‘How . . . So you’re not even Forest Dempsey?’ Shelby turned to Davey. ‘Ha! And if he hadn’t come back, you’d still be leading your double life, your idiot wife none the wiser.’ She gave the boy a warm smile. ‘Thank you for that, Forest. I owe you.’

‘What the fuck, Ahab?’ roared Mackerel, standing up.

Everyone fell silent again.

‘You knew? And you were just gonna let him keep pretending?’ Mackerel’s chest felt hot, his hands tingling. They curled into fists. He advanced on Ahab.

‘Who do you think you’re talking to?’ said Ahab, rising as well. ‘Sit back down, boy, before I make you.’

He didn’t look at Forest. He’d kill him if he did. He hadn’t felt this angry in a long time. Finally, he had someone to blame.

‘Chips is dead because of him!’

Ahab grimaced and Mackerel realised Davey didn’t know. Typical – his cousin talked a big game, but he kept secrets that worked to his advantage, just like the rest of them.

‘Chips . . .’ said Davey, his eyes cold. ‘Who?’

‘I was going to —’ began Ahab.

‘Tell him, Ahab!’ Mackerel’s voice echoed around the room.

‘Blackbeard’s men. I was there, I saw it. I . . . Davey, if I could have stopped it, you know I would.’

Davey stared hard at the floor, massaging the palm of his hand, arms trembling. He stood beside Mackerel, putting an arm on his brother’s shoulder. ‘Easy there, Mack.’

Forest had moved to hide behind Ahab, watching Mackerel warily.

‘I’m gonna kill him. This is all his fault.’

‘We’ll kill him later,’ said Davey. ‘Do you get it now, Shelbs? Chips died, and she knew the game. This is what I was protecting you from. What I’m still trying to protect you from. It’s real. This is what happens when you play with the big boys. You can’t possibly think that —’

‘Listen,’ said Forest directly to Mackerel, ‘if I keep pretending to be Forest, we actually have a chance of stopping Blackbeard.’

‘You caused all of this!’ shouted Mackerel. ‘And for what? How long did you think you could keep this up?’

Davey and Shelby were now yelling too.

‘You have a dinghy’s chance in a Black Wind!’ he shouted.

‘You left to play dead! You don’t get to —’ Shelby roared back.

Ahab had stepped between Mackerel and Forest. ‘Mackenzie, he’s just a kid.’

‘Everything was fine until he came along!’ Mackerel wondered if he could risk pushing Ahab to the side – he was much bigger and stronger, but Ahab was a force to be reckoned with if you got him offside.

‘Wait, wait, wait. Mack! As Forest, I can win the loyalty of the Business . . . Right? Davey’s crew? I can speak to them, convince them. Promise them a future without Blackbeard!’