look. Sorry.’ He sounded contrite. ‘But the cops wasting time on Liam doesn’t help any of us.’
‘Okay.’ Kieran sighed. ‘Renn can sort it out. I doubt my folks would’ve really known Bronte.’
Julian said nothing but his face made Kieran stop.
‘What? So she helped Mum clear out the shed once.’
Julian nodded. ‘Your place has got a reasonable-sized shed, is all. Wasn’t a one-day job.’
Kieran stared at him. ‘You’d better tell the cops that, too.’
No response. He already had.
Kieran opened his mouth, but his phone began ringing in his pocket, quiet and insistent. He checked the screen. Mia. It went to voicemail and immediately started ringing again.
‘I’ve got to go.’ Kieran started towards home.
‘Give my best to your folks.’
Kieran turned at that. ‘Seriously, mate?’
‘Yes, actually.’ Julian’s hand rested on the gate to Fisherman’s Cottage. ‘Whatever happened here doesn’t have anything to do with us, or you, or anyone from this town, I reckon.’
Kieran didn’t answer, just began to walk.
‘We need to be looking out for each other, not at each other,’ the other man’s voice floated behind him.
Kieran wasn’t sure yet if he agreed with that or not. But he found himself thinking about it, all the way home.
Chapter 12
Mia pulled open the front door before Kieran reached it, Audrey in her arms.
‘The police are here.’ Her voice was low.
‘Now? I just saw Chris Renn at the cottage –’
‘Not local. From Hobart.’
The woman was waiting in the living room, looking out of place amid the boxes and clutter. She was wearing plain clothes and a sombre expression, and had her hands clasped behind her back as she examined a framed family photo still hanging on the wall. Brian, Verity, Finn and Kieran on the beach right outside their house, all smiles and sunlight, their arms around each other. The officer looked up as Kieran came in, and extended her hand.
‘Detective Inspector Sue Pendlebury.’ She was tall and her dark hair was streaked with strands of grey. ‘I was explaining – oh, wonderful. Thank you.’ She broke off as Verity came into the room with a tray of coffee mugs and Brian trailing behind her. ‘As I’m sure you’ve guessed, I’m here about Bronte Laidler.’
‘Right,’ Kieran