‘But you were more of a father to those boys than anyone. You’re the one who drove Davey to his first date, not Joel Dempsey,’ she said. ‘You’re the one who taught Mackenzie how to scuba-dive, not Joel. I know you treated Jesse like a son, too. So why weren’t you Forest’s godfather?’

‘You’ve been watching us for a while, haven’t you,’ said Ahab, realisation dawning. ‘There’s no chance you could’ve gathered all that in the last day. The way you think, the way you talk . . . it has a bit of Canberra about it. Are you AFP?’

‘You couldn’t save your mum, so you’re trying to save Alexandra. Is that it?’ said De Corrado, ignoring his question.

‘Don’t,’ he warned, ‘talk about my mother.’

‘Why? Where does she come into the story? You can’t intimidate me into silence, Ahab. I’m not scared of the Dempseys.’

‘Fine. You want to know about the curse?’

‘Yes,’ said De Corrado, ‘I do.’

‘Remember the hubris of the Titanic? The company claimed that “God Himself could not sink this ship.” They challenged Him, and the story goes that He sank it. A testament to that age-old truth: don’t mock God.’

His voice grew soft.

‘My great-great-grandfather did the same thing to the sirens. He named his boat The Sirens Curse, claimed he wasn’t afraid of them. He sauntered across their water, plundered their goods, laughed about it with his mates. And then he was killed in the fiercest Black Wind in history, only a mile off shore. Ever since then, there’s been a trend: every Dempsey man will find great success and fortune, only for it to be followed by incredible misfortune, when all of that success turns to ash.’

‘And what was your fortune?’

‘Turned to ash,’ said Ahab dismissively. ‘And in return, I lost my mother.’

‘She was addicted,’ said De Corrado, her voice gentle for the first time. The interrogation was over. ‘You couldn’t have stopped it.’

‘I could have. I know it, and the curse knows it too.’

She sipped her drink, and Ahab sensed her mood drop. ‘So, is there a way to break the curse?’

‘Yes,’ said Ahab. ‘Once us Dempseys stop plundering the sea, the curse will be lifted.’

‘And how do you know that?’

His mind tipped back there now, to his mother. No longer safe in her hut by the sea, but in a hospital bed. Hair like straw, face like a skull, swept up in the psychosis that hit every Dempsey caught up in that drug.

‘We can only break the curse if we stop plundering the sea, Ahab. It’s the only way . . .’

‘I’m gonna end the Business, Mum. I’m gonna burn every one of their boats to the waterline.’

‘You can’t turn on your family. Promise me you’ll always be there for family . . . Swear to me.’