Against The Tide by Robert Sherwood

Author:Robert Sherwood [Sherwood, Robert]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-01-12T16:00:00+00:00

25

The yacht’s engine note slowed, then died.

Terry stuck his head into the cabin. ‘It’s time,’ he grunted.

Burns stepped out onto the foredeck. Moonlight rippled across the water. The boat rolled lazily in the swell.

Standing on the prow, the silent Georgian surveyed the sea through binoculars. Burns could see nothing but faint lights on the horizon. Wearing just a T-shirt and borrowed shorts, a shiver passed through him, caused by the breeze that blew in towards the distant shore. At least, that was what he told himself. It was too late for nerves now.

As they had passed through the Strait of Gibraltar, Burns had glimpsed land off the port side. They had travelled west, so that meant the coast of Africa, not Spain. Terry had made no attempt to approach a port. The engines ticked over quietly. They were waiting.

Terry stepped behind him and laid a hand on his shoulder. He squeezed gently.

‘You’re on your own now, son,’ he said into Burns’s ear. ‘I’ve done all I can.’

‘You said that at the farmhouse.’

Burns felt the breath of Terry’s silent chuckle on his neck.

‘I hope you find what you’re looking for.’

Burns heard the lack of faith in Terry’s words. He fought the urge to ask the question that he had buried deep inside him since childhood.

Instead, he asked: ‘Why did you help me?’

‘I’ve always loved you, Fraser. And after your Dad died, I swore I’d look after you. You didn’t give me the chance. Until now.’

Burns watched the endless swell of the sea. One question. The one he had never been able to ask, about the details of the event that had set the course of his life, and had alienated him from his uncle. But however brutal the facts were, they had surely lost their power to hurt him. The events of the past few days had been no kind of reconciliation, and in a matter of moments Terry would be out of his life. And this time it really would be forever. If he didn’t ask now, he’d never have the opportunity again. Burns sucked in a long breath. Then, at last, the words came out.

‘What happened that night?’

Terry looked like he was staring out into the darkness, but Burns knew he was staring back through history. Back to the night that came to define their lives.

‘It was an armed robbery,’ Terry said finally. ‘Security-van job. Our usual crew. We’d done it before, knew the drill.’

A chill crept over Burns’s body. But he had to know. ‘Why did it go wrong?’

Terry closed his eyes. Burns had no doubt the images were burned into his uncle’s memory.

‘The driver and the guard were on the ground. Not hurt, you know. We never hurt them. But we had them covered.’ Terry spoke in a monotone. ‘The boys had blown the doors on the van and unloaded it. It was all nice and clean.’

Burns said nothing. He had carried the pain of his father’s death since he was a child, thinking it was the worst pain he could ever suffer.

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