Page 22 of Below the Deck

Out of the corner of his eye, Sam caught something move in the shadows of the salon behind him. He turned around to look; it was dark, though, and he couldn’t make anything out. Probably just the sea breeze shifting the awning.

He turned back and felt a flash of guilt.What am I doing?This wasn’t right; he should stop listening in. Whatever was going on, he wasn’t going to get to the bottom of it like this, lurking in the shadows. He swayed slightly, the pain radiating from the sole of his right foot now making him wobble.

He had an idea: he’d walk back a bit, then pretend he’d just come up to the galley – he’d make it look like he hadn’t been waiting there, listening to a conversation he knew was private. He took a couple of painful paces backwards, then stepped towards the galley door and pushed it open. ‘Oh! Hello, you two. You’re up late! All good?’ His voice came out too bright, forced.

Michaela startled and took a step back from Johanna, who turned and flashed Sam a smooth smile. ‘Is everything okay, Sam?’ she said, with no trace of the worry in her voice that Sam had heard a moment ago. She sounded like the same Johanna that had been offering them drinks since they’d arrived back on board. ‘Do you need anything?’

Sam swallowed; he glanced at Michaela, who had fixed a smile on her face too, but wasn’t meeting Sam’s eye. ‘Ah, actually, I do,’ he said, trying his best at nonchalance. He pointed to his bloody foot. ‘This has started bleeding again, and I’ve managed to get a few smears on the stairs – I’m really sorry. Is there any chance you could find me a new bandage and clean it up?’

‘Oh, goodness. Poor you. Of course.’

Johanna walked to a cupboard near the galley door, opened it and rifled through. She pulled out a fresh dressing and some antibiotic cream and handed it to Sam.

‘Will you be okay dressing it yourself? We were both about to clock off, and I’ll need to clean the floor before I go down …’

Sam frowned. Do it himself? Weren’t these stewardesses supposed to be there to cater for their every whim, twenty-four seven? Then he caught himself:Jesus, what’s wrong with me? I sound like Rory. His condescending attitude is rubbing off on me.

‘Ah, sure, thanks,’ he said with a shrug. ‘I’ll be fine, don’t worry.’

As the two women walked past him and out of the galley, Michaela met Sam’s gaze briefly, then looked away – but not before he caught a flicker of something in her eyes that made him turn cold.

He’d seen that flicker before – more than once. It was uncomfortably familiar. He’d seen it in his fifteen-year-old sister Anna’s face, that morning she’d told him what happened with her sixth-form boyfriend the night before.

Sam had made the mistake of not acting fast enough on his sister’s behalf, and the failure cost him dearly. He should have been watching more closely; he should have stepped in sooner.

When Anna had started seeing that boyfriend, Sam was ill at ease – and not just in an overprotective, big brother kind of way. The lad had been in the year below him, and despite Sam having left college to start his estate agency apprenticeship, he remembered him well. Jamie, his name was: good-looking, popular and charismatic – and with a reputation as a womanizing arsehole. Sam told Anna he didn’t like the idea of her going out with him; that she could do better. Anna had responded by telling him, in no uncertain terms, to stay the fuck out of her business.

Sam did as she’d asked. He didn’t push it. He could onlywatch from a distance as Jamie reeled Anna in, made her think she was in love, plying her with Bacardi Breezers at house parties with men in their twenties. He hadn’t intervened. He hadn’t protected her. And then he’d had to listen to his mam weeping that Sunday over her breakfast after Jamie had got Anna hammered at a party the night before and his sister had woken up in nothing but her bra, bleeding.He assaulted her, Sam. She was so drunk, she couldn’t have said yes. She’s fifteen years old … my precious girl.He vowed he’d never get it so wrong again.

So when he’d seen the same expression again in his workmates’ faces, years later, when they’d opened up after a few glasses of wine, he knew he’d have to do something. The first night it happened, he’d sat there, one hand gripping his pint, the other fiddling with a beer mat as he listened in open-mouthed shock. He remembered the way his colleague had been twirling the stem of her wine glass between her fingers, her mask dropping as she shared things that she’d never have revealed if she hadn’t been three glasses in.

This is why it’s so important to keep an eye on things.To stay close to the women around him, listen to their words, watch what their body language gave away without them meaning to. Because it didn’t matter how strong they thought they were, how independent. There were times they needed someone else to step in.

So yes, he knew Michaela’s expression well.

It was a look they all tried to hide, but Sam saw it just the same.

GENDARMERIE MARITIME DE POLYNÉSIE FRANÇAISE

CASE NUMBER: 247849

DATE: 11/06/2026

INTERVIEW EXCERPT TWO (TRANSLATED FROM FRENCH TO ENGLISH)

Interview subject: Kai Tehau, deckhand on boardLusso di Marecharter

Interview conducted by Chief of Police Henri Robert

M Robert: And you were on watch duty that second night, is that correct?

M Tehau: That’s right, it was my turn on day two.

M Robert: And what does that entail, exactly? Your watch duty.

M Tehau: Well, on a passenger charter like this one where the guests are sleeping on board overnight, we have to do a few things on night watch. Security checks of the vessel – looking out for any fire or trip hazards. Making sure all our safety equipment and the tender are in the right place and functioning as they should. Then keeping lookout – checking for any other boats that might be approaching ours, in case of collision. And in the case of bad weather overnight, we might need to secure everything on the outer decks. That’s about it, I think.

M Robert: And that night, on your checks, everything seemed normal? Everything was as it should be?