She turned to swim back out, but a dark shadow swam past the window. A shark. It wasn’t large, only about eight feet long, but it was a tiger shark. Fast and dangerous. She glanced at her air again. Another five minutes had eked away. She had to go out there and hope to chase it off. Staying in here would mean Joe could be drowning right this minute.
Holding the metal at the ready like a baseball bat, she swam back through the opening into the sea. The shark’s tail was toward her, and it hadn’t noticed she was nearby. She prayed it would keep on swimming away.
She gazed past it to the sunken sailboat. If she stayed on the other side, maybe the shark wouldn’t notice her. The closest path to the other side was through the windows, so she forced herself back into the subway car, swam to the other side, and wiggled out of a tighter window. Kicking her fins with all her strength, she swam as fast as she could back to the sailboat.
The shark hadn’t reappeared, and she prayed feverishly it wouldn’t as she used the metal to pry at the coral and fiberglass. It resisted her efforts, but she gritted her teeth and went at it even harder.
It sank into the fiberglass and she gave a mighty yank on it. It splintered away a large hole, big enough for her to put her arm through. With a hole to work on, she chipped away a larger and larger area until she thought it was big enough for Joe to get out.
Why wasn’t he coming?
She cautiously poked her head into the hull and saw him floating a few feet away. No bubbles emanated from his reg, and his eyes were wide. She kicked her fins and got inside, then zoomed to him. She grabbed the spare octopus from her BCD and yanked out his mouthpiece, then put her octopus in his mouth.
He took several breaths, and his color began to improve. He gave her a thumbs-up and a shaky smile.
Swimming close together, they reached the escape hole, but one of them would have to go first. Joe let go of the octopus and gestured for her to get out. She quickly wiggled through the hole and held the octopus at the ready for him. He was right behind her, but the hole was a bit small for him, and he had to wiggle hard to get through. A thin line of blood on his shoulder seeped where he’d scraped it. He reached her and grabbed for more air.
After two breaths, his gaze went past her, and a flurry of bubbles floated around his face as he pointed. She turned to look.
The shark. It was coming for them like a gray bullet.
Chapter 21
The tiger shark must have gotten a whiff of the blood oozing from Joe’s shoulder.
The shark darted toward them, then veered away at the last minute. Joe slapped his hand over the scrape, but that wouldn’t deter the shark. He dragged in more air, and his strength began to return after his near miss with death.
Torie’s eyes were wide behind her mask, and he gestured for her to back up as far as the octopus apparatus that connected them would let her. She shook her head and brandished the metal she’d used to pry him free.
He grabbed it, taking comfort in its sturdiness, as he waited for the shark’s next attack. It wasn’t long in coming, and this time the gray form stayed zoned in on him. When the fish was in jabbing distance, he thrust the sharpest point of the metal at its gill on Joe’s right side, then jabbed again at its eye. It veered off, leaving a trail of blood in its wake.
Knowing that might not deter it for long, Joe jabbed upward with his thumb. She nodded, and they began to ascend to the surface. He kept a wary eye out for another attack from the shark, but there was no sign of it when his head finally broke water.
He pulled out his mouthpiece and drew in the most wonderful salty air. “There’s the boat.” He pointed a hundred feet away. “We’ll never see the shark coming from up here. Let’s get aboard as fast as we can.”
Something bumped his leg and he jerked, expecting to feel shark teeth, but Simon’s sleek head peeked up out of the water. “Stick with me, buddy.”
She removed her mouthpiece. “Maybe Simon will protect us from the shark. You tow me while I breathe through the snorkel and watch for the shark.”
A surge of adrenaline shot through him. “Good idea.”
She slid on her snorkel and put her mask in the water, then took the metal in one hand and grabbed his ankle in the other. He pulled her through the waves as fast as he could. Her grip on him didn’t falter so he assumed she saw no sign of their toothy attacker.
They had almost reached the boat’s ladder when her grip went rigid, and she came up sputtering. “It’s coming! Simon is swimming toward it.”
He took the metal from her, then slid on his snorkel. “Get aboard the boat!” He submerged and watched the shark slice toward them as if it was determined for revenge. The sea lion zoomed to drive it off, but the shark swam past.
Joe’s heart thumped against his rib cage as he waited for its next strike. Its eye was a little squinty, but he clearly hadn’t done enough damage. He held the metal like a javelin. His strength had surged back the more air he’d taken in, and he was ready to fend it off this time. To kill it if he could.
The shark’s formidable serrated teeth came at him, but he thrust the metal squarely in the tiger’s eye. Blood spurted from the wound and fanned out in a red haze around the shark. It would be sure to attract more predators. It went limp and begin to sink toward the bottom. Without waiting for another bullet shape to appear, he kicked for the surface, then swam for all he was worth to the boat.
Aboard the boat, Torie urged him on, “Hurry! There’s blood in the water.”
His legs were tired from kicking, but he unleashed an extra spurt of speed as she screamed, “I see fins!”
His hand slapped against the metal of the ladder, and he hauled himself aboard as something bumped his thigh from under the water. He scrambled up the rungs and fell onto the deck, then ripped off his mask and snorkel to draw in the freshest breath he’d ever had.
Torie was beside him in the next moment. “Are you all right?”
“I think so.” He touched the spot on his leg where he’d been hit. No cuts. “Something tested my leg to see if it wanted to take a bite, but I got up the ladder in time. Someone planted a small explosive on the hull of the sailboat. The collapse was no accident.”
Her mouth trembled, and she bit down on her lower lip. “You saw a diver?”
“Yeah. Simon took off after him just as it exploded. This doesn’t make any sense.”
She leaned down and pulled his head over and cradled him in her arms. She pressed her cool lips against his in a fierce kiss that was much too short. He wrapped his arms around her, but she pulled away before he had a chance to really respond.
Her braid was coming loose around her face, and she pushed a loose strand out of her eyes. “When I thought you might die, I realized how wrong I was to try to protect myself from feeling anything for you. It was too late anyway.”
Too late? Was she saying what he thought she was saying?
Her brown eyes searched his. “I have told myself for years it’s better to be alone, better to be footloose and free to do what I wanted. Better to be in control of my own destiny. I tried to believe I wasn’t lonely—that a life like that was exactly what I wanted. But when I imagined you taking your last breath trapped in the hull, I couldn’t stand it.”
Tears pooled in her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. “It’s funny how we deceive ourselves. Talking to Hailey yesterday made me realize I have a problem with lack of trust. Ever since my mom died, I don’t trust anyone to stay with me. I don’t trust God. I don’t even believe my dad won’t ever leave. But what kind of life is that?”