Zoe awoke to the ringing phone, rattling windows and the steady drum of rain on the roof. For a moment she was back in Sydney, fighting from a fog of sleep, dreading the routine of the engineering library that awaited her. She stretched like a cat, remembering.
It was Quinn’s voice on the phone. ‘Good morning, gorgeous.’ She smiled and checked the time. Six o’clock on a Sunday morning. He was keen. ‘Is Josh there?’
‘Josh?’ It wasn’t what she’d expected him to say. ‘I don’t think so. Let me check.’ She got out of bed and did a quick sweep of the shack. ‘No. He’s not home then?’
‘No.’
‘Has he gone riding?’
‘Horses are all in their paddocks.’ There was an edge of real concern in Quinn’s voice. ‘My jeep’s missing.’
A knock came at the door. ‘Wait,’ she said. ‘That could be him now.’
Not Josh, but Leo on the doorstep, almost blown away by the wind. ‘I don’t suppose Bridget’s here?’
She shook her head. ‘It’s not him,’ she told Quinn. ‘It’s Leo. Should I come over?’
‘No, I’ll come there. Josh is probably somewhere at the centre. See you in a few minutes.’
Zoe put down the phone. Leo had let himself in and was sitting at the kitchen table, his shoulders folded. He didn’t look like he was going anywhere. ‘Why don’t you put on the kettle,’ she said. ‘I’ll have a shower and we can talk.’
Zoe poured the coffees and sat down at the end of the table. She’d expected Quinn to ask for tea instead, but for once he didn’t seem to care. He and Leo sat opposite each other, faces rigid with worry. ‘Have you heard from Bridget?’ Leo asked him. ‘She won’t answer her phone.’
‘It’s not Bridget I’m concerned about.’ Quinn couldn’t disguise the anger in his voice. ‘Now the shit’s hit the fan, she’ll be lying low somewhere. Josh, on the other hand . . .’
‘We’ll search the centre again,’ said Zoe. ‘Maybe he’s hiding somewhere?’
‘I shouldn’t have gone out last night.’ Quinn swigged the hot brew and grimaced. ‘I shouldn’t have gone out.’ His phone rang. Zoe tried to read his face as he listened to the caller, but it betrayed no emotion. ‘I’ll be right there.’ Quinn skulled his coffee and stood up. ‘That was Karen. She found my jeep parked around the back of the centre, and Mirrhi’s gone missing.’
A squally gust of wind drove the rain into the pool at an angle. Echo patrolled the boundaries, occasionally slapping the water with his tail and biting the bars of his gate. It broke Zoe’s heart to see it.
‘I think he’s cracked a tooth,’ said Karen. ‘But he won’t let me near him to find out.’ Karen pulled the hood of her raincoat over her head. ‘Mirrhi was having an ultrasound first thing, so I put her in the veterinary compound overnight. When I got here this morning, the gates to the bay were wide open and she was gone.’
It wasn’t hard to put two and two together. Josh had released Mirrhi, unaware he was putting her in danger. Unlike the much older and tougher Kane, Mirrhi was at great risk from the disease ravaging the bay. Young animals were particularly susceptible to morbillivirus. On top of that, she’d been in captivity for years and would have no immunity to other new pathogens. Exposure to wild dolphins could mean a death sentence. Zoe tried to stay positive. ‘If Mirrhi hangs round the fringe of the Reef Centre she’ll be all right,’ she said. ‘When we find Josh, we’ll have a good chance of getting her back.’
An agitated Quinn arrived with Leo close behind him. ‘We’ve searched the centre,’ he said. ‘No sign of him.’
Karen’s mobile rang. ‘Yes, what’s that? I can hardly hear you.’ The blood drained from her face. ‘Hello? Hello . . . ? Damn, he’s dropped out.’ She turned to the others, pulling her coat tight around her. ‘Archie saw Seafarer in the bay while he was heading home to dodge the storm.’ Karen swallowed hard. ‘A dolphin was following the boat out to sea.’