A/N: This chapter picks up straight away from the last one.
Disclaimer: The usual...
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"Petty Officer Mulholland, how do you know Mr and Mrs Andrews?"
Dylan looked at the two police officers with neutral expression and answered. "I met Mr Andrews for the first time about 3 weeks ago at a café on the marina. Mrs Andrews and I first met probably 5 years ago in Sydney."
"Right. Was there history between Mrs Andrews and yourself?" Officer Smith continued the line of questioning started by his partner.
"Yes, we were in a romantic relationship for about 2 years before she broke up with me around 2.5 years ago."
"Was the break-up amicable?"
"Yes, she broke up with me via email. I was serving with HMAS Newcastle in the gulf at the time."
"Email? That was rough. How did you feel about that?"
Dylan shrugged. "I was upset, but there is nothing I could do about it."
"You didn't seek her out upon your return to Australia?"
"No."
"You didn't try to contact her at all?"
"No. 3 weeks ago was the first time I saw her again."
"Would you be willing to grant us permission to check your phone records?"
At this point, Swain interjected. "Do you have warrant for that Officer?"
"Not yet, but PO Mulholland has nothing to hide, right?" Officer Purcell looked at Dylan pointedly.
Dylan stared back at the Officer defiantly, "No, you can have it."
"Thank you. You don't mind submitting your fingerprint as well then?" Officer Purcell pressed on.
Swain interjected again, this time with more authority in his voice, "Officer, you said before that you have a few questions for PO Mulholland, but you have not given us any indication as to why you are seeking to question him in the first place and how he is supposedly related to the incident a week ago. Submission of fingerprints is a step too far at this point."
Annoyed at the interruption, Officer Purcell's tone turned sharp. "Mr Andrews died of carbon-monoxide poisoning. We believe that his oxygen tank was tampered with. There were unrecognised fingerprints on the tanks, so we are seeking some samples."
"But that still doesn't explain why you are asking for PO Mulholland's fingerprints specifically." Swain replied just as sharp. "Why not ask for all the recovery parties' fingerprints including myself and the XO's?"
"Because Mrs Andrews alleges that PO Mulholland had stalked her, made unwanted advances towards her during the ship's tour, was physically hostile towards her husband during the diving trip and quite possibly the one who tampered with the tank." Officer Smith finally dropped the bombshell.
Dylan stared at the two officers in shock. "What? You guys must be joking!"
The faces in the room excluding the two police officers mirrored Dylan's expression.
"What do you say to that allegation Petty Officer?"
"Absolutely not true." Dylan's shock quickly turned to anger at the fact that Laurel had made those allegations. "I've been sailing continuously during the last 3 weeks after that café meeting and the diving trip, except a few hours of leave here and there. When would I have the time to stalk her or tamper with the tank? I wasn't alone on that diving trip either, 2Dads was there with me."
"2Dads?" Officer Purcell interrupted.
"Leading Seaman Kosov-Meyer." Swain offered.
"OK, and he witnessed this alleged physical hostility towards Mr Andrews?" Officer Smith continued.
"There was no physical altercation. Don and I were having an argument about the safety of the equipment that he was using, especially the winch that was jammed when 2Dads was in the shark cage underwater. Let's just say that Don wasn't very happy with me and tried to swing his fist at me, but I simply stepped away and ignored him." Dylan countered.
"And the unwanted advances?" Officer Purcell pressed further.
"I was giving her the tour of the cabin when she told me about her husband being abusive towards her. I comforted her and she kissed me and I pushed her away."
"Is there anyone that can corroborate your version of the story?"
Dylan laughed bitterly. "Of course not. We were alone in that cabin."
"What about this abuse that she told you about?"
"She showed me the bruises on her neck and shoulder."
"OK, anywhere else on her body?"
Dylan was now enraged, "I don't know! Look, she gave me a USB stick containing evidence of abuse. Maybe you should have a look at that."
"Do you still have this USB stick?"
"Yes, it's in my cabin."
"Can someone grab that USB stick and we can all examine the content together here?" Officer Smith asked the room.
"Technically, you need a warrant for that." Swain commented.
"It's OK Swain. Let's just get this over with." Dylan sighed. "It's in my desk drawer. You know which one."
"Are you sure mate?"
"Yes." Dylan said. However, he then remembered Kate's warning about the item and he now prayed to whomever was listening that the content was what Laurel had said it was and not something else.
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Kate had never felt more awful for being right than now as everybody was shown the content of the USB. Pictures after pictures of bikini-clad Laurel Andrews on her yacht taken by what appeared to be a long lens camera greeted them all.
"Well, Petty Officer, what do you have to say for yourself?" Officer Purcell looked at Dylan smugly.
"I don't know anything about those pictures." Dylan said quietly. His eyes met Kate' sympathetic one as he struggled to hold his composure at the deception.
"I think we should continue this questioning at the police station. We've seen enough here." Officer Smith finally concluded.
"Hold on Officers. PO Mulholland is entitled to legal representation during questioning." Swain interjected one last time. "You will have to wait until we can secure one from Navcom before bringing him in for questioning."
"How would we know that he wouldn't run away in the meantime?"
"Officers, as CO of this ship, I give you my word that PO Mulholland will attend your questioning." Mike stated firmly. "All we ask is that you give him time to secure his right for legal representation."
The two officers looked at each other before finally relenting. "Alright. We will be back in the afternoon. Keep us posted."
As soon as the two officers were escorted off the ship by Swain, Dylan took off from ship's office. Kate followed him almost immediately. Mike was thinking of following them when RO approached Mike once more. "Sir, Navcom for you."
Mike sighed, "Sure. Put it through to my cabin please RO."
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Dylan opened the door to his cabin angrily and let out a string of swear words inside the empty cabin to let his anger out. The anger went as quickly as it came, leaving him in a state of devastation and disbelief at the turn of event. He then sat down on the floor, rested his head against the frame of the bunk bed and closed his eyes.
He took a few deep breaths to calm himself down. He knew that the evidence was circumstantial at best and he would be cleared eventually. But to be at the wrong end of an investigation when he knew he had nothing to do with the crime in the first place felt surreal.
He slowly opened his eyes when he felt someone was sitting next to him on the floor.
"I'm sorry."
His eyes met Kate's apologetic eyes and he smiled sadly. "Looks like you're right, X."
"I was hoping for the opposite actually."
"I am a fool."
"No." Kate looked at him seriously. "You believed her straight away. That's good. That's admirable. On average, men hold a degree of scepticism when women tell them their abuse or assault stories. But you didn't. You listened and you cared. Don't lose those traits just because one woman took advantage of it and threw you under a bus."
The believe that he saw in her eyes made him almost planted a kiss on her lips right there and then. But he settled instead with bumping his shoulder to hers gently and ensuring their shoulder stayed in contact from then on. "Was that even true, you think? The abuse?"
Kate shrugged, "maybe. Maybe he really was abusive. And this was her way to get away from it."
"Why dragged me into it? Why go into the trouble of arranging a trip to Cairns, Hammersley's tour, inviting us to a dive trip?"
"I don't know. But whatever her reason, this would have been set in motion long before we even met them at that café three weeks ago."
"Life insurance fraud?"
"Could be."
He sighed, "I need to speak to her. Maybe I could get her to retract her report."
"No. Please don't." Kate pleaded. "That would only make things worse."
"But I can't just sit here and do nothing. Plus, those police officers have made up their mind about me, X. They are putting me on trial now."
"They would have to examine those USB forensically. The time stamp on those photos alone could provide clues as to when those were taken. If you were sailing at sea or someone could corroborate your whereabout during those times, then they would have no choice but to rule you out as suspect. You just need to trust the process Dutchy."
He grinned at her logic, "you could be my lawyer, X."
She grinned back, "no, you need someone with an actual degree, not someone who just watch too much CSI."
The sound of someone clearing their throat broke their moment.
Kate and Dylan looked up to find their CO stared at them quietly.
"Sir." They both said in unison, unconsciously moving away from each other.
"X, Commander White would like a meeting with both of us at Navcom now."
"Of course, Sir."
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"Mike, why is this the first time I am hearing that you went to the Fleet Command?"
"I thought it was only right that I informed them as soon as possible that I had changed my mind about accepting my 12 months order at Hammersley."
"And you didn't think of just giving me a courtesy phone call first?"
Mike smiled sheepishly, "sorry Max, I really was in a hurry at that time."
"And why is that?" Maxine raised her eyebrows at his excuse.
"As I said, I think they needed to be informed straight away."
"Mike!" Maxine couldn't help but raise her voice this time. "I just got a phone call from Commodore Reynolds, who by the way was not impressed that you reneged on your previous acceptance, asking me whether there was something going on between you and Lieutenant McGregor because he found it odd that a CO of a ship was insisting on going on shore posting while also pushing for his female XO to take over his sea posting."
Mike replied with stony face, "and what did you say?"
"What did you think I say?"
Mike stayed quiet this time, preferring to just wait until Maxine answered her own question.
"There is nothing going on Ma'am." Kate opened her mouth for the first time since they had started this conversation.
Maxine looked at Kate's pale face and sighed at the hint of distress that she could see in the other woman's eyes.
"Kate, I need to know if you encouraged Commander Flynn to go to Fleet Command on your behalf 3 weeks ago?"
"Max!"
Maxine lifted her index finger and signalled for Mike to stay quiet. "Kate?"
"No, Ma'am." Kate shook her head to emphasise her answer, "Commander Flynn only mentioned it after the fact."
"Thank you." Maxine then directed her stare to Mike again. "I said to Commodore Reynolds that I don't know anything. But then he encouraged, or ordered really, that I found out for certain and report back to him." She paused before looking at Mike sternly, "so, what should I report back to him Mike?"
Mike tried to catch Kate's eyes to gauge her reaction, but she stubbornly refused to meet his eyes and instead stared at her hands that was holding her hat tightly.
"Keep in mind Mike, your answer could affect both of your career and reputation, but especially Kate's."
"Come on Max, that's not fair! Regardless of whether there was anything going on between us personally, Kate is an excellent officer, she deserves that promotion!"
"I know that, Mike! But you must understand, while women's participation in the defence force had increased to 18% this year, this is still a male-dominated profession, especially at the top level! For Kate to really advance in her career, she has to remain above board." Maxine sighed. "I don't like it, I wish I could change it, but unless there are more women at the top level, this was the reality that women in defence force have to face."
Mike sat back in his chair and closed his eyes briefly as he realised the consequences of his rushed action.
"Look," Maxine leaned forward and joined her hands on the table. "I don't want to know the details. I don't want to know what's going on between you two. But I think you both really need to discuss what would you both like to do in relation to your immediate future, professionally and personally. Once you figure that out, you need to let me know the professional one so that I can tailor my answer to Commodore Reynolds accordingly. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Ma'am."
"Sure Max."
"Very well, dismissed."
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"X! X!"
2Dads' voice forced Kate to halt her steps on the way to the lower deck and to the safety of her cabin. "What is it, 2Dads?"
"It's about Dutchy. He's gone."
"What?" Kate looked at 2Dads incredulously. "I asked you to look out for him!"
"I know X and I'm sorry. I was showing him the diving video when I got called by Charge to help with some wiring in the engine room. When I finished, I came back to the senior mess and he was gone."
"Any idea as to where he is now?"
2Dads shook his head.
Kate took a few deep breaths to focus her mind. The meeting with Commander White had shaken her to the core and she was hoping that she could take a breather for a few minutes in her cabin before finding Dylan and seeing how he was holding up. But now he was gone, and they needed to find him before those police officers came back.
"OK, he must have seen something in the diving video then. Did you check whether he paused the video at a point? Maybe we could try and see what he was seeing?"
"Good idea X. I'll check that now." 2Dads turned back to the direction of the senior mess, leaving Kate to continue her journey to her cabin to change to her DPNU.
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"Sir, the legal officer from Navcom has arrived." RO popped his head into the CO's cabin.
"Alright. Can you fetch Dutchy to the ship's office please? And call the two police officers."
"That would be impossible Sir." RO answered in a very deadpanned way of his. "Dutchy left on his bike about 30 minutes ago."
"What? Why did no one stop him?" Mike looked at Robert in disbelief.
"Swain & Charge were busy Sir, so there were only junior sailors around. And when Dutchy's face was scary like that, usually the X is the go-to-person to deal with him. But she went to Navcom with you. So…." RO shrugged.
Mike shook his head in frustration. The day just got worse and worse.
"Very well. Hold off in calling the two police officers. Escort the legal officer to the wardroom and make sure he or she is comfortable. Fetch Swain and get him to brief the officer. I'll find the X."
"Sir."
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"This is where the video was paused X."
Kate scrutinised the laptop screen in front of her. It paused at the shot of the insides of the Andrews' yacht. "I thought all the feeds were from underwater?"
"Most of them, but in between dives I got curious and had a look around while the others were busy." 2Dads then played and paused the video a couple of times backwards and forwards to try to see what had made Dutchy bolted from the ship.
"Stop there." Kate squinted at the brief shot of the paper lying around a desk. "Is it possible for you to make it bigger? I want to see the logo on that paper."
"OK hang on a second X."
Kate looked on as 2Dads did some tricks that she couldn't even pretend to understand. A few minutes later, the logo was now visible, albeit a little blurry. But since it was a very well-known insurance company logo, it was still recognisable.
"Do you think it's a life insurance papers, X?"
"Maybe... but this is a big company, so it could be selling all kinds of insurance." Kate then gestured for 2Dads to start the video again. After a few more seconds, the video showed an opened beach bag lying on the corner of the cabin.
"Hang on. Is that a camera inside that bag?"
2Dads stopped the video again and did the same trick with the papers to zoom in the inside of the bag.
"It looks like it, X. A fancy one too by the shape of it."
"The type that can zoom very far or can have long lens attached to it?"
2Dads nodded. "Most likely."
"Come with me, we need to tell the CO."
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"Sir, harbour master said that the Calypso 2 left the port about 10 minutes ago."
"Thanks RO." Mike stared at Kate questioningly. "Are you sure about this X?"
"I'm not." Kate stared back with worried eyes. "But Dutchy hasn't been answering his mobile and the only clue as to his whereabout is the fact that he was watching the video before he left. I really believe that he was trying to look for evidence that could prove his innocence. And he must have thought that it would be at the yacht based on the clues in the video that I showed you."
"Or, he could've just let off some steam at some pubs somewhere X. We could have chased the yacht for nothing and caused even bigger trouble if Mrs Andrews felt that we were intimidating her."
"Or, we could end up saving his life if it turned out he was really there and currently at the mercy of a woman who might have killed her husband already!" Kate argued back, refusing to back down on her gut feeling that Dylan was currently in danger.
Mike sighed. "Fine. I'll get permission from Navcom to sail without him." He then nodded curtly to her. "Mobilise for sea, X. We're going after the yacht."
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Dylan woke up from his restless slumber to feel a searing pain at the back of his skull. He groaned and lifted his hand to feel his head for any wound. He could feel a nasty bump and tenderness at the back of his head and also a bit of wetness which turned out to be blood. He also felt really disoriented and a little bit nauseous. Hence, it took him a good 5 minutes to realise that he was sitting inside a cage, a shark cage to be exact, suspended a few meters above the water. That was when he started to panic.
"Sleeping beauty is finally awake."
His head snapped to the direction of the voice to find Laurel sitting on the back deck of the yacht, watching him with a small smile.
"Laurel, let me out!" He shook the bar of the cage slightly to test its strength.
"You know I can't do that. If you would just stay put and cooperate with the police instead of poking around where you don't belong, you wouldn't be in that cage. This is your own doing, Dylan."
Dylan stared at the woman he used to care about, wondering how someone could change so drastically in a few years. "What happened to you Laurel? You were not like this. You were a bit spoilt for sure, but you were kind, you cared for others!"
"Shut up!" Fury blazed in Laurel's eyes. "You were not there Dylan. You left me alone. My Dad died while you were away and left my family broke and in debt. And Don, he offered to bail us out, but only if I married him. I had no choice."
"Laurel, I didn't know. You never told me this. You just sent me a break-up email!"
She ignored him. "I begged you not to leave me before then. I begged you to refuse your second rotation to the gulf and stay in the country. But you didn't. You left!"
He tried once more to reason with her. "I couldn't have known about what was going to happen with your Dad, besides, the Navy is my job, I couldn't possibly refuse an order without a valid reason."
She sneered at him. "You and your sense of duty. You were fighting in a war that had nothing to do with our lives here. Was the medal you got at the end worth it?"
"You have no idea what I've gone through over there. I've lost people that I cared about too!"
For a few seconds they were in a stalemate. Both stared at each other in anger.
Realising that angering Laurel would not help his cause, Dylan then tried to calm himself by regulating his breathing. He then tried reasoning with her again. "Laurel, please. It's not too late to tell your side of the story to the cops. They would take into consideration the fact that he abused you. You can stop this now, before it gets out of hand even further."
"We will be in international waters in an hour Dylan. I would finally be free and six million dollars richer. Why should I trust a broken justice system that had always protected disgusting men like Don?" She challenged him.
"Laurel, you won't get away with this. Hammersley will be looking for me now. Even if you crossed the international waters, you would be in the Interpol list, you would be on a run forever, always looking back over your shoulder. Is that the kind of life that you want?"
"I think her life will be better without men trying to control her." Another woman's voice joined the fray and Dylan looked at the newcomer in surprise.
Laurel smiled at the other woman before entwining their fingers together as she joined Laurel and sat on the deck as well. "Dylan, meet Marie, my girlfriend and photography extraordinaire. The photos on that USB are her masterpiece."
Dylan closed his eyes as he contemplated the reality that he was experiencing right now. He should have listened to Kate before. He had faith that Hammersley would eventually catch up with the yacht once they realised what was going on. But he wasn't sure whether they would be on time.
"My love, I think it's time." Marie's voice sent chills to Dylan's spine.
Laurel nodded before getting up and starting the winch mechanism to lower the cage underwater. "Goodbye, Dylan."
"Laurel No!" Dylan started to push and kick the bars as he could see that the cage was slowly lowered.
No sooner than the lower part of the cage touched the water, he heard a welcomed sound.
"Calypso 2, this is Australian warship Hammersley, you either stop or heave to, we intend to board you!"
Laurel and Marie looked up in alarmed at the sight of the 270 tonnes warship hovering just under the horizon. Marie then pressed the button to increase the speed of the mechanism and a few minutes later, the water now reached his waist.
Dylan willed the Boarding parties to deploy as quickly as possible, but he also knew that this would be an awfully close call. As the water reached his chest, he focused on staying calm. He then took a deep breath a few seconds before the cage submerged underwater. As his world turned into shades of blue, he hoped that the team were prepared for underwater rescue.
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"X, the cage is now completely underwater!"
Kate's anxiety rose even further at Charge's observation through the binocular. The yacht was still a few hundred meters ahead, but she knew that the RHIBs was already at top speed. So, she focused on a plan of action instead. "2Dads, once we reached the yacht, dive underwater as soon as possible and give the pony bottle to Dutchy. If he was already unconscious, try to open the cage from your end. We will try to reverse the winch and pull the cage back up from above too. Is that understood?"
"Yes, Ma'am."
"X, it looks like the winch jammed again." Charge continued his report. "Hang on, what are they doing?"
"They are cutting the ropes." Swain observed grimly from his own binocular.
Kate stayed quiet for the rest of the journey, simply praying to any deity up there that they wouldn't be too late.
As she stepped onto the yacht, she beelined for the woman at the heart of the situation and aimed her browning. "Step away from the winch, Mrs Andrews."
Her crews followed her and shortly, Laurel and Marie were both apprehended.
Once both suspects were secured in cuffs under the watchful eyes of RO and Flick, Kate barked orders to Charge and Swain to try fixing the winch while she observed the water for any sign of 2Dads.
"We are screwed X. The winch is jammed, and the ropes are now ¾ of the way cut, so we can't pull it up manually like before. If we pulled it, the ropes might break, and the cage would sink to the bottom!" Charge's desperate voice sent Kate's heart to the bottom of her stomach.
It was at this point that 2Dads broke to the surface of the water, dragging Dylan's unconscious body up. Seeing his struggle, the rest of the crews quickly pulled Dylan out of the water. And without the weight of another person, 2Dads was now able to pull himself up to the yacht.
Swain took over immediately, positioning Dylan's head to the side so that water could drain off his nose and mouth. He then checked for pulse. Finding none, he started CPR straight away while the others were waiting with baited breath.
Thankfully after two rounds, Dylan finally took his breath and then coughed up the water still in his airways.
Kate released a shaky breath that she had been holding; her hands shook slightly as she cupped Dylan's cheeks and asked urgently, "Are you alright?"
Dylan nodded weakly before resting his hand on top of hers and squeezed tight.
A round of pats and back claps ensued from all the boarding crews to both 2Dads and Dylan as they acknowledged their collective efforts had prevailed once more, albeit with a much narrower margin than they would have liked it to be.
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To be continued...