Rylee sighed deeply. “Alright, let’s get this over with.” She stood, waiting for Maphira and Vai to do the same.
It had been a strange few months, with Rylee mostly focused on recovery from her broken leg. Now that she was on her feet again, she’d been able to rejoin the police force, much to her father’s delight. She’d had to swallow a lot of pride to do that, but her days of being a vigilante were over.
Maphira and Vai stood together, and Rylee couldn’t help but grin at how in sync those two were becoming. Her dream hadn’t come true – the two of them weren’t in an official relationship by any means – but she could see it starting to form. It wouldn’t be an ordinary relationship, but she felt it would work for them, however they decided to do it. Perhaps they weren’t even aware of the connection forming between them, but it was there.
It made Rylee miss Cole that much more.
“You know the plan,” Rylee said to Maphira. “Once we’re done, release him from the boat latch. Let the aluminium tomb sink to the bottom of the ocean. It’s what he would have wanted.”
The aluminium tomb was little more than a ute tray that had been modified by the best shop for marine fabrication Melbourne had to offer. The body of robot Cole rested within. They should have done this earlier, Rylee knew, but she simply hadn’t had the strength. Although she hadn’t loved robot Cole, in a way, she was saying goodbye to the real Cole too, today.
Maphira had told Rylee the truth about what happened to Cole – about how his life had ended on a mission he’d insisted on joining. Maphira had blamed herself for it and, not having the strength to reveal the truth, kept it to herself.
The truth was, Rylee had always known deep down that the story about Cole didn’t add up. But she’d refused to think about it for so long.