Ahab does everything he can to stay clear of the Business these days.

A moment later, Shelby barrelled into Mackerel’s chest, hugging him tight. ‘You came!’

Mackerel put his arms around her, holding her tight.

‘Davey’s still not home,’ she whispered into his chest. ‘Mack, I can’t do this.’

‘Shhh, it’s okay.’ He rubbed her back in small circles.

It felt strange to be holding a woman. Comforting her.

Back in Queensland, when he’d been running his crew, he’d been just as popular as Davey, just as charismatic. Maybe even more so. He’d been at the top of an upper-class drug ring, for fuck’s sake. This brought back those memories. He liked that feeling.

Detective De Corrado walked towards them. Mackerel grimaced.

‘Come inside and out of the wind, you two,’ she said, not unkindly. ‘We’ve found nothing in the area. I need to ask you some questions, Shelby. Maybe Mackenzie here can support you while you answer them.’

De Corrado and another detective, Barry Smith, now sat across from Shelby and Mackerel in the lounge.

The inside of Homeward smelled exactly how he remembered it, like honey candles and clean carpets. (Did clean carpets have a smell? He was sure they did.) The furniture had changed, the art on the walls had changed, the whole kitchen looked like it had been renovated, but the feeling inside was still the same. And even with the shitstorm of police officers everywhere, right then, inside his fancy mansion, on the couch beside Shelby, Mackerel had never felt more jealous of Davey in his life.

Kane sauntered in from outside, hands in the pockets of his flannelette pyjamas, looking down his nose at the officers in his house. He looked just like Ivy when he did that.

He sat down on the other side of Shelby, looping his arm in hers. ‘I called Nan, she said she was gonna come back from Hobart, but I told her to stay there and be close to Forest. I told her we’ve got enough people looking after us, and that Uncle Mack was here to take care of you.’ He gave Mackerel a grateful nod.

‘I bet she was happy about that,’ said Mackerel.

Kane shrugged. ‘I told her you were brave to break your curfew. I think it’s good you risked going back to prison to come look after Mum, and I told Nan that, too.’

Mackerel had to wipe the grin off his face.

Kane stayed on the couch with them as the detectives showed Shelby photos of shoeprints found in the dust in the roof. Mackerel resisted the urge to point out they didn’t match his. They asked questions about the intruder, his tone of voice, any accent, did Shelby get a look at his face, would Shelby be able to pick him from a line-up?