There was no one in the shop, so Jack knocked on the counter and a moment later, a stout, ruddy faced girl appeared from the back room. A small white cap covered her hair, and she wiped her hands on her blue apron. Jack guessed she was about twenty.
“Hello. What can I get you?” she asked, smiling to reveal large teeth. Jack settled on a cheese and pickle sandwich and soup.
While the girl prepared the order, Jack peered out of the window at the harbour, hoping to spot Jen.
“You on holiday?” the girl asked.
“No, just moved here.”
“Oh yes, where to?”
“A house on Millhouse Lane.”
The girl stopped in the middle of ladling soup into a bowl.
“You okay?” Jack asked.
“Is that the Johnson place?” Her previously ruddy complexion seemed to have blanched.
“That’s the one. And yeah, I already heard the previous family was supposed to have disappeared.”
The girl resumed ladling and a dollop of tomato soup splashed the counter like blood.
“They seemed like such a nice family. Hadn’t been here that long either. Just plain disappeared. Some people say the house had something to do with it, others say the father was in debt and that the collectors found him, others say they ran away in the night.”
“And what do you think?”
The girl turned and stared at him. She shrugged. “Don’t really know what I think. Just that it was a shame, that’s all.”
When Jack had his food, he took it outside and sat at one of the two tables. Shazam looked up longingly. “Sorry, girl, but this is all mine.” The dog whined softly, and Jack relented, broke some of the bread off, and tossed it to her.
A few white clouds gathered on the horizon. Jack stared at them as he ate. A boat came into view. He watched it make its way towards the harbour; saw Zander step on deck and moor the boat up.
Jack heard a car door open, and turned to see a short squat man exiting from a black BMW. The man lit a cigarette, hunched his shoulders and walked towards the harbour. Zander stood on the deck of his boat and nodded in acknowledgment as the man approached.
Zander looked around quickly, then threw down a white package, which the man deftly caught. Without saying a word, the man reached into his pocket, withdrew a small packet of his own, and tossed it up to Zander. Then the man turned and started walking away.
Now that he was walking back to the car, Jack had his first proper look at the man. Short and squat, he had a round face, short hair and deep-set eyes overshadowed by thick brows. He smoked his cigarette from the corner of his mouth, lips curled around it to exhale. For a brief instant, the man’s gaze met Jack’s and they stared at one another. Jack looked away first. He didn’t know why, but the man scared him.
When he looked back at the boat, he saw Zander clambering down onto the quay with a battered duffel bag thrown over his shoulder. The sudden sound of the BMW’s engine disturbed the relative silence. Jack kept his eyes averted as it drove by, but he thought he could feel the driver’s eyes burrowing into him. He looked back up in time to see Zander disappearing inside a small wooden outbuilding on the edge of the harbour.
He had seen enough in the city to know there was something fishy going on that probably didn’t actually involve fish.
Jack wolfed the remainder of his food, untied Shazam and then hurried across the road to the harbour. The building Zander had entered was a faded red painted structure that bore testament to the harsh weather with its buckling walls. Shazam sniffed around the bottom of the door, her ears cocked. Thinking she might alert Zander to their presence, Jack pulled her away. Around the side of the building, he tiptoed towards a small window. Caked with years of dirt, the glass was an impenetrable screen. Using the tips of his fingers, Jack carefully scraped away a small viewing area, and then he cupped his hands around his eyes and peered inside.
He could just make out a figure crouched on the ground prizing up a floorboard.
“Hey, what do you think you’re doin’?”
Startled, Jack spun around to see Rocky standing not twenty feet away. His pulse went up.
Great. This was all he needed.
“If it isn’t my girl you’re sniffing around, it’s other people’s business,” Rocky said.
Shazam stood with her hackles raised. “I’m just getting acquainted with the area.”
“Acquainted. Mr. Lardy Da Big Shot from the city is getting acquainted. What say I acquaint you with my fists?”
“Try that and my dog will take a chunk out of your leg.”
“You think I’m scared of a dog.”
Shazam growled softly.
Rocky coughed and took a step back. “You’d better not let that mutt anywhere near me, otherwise—”
“Otherwise what?” Jack asked, enjoying seeing Rocky backpedal.
“Otherwise I’ll make both of you pay.”
“Whatever. Come on Shazam, let’s go.”
“Shazam. What a fucking stupid name,” Rocky said as he guffawed into his hand.
“That from someone called Rocky. You’re priceless, you know that.” He knew he was treading dangerously, but he couldn’t back down. Not now. He had to make a stand from the start, otherwise Rocky and his sort would think they could do what they wanted with him. Although he practiced Judo, it meant ‘the gentle way’, as the translation of the name implied, and was more self-defence than kick-ass.
Heart pumping fast, Jack walked towards Rocky. For a moment, it didn’t look as though he was going to move, but then Shazam took the lead and he begrudgingly stepped aside.
Back out on the main road, Jack breathed a sigh of relief. Without looking back, he walked along the side of the harbour, intending to head home.
What happened next took him completely by surprise. He didn’t even have time to react. One moment he was walking along, the next someone pushed him from behind. He instinctively let go of Shazam’s lead and flailed his arms to maintain his balance, but it was no good. Pushed too far, gravity took over. Where a moment ago there had been solid ground beneath his feet, now there was only empty air. With his heart in his throat, Jack fell over the edge of the harbour, and down towards the cold water below.
He closed his eyes and landed with a loud splash. Although the water yielded, searing pain shot up his back. The water was as cold as it looked and he descended into its depths. He kicked out and his left leg struck something submerged beneath the surface. This pain was more acute, more centralized – it felt like someone had poured acid onto his skin. Bubbles spurted from his mouth as he gagged. When he opened his eyes, the saltwater stung; everything was blurred. Disorientated, he kicked and clawed out, striving to escape the fluid embrace. When he surfaced, he sucked in a deep lungful of air and trod water for a moment to compose himself. Up on the quay, Shazam barked loudly, her head visible as she looked down at him.
The pain from his leg was becoming unbearable. He lifted it in the water to caress the afflicted area and flinched at the resultant sting. His jeans were ripped where he had cut himself on something. Blood trailed away from his leg like a ribbon, wafted on the ebb and flow. Then he remembered the supposed shark attack, and with it came the thought that sharks were attracted to blood, could sniff it out from miles away. And here he was, sending out a personal invitation.
Panicked, he looked around the harbour walls for a way out, but he couldn’t see anything, no ladder, no launching ramp, nothing. A line of green plankton and barnacles on the harbour wall indicated where the usual high tide mark was; he was about three foot lower in the water. The bricks looked too slimy to climb. Then he remembered Zander’s boat. He turned and looked at it, the only apparent way he could see to haul himself out of the water. He swam towards the vessel, leaving a murky red trail in his wake. His clothes billowed around him, making progress difficult.