Deep Wate - Sarah Epstein Page 0,104

elbows against the rock. My hands fill with pins and needles, and for a moment I’m winded.

My fall distracts Raf, long enough for Tom to wrench the backpack from his arms. Raf raises both hands in defeat, glancing at me as I struggle to sit up. Tom swings the backpack up and around, hitting Raf across the face. I yell something as Raf ’s head snaps sideways and he falls heavily, smacking his forehead into the rock. It’s a horrible sound. The kind of sound that means Raf really shouldn’t attempt to get up.

He does, though. He manages to wobble onto all fours. He brings a foot underneath himself, struggling to a stand. Even in the moonlight I can see something dark and shiny oozing from his hairline. It flows quickly down his temple and onto his cheek. He’s somehow upright, swaying wildly, trying to find his balance.

Side to side.

Backwards.

Backwards. Backwards. Backwards.

And over the edge.

Now

Mason shuffles across the verandah to find the front door gaping open. His head is pounding now, the walk from the shed and his own panic making the blood pump faster. There’s a high-pitched ringing in his ears he can’t seem to shake. Everything feels foggy, like he’s had a couple of drinks.

He hears his mother’s voice, dry and croaky, the way she sounds when she’s first woken up in the morning. He’s almost relieved to realise she’s not the one who took his car, until he remembers who did take it and why that’s so much worse.

‘Is he coming over now?’ Ivy says.

‘Yeah. My parents too. I need to go back down there and let Chloe know.’

Sabeen’s voice. Mason instinctively touches a hand to the back of his head. It’s something he won’t forget easily – gentle, goofy Sabeen trying to knock his brains out. He can still hear the sound of metal against his skull a moment before everything went black.

‘She’s gone,’ Mason says, stepping into the kitchen. His mother is blinking blearily in her dressing-gown, an unlit cigarette in one hand and a lighter in the other. Sabeen flinches and backs up against the fridge. ‘Chloe let me out of the shed, okay? I didn’t do anything to her.’

‘Where is she?’ Sabeen says, and then, before he can answer, ‘How’s your head?’

Her eyes are deeply bloodshot, her olive skin pallid. She looks as wretched as he feels.

‘Honestly? Like somebody drop-kicked it across a football field,’ he says. Sabeen winces. ‘Is Sergeant Doherty on the way?’

She nods. ‘Are you going to turn yourself in?’

From the corner of his eye he senses his mother moving closer, awaiting his answer. It takes him a second to formulate a response. Maybe he really is concussed.

‘It wasn’t me, Sabeen,’ he says. ‘I didn’t do anything to Henry. It was Tom.’

Sabeen sucks in a sharp breath and something about that makes Mason want to break down and cry. He hasn’t had time to be shocked. About Henry. About Tom. This is the worst night of his life.

‘What are you talking about?’ his mother says.

He can’t meet her eye. He doesn’t want to be the one to tell her. Please don’t let it come down to him.

‘And you knew about it?’ Sabeen says in a small voice.

‘Of course not! Chloe and I just figured it out.’

His mother is saying something else. Mason pulls out his phone and dials Tom’s number. There’s still a chance this is a mistake. He could have it wrong. He was so drunk that night. How reliable is his memory?

He knows this is denial kicking in but he lets the phone ring out anyway. He tries Tom’s grandpa next. Maybe Tom is asleep with his phone switched to silent.

‘Hello …?’

‘Uncle Bernie? It’s Mason.’ He stops. He has no idea what to say next.

‘Mason? It’s very late to be calling. You gave Rose a bit of a shock.’

She’s about to get an even bigger one, Mason thinks. He’s not going to be the one to break it to them either. That’s Sergeant Doherty’s job.

‘It’s just …’ Mason wills his muddled brain to work. ‘Could you please get Tom for me? I need to speak to him.’

‘Oh, it’s a bit late, son,’ Bernie says. ‘Tom’s asleep.’

Mason’s throat aches. He says hoarsely, ‘Could you please check?’

There’s a shuffle and a scrape as Bernie puts the phone down, and Mason finds himself repeating please, please, please under his breath. This could all be a big misunderstanding. Henry’s in Sydney. And Tom’s in bed.

He can hear his mother and Sabeen murmuring