Chapter Twenty-Four

"Cassie!"

"Cassie!"

"Cass?"

Cassie ignores them all as she runs as fast as she can from 2Dads' flat. There is no destination in mind - no location or idea or plan. Just her pounding footsteps slapping the pavement in time with Sharni's words echoing over and over in her head. His name was Mike. Mike Flynn. Mike. Mike Flynn.

Her shoulder is agony, but she can't stop. Can't stop to think. Pain feels good. Physical pain feels better than… than whatever this is filling her up.

Mike. Mike Flynn.

"No!" She shouts, sinking to the ground. Sand beneath her knees. She's reached the beach. "No!"

Rage fills her, like it has never done before. Hot, angry tears fill her eyes. She needs to hit, to punch and slap and kick and...

It was him all along. Him, that had known exactly what was going on behind the photographs. Him, who had taken a bribe from Logan. Who had... who had been responsible for all those deaths.

Just when she was starting to trust him. Just when she was beginning to think of him as...

Dad.

"He's not." She says to the crashing waves. Louder. "He's not! He's nothing! I hate him!"

"Guys, we have a problem." Zach doesn't even bother with a greeting as he pushes 2Dads' flat door open. "We…" He catches sight of the looks on everyone's faces, at Nora's tear stained cheeks, at 2Dads' stony glare, at Maxine's white pallor. "What's happened?"

No one answers him, and his brain ticks over, imagining all the horrible scenarios. Kate's dead. Mike's dead. Shit… where's Cass? Please… she has to be okay. I promised-

"Mike's a part of this." It's Nora who breaks the silence, Nora who voices the accusation, the sentence.

Immediately, Lewis shakes his head, taking a step closer to his granddaughter and placing an arthritis-ridden hand on her shoulder. "Nora, you can't think like that. He…"

"It makes sense." Maxine interjects flatly. Lewis' hand falls pathetically to his side once more as he turns to face the blonde. "They'd… they'd been having money problems for a while. When Kate was in hospital before… with Luke-"

"Stop." Lewis instructs curtly. "Enough."

There's obviously a story behind Kate being in hospital before, one that Zach is missing. And the name Luke means nothing to him. But they have other problems, so he leaves it for now, turning to look Lewis squarely in the eye before he pulls down his world.

"Mike confirmed it." Zach murmurs. "I went to see him." Lewis looks away and Logan seeks out Nora, eyes searching for hers, but she keeps her eyes down, fixed squarely on her shoes. Immediately he's filled with regret. He shouldn't have told them in front of the kid. He's just ripped her whole world apart, had just destroyed that last fragment of childhood innocence inside of her.

"Who's Luke?" Bomber breaks the silence that fills the room.

2Dads' shifts uncomfortably, and Lewis shakes his head sadly. Zach is glad someone else asked; at least he's not the only one out of the loop. It's Maxine that seeks out Lewis, who tips his head ever-so-slightly, as if giving his permission, before the blonde woman launches into speech.

"Maybe… two and a half years ago, Kate was in hospital. She was pregnant – her and Mike were expecting a son. But there were complications with the birth and he was born too early… he passed away a couple of hours later." Under her breath, Bomber swears. "They both… well… it was hard on both of them. Kate was in a pretty bad way afterwards… she had to have an emergency hysterectomy." She turns to Lewis. "I don't know much more than that."

"After…" Lewis' voice cracks and he brushes a hand over Nora's hair. "Kate suffered from depression. Her and Mike had... problems. She… when she got the command of Hammersley again she threw herself into it. And Mike… he drank. I guess… hospital bills… home loan. It got to be a lot."

And Zach recalls that night, where he'd leaned across and kissed her. I had a crush on you in high school.

And she'd pulled away and shook her head. I'm not the same.

And he'd said, you're better. Stronger. Commander.

And she shook her head again. I'm not a Commander. I'm a mess. But then she'd kissed him again and again and he couldn't tell whether she was trying to kiss away the word or whether she was trying to prove it right. Mess. Mess.

"Where's Cass?" He croaks, breaking the sober silence and looking around the room as if expecting to see her rise from behind the lounge. "Where is she?"

"She ran." Nora mumbles, one hand pointing out the door. No one stops him as he walks out again.

He finds her at the beach, standing on the smooth wet sand, kicking gouges into it with her trainers. She doesn't look around when he approaches, but he sees her hands curl into fists.

"You know? About Mike?" She accuses. Another kick. Another deep gouge in the sand. Underground water floods it almost immediately.

"I didn't." He murmurs, watching the wet sand dripping from her shoe laces. "But now I do."

She gives a shaky laugh. It's empty, hollow. "It's all lies. All of it. He never cared about us."

"He did. He does." Zach isn't quite sure why he's defending Mike. Neither, it seems, is Cassie.

"He works for them, Zach." She turns around to face him, with such a purely Kate look on her face. "Did you love her?"

"No." He answers honestly, and sees the anger flash behind Cassie's eyes. He hastens to continue. "I care for her. But… I love my wife."

Cassie scoffs and turns away from him again, her red hair flashing in the dying light. "But you cheated on your wife. Mum cheated on Mike! They were married and-"

"Marriage isn't a solution. It doesn't fix everything."

"You think I don't know that?" Cassie jabs a hand in the direction of the harbour where the Navy boats are docked. "You think I didn't see how much Mike hurt her? Every day? Every dinner he blew off to drink at the pub with workmates. Every time he left for patrol. I saw it. So she got revenge."

He shakes his head, even though she's not looking. "It wasn't about revenge. There wasn't a plan. There is no justification. We're just two adults who made a bad choice that hurt a lot of people."

Cassie looks up, eyes flashing dangerously. "I don't get this. I don't get why you're here. If you didn't hate Mike, and if you didn't love Kate, then-"

He cuts off her rant. "I'm here because I care about Kate. And I made a promise to her that I would look after you."

"Look after me?!"

"Yes. You're… you're too much like her. Stubborn. Throwing yourself into the fight before the fists have stopped flying."

"I don't need your help. I don't need anyone."

"Okay." Zach nods. "Let's say for a moment that I believe you. That's great. But… people need you. Nora needs you. Tess and Lewis. Mike and Kate. They need you. So… come back. Please." He's sure that she'll refuse. That she'll run up the beach and do something stupid. But a moment later she sinks her knees into the wet sand, angry tears spilling down her cheeks.

"Why did he do it?" Cassie cries. "Mike! Why? Why is he saying- why?! I don't get it!"

And there's nothing that Zach can do except sit beside her, sea water seeping into his own clothing as he lets her cry.