‘Even Ivy doesn’t know that Jesse chose to leave, as far as I can tell,’ said Chips. ‘Davey only told a couple of us, swearing us to secrecy on Jesse’s orders . . . I don’t need to tell you how nasty he could be if you didn’t follow orders. None of us are game to tell her – if she finds out we knew all this and didn’t tell her, she’d kill us herself.’

‘So Blackbeard’s going to win.’

‘He will if you insist on Dempsey Abalone going legit,’ said Chips. She gestured for a cigarette.

‘Since when do you smoke?’ he asked.

‘Since I recently became very stressed.’

She struggled to light it with shaking hands – he helped her, and she smiled in gratitude.

‘You sure you don’t want to come back and lead the Business?’

‘No.’

She rested a head on his shoulder.

‘I don’t regret it, you know?’ she said. ‘I’m glad you introduced me to his world. Wouldn’t change it for anything.’

If she meant that to be comforting, it had the opposite effect.

CHAPTER 24

MACKEREL

Against all odds, Mackerel had been invited to Ivy’s for dinner. He’d used some of the money Shelby had given him to buy a nice new shirt. Now he wished he’d washed it, as it was scratching at his neck.

Even though he’d dressed up, he still didn’t fit in. The dining room at Safe Harbour was gleaming and airy, with ocean views, real silverware and that giant dining room table.

Across that dinner table, Forest Dempsey was newly calm and assured. He held his own in conversation. He’d become less gaunt since his rescue – he’d eaten his dinner twice as fast as anyone else, and was already eating his second helping – but there were still those dark bags under his eyes.

But then, it wasn’t surprising the poor boy couldn’t sleep. He thought of the tattoo. He thought of the fact that someone would’ve had to hold him down while they buzzed those words into his skin.

Shelby, Mackerel noticed, was also watching Forest like a hawk. She was at least being civil to Mackerel, which was nice. But he remained nervous – she would still want more from him than he was willing to tell.

Davey’s absence hung in the room like a dark cloud – their family had been drastically reconfigured in the space of a few days. Kane was in complete denial: poking at his food, snapping at any question sent his way, taking things personally. At least Forest’s dog, Zeus, had his head on Kane’s lap, the boy feeding him almost half of his own serving.

And Kane and Forest kept stealing looks at each other. The cousins seemed equally fascinated by the other.