that disembarkation would start at around seven in the morning. She needed to get some sleep. But first she had a task to complete, one that could only be done under cover of darkness.
She opened her carry-on bag and took out the cylindrical cardboard tube. The pattern on it was of the moon and the stars over a midnight-blue sea. It had been the most appropriate available. She opened the door to the patio and stepped outside. The air was significantly cooler now and she felt goose bumps along her arms.
She shivered and leaned over the rail, looking in both directions to see if anyone else seemed to be outside. But no one was daft enough to be standing out in the cold. She held the tube in her right hand and raised her arm as high as she could. It was important that she get a bit of distance. Then she took a deep breath and threw it.
There were notices all over the ship telling passengers not to throw anything into the sea. But the tube was biodegradable. And so were its contents. So she didn’t feel too badly about it. It might not have been exactly what he’d had in mind, but it was the best she could do.
She stayed outside for another minute.
She didn’t cry.
Chapter 8
Roscoff, France: 53.8006°N 4.0694°W
Deira had expected the movement of the ship to lull her to sleep, but the constant rocking had the opposite effect and she was awake at five thirty when the ship-wide announcement that they would shortly be arriving at Roscoff was made. She’d just finished dressing after a quick shower when a steward arrived with her Continental breakfast, and she gave thanks that booking the most expensive cabin meant that it had been brought to her and she didn’t have to face the excited holidaymakers in the restaurant again.
As she sipped the strong, aromatic coffee, her phone beeped with three alerts in quick succession. She froze, the cup halfway to her mouth, then replaced it carefully on the saucer and checked the messages.
They were all from her Irish service provider, detailing roaming and data charges outside her package. She exhaled slowly. There was nobody who should be trying to contact her at this hour on a Sunday morning, but the beeps had reminded her that there would still be a reckoning for what she’d done.
She didn’t care.
She finished her coffee, but she was no longer hungry, so she wrapped one of the buttery croissants in a paper napkin and put it in her bag. She planned to stop at motorway services on her journey, but she wasn’t sure how long it would be before her first break and reckoned it might be useful to have something to snack on until then.
Another announcement informed passengers that they would shortly be able to access their cars. Once again, Deira chose the stairs rather than the lifts to get to the car deck, where many people were already standing beside their vehicles. They were mostly young families with slightly harassed mothers keeping an eye on their children, and fathers engrossed in making sure that the containers on the car roofs and bicycles attached to the backs were securely fastened.
A pregnant woman with a toddler in her arms walked to the SUV in the lane beside Deira. She strapped the toddler into his seat and rubbed her back before getting into the car herself. A couple of minutes later her husband arrived with a bottle of water, which he handed to her before kissing her lightly on the forehead.
That could have been me, Deira thought, as she looked at the woman.
It should have been me.
It should have been us.
But it was far too late for that.
It was about twenty minutes after the huge doors at the stern of the ship had been opened and disembarkation had commenced before the lane of cars that Grace was in began to move. Even though it took time, and patience with the process was necessary, she’d always liked the efficiency of how it was done. She slid the gear lever in the Lexus to the drive position and moved slowly forward.
The hazy clouds had begun to dissipate while the passengers had been waiting below deck, and the weak rays of sunshine were becoming stronger. Grace took her sunglasses out of the glove compartment and put them on, knowing that for the first part of the drive at least, she would be travelling eastwards into the glare.
She continued