Something in the Water

Back home, Erin and Mark resume their lives, preparing for the wedding and looking into how to sell the diamonds. They get a call from Mark’s mother one night, who tells them a couple at their Bora Bora hotel (the Sharpes) was killed in a scuba diving accident. There were “no signs of foul play” (181), but the timing and circumstances seem too suspicious to be a coincidence.

Mark rationalizes how it couldn’t possibly be murder, but Erin isn’t convinced. She asks how the murderers would know to look for a British couple, and Mark reveals he told one of the hotel employees the bag belonged to the Sharpes in a moment of panic. Mark’s now sure no one is looking for them anymore, but Erin doesn’t believe that either. She knows deep down “they are still looking for us” (186).

Erin goes for Holli’s follow-up interview. The Sharpes and death intrude on her thoughts, but Erin resolves to stick to the “plan to carry on like normal” (187). At Holli’s place, Erin meets Michelle Byford, Holli’s mother. Holli disappeared yesterday, and Detective Chief Inspector Foster (Andy), the detective working Holli’s case, believes she is involved in counterterrorism in Syria.