Deep Waters by Thom Collins

Author:Thom Collins [Collins, Thom]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: LGBTQIA Romance Fiction
Publisher: Totally Entwined Group
Published: 2022-10-22T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

Harry’s Friday fishing charter consisted of three lawyers who wanted to celebrate the forthcoming retirement of one of their group. They were all in their late sixties, and it had not been obvious at first which one of them was retiring. The lucky man was called Clive and was actually in his early seventies.

“There’s a big lunch planned for next week with speeches and all that malarky,” Clive had explained. “But I wanted to do something a bit more relaxing than that.”

All three of the men were senior partners in a law firm in Newcastle and agreed they wanted to do something for themselves before their younger colleagues took over and forced them into something more social. Harry had laughed and given them exactly what they wanted. The men had brought their own equipment. All he had to do was provide them with the boat, bait and refreshments.

It was another unseasonably mild day. The swell was deeper than when he’d come out with Christian on Wednesday, but it was perfect fishing weather. He took The North Star two miles north of Nyemouth and a mile and half offshore, letting it drift in the current while the men fished off the stern. Most fishing charterers started on the beer before they had even left the harbour, but by mid-morning the strongest drink these old boys had taken was coffee.

Reece Wallace, Harry’s temporary boat hand for the day, came up the ladder from the lower deck with a fresh cafetiere in one hand and a carton of milk in the other.

“Want a refill before I top these guys up?” Reece asked.

“Sure. Thanks.” Harry held out his empty mug.

Reece filled it three quarters full before splashing in the milk.

Harry had been relieved to enlist Reece’s help at such short notice. It had been late on Thursday afternoon when Tom had texted to say he was ill and couldn’t make it. When Harry had called him back, his phone had gone straight to voice mail. It was out of character for Tom to miss work like that, especially for the second time in a week. Harry deduced there were two likely reasons and wanted to speak to his cousin first-hand to determine which it was. It was possible Tom was genuinely sick, in which case he wanted to know if there was anything he could do to help. Tom’s son had been off school earlier in the week, so he could have caught something from him.

It was also very unlikely. Tom had a steely work ethic and rarely allowed illness to keep him down. Cold, flu, headaches, upset stomachs? They didn’t faze him. Tom would swallow whatever medication he needed and get on with the job. He’d always been very vocal in the past about people who shirked their responsibilities and took sickies for hangovers or minor runny noses.

The second option was far more troubling to Harry. Was Tom experiencing some kind of PTSD in the wake of Niko’s death? He’d come down to the harbour to help Harry clean the boat out Tuesday but hadn’t been back since.

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