‘It doesn’t feel real,’ said Shelby instantly. ‘I can’t . . .’ She rested her hand against the back of Kane’s head, gently combing his hair with her fingers, and he pulled away. ‘Little Forest has been missing for this long, and then to just . . . He’d be a teenager now. Thirteen. I wonder what he looks like? No one can tell us what’s happened, no one knows what’s going on . . . It doesn’t feel real, Mack. What are we supposed to feel? What are we supposed to think?’

‘What’s Davey think?’

‘I don’t know, I can’t get a hold of him. Kane and I were on the way to Hobart when we heard. We came straight back, but Davey isn’t answering his phone. Ivy thinks it’s because he must be involved in the search for Jesse and Alexandra. There’s search parties combing up and down the bushland near the northern beach now. We’re just picking up some lunch to head around to Ivy’s. Are you joining the search?’

Mackerel would’ve loved to, but if the search parties were made of locals, he wouldn’t put it past them to corner him and give him a touch-up. It had happened a couple times when he’d been out alone. ‘No, not this time.’

Shelby looked at the food in her arms. ‘Well, we better get going —’

‘Thanks, Shelby. Really good to see you,’ he said too quickly. ‘I guess I’ll see you around.’

‘No, Mack, wait.’ Her face softened, eyes kind. ‘Don’t you want to come with us?’

‘To Ivy’s?’ he said frankly. ‘Are you insane?’

Shelby’s eyebrows snapped down. ‘This is a big day for our family. Ivy would want you there. We all do.’

‘You are insane. No way, Shelby.’

‘Please?’

It was the way she said it. Her voice cracked, though she coughed to try and hide it.

The poor woman was terrified. Of what?

Of my psychopath eldest brother, he realised.

He hadn’t even considered that. If Jesse had returned, then Dempsey Abalone reverted to his control, and who knew what he’d do about Davey? Even though she didn’t know about the Business, Shelby had been around long enough to know what Jesse was capable of.

Mackerel shuddered. Old cigarette burns on his arms started to sting.

‘Okay,’ he said. ‘I’ll come.’

CHAPTER 5

AHAB

Ahab pulled his LandCruiser up at Davey Dempsey’s mansion. He slowed to a crawl and wound the window down, the crunch of thick tyres on blue-grey gravel as he came to a halt in the turning circle around a gushing fountain.

This was Homeward. A true mansion. Iconic, set high on the hill and visible from the sea, glittering among manicured gardens. It offered a picturesque, unparalleled view of the ocean, cliffs and Shacktown.