Sam’s dry laugh petered out. His giant chin quaked. Being out in the ocean was protection against being overheard, but no protection against emotions that paddled out here with you.

‘What’s it going to mean?’ Gordon asked.

‘I could go to jail, brother. And I do not want to go to jail. Not for a white-collar crime, anyway.’

‘I’m sorry. You were only trying to help me.’

‘Oh?’ Sam looked strangely disarmed by this. ‘It wasn’t only you. I’ve been helping out friends my whole career. It’s banking. Nobody said you weren’t allowed to be a decent person. Bend a few rules for the little bloke. Apparently I was wrong.’

Gordon thought: Some things cut deep from angles you weren’t seeing. He felt bone-weary. It hurt his back to sit up on his board so he lay prone on his stomach. The muscles had gone out of his arms.

‘What … what does it mean for me? Can I just sell my property—sell my share—and pay the debt back? Is that what happens?’

Sam grimaced. ‘You haven’t been listening. I said you’re fucked. Did you see what that cunt Archer David got for his place? Forced sales affect all valuations in the area. Now that my stuff ’s gunna come out, they’ll assess my dodgy revaluations and benchmark it back to market. You’re deep in negative equity. You’re headed for bankruptcy court, brother.’

‘What about Kelly?’

‘Kel’s all right because her share was part of her father’s probate and she’s got no debt. And even if the terms of her father’s will prevent her from cashing it in, at least she has an asset still worth something.’

‘Thank Christ for that.’ The weariness was like a smothering blanket. All Gordon wanted was sleep. ‘What about Carl? Can he sell to someone else? Kelly had an idea that my mother could buy him out.’

After their truth session with Ben, Kelly had revealed her plan to Gordon, who thought it was so ludicrous, the idea of his parents borrowing money to save his skin, that he hadn’t taken it seriously … until he was woken in the middle of the night by the terrifying thought that Ron might buy a share in The Lodge and move in with him. This turned into another reason he couldn’t sleep.

‘Yeah, Norma came to me,’ Sam said, looking distant.

‘Then it’s true? How did that go?’

‘Let’s just say that if I want to get a medical degree from an Asian university, I’ve made a good start.’

‘Did she get to the point?’

‘Eventually I figured out what she was trying to ask, but it’s no good. Leonie already had Carl’s share locked in.’

‘How?’