North Point

by Thom Collins

  Dominic heard every word Jacob said, but the disconnection from reality continued. Gabriel murdered. Stabbed to death in his own home. It made no sense. Gabriel didn’t have any enemies. He was well-liked, a popular figure in the local community. There could be no motive to kill him. And yet, he considered everything else happening in Nyemouth right now—the attempted murder of Sandy Costello, and hadn’t someone been stalking Arnie all week? The hooded figure on the CCTV footage. The same guy who attacked Sandy? Could Gabriel’s murder be connected to that? No. That was insane. Paranoid.

  But murder. In a small town like this.

  Gabriel is dead.

  Jesus. In his previous career, Dominic had had many encounters with death. Violent and ugly, it wasn’t something he ever got used to. But with experience, he’d learned how to deal with it. All part of the deal when serving your country.

  He did not expect it in civilian life, much less happening to someone he knew well.

  “Could it have been a robbery? He might have disturbed a burglar when he got home.”

  Jacob swallowed his tea. “Possibly. The police will consider every option. They always do. But…I don’t know. It’s just…”

  “What?”

  “With everything else that’s gone on around here lately. And now this. It’s…it’s not right. Something doesn’t feel right. I don’t know. I’ve lived here my entire life. Nyemouth has always been a peaceful town. It’s not a violent place. And now there’s been an attempted murder and an actual murder, all in the space of a couple of weeks. There’s something very wrong here.”

  Dominic nodded grimly and agreed with every word.

  * * * *

  Cold rain lashed against AJ as he tried to revive Arnie. They were already soaked from the sea, which rose higher with every minute. His father showed no sign of coming around. Not one murmur or groan as AJ shook his shoulders and shouted full in his face.

  “Dad. Dad, come on. Please. Wake up.”

  With a thunderous roar, another wave smashed against the rocks, soaking them with its spume. AJ didn’t notice the cold anymore.

  It was hopeless. There was no way his father was going come around. He was breathing, that was something—it meant he wasn’t dead. But he soon will be if we stay here. We both will.

  With each crashing wave the sea came higher up to the rocks.

  AJ knew they had to move. There wasn’t much farther they could go. Maybe another three yards from where they were to the bottom of the cliff. It was better than nothing. Arnie was a dead weight, a big man without the added burden of his water-logged clothes. AJ steadied himself. He’d done this once already, hauling his lifeless father from the sand onto the rocks to get him out of imminent danger. He could do it again.

  He hunkered down beside his father’s head and wriggled his arms beneath him, hooking his elbows into Arnie’s armpits. There was blood in Arnie’s hair, at the back of his skull. Can’t do anything about that now. They had to escape the rising water for as long as possible. With a momentous effort, he heaved. The weight was incredible. Arnie seemed even heavier than before, but nothing could deter him. AJ wrenched again and succeeded in dragging Arnie’s dead weight a couple of precious inches across the rock. With a deep breath he renewed his effort, pulling with every fiber of his being. He gained a few more inches. He could do this. Slowly, and with infinite determination, AJ dragged Arnie from the edge of the rocks to the base of the cliff.

  That was it. He could go no farther.

  Exhausted and out of breath, AJ knelt beside his father and lifted his head to rest it on his thighs, taking care not to put pressure on the wound. Arnie groaned.

  “Dad,” AJ said, hopefully. There was no further response.

  AJ was on his own.

  He dug into the inside pocket of his jacket and found the small mobile phone his mother had given him. She’d warned him not to tell Arnie about it. It was their secret and she would use it to stay in touch with him when they were apart. The phone hadn’t rung once in the two years since Tara had given it to him, but AJ had held on to it, keeping the battery charged in the hope that his mother would call him sometime.

  It was a guilty secret. His father would be mad if he found out he had it. To AJ, it was worth the risk. The phone was the only link he had back to his mother. The single thing that made him hope she still loved him. It was a secret worth keeping. And now it might save their lives.

  AJ dialed 9-9-9.

  “Hello, emergency,” the operator answered. “Which service do you require?”

  “Coastguard,” he shouted. “And hurry, please. We need a lifeboat right now.”

  * * * *

  Dominic and Jacob hadn’t moved from the kitchen table. The truth about Gabriel’s murder was slow to sink in. Was it only yesterday that they’d argued in the marina? It seemed like months ago. Years. And the subject of their disagreement—pure bullshit. They were grown men, adults. They should have sorted it out in a mature manner, not sniped at each other like kids and ended their relationship on a bitter note.

  The last words they’d said to each other had been spoken in pointless anger.

  Rain lashed against the window. The change in weather seemed appropriate, given the sudden shift in circumstances.

  “Do you think anyone has told Arnie?” he asked.

  Jacob looked up, surprised. Dominic’s voice dragging him back to reality. “I don’t know.”

  “They were friends. Best friends when they were kids.”

  “It won’t take long for the news to spread. There were enough people around when I heard about it. It will be all over town by now.”

  “He shouldn’t hear it through gossip.” Dominic retrieved his phone. Arnie had said he was going to spend the afternoon with AJ. With the boy to distract him, he might not have heard yet. He dialed his number and waited. It went to voicemail. Damn. Dominic left a message asking him to call as soon as he could. He didn’t mention what had happened to Gabriel.

  “With any luck, Martin or Elizabeth will get to him first and he won’t hear it second-hand,” Jacob said.

  “I still can’t believe it,” Dominic said. “We’re sitting here talking about it, but none of it seems real. How could anyone kill him? And in such a brutal way.”

  “Maybe it’s what you said before. He disturbed an intruder. Who knows what goes through the minds of some people? If they’re desperate enough to commit burglary, they could be capable of anything.”

  “Gabriel was a fit guy. Healthy and strong. Most opportunistic thieves would run away from a man like that. Not stab him to death. Bastards.”

  They sat quietly for a few moments, with just the drumming of the rain on the window to disturb the silence.

  Suddenly Dominic’s lifeboat pager, which was clipped to his belt, went off.

  Both men leapt to attention, all personal concerns forgotten in that moment.

  “Shit,” Jacob said, “What an awful day for a callout.”

  Dominic rushed to the front door, grabbing his jacket. “Will you see to the dog and lock up for me?”

  Jacob was already on his feet. “Go,” he said. “Don’t worry about this. I’ll sort it. I’ll see you down there.”

  Without another word, Dominic ran out of the house and pelted down the rain-soaked road to the station.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Dominic was the first of the crew to arrive at the station. He came in through the side entrance and quickly unlocked the folding front doors, drawing them back ready to launch. He was pulling on his safety suit when four more volunteers arrived.

  “You two get suited up,” he shouted at Haig and Minty, the most experienced of the team. In horrific conditions such as this, he wanted the very best men in the boat with him. He trusted the others to prep the tractor.

  Dominic climbed straight onboard and radioed to the Coastguard that they would launch any minute. “What do we know so far?” he asked.

  “Two casualties at the foot of the cliff o
n North Point. A father and son. The man is unconscious. The boy is uninjured at present. They’ve been cut off by the tide.”

  “Any information on the father’s injuries?”

  “A head wound. We’re awaiting further details. We have raised the helicopter. ETA twenty-five minutes.”

  Every second counted in a situation like this.

  “How old is the boy?”

  “Approximately nine years old. His name is AJ.”

  Dominic froze, the skin on his scalp tightened and his blood turned to ice water. No. It can’t be.

  “Details are sketchy at this point and somewhat confused. The boy claims he and his father were attacked on the beach. He’s in a distressed state, so I’m not sure what we can believe.”

  “Let’s get moving,” Dominic shouted at the crew. “Now.”

  Haig and Minty climbed into the boat and the tractor lowered them to the water. Dominic opened the engines and shot across the harbor.

  He had to stay calm and detached from all personal concerns. It was the only way. Keep it professional and treat this like any other rescue. He couldn’t allow his emotions to influence his decision-making. It would be fatal for everyone if he did.

  Arnie and AJ were depending on him. He wouldn’t let them down.

  As soon as they left the protection of the marina, they were hit by the full force of the wind and sea. The lifeboat rode the crest of a huge wave before dropping down the other side. Dominic’s stomach plunged with the sickening decent. Despite the urgency, he had to ease back on the throttle. The boat would overturn if he wasn’t careful in these conditions.

  He steered north, already scanning the shore and the towering cliffs.

  Jesus, the way the waves were breaking on the rocks was terrifying.

  Arnie and AJ had no chance out there.

  Get your shit together. You’ll find them. You must.

  * * * *

  His hearing was the first of Arnie’s senses to return. A thundering sound, deep and booming, seemed to reverberate through him. Then pain, pain more intense than anything he’d ever known, like a metal shard had been shoved through the back of his skull and worked deep into his head. The next thing he felt was cold, so bitter it went down to the marrow.

  Where was he? His thoughts were confused. He struggled to remember. Breakfast this morning. Yes, with Dominic. Then collecting AJ, taking him to the station and a walk on the beach.

  “Help.” A desperate cry. Close. Very close.

  AJ.

  Arnie forced his eyes open and saw his son. The dull gray light hurt his eyes. He fought through it. He was on his back, lying on something cold, hard and wet, his head in AJ’s lap. As he struggled to make sense of what was happening, a wave washed over him. The saltwater stung and blurred his vision. The shock snapped him back to the present.

  They were in trouble.

  “AJ,” he said, struggling to rise.

  “Dad. Oh, thank God. You’re alive. You’re alive.” Relief was clear in AJ’s voice. It pierced Arnie to the core.

  He struggled into a sitting position. It took only a second to realize where they were and the direness of the situation. The sea was mountainous, ever moving and shifting, and the rocks where they lay were barely more than a foot above the water level. One strong wave would take them.

  “I called for the lifeboat,” AJ said. “It’s on the way but I can’t see it yet.”

  “Good boy,” Arnie said, getting to his feet and leaning against the cliff face. He pulled AJ tight to him. He couldn’t remember how they’d got here and his head hurt like hell, but he knew with certainty that the only reason he was alive was because of his son. Now he’d use every reserve that remained to protect the boy. “Are you hurt?”

  “No, I’m fine. But the water, it keeps coming higher. If the lifeboat doesn’t get here soon, we’ll have nothing left to stand on.”

  Arnie looked up at the cliff. It stretched more than a hundred feet above them, completely sheer, its surfaced polished by centuries of sea erosion. There was no chance of climbing it.

  “How long since you called the Coastguard?”

  “I don’t know. Ten minutes. I’ve no idea how long we’ve been here. Dad, it was Noel. He came up behind us and hit you on the head with a big stone.”

  “Don’t worry about that now,” Arnie said. Ten minutes. The lifeboat would have launched by now. Help would be on the way. He didn’t know what good it would do. They were in a treacherous position, surrounded by jagged rocks and high waves. The boat wouldn’t get close enough to take them off.

  A surge of water rushed around their feet, cold and biting. Thankfully, it retreated over the rocks.

  Arnie pulled AJ closer. The boy shivered in his arms. Hypothermia would set in if they weren’t rescued soon. He picked him up. “Wrap your arms and legs around me,” he instructed. “Warm yourself against me.” They were both cold to the touch. AJ trembled and his teeth chattered close to Arnie’s ear. He hugged his son tighter, desperate to impart all the body heat he could.

  “Where is the lifeboat?” AJ asked.

  The question was heart-wrenching. “Soon, son. It’ll be here soon.”

  Arnie offered a silent prayer, begging God to make it true.

  * * * *

  Arnie Walker was awake. The bastard had pulled around.

  Noel smashed his clenched fists against the sandstone cliff, scraping the skin and drawing blood. How the fuck could that happen? He’d banged that rock so hard against his head, he shouldn’t ever have recovered. Hadn’t he heard the crunch of bone when he hit him? Noel was certain of it. Now the bastard was on his feet and fighting to save the shitty kid.

  It wouldn’t do them any good. The waves coming in now looked a good six to seven feet. The next one to hit the outcrop they were standing on would wash them out to sea. Then it would be over. If they weren’t battered to pieces against the rocks, the formidable currents would drag them away. And if they weren’t pulled under, the cold would take care of them. They were already soaked. The sea would soon do the rest.

  Noel had nothing to worry about.

  God damn it. Things never went to plan for him.

  The stupid woman he’d thrown over this cliff hadn’t died like she should have either. From what his gran and her old cronies had been saying this morning, the bitch had made a recovery. How could that be right? A fall from this height onto the hard rocks below should be enough to kill anyone. But no, she had clung to life and robbed him of his first kill.

  Only Gabriel Mayne’s murder had gone to plan. Another faggot. Too stupid to look behind him when he had opened his front door. That had been easy. Too easy. He hadn’t even tried to plead for his life as Noel stuck the knife in again and again.

  And now these bastards, refusing to play ball. Arnie Walker and his brat should have been dead already, drifting in the deep.

  Noel leaned farther over the edge, desperate to see what was happening. The rock where they stood was almost submerged. It wouldn’t be long. One good wave—that was all it would take. Noel’s pulse raced with anticipation as he willed the tide to do its job.

  * * * *

  The sea washed around Arnie’s ankles. He set his feet firm, determined to stay upright for as long as he could. He held AJ as clear of the water as he could, with the boy’s legs wrapped around his trunk and his arms around his neck. The pain in Arnie’s head was constant. Noel had hit him with real force. The bastard. Arnie ignored it as much as possible. If he could still draw breath, he would fight to save his son.

  “Dad, is the lifeboat coming yet?”

  “They’ll be here. It won’t be long now.” He answered with a confidence he didn’t possess. Even if the crew found them, the chances of reaching safety from the position they were in was hopeless. Then a thought occurred to him. “How did you call the Coastguard? Do you have my phone?”

  Arnie had already checked and knew his phone was missing.

  “No,” AJ replied sheepishly. “I
used my phone.”

  “Do you still have it?”

  “Yes.”

  “Don’t worry, I’m not mad. You’ve done well so far. Brilliant, really, you have. Does your phone have a flashlight?”

  “I don’t know, I think so.”

  “Turn it on. Let’s see.”

  AJ wriggled. Keeping one arm and both legs wrapped around Arnie, he shuffled in his pocket until he produced the handset, an old-fashioned-looking smartphone. He tapped around the front screen until the flashlight came on.

  “Good boy,” Arnie said. “Now hold it out, facing the sea. Hold it as high as you can, and when the lifeboat arrives, they’ll be able to see where we are.”

  AJ stretched. At that moment a large wave struck, hitting Arnie at waist height and dragging his legs as it subsided. He lost his balance and AJ slipped.

  Arnie clung on to him desperately, fighting to maintain his position. The boy cried.

  Arnie pushed his back hard against the cliff face. They were okay. Still standing, for now.

  “Do you still have the phone?” he asked, holding his boy tight.

  “Yes.”

  Thank you, God.

  “Okay, good lad. Don’t worry, we’re going to be all right. Now hold that phone in the air, as high as you can. Make sure the lifeboat can see us.”

  Arnie’s hope of rescue diminished with every passing second. All he could do was give the boy something to focus on and try to keep them out of the water for as long as possible.

  * * * *

  The lifeboat heaved mercilessly on the waves. It took all of Dominic’s skill at the helm to keep her from capsizing. His old Special Services training had kicked in automatically and he’d managed to put a lid on his personal emotions. He was thinking of nothing but the mission to save the lives of a father and son while keeping his own crew safe.