‘Well, you were right about one thing.’ Davey’s voice was still trembling. ‘Something must have happened. The state that Forest is in . . . All these years, the crew has been waiting for Jesse to return. So the moment Forest Dempsey showed up . . . showed up the way he did, I was a dead man walking. They all thought I’d deceived them. That you were right – that I’d stabbed Jesse in the back.’

‘None of that matters now. Without you to hold the crew together, Blackbeard wins,’ said Ahab. ‘They need you, man. Damn me for saying this, but it’s true – Shacktown needs you.’

‘Blackbeard! Ahab, that bastard has been sniffing around for a long, long time,’ said Davey. He sounded tired now. It wasn’t just these last few days, he realised. Davey had been fighting a losing battle for years. ‘He’s so intent on setting up here, I’ve never understood it. I guess it’s the curse, right? Something had to bring me undone . . .’

‘You’re still here,’ said Ahab. ‘It hasn’t brought you undone yet.’

‘Only because I’m weak! I can’t bring myself to leave my family.’

‘We should go to the police,’ said Ahab. ‘There’s a detective here, a good one. I trust her. She’ll be able to protect you. Protect your whole family.’

‘Ahab, I’m a drug baron! I’ll go to prison forever.’

‘Not forever. There might be some kind of deal you can strike.’

‘Yeah, in exchange for being a dog. I’d be killed before I even go to trial.’

‘Blackbeard will kill you.’

‘And so will my crew,’ said Davey. ‘You’re not getting it. I’m fucked either way.’

‘I’ll have Forest tell them you weren’t involved.’

‘Forest hates my guts – you didn’t hear the way he spoke to me. He blames me for whatever happened to him.’

‘Except he’s not the real Forest,’ said Ahab.

‘. . . What?’

‘He’s not the real Forest, Davey. He’s up there right now, in the pump room, but he’s an imposter . . . I think he wants your money.’

Davey’s expression changed from disbelief to relief, to horror, to fury.

Realising what was about to happen, Ahab stepped forward to grab the knife just before Davey could.

‘Davey, you can’t hurt him . . .’

‘He ruined my life! He’s taken everything from me!’

The two men wrestled in the doorway, Davey’s stink sharp and acrid in Ahab’s nose as he tried to squeeze past him. Davey was bigger and stronger, but he’d been living on rotten café food and sleepless nights – Ahab was able to hold him off without much trouble.

‘Please, Ahab, get out of the way. I’m gonna kill him.’

‘I can’t let you do that. We need him – you need him,’ said Ahab. Then he grimaced. ‘Although maybe you can scare him a little . . .’