The Survivors, стр. 46

‘Lights in the cottage,’ Renn said. ‘Were they on or off, did you notice?’

On, Kieran thought, then immediately second-guessed the memory. He wasn’t sure he’d glanced twice at the house.

‘There were a couple of lights on, I think.’ Mia was frowning. ‘Enough that it looked like someone was still up.’

More scratching of pen on paper. Renn waited patiently until Pendlebury gave him some signal so subtle that Kieran missed it.

‘And you’d obviously decided to walk home along the road, not the beach,’ Renn said. ‘Bit shorter along the sand, isn’t it? Any reason not to go that way?’

‘It was dark. I didn’t feel comfortable.’ Mia jiggled Audrey. ‘The road’s better lit.’

Pendlebury did not bother writing that down, seeming to find that particular answer self-evident. Renn tapped it into his computer anyway.

‘All right.’ Renn turned back. ‘The car you saw driving fast along Beach Road. That was definitely coming from the direction of Fisherman’s Cottage and heading towards town?’

They were both able to nod with certainty at that, at least.

‘Right. Liam Gilroy says it was his. He says –’ Renn tapped at his keyboard, then read from the screen. ‘He reckons he left Fisherman’s Cottage, was driving back towards town around 11.30 pm – speeding, he admits that – and he saw you, Kieran, and put his foot down harder to give you a bit of a scare.’ The officer looked up. ‘I know we’ve been through this, but can either of you remember any more about that vehicle?’

Kieran hesitated. He could feel Mia’s eyes on him. He tried to focus on Saturday night, and the road, but the images were being nudged out of the way. You kind of ruined my life.

‘Look,’ Kieran said. ‘It could have been Liam’s car.’

He felt Mia shift in surprise next to him and Renn looked at them both.

‘Yesterday, you reckoned you didn’t know,’ he said.

‘No. But –’ Kieran shrugged. ‘I mean, I’m pretty sure it was a four-wheel drive. And I’m pretty sure it was light-coloured. We were walking along Beach Road at around eleven-thirty, like Liam said. We saw a car driving fast, like he said. So if you’re asking me if it could have been Liam Gilroy’s white Holden, then yes. If he says it was his, I can’t say for sure that it wasn’t.’

There was a silence, then Pendlebury’s pen began scratching again. Renn’s fingers lay still on the keyboard. He turned to Mia.

‘And what did you see of this car?’

Mia switched Audrey to her other arm. ‘I don’t remember what it looked like. I couldn’t say either way.’

Pendlebury stopped writing and tapped her pen thoughtfully on her notebook.

‘Liam said he hadn’t known you two were back in town, so he was a bit upset to see you in the Surf and Turf on Saturday night,’ she said. ‘Whose idea was it to meet there?’

‘Ash suggested it,’ Kieran said.

‘And it was just a general catch-up, is that right?’ She looked up at Mia, her pen hovering. ‘You didn’t want to invite any friends along, Mia?’

‘Well, Olivia was going to be there. I haven’t really kept in touch with anyone else. I left when I was fourteen, and before that I only really hung around with Gabby.’

‘Were you and Gabby Birch very close, then?’

‘Of course.’ Mia frowned. ‘We were best friends.’

‘Sure. It’s just that, knowing teenagers, that’s not always the same thing,’ Pendlebury said. ‘It’s a complicated time.’

That was true. Kieran thought about Ash and Sean and how their own three-way balance had shifted and resettled over the years. It had been just Kieran and Sean for a long time as kids, and then it had felt like Ash had been the one firmly by his side for those big crazy high school summers. Now it was Ash and Sean who saw each other every day, and only saw Kieran every once in a long while.

‘What do you do for work, Mia, by the way?’ Pendlebury’s question caught Kieran by surprise. For a reason he couldn’t quite put his finger on, the way Pendlebury was watching Mia made him a little uneasy.

‘Nothing right now.’ She fished out a tissue and wiped Audrey’s nose. ‘Stay-at-home mum.’

‘And before that?’

A pause. ‘I worked in immunology research for a biotech company in Sydney.’

‘Impressive.’

Mia shrugged. She didn’t talk about it much, mainly because she missed it but felt bad admitting it, Kieran knew. He couldn’t blame her. The ink had barely been dry on her employment contract when the anniversary of the storm had rolled around and, both feeling sorry for themselves, they’d taken each other out for a few too many Mia’s Mayhems. Whether Mia’s vomiting the next day had diluted the effects of Mia’s Pill or not they were never sure, but either way, nine months later they had Audrey. And they were happy, Kieran could say that without hesitation. They had sat down and considered their options and made a conscious decision. They loved Audrey, but it was possible to be both welcome and a surprise. With an eight-year age gap between himself and Finn, Kieran had long suspected that might in fact have been his own situation.

‘And what about you?’ Pendlebury turned to Kieran.

‘Sports physio.’

‘Also impressive,’ she said, but he could tell she didn’t mean it as much. She straightened. ‘All right. I think we’re finished here for now.’ She flashed a glance at Renn, who pushed his chair away from the desk in confirmation.

Mia stood up as well, a little too fast, prompting Audrey to regurgitate down both of their fronts. ‘Shit.’

‘I’ll show you to the toilets,’ Pendlebury said. ‘They’re on the way out.’

‘I know where they are.’ Mia’s tone was brisk. ‘I’ve been in here before.’

‘Of course,’ Pendlebury said mildly. ‘Still. I’ll take you anyway. There are boxes and all sorts of things lying around. I don’t want you to trip.’

Kieran watched them go, then turned back to Renn, who was shutting down his computer.

‘Let’s wait outside. Get some fresh air.’ Renn checked his phone. ‘I’ve got to head