“But in Irish, it means follow or continue,” Arthur said, excitement tickling his nerves. How accurate was the internet? The convicts might have spelled things phonetically to hide the Irish origins of the word. This could be a haystack.
But at least it was something new.
He grinned and got to work.
Chapter 13
“Gretchen! Can you get the ropes?”
Gretchen jumped at the shout. Sam was yelling down at her from the bridge. Damn. They were almost at the pen. She grabbed the ropes and readied to tie the boat. Sam would start wondering why Rob had ever hired her at this rate. But how was she supposed to concentrate when Kurt had made such a threat?
The boat slid into the pen, and she tied it off as the rest of the crew prepared to disembark. Gretchen hurried back to the cabin to finish cleaning and checked her phone. No text from Holly. Jordan must be there.
Dot had said she’d keep an eye on him.
But they’d also agreed any sign of the police would tip off Kurt.
What had the sergeant arranged?
The not knowing was driving her crazy. She turned and crashed into a solid chest. Arthur steadied her, his hands gentle. “Are you all right?” His gaze searched hers.
She huffed out a breath as her heart raced. The urge to tell him had her opening her mouth, but then sense prevailed and she nodded. “Yeah, sorry.” She wasn’t bringing him into her mess. He had his own stuff to deal with.
She shifted around him and his grip tightened for a second before letting go. “Are you sure? You’ve been a little distracted all day.”
She’d thought she’d done a good job at hiding it. She forced a smile. “Must be more tired from the weekend than I’d realised.” She moved past him but felt his eyes on her as she straightened tubs and picked up stray rubbish. Thankfully, there wasn’t much to do today. Arthur had spent some of his day on the deck, talking to passengers and had even worn shorts and gone snorkelling again. He’d cleaned up while she’d been stressing about all the possible outcomes of going to the police. Kurt was cruel.
Not that she’d spoken to Dot ‘officially’. She just told her friend about an issue she was having with her ex.
But Dot had been very interested in learning about Kurt and how he was involved. It seemed they were short on leads. Not great.
Dot had promised to tell no one except Nhiari about the conversation, so Jordan should be safe.
Hopefully.
“They’re forecasting a storm on Wednesday,” Sam said, moving over to her. “Weather should be OK tomorrow still, but I’ll let you know.”
She nodded and raced through the rest of the clean-up, glad it wasn’t her turn to drive the bus. She grabbed her bag. “See you tomorrow!”
“Gretchen, wait.”
She closed her eyes and turned at Arthur’s call. “Yeah?”
He clenched his hands, took a moment before he spoke as his eyes searched hers.
Again her heart raced, with anticipation this time. Was he going to ask her out?
“Ah, say hi to Jordan for me.”
Disappointment filled her. She nodded and waved. “Will do.”
She half jogged to her car and threw her bag on the back seat. Then she sped through the streets to Holly’s place.
Holly opened the door at her knock, her expression concerned. “Something happened today, and Jordan’s upset. He and Cody have been shut in Cody’s room since they got home from school.”
Gretchen’s heart lodged in her throat as she followed Holly through the house. Holly knocked on a bedroom door and when there was no response, she pushed it open.
The two boys were huddled on the floor, but both looked up. Jordan’s eyes full of anger narrowed on Gretchen and her heart lurched.
