Page 119 of The High Island

Following the line of his finger, Jo thought she could make out the bulky figure of a man. Tall and broad-shouldered, and not looking remotely like the photograph she’d seen of Kris Mowat.

‘That can’t be Kris,’ she said, feeling her keen disappointment. ‘A tourist must have come to Cava and got stuck here.’

‘It definitely isn’t Kris,’ Ethan said, his tone cautious, ‘but it could be a Mowat by the height and build. Or maybe one of the drug dealers.’

The sky had turned a blood red with the approaching dawn, accentuating the dark bulk of the solitary man now come to a halt on the grassy edge of the beach.

‘There’s only one of him and three of us,’ Ivor said, belligerence in his tone.

‘He doesn’t know who we are either,’ Jo said, before making her announcement.

‘Detective Sergeant Green here, plus Constable Tulloch,’ she called out. ‘We answered a beacon you or someone else lit. Who are you?’

The returning voice reached them despite the wind.

‘Hugh Mowat,’ it boomed. ‘Thank God you’re here.’

The explanation came as he led them away from the beach. ‘Theywere camping at the Muckle House, but when the boat appeared, they moved up to the lighthouse. Kris managed to gain entry. They’re in there now, but the lass isn’t great,’ he told them. ‘And their boat, the one Ivor had stashed at Lyrawa, got holed in rough seas against the rocks at the south end of the island when Kris brought Rachael back.’

‘How long have you known they were here?’ Jo demanded.

‘Since I visited Mackie yesterday.’

‘You attacked Mackie?’ Jo said angrily.

‘What?’ Hugh halted suddenly in his stride.

‘An intruder attacked Mackie. Left him unconscious and took his mobile.’

Watching his expression as she said this, Jo read it as completely shocked. Then it turned to anger. ‘The bastard,’ he muttered. ‘The stupid bastard. I told him it had to end. All of it.’

‘Told who?’ Ivan demanded

‘It’s his fault my girl’s dead. My stupid brother’s fault. All of this.’ He was upping his pace. Not yet answering the question, he told them instead that the lass wasn’t well. ‘She’s bleeding and should be in the hospital.’

‘The baby?’ Jo said, immediately concerned.

‘We should have brought theAngelup closer to the lighthouse,’ Ivan said.

‘It’s too rocky there,’ Ethan told him. ‘We’ll carry the lassie back between us.’

As they approached the lighthouse, the door opened a little and a male appeared.

Jo took in the image of Kris Mowat, dark-haired, young and slightly built, and felt joy that he was alive.

‘Take me to Rachael,’ Jo said. ‘She told me about the baby.’

Now she could see how pale and worried he was at what he thought was happening.

Rachael was sitting on a blanket on the floor. In the dawn light streaming in at the now open door, Jo could see that her face was even whiter than Kris’s.

Kneeling down beside her, Jo took hold of her ice-cold hand.

‘Is there much blood?’ she said.

Rachael shook her head. ‘Only a little.’

‘Pains?’ Jo asked.