by Michael Cole
“Is anything happening now?” Ryan asked.
“Again, I don’t know,” Sanders said. She watched the bubbling continue for a couple seconds before shrieking in fright once again, witnessing a severed blue tail emerge at the surface. There was no sign of the rest of the shark’s body. Blood leaked from the open wound as the current pulled on the wavy red strands of flesh that hung from the stub.
CHAPTER
5
A large group of islanders crowded East Port as Chief Bondy, Deputy Drake, and Napier examined the shreds of debris on the deck of the deputy police vessel. Deputy Jones stood at the portside railing, still feeling a bit nauseous. Several questions rose from the crowd, mostly obtaining to the bizarre destruction of the boat. Napier knelt down by the pile of wreckage, picking up a piece at a time, looking at it and tossing it to the side. A cold wind kicked up from the north, where a large grey line of clouds formed.
“Of course, weather always gets to make things easier,” Napier said, eyeing the distant storm clouds that approached with the evening hours.
“Yeah, that’s why I was quick to get a hold of the Coast Guard,” Bondy said. “I want that place searched thoroughly before the wind gets a chance to fuck up the scene.”
“What time should they get here?” Deputy Drake asked.
“Inside of an hour,” Bondy answered. “They’re simply sending a three-person unit due to the fact that it’s not considered a huge priority. All they’re doing is looking for a sunken boat whose passengers are assumed to be already dead.” Napier continued looking at each piece of wood and metal, examining the edges of each piece. One particular plate of metal he examined was a fin from the propeller. It was bent horizontally across the middle, as if something had somehow grabbed the object from top to bottom, pulled inwards, and curved it at the center. The pipes that were brought on board had sustained damage that was equally as strange; the ends of each chunk was jagged and bent at the end, indicating that it had somehow been twisted and pulled apart. The several shards of wood gave the obvious impression that the vessel had been ripped apart.
“This is too weird,” Napier said.
“What?” Bondy asked. He knelt down beside the fisherman to look at the debris.
“It’s almost like somebody put this ship in some big-ass grinder,” Napier replied. “I mean, it’s not like this ship had just gotten impaled by some of those rocks. It’s literally shredded; torn apart.”
“What are you getting at?” Deputy Drake asked.
“I don’t know yet,” Napier said. “But I have a hard time believing Hogan simply crashed up against the rocks.”
“Well, remember Rick,” Bondy said, “We don’t have the whole vessel here. These are probably just pieces from where it may have hit the rocks.”
“I’d agree with you, but the really weird thing is that there are pieces from under the boat, the deck, the cabin, the engine, railing… all in this little pile. I mean, unless Harper’s boat got hit by a meteor out there, the debris should only be coming from one general section of the boat,” Napier explained. Bondy picked up a chunk of deck from the pile, looking at both of its sides before placing it down and picking up another piece.
“I guess that is a bit strange,” Deputy Drake said. “What do you think, Chief?”
“Also, there’s that arm that Jones discovered out there,” Napier added. As soon as he finished speaking, the attention of all three was drawn to the sound of Deputy Jones coughing up more vomit over the side of the boat. The reminder of the horrible image he had the misfortune to grasp did not fare well with his stomach. Napier turned his attention back to the Chief. “I don’t like the description he gave us of how mutilated it was.”
“It does seem a bit odd,” Bondy said. “However, I’m not making any quick judgments until the Coast Guard unit looks through the area. Which reminds me; Drake you’re gonna be out there with them tonight.”
“What?” Drake complained, obviously not thrilled about the idea of staying out late.
“You heard what I said,” Bondy continued. “I want someone out there to make sure that the Coast Guard doesn’t get themselves smashed up on the rocks. Think of it as good overtime pay.”
“I don’t give a shit,” Drake said. “I think the Coast Guard people are more than capable of getting the job done themselves. And I really don’t want to see what’s left of Harper’s body.”
“Don’t argue with me,” Bondy said. “I don’t like that they’re only sending a few people on this job. I want an extra person over there to lend a hand. It’s part of your job, Deputy, so don’t argue.” Drake slapped his hand against his leg in frustration as he turned away from the Chief, who stood up from looking through the pile. Napier grinned as he resisted the urge to chuckle at Drake’s reaction to his own misfortune. However, he had known Hogan and did not find the overall situation very funny. Still curious about the circumstances regarding the wreck, he knelt down and pulled another piece of wood from the pile. The top side of the piece of deck was dark brownish from its decay in the water. He flipped it over to look at the bottom side.
“What the hell…” he said to himself. A strange barb-like object was projecting from the corner of the chunk. He flipped it back over, seeing the pointy tip had pierced through the piece of wood. He grabbed the strange barb and twisted it away from the debris. It had a dark-brown color, but its structure was not like any sort of wood. He rubbed his thumb over the object, feeling a rather smooth sensation, but not similar to steel; it was more like a bone. The tip was almost flawlessly pointy and sharp. “Take a look at this, Bondy.”
“What is it?” the Chief asked.
“I have no clue what this is,” he answered. “It was stuck in one of the pieces. It’s kind of… bony.” He handed the object to the Chief.
“Hell, I have no clue what this thing is,” Bondy said, eyeing it. “You are right though; it does seem to be a bit bony, doesn’t it?”
“Doesn’t seem like there’s anything normal about this accident, does there?” Napier commented as he stood to his feet. Suddenly, out of the crowd stepped two men, both dressed decently in jeans and short-sleeve shirts. One had brown hair while the other had a buzz cut. Both appeared to be in their mid-thirties with decent muscular builds.
“Hey, Chief!” the one with the brown hair called out. Chief Bondy turned to give his attention to these two strangers whom he had never seen before.
“Yes? How may I help you two?” He asked politely.
“That incident occurred around Mako’s Edge, am I correct, sir?” the same person asked.
“Yes,” Bondy answered in a flat tone-of-voice. He hated to be interrupted by people who asked questions that had answers that everyone already knew. “And… how may I help you?”
“Well we… well let us introduce ourselves,” the man said. “I’m Nic Kelly and this here is my colleague, David Wellers. We’re scientists and we were planning on doing some diving in the cave inside Mako’s Edge today.”
“Well, I’m sorry, sir,” Bondy said. “Nobody’s going anywhere near that place until the Coast Guard personnel finish their work.” Both of the scientists bit their lips, disliking that their project was being delayed.
“Any idea when that’ll be?” Wellers asked.
“Listen kid, I wish I knew,” Bondy said. “The Guard has some people on their way right now and they’ll be working on bringing up what’s left of Harper’s boat tonight.” Deputy Drake could see that the chief clearly had no interest in these two strangers.
“Listen guys,” Drake said to the scientists after stepping away from the railing he was leaning up on, “odds are, the Guard won’t take very long with their little clean-up operation. It’s likely that they’ll be done by the end of tonight and you guys will be able to do whatever it is you need to do out there by tomorrow morning.”
“Just be careful with your boat out there,” Bondy immediately said in a strict tone-of-voice. “As you can see, we’ve already had
an accident and two fatalities-- two more than anyone obviously wants.”
“Understood, Chief,” Kelly said. Without saying anything else, he and Wellers turned and walked away. Napier grinned after seeing Bondy rolling his eyes.
“What the hell is it with these science freaks?” The chief grumbled. “Are they just attracted to inconvenient timing?”
“I thought they seemed polite enough,” Napier said. “I’m actually a little bit surprised that you’re letting them do their work over there right after a fatal accident took place.” His expression was slightly stern due to the fact that he personally knew Hogan.
“Understand, Rick,” Bondy said, “my authority is only here on Mako’s Center. Unfortunately, I don’t run all of Mako’s Ridge. Believe me, if I had the authority, I would make it illegal for any sailor to travel to that island. But, unless there is a known homicide crime that took place around there, I can’t shut that area down after the Coast Guard finishes their work.” Napier nodded, understanding the chief’s reasoning. “Deputy Drake!” the chief barked like a drill sergeant. Drake nearly jumped as he emerged from his own little world.
“Sorry, sir,” he said. “What do you need?”
“Let's load this wreckage into the police pickup truck and get it back to the office, where we’ll wait for the Guard to contact us,” the Chief instructed. He then looked over at Deputy Jones, who was still hanging over the boat railing, green with nausea. “Yo, Jones!” The sickly deputy slowly turned his head to make eye contact with his superior. His eyes were droopy, and his jaw was slightly hung open.
“Y-yes boss?” He asked. His voice sounded almost as if he was turning into a zombie.
“Take the rest of the day off,” Bondy ordered. “You’re obviously not gonna do me any good the way you are.” Jones made a little smile, expressing his gratefulness.
“I guess you are that cool of a chief,” he responded, speaking in the same sickly manner. His stomach felt like it weighed a hundred pounds.
“Hey Chief, why don’t we grab a couple of burritos with some extra salsa?” Deputy Drake joked, obviously provoking his coworker’s upset stomach. Jones’ eyes widened and leaked water as he spun back around to lean over the railing. He was immediately coughing and gagging, but there was nothing left in him to come up.
“You… ass--asshole,” he moaned painfully. Bondy had to turn away to conceal the fact that he was silently chuckling to Drake’s remark. After a few seconds, he managed to bring himself back under control and eliminate his smirk.
“Alright Drake, knock that off,” he demanded, but almost in a sarcastic tone-of-voice. “Let's get to work on getting this crap out of here.” He glanced towards Napier, who was prepared to leave the law enforcement officers to their job. “Well Rick, I appreciate your help and company today.”
The two shook hands.
“No problem at all,” he said. “Good luck in figuring this out. Good luck to you, Jones!” As he stepped off the Chief’s boat to leave for home, he could see the queasy deputy lift his hand to wave farewell.
********
Water hissed from the kitchen faucet as Jane twisted the warm water knob to fill the sink. Water freefell into the miniature artificial canyon, quickly creating a clear wet layer between the air and the gray marble sink surface. Jane grabbed a triangular shaped plastic bottle, filled with orange dish soap, and pointed it down towards the water. With a light squeeze of the bottle, carroty fluid dripped into the sink, instantly creating bubbling suds that quickly began building up into a mountain shape in the corner. Dishwashing was a chore that Jane didn’t mind doing. The kitchen in which she stood in was a mild mess from the late lunch that had just been finished. A blue tiled counter extended nearly six feet from the sink, stopping just before a hallway that led to another bedroom and a laundry room. The floor was covered in a slightly dirty white tile layout, and in the middle of the kitchen was a wooden table, carved in a perfect square shape.
“You know you don’t have to take care of my dishes,” called a voice from the bedroom in the hallway. Jane didn’t care. Her father had raised her to provide any help she had to offer whenever she would spend time at a friend’s house.
“Greg, I know you’re not going to take care of them,” she said. She quickly heard his bare feet graze the floor as he walked from around the hallway corner into the kitchen. She glanced back over her shoulder to see Greg, dressed in a yellow t-shirt and tan khaki shorts, picking up an empty pizza box from the table and shoving it into a brown trash can near the counter. He was a year older than her, had bushy brown hair, and blue eyes.
“Well there may be a little truth to that,” he chuckled. Jane grabbed some nearby plates and submerged them in the soapy water. She seemed a bit distant as she worked. Greg could tell there was something on her mind. He walked to her right side and leaned against the counter. “Alright, what’s going on in that brain of yours?”
“What do you mean?” Jane asked in a dry tone, expressing the part of her that wanted to avoid this conversation. Greg scoffed at her obviously poor attempt to pretend nothing was wrong. He gently ran a finger through her hair.
“I think you know what I mean,” he said. “You’re worried that your father will find out about us hanging out together and freak out.” Jane sighed and then remained silent as she scrubbed the dishes with the sponge. Greg didn’t have much patience for his girlfriend trying to bore him out of this conversation. He had a tendency to be a bit nosy, as well as critical, about other people’s personal lives.
“I told my dad that I was going to be spending the day at Amanda’s place,” she exclaimed. “I’m getting very uncomfortable with constantly lying to him.”
“Do you honestly think he’ll be that mad when you tell him you’re seeing me? Come on, how bad can it be?” Greg said. He was still leaning on the counter as Jane did all the cleaning. The two of them had only been dating for a month and Jane was already beginning to take issue with the laziness she observed from her secret boyfriend.
“He might-- I don’t know,” she exasperated. “Maybe if you didn’t mouth off to him in school and start fights in his classes, then perhaps this would be a lot easier to bring up to him.”
“Damn, girl,” Greg said. “Look who’s suddenly crabby and willing to point out my flaws.”
“I’m not pointing out your flaws, other than the fact that you were a jerk to my dad when he worked at the school and you don’t ever help me with cleaning your own house when it needs doing,” Jane said. She was easily growing frustrated. She rinsed the suds off the newly clean plates and placed them in a drying rack on a counter to her left. With no more dishes to wash, she reached into the warm water and pulled the metal plug from the bottom of the sink. The soapy water made a gurgling sound as it began to sink into the drain. “It’s just that I know my dad will find out about this sooner or later.” Greg handed her a white towel to dry her hands off.
“Hey, listen babe,” he began, “this was your idea. You told me that you were afraid how your dad would react to you seeing me and I supported your decision. If you want to break the news, then go ahead. I just don’t see what the huge deal is. It’s not like you’re telling him that you’re pregnant or anything.”
“I know,” Jane said. She dried her hands with the towel and set it aside. She walked away from the sink over to the kitchen table and took a seat planting her elbow on the edge of the table and resting her chin on her palm. “I’ll wait a little bit. He’s been wanting me to spend a little more time with him. I’ve been rejecting his offers lately so I could spend more time with you.” Greg shot her a stern look, implying that he felt she was blaming him for her lack of quality time with her father. She didn’t mean it this way and immediately saw his expression. “That’s not what I mean, Greg.” She followed with a light smile.
“I understand,” he said. “However, I’m starting to get the impression that you are starting to regret this relationship.” Jane lit up a romantic smile.
“You know that’s not true,” she chuckled. She got up from the chair, walked up to him, and gave him a warm, affectionate hug. “I have no regrets with you.” Greg smiled and kissed her on the forehead.
“I’m very relieved to hear that,” he said.
“You’re not relieved. You knew very well what the answer was,” she said in a giddy voice. “At least, you’d better have known the answer.” She broke away from the hug and walked past him to grab a glass of juice from the counter.
“Of course I knew the answer. That doesn’t mean I’m not relieved to hear it.” he said. “Guys are more sensitive than you think.” Jane drank what little juice was in the glass.
“I guess you’re proof of that,” she said. She strolled past him, into the hallway. Greg heard his bedroom door open.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“I got to get going,” her voice called from his bedroom. She walked out of the bedroom, holding a couple DVDs that she brought along with her to the house.
“So much for me being sweet, romantic, and sensitive,” he teased. She walked out of the kitchen and into the living room, where the front door was located. Greg followed, feeling a bit disappointed that she was leaving. She turned to face him and gave him a quick kiss on the lips, followed by a smile. She knew he was bummed.
“I love it when you’re sweet, romantic, and sensitive,” she teased back. Greg grinned and gave her a humorous thumbs up. “I’ll call you later on tonight.”
“I’ll be looking forward to it, babe,” he said. Both smiles lit up brighter as she walked out the door.
********
“In other news today, tragedy struck Mako’s Center as the remains of a fishing vessel was discovered adrift along the rocky coast of Mako’s Edge,” announced a radio broadcaster on the island’s local station, MCBS -- Mako’s Center Broadcast Station. The voice had been carrying on from Rick Napier’s truck radio as he drove home from East Port. “So far, the only information known to us is that the vessel was owned by an islander fisherman named Steve Hogan, who is believed to have gone down with the vessel during some late night fishing yesterday evening. It is also believed that his first mate, a forty-one year old fisherman named Burke Harrison, was possibly fishing with him, and may have gone down with the wreck. Chief Bondy has informed us that only pieces of the wreckage have been discovered, while a United States Coast Guard unit is being sent to search for the two fishermen.”