The Darkness and the Deep by Aline Templeton

gale into Luce Bay looking for shelter. But they’ve lost power and now with the direction of the wind they’re at risk of being driven on to a lee shore. There’s no hope of putting up a chopper to take them off at the moment, apparently. The coastguards have called out Portpatrick and Stranraer, but it’ll take a while for them to get there round the Mull of Galloway. They want us to go and stand by in case the crew needs taken off before either of the bigger boats arrives.
    ‘I could have refused, I suppose – it’s pretty challenging out there for an inshore boat—’
    ‘Don’t be bloody silly,’ Ashley snapped. ‘We’ve been out in worse than that. What is it – Force 7, gusting 8?’
    ‘I know, I know. It’s just difficult, seeing you go . . .’ He sighed, getting up. ‘Still, that’s the job. The only good thing is that the wind’s forecast to ease down in the next hour or two, if they’ve got it right. But a south-wester – you know how much worse that makes it.’
    Ashley’s pager went off. ‘That’s the call. I’m on my way. We need to talk – I’ll call you tomorrow.’
    ‘Right. Look, I’d better go into the site office on the way past – the coastguard phoned the home number first and Joanna told them that’s where I was. I’ll check in with the girls and pretend to have been moving round between the houses. I hope I can get to the shed before the launch, but if not . . . Ashley, for God’s sake, take care!’ He kissed her, and was aware that she was somewhere else already.
    ‘Naturally,’ she said, and went to the door.
    He called after her, ‘You did say yes, didn’t you?’
    She glanced back over her shoulder, her light blue eyes very bright. ‘Oh, I said yes all right!’
    Ritchie followed her to the door. Her head down, she ran to the car, started the engine and roared off into the darkness. He stood in the rain watching the red tail-lights until they disappeared.
    The Anchor Inn was busy this evening. Katy Anderson loved it when it was like that; it was hard work, of course, but the crack was always good and you got a real laugh. Now she knew so many of the regulars and the local people, it felt a bit like giving a party and being paid for it. It was a great life and sometimes she still couldn’t believe her luck in finding Rob, the sort of good man and loving husband she had once bitterly decided didn’t exist. Glancing along the bar to smile in his direction, she saw that he was coming towards her, looking serious.
    ‘Your car’s parked in front of the garage, isn’t it? Where are the keys?’
    Her smile faded. ‘At the back of the cutlery drawer. Oh, Rob, not a call-out – on a night like this!’
    He took her face in his hands and kissed her. ‘You’re not to worry,’ he said firmly. ‘We know what we’re doing.’ Then he was gone.
    She looked after him, her happy evening ruined. She wouldn’t know a second’s peace of mind until he walked back through that door.
    It opened and he came back in. He was wearing a yellow oilskin jacket and he was scowling. ‘They’re not there. I’ll murder that bloody kid when I get my hands on him. I’ll take mine.’
    Then he was gone again, before she could even frame an apology, make an excuse . . .
    But she didn’t want to make an excuse. She’d made too many excuses for her son in the past and it was time he faced up to the consequences of his actions. She was angry, very angry.
    ‘Can you hang on a wee minute while I make a phone call?’ she asked the elderly fisherman who had been waiting patiently at the bar.
    He smiled sympathetically. ‘Aye, lass, no problem. And don’t you go fashing yourself about Rob – he’s a canny man.’
    She bit her lip and tried to smile. ‘I know that. But it’s a wicked night.’
    ‘Och, I’ve seen worse.’
    She tried to comfort herself with that as she looked at the card by the phone in the corner of the bar and dialled the number of the police