Jack looked out of the window and saw that the fog bank had crept closer, nearly obscuring the harbour and Zander’s boat, making it look almost ethereal in the gloom.
When he had paid, Jack walked back outside. The morning chill had now turned into a refrigerator cold and he shivered and tugged his baseball cap down. The fog seemed to blur reality and muffle sound. He could just hear the soft creak of the boat in the harbour, the clink of metal from the many masts and the peal of a bell, made ominous in the murk.
The fog lapped at his feet, then drifted over him in a cold embrace. Jack breathed deeply, and the air chilled his nostrils and iced his lungs. He coughed.
With visibility down to less than twenty feet, Jack felt slightly wary. If someone was following him, he wouldn’t see them now. Dressed in only a thin sweater and jeans, he wasn’t prepared for the sudden change in weather, and he couldn’t believe how quickly the fog had drifted in.
His original plan had been to call on Jen, and despite the fog and the cold, he saw no reason to change it now.
The mist made the streets seem surreal; caused him to lose his bearings after only a few feet. He’d have thought he couldn’t get lost in such a small village, but the thick fog soon changed his opinion. He popped open the ring pull on the can of Coke and took a swallow.
He thought he heard footsteps but he couldn’t be sure so he stopped to listen. He couldn’t be sure of anything in the fog. His pulse increased and when he shivered this time, it wasn’t due to the cold. Whatever it was, he couldn’t hear it now and so he continued, his ears attuned for the slightest noise.
Being in the fog was like being wrapped in cold cotton wool. Visibility was now around ten feet, and Jack followed a low wall at the side of the road.
Then he heard the noise again, louder and closer than before, and he spun around, eyes wide and ears alert.
“Hello, is anyone there?” he whispered. No one replied.
Sudden movement caught his eye. “Who’s there?”
The figure didn’t answer and was soon lost in the fog. Jack’s heart did a little drum roll and he breathed deep to draw much needed air into his lungs. His fingers tingled slightly, and his cheeks prickled with anxiety. He didn’t know what he was afraid of, but he used his training to try to regulate his pulse, concentrating on each breath he took.
He considered using his phone to call his dad, but then thought how stupid he would sound, asking him to come and find him because he was scared of a little bit of mist. If he could just reach Jen’s house, then everything would be fine.
He started walking again when he heard the sound of scuffling feet directly behind him. In his panic, Jack dropped his cake and can of Coke. The can hit the ground and pop fizzed into the air. He didn’t see the raised arm with something clamped in the hand before it was too late.
Chapter 20
Bruce had known asking Jack to help him would have the desired effect and drive him away. He felt a little guilty, but now he could visit Erin again without having his motives questioned. He knew Jack wouldn’t be happy about him having feelings for another woman, but until he knew those feelings were reciprocated by Erin, he wasn’t going to mention anything.
As he drove out of the village, he saw a bank of fog rolling in off the sea. From his higher vantage point, there was a dreamlike beauty to the scene.
The ruckus in the bar had disturbed him more than he let on to Jack, and although he knew his son could take care of himself, he was slightly apprehensive about leaving him on his own. The villagers’ despair and anger was only to be expected under the circumstances, but it wasn’t right for them to pick on Jack and himself.
When he arrived at the hospital, he parked and headed towards the entrance only to see Erin walking through the door with a bag slung over her shoulder. Although he had been nervous the first time he visited, now he felt more at ease, the ice already broken by his previous visit.
“Erin. I was just coming to see you,” he said, smiling.
Erin looked puzzled.
“I was just coming to see how you are, but I see you’re well enough to leave.”
“The doctors gave me the all clear. They kept me in for tests, that’s all.”
“That’s great.”
Erin looked at him for a moment, and Bruce fell into silence. He didn’t know what to say now.
Eventually, Erin spoke, “Well thanks for the interest in my well-being, but I’ve got to go and call a taxi.”
“Right, right, of course,” Bruce said as he stepped aside to let her pass. Then as an afterthought, he said, “You don’t have to phone for a taxi you know. I mean, I’ve got to drive back to the village, if that’s where you’re going.”
“No, it’s all right; I’ll find my own way.”
“Honestly, it’s no problem. It just seems daft you using a taxi when I’ve got the car.”
Erin stared at him apprehensively and bit her bottom lip.
“I’m quite safe to be around. Honest.”
“I’m sure you are. I just don’t really know you.”
“Well, here’s your chance.” He gave her what he hoped was a disarming grin.
A moment later, Erin shrugged. “What the hell. After what I’ve been through, a ride in a car’s not going to hurt.”
Erin’s comment reminded Bruce of her previous assertion that there was something other than a shark in the water, but he wasn’t going to badger her for more information now.
“Here, let me carry your bag,” he said.
“I can manage,” she said sharply. Then she smiled. “But thanks for offering.”
Bruce led the way to his car, making idle chitchat on the way.
He drove out of the car park and onto the main road. Erin stared out of the passenger window, her arms folded across her chest in a protective manner.
“I heard your diving partner is missing.”
When she looked across at him, her expression was grim. “He’s not missing. He’s dead.”
“Dead? How?”
“Something attacked him.”
He recalled the man on holiday that had supposedly been attacked in the sea. “So what do you think it was?”
She bit her lip, thought for a moment. “I don’t know. There was something familiar about it, something that I recognised… but I’m not sure.”
“Give it time, and it’ll come to you. The brain’s funny like that. Leave it to its own devices, and eventually the subconscious will work it out.”
“Perhaps I’m better off not knowing,” she said quietly.
To change the subject, Bruce said, “So where are you staying?”
“I live and sleep on board the research boat, so I’ll have to contact them and have them come pick me up.”
“Well, you could come and wait at my house if you want, you know.” He would just have to take whatever his son threw at him.
Erin frowned. “I don’t understand why you’re taking such an interest in my welfare.”
Bruce coughed to clear his throat. “If I’m being honest, it’s because I like you.” He kept his eyes fixed on the road ahead, too afraid to look at her in case she was laughing. He noticed the wedding band on his finger. It felt as though it constricted slightly on his finger.
After a moment, Erin said, “Oh.”
Bruce didn’t know what he thought his disclosure would produce, but ‘oh’ most certainly wasn’t high up there on the list. Thinking he had embarrassed her, and that she wasn’t interested, he could feel his cheeks glowing red. He had ruined his chances before even getting to know her.
“I’ll only come to your house on one condition: that you tell me why you call your dog Shazam.”
Bruce turned to look at Erin, delighted to see she was smiling. It was almost unbelievable she had remembered his dog’s name. “Yes, right, of course,” he said, unable to keep the grin from his face. “As a kid, I always read Captain Marvel comics, couldn’t get enough of them. When I bought Shazam as a puppy, I couldn’t really call her Captain Marvel, especially as she was a bitch, and my wife… I told you about my wife, didn’t I?”