Page 338 of Eight of Swords, Part One

He will never be free of them.

She looks up at him, dark blue eyes catching the sunlight.

‘Daddy,’ she says, smiling so sweetly, ‘this one’s my favourite!’

He looks at the snake she shows him.

Snowy white scales decorated with coral red dots like blood droplets. The snake curls gently around her arm, nuzzling her wrist.

‘He never saw sand before. It’s different than snow.’ Mimi cocks her head. ‘You miss Jewel?’ Lachlan nods. ‘You just have to be patient like Mari was.’

‘Yeah,’ he says, eyes dropping shut. ‘Like Mari.’

‘Sometimes we have to hide the things we love.’

She starts singing, Row, Row, Row Your Boat.

‘Tanner.’

‘Daddy’s sorry babygirl.’

‘Tanner.’

‘Sorry I can’t come… home.’

‘Fuck the towel. Throw him in.’

‘Bee will… t-take care of—’

A shock of cold hits him like concrete, wakes his nervous system violently.

It’s salt water.

He’s on the beach, minutes before dawn.

He can still see the moon or maybe he’s hallucinating that too.

They threw him in the sea this time, no bucket or towel.

The temptation to drink seawater is strong, but it would only quicken his end. When Lachlan looks around, teeth chattering from the drastic shift in temperature, his little girl is gone.

Some faceless grunt has been assigned to Lachlan plus a spare, no Fenwick. ‘Today’s the day,’ the man informs him coldly. ‘Talk or die. End of the line.’

‘What d-do you wanna know?’

‘Whatever will get us off this fucking island! Our objective was complete days ago, but we can’t leave until Fenwick gets what he wants.’

Small fish swim curiously around Lachlan, who feels all his cuts as if they’re brand new, now exposed to the salty water.

He sees a starfish, must tell Mimi all about it.

His little girl has never been in the ocean.

Neither had Jules.

This portion of beach is still messy with debris from the storm, but even so, he can tell it’s not the picturesque place where the adults celebrated and swam. Lachlan backs out into the water.

‘Hey! Don’t get cute, fucker!’ the guy warns, raising his gun.