North Point

by Thom Collins

  The sea conditions were among the worst he’d ever known. The only thing they had on their side was daylight, albeit the sky was slate gray and miserable. This near-impossible undertaking would be unfeasible in the dark. To make things worse, the winds hit them side on as they ran parallel to the shore and he had to fight to keep the boat on course.

  “There. A light,” Minty hollered, raising his hand. “Ten o’clock.”

  Dominic saw nothing but took his crewmate at this word, turning the craft toward the land. His line of sight constantly shifted as the boat rose on the waves and fell into the troughs. “Where?”

  “It’s gone again,” Minty shouted. “Keep going, that way.”

  As the boat climbed the peak of another wave, Dominic saw the light himself, close to the base of the cliff.

  “Shit.” They were in a terrible position. The rocks in that location would tear the hull of the boat clean open. He eased nearer, as far as he dared go, keeping clear of the surf and the hidden dangers beneath.

  He could just about make out the figures on the rocks. Arnie, supporting his son around his chest. The water was around his thighs. He wouldn’t be able to hold on much longer.

  “What’s the ETA on the helicopter?” he shouted into the radio.

  “Eleven minutes,” came the reply.

  Fuck. They didn’t have that long.

  He worked the engine, fighting to maintain their position, wondering how the hell he was going to get them out of there.

  “We can’t go in with the boat,” Haig said.

  “It’ll be too late by the time the helicopter gets here.”

  Minty was already in the supply box. He produced a long line. “I’ll swim in for them. It’s the only way. I’ll bring them out one at a time. The kid first.”

  “No,” Dominic said. “I’ll do it. You keep the boat steady.”

  “Not a chance,” Minty replied. “We need you on the helm. We can’t handle the boat the way you do. You know we can’t. I’ll go in, you keep the boat here till I get back.”

  Minty was right. It killed Dominic to sit here helplessly while the man he loved and his son were in danger, but he was more use here than in the water. “All right,” he shouted. “Do it. Quickly.”

  He glanced back to the cliff. Arnie and AJ’s position looked even more precarious. Dominic struggled to remain calm. He wanted to dive right in and rescue them now, but that was bullshit. He wasn’t superman. He could get them all killed. Minty was the man for the job. Dominic had to trust him.

  In the next second, all those concerns became irrelevant.

  A wave came in and obliterated all sight of Arnie and AJ, and when it retreated the rock where they’d been standing was empty.

  The sea had taken them.

  * * * *

  Paternal instinct overrode everything else. As the wave retreated, Arnie clung tightly to AJ. They were dragged beneath the surface in a furious maelstrom, disorientated as they tumbled over and over. His only concern was to protect the boy. The current pulled them deeper. As he turned over in the water, he saw the gray light of the surface and struck toward it.

  The going was tough. Without the use of his arms, and the extra weight, he seemed to make no headway at all. He kicked harder, drawing on every reserve of strength he had, pushing it down into his legs.

  His son would not drown in this fucking sea.

  At last he broke through. He gasped for air and held AJ up as high as he could.

  “Breathe,” he shouted, getting a mouthful of salty sea water. The relief he felt when he saw AJ lift his chin and take a deep breath was immense but fleeting. AJ coughed and spluttered.

  They were alive, for now.

  Arnie looked to the shore. They were about ten yards from the cliff edge. He rolled onto his back and kicked frantically. He had to put some distant between them and the rock. One strong wave was all it would take to smash them to pieces.

  Water crashed over their heads, forced them under again.

  Arnie gripped AJ even tighter, and the boy clung on.

  As soon as he was able, he kicked back to the surface, breaking through and gasping for air again. He rolled onto his back and thrust, desperately trying to get away from the rocks. It became harder with every stroke. Though his arms were locked around AJ, he could no longer feel any sensation in them. Nor his feet. The cold was all-encompassing, stealing over his body, slowing its functions.

  AJ’s survival was his only concern. Arnie’s determination to keep him alive sustained him and kept his limbs moving, kicking through the mercilessly cold water.

  Pain was everywhere. In his head, his arms and legs. He fought it.

  Keep swimming. Keep moving. Stay alive. Got to stay alive.

  The next wave struck, pummeling them deep below the surface, stronger than the ones that preceded it.

  When it tore AJ from his grip, there was nothing Arnie could do to stop it.

  * * * *

  “Where did they go?” Dominic cried.

  They’d had a good fix on Arnie and AJ in the water and had been making straight for them when the sea took them under again. He eased back on the throttle. Almost immediately the boat began to roll and pitch in the huge swell. All three men scanned the water, waiting for them to reappear.

  Dominic struggled to keep his emotions in check. Things were desperate. Once a casualty entered the water, their chances of survival decreased rapidly. On a day like this, in conditions this bad, there wasn’t a second to lose.

  Hopelessness threatened to consume him. He fought it back. He wouldn’t give in. Not until Arnie and AJ were safe.

  “There’s the boy,” Haig shouted, pointing to port.

  Dominic spotted his tiny head, rolling in the swells fifty yards off. He turned the boat quickly, before bringing it carefully up alongside. Haig and Minty reached down, got a hold under each armpit and hauled the tiny figure aboard. From his position at the helm, Dominic saw how bad he looked. Unconscious, cyanosed in the face. The two men lay him on the floor of the boat and checked his vital signs.

  “He’s alive,” Haig called with relief.

  He got straight to work administering first aid, while Minty and Dominic resumed the search for Arnie.

  Dominic’s heart beat hard against his rib cage. He’d never been so personally involved in a rescue.

  Come on, honey, where are you? Please don’t give up now.

  A dark shape appeared on the surface, twenty yards from the boat.

  “Starboard,” Dominic yelled, turning immediately in that direction.

  Minty swapped sides, getting ready as he brought the boat in close.

  It was Arnie. Thank God, it was Arnie.

  “Gonna need a hand,” Minty cried. “He’s a big guy.”

  Dominic kept the boat steady while Minty and Haig leaned over the side. Arnie was unconscious and unable to help himself, dead weight. The men reached beneath his arms and pulled, getting his shoulders above the water before losing their grip and dropping him back in. They grasped again, grabbed him before he disappeared and renewed their effort. As they pulled him a second time, succeeding in getting him clear to the waist, Minty made a grab for his belt. With a secure hold, they were able to haul him up and over the side. They dragged him to the middle of the boat and laid him beside AJ, checking his vital signs.

  Please be all right. Come on, Arnie, please don’t die. I can’t lose you when we’ve only just met.

  “I’ve got a pulse,” Minty shouted. “Get us in.”

  As the two men got to work, treating Arnie and AJ for the worst of their symptoms, Dominic turned the boat around and raced toward the harbor.

  Chapter Twenty

  Arnie eventually regained consciousness. A long, slow recovery. He was underwater, at the bottom of the North Sea, nothing above but a ripple of light blue, so far away. Is this it? he wondered. Am I dead? There were no white lights. No angels. When he tried to swim his limbs were immobile. He was cold one minute and burning up
the next. Then he was tumbling from a great height, falling hard and fast before being submerged in the stormy seas again.

  At last he opened his eyes. He wasn’t lost at the bottom of the ocean. He was in bed, lying on his back, feeling heavy. Movement seemed just as difficult as it had in the dream.

  Everything was bright. Florescent strips across the ceiling. White walls.

  A figure came closer. A nurse dressed in pale blue.

  “Where am I?” he asked. His voice little more than a croak.

  “You’re in hospital,” she answered. “You’re safe.”

  More people came into the room. Doctors. Someone shone a light directly into his eyes. Arnie winced in pain. His thoughts were foggy, painful.

  After a few minutes, he drifted off again.

  The next time he came around, things were clearer. His head didn’t hurt as much. His mind was less muddled.

  And sitting at the side of the bed, holding his hand, was Dominic.

  Dominic stood up as soon as he realized Arnie was awake. His handsome face was right over him. Arnie could get lost in the warm depths of his eyes.

  “Welcome back,” Dominic said, his voice soft.

  Arnie struggled to smile. He raked through his memories, trying to remember how he’d got here. The beach, the sea, AJ.

  “Where’s AJ?” he asked as his thoughts cleared.

  “Don’t worry,” Dominic said, gripping his hand in reassurance. “He’s on his way. He was discharged two days ago. Your parents took him home. When the doctors told me you were coming around, I called them. They’ll be here soon.”

  “Is he all right?”

  “He’s fine. A little shaken. He’s bound to be. He was hypothermic and suffering the effects of shock when we brought him in, but he’s good now. More than anything, he’s worried about you. We all are.”

  Arnie relaxed slightly and inhaled. AJ was okay—that was all that mattered.

  Dominic put a gentle hand on his brow. Arnie yielded to his touch. He smelled so good, so comforting and familiar.

  “It’s such a relief to see you awake,” Dominic said. “I was worried we were going to lose you.”

  “Did you find us? Were you in the lifeboat?”

  “I was. I wouldn’t have stopped searching until I found you. You’re everything to me now. I couldn’t bear to lose you.”

  “What happened?” Arnie asked, digging deeper into this mind. “Someone hit me from behind.”

  “Don’t worry about that now. It’s not important.”

  “Tell me,” he insisted. “I want to know.”

  “Is that all you remember? Being taken from behind?”

  He nodded.

  “Noel Garrard. The kid who helps at the station. He’s the one who attacked you. He must have followed you and AJ along the beach. He knocked you out cold and left you to the mercy of the incoming tide. If AJ hadn’t reacted the way he did and dragged you onto the higher rocks before calling for help, you wouldn’t be here now.”

  “But why? I don’t understand. Why did he clobber me?”

  “We can go over this later,” Dominic said, stroking his hair.

  “I want to know now.”

  Dominic sat and pulled the chair closer to the bed. “The police suspect Noel is the man who threw Sandy Costello over the cliff. I don’t know much yet. The investigators are keeping the facts down tight, but they found evidence at his house that proves he did it. They also suspect he’s been hanging round your house these last two weeks. Your stalker, that was him.”

  “Why?”

  “Why did he attack Sandy? I have no idea. I suspect the reason he focused on you is that you and AJ saw what he did. You couldn’t ID him, but I don’t know, I guess he panicked in case you could. Or he became fixated on you because you had a connection to his first crime. Until the police catch up with him, we’ll never know.”

  “What do you mean, catch up with him?”

  “He’s gone to ground. No one has seen him since Saturday.”

  Arnie stiffened. Dominic took his hand again.

  “Don’t worry,” he continued. “There’s a police officer stationed right outside that door. And another at your parents’ house watching over AJ. They’ll be with you until they apprehend him. You’re both safe. And I won’t let the little bastard anywhere near you. He should hope the cops catch up with him before I do, because I won’t be responsible for my actions.”

  “This is crazy,” Arnie said. “Why the hell would he do any of this?”

  “Noel Garrard is a disturbed young man. He always has been. His grandmother asked us to get him involved with the lifeboat in the hope it would give him something positive to focus on. That the crew could act as role models to him. His parents were worse than useless. His dad went to jail for armed robbery when Noel was just a kid and died a couple of years later. A feud or something with another inmate that got out of hand. His mother was a heroin addict with a string of abusive boyfriends. Noel was removed from her care and placed with his grandparents when he was ten. Your mother will be able to tell the story better than I can, but the grandparents have done their best for him. They made him go to school and tried to give him a normal life to stop him turning out like his mother and father.”

  “None of that explains what he did.”

  “No,” Dominic said carefully. “Honey, there’s worse. I just don’t think now is the time.”

  Arnie gripped his hand. “Tell me.”

  “You’ve just woken up.”

  “Tell me,” Arnie insisted.

  Dominic took a breath before looking him straight in the eye. “Gabriel is dead. They found him at home on Saturday afternoon, not long before you were attacked. The police want Noel for that too.”

  “Dead?” Arnie heard the words. He understood their meaning. He could not believe them. “How?”

  “They think it happened sometime on Friday night. All indications are that he was taken by surprise when he got home from work. When he didn’t come in the next day, someone from the restaurant went looking for him.”

  Tears sprang under Arnie’s eyelids and ran down his cheeks. “Why? For fuck’s sake, why?”

  “Until they catch Noel, we’ll never know. Maybe we never will. I can’t imagine what provoked him to do any of this. He was a quiet kid, sullen most of the time, and motivating him to do anything around the station was a chore in itself. But he showed no inclination toward violence. I can’t remember hearing him swear or speak out of turn. On the surface of things, he seemed rather placid, docile even. There must have been some deep, dangerous currents running beneath that calm exterior.”

  Arnie wiped his eyes on the back of his hand. “I can’t believe Gabriel is dead. What did he do to him?”

  Dominic shook his head. “You don’t need to know about that yet. I’ll tell you everything later, when you’re ready. I promise. For now, I want you to focus on getting better. You were in a bad way, you know. Concussion, hypothermia and shock. You’ve got a couple of broken ribs too. Your body was shutting down when we got you to the dock.”

  “I’ll mend,” he said resolutely.

  Dominic smiled. “That’s right. You will. You’re a fighter and a survivor. You and AJ, you boys are made of strong stuff.”

  “What about Sandy Costello? I got a news alert, right before Noel hit me. It said she had come around.”

  “That’s right, she has. She’s going to be all right too. Eventually. The poor girl has a lot of broken bones, including her pelvis. Fortunately, there’s no damage to her skull or spinal column. She’s got a long road ahead of her and a lot of intensive physio before she’ll be fully healed, but she’s on her way. It’s a miracle, really, considering what she has been through. She’s a fighter, like you.”

  Arnie nodded, then sighed. “What could drive a young man to do these terrible things? I don’t buy the useless parents as an excuse. Plenty of kids come from bad backgrounds. It doesn’t turn them into callous killers. There must be some
reason.”

  “We might never know. Don’t torture yourself trying to figure it out. Noel is disturbed. No one could have predicted he’d do any of these things. Whatever is wrong with him, he kept it well hidden. It’s hard, I know, but you must focus on the positives here. Your son is alive. You are alive. They’ll catch up with Noel soon enough. I doubt he’s got the brains to evade the police for too long.”

  Arnie nodded and wiped his eyes again. “You saved us.”

  “It was AJ. If he wasn’t smart enough to do what he did and call the Coastguard, we wouldn’t have been there. Your boy is a hero.”

  Arnie took his hand. “Then I guess I really am lucky. To have two heroes in my life.”

  Epilogue

  One year later

  Saturday. A glorious afternoon in early August. The patio and lawn of Cliff House were thronged with people in short-sleeved shirts and summer dresses. At the bottom of the garden, a professional caterer served up barbequed meat and fish, with a wide selection of salads and fruits. Closer to the house, in the shade of a gazebo, two barmen kept the guests fulfilled with an endless supply of beer, wine and Pimm’s.

  From the cool interior of the kitchen, through the open French doors, Arnie watched those closest and most loved to him enjoying themselves in the sun. AJ played with his cousins with complete abandon. The move north had done wonders for the boy. Arnie had never seen him so happy, or as boisterous as he was these days. Following their release from hospital a year ago, Arnie had expected AJ would want to return to London as soon as possible. That he’d never want to be near water again. Against expectations, the opposite was true. Instead of running away from North Point, he didn’t want to leave.

  ‘Can we stay, Dad?’ he’d asked, the day after they discharged Arnie. ‘Please.’

  AJ had been insistent. They had connections here, family. They were loved and supported in ways they couldn’t be down south. Arnie was almost as surprised when he agreed. Despite everything that had happened, this was their home. London was a place of work, somewhere for AJ to go to school. But it had never been home. That was Nyemouth.