‘What do you think?’ Bill asked Jodie, grabbing the rifle. ‘Back to the boat?’

She shook her head. ‘Medical evacuation.’ She unhooked her radio.

Shaun came up and laid a hand on my shoulder. ‘You okay, Robyn?’

‘Yeah…’

‘Are you sure?’ He glanced at my arm. There was blood on it. Warren’s blood? No—I’d scratched myself. When had I done that?

‘It’s nothing,’ I said. ‘But Warren’s hurt. He needs a doctor.’

‘Right.’ Shaun’s gaze moved to the veranda, which was still smoking. Trapped behind a carpet of white foam, Warren looked ashen and bloody. ‘Lie down,’ Shaun told him. ‘The medics are coming.’

‘It wasn’t her fault,’ Warren rasped. ‘That crazy bastard went for us.’

‘I know what happened. Don’t worry. Just go and lie down. That’s an order.’

‘She deserves a medal,’ Warren finished, before disappearing into the house.

Shaun turned back to me and asked, ‘What’s that? Petrol?’ He jerked his chin at the fuel tank.

‘Yeah. Scott poured it all over the place.’ Suddenly I felt bone tired. I wanted to lie down and never get up. ‘He set himself alight. It wasn’t me.’

Shaun nodded. ‘Happens all the time. It’s the vapour that’s flammable. People don’t realise. They ignite a plume.’

‘And the gun’s mine, but I only got it out after Warren was hurt—’

‘Save it.’ Shaun lifted a hand. ‘Really. The police will want to know, but I don’t. I’m on your side.’

‘Steve’s real name is Scott—’

‘Scott Rooney. Yeah. Darren told us.’

‘Darren?’

‘Why do you think we’re here?’

I frowned. ‘Because of my distress flare?’

‘What distress flare?’

I glanced over at the two police officers. Jodie was still hurling orders into her radio. Bill was checking the gun, his dark face tense.

‘On the ferry,’ Shaun continued, ‘Darren and that woman he says isn’t really his mother—’

‘Joyce.’

‘Right. Apparently, they had some kind of argument. I missed that. Then Darren went straight over and told Bill to turn the ferry around. Said his father had probably killed his mother and was going to kill you.’ As I blinked, Shaun offered me a crooked smile. ‘You can imagine what Bill thought. Especially after Joyce told him Darren’s just a crazy kid who smokes weed all the time—’

‘—and you can’t believe a word he says.’ I’d heard the same thing before from Joyce. Over and over again.

‘The thing is, Darren’s one of my lads,’ Shaun went on. ‘I know him. I’ve seen him in action. And I haven’t heard him lie. Not once.’ Shaun’s gaze drifted towards Scott. ‘I thought he might be mistaken at first, but the longer he talked…well, I remembered what you’d told me about his name being Aaron. And I realised we had to do something.’