Page 22 of Dead in the Water

“Because of that guy who died?”

She nodded once.

“It was creepy. I’m glad we didn’t have any tourists with us yesterday, because that would have been an uncomfortable end to the trip.”

“Did you see him?” Lily asked.

“Yeah. Zack and Kev found him in the water when they were coming back in for the morning.”

“Not when they first got here?”

“No. But it’s still dark when most of us are heading out.” He cringed. “It’s kind of gross to think he was in the water when we set off for the morning. The police were here when we got back to the harbour. It’s weird how your instinct is to look, isn’t it? Even though you know it’s probably not going to be a sight you want to see, you still look. I only saw him from a distance, but I sort of wish I hadn’t looked.”

Lily’s stomach lurched at the thought. “I met him at the ice cream shop. I was chatting with him before he died.” She scanned the boats on the water, then looked along the harbour wall. “Which steps did he fall down?” she asked. “I thought there’d be a police cordon or something.”

“It was roped off most of yesterday,” Rhys said, pointing further along.

“Oh, yeah.” Lily only then noticed the small collection of flowers.

“I suppose they couldn’t keep the steps closed off for too long. People use them. Also, there isn’t much point in keeping them closed off.”

“I guess not. It just seems weird – that things go on as they did before.”

Rhys nodded. “I reckon his friends must feel awful.”

“How do you mean?”

“That’s their boat.” He pointed. “Faith.”

Lily was momentarily confused until she spotted the name on the side of the boat.

“Old people go to bed too early,” Rhys said. “If they’d stayed up a bit later, they’d have heard him fall, wouldn’t they? It must have been a decent splash. And when the harbour’s quiet, even the smallest noise sounds loud.”

His shoulders rose and fell. “If someone had found him quickly, he might still be alive.” He shrugged again. “Or perhaps the fall injured him so badly that it wouldn’t have mattered. But if it was me, I’d be wishing I’d heard something so I could’ve got him out of the water and tried to help him.”

“Yeah,” Lily mused. “I hadn’t thought of that. It makes sense though. Especially as the boat is moored close to the steps. Or have they moved it since?”

“No, it’s been there the whole time.”

“It’s so sad,” Lily muttered.

A voice in her head niggled at her. Wasn’t it strange that out of a group of five people, not one of them had heard anything?

Chapter Twelve

Lily was almost backat the ice cream shop when she spotted Seren walking along the promenade.

“Hi,” she said as she reached Lily. “Are you okay?”

The slight tilt of her head told Lily it was more than just a perfunctory question. That and the fact that Lily had messaged her the evening before and told her about Flynn postponing their date.

“I’m fine,” Lily said, pasting on a smile.

“I always said he wasn’t good enough for you.” Seren sighed heavily. “How about I set you up with someone else? I’ve mentioned my friend, Felix, haven’t I? Shall I introduce you?”

“No!” Lily glared at her. “And you’ve been encouraging me to go for it with Flynn. You keep telling me how he’s changed since he met me.”

“Well, I thought so, but…”

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