Lunk joined him, holding himself up by the rudder. He held his light stick close to the camera so Cooper could see better.
The boat bucked with the waves. Coop let go of the shaft, grabbed the camera, and pulled hard. It didn’t budge. Cut it free — cut it free. His angle was bad. One blade from the prop blocked his view. Cooper couldn’t see the spot on the lanyard where he needed to cut. He sawed anyway — fighting every instinct that told him to just get out of there.
Lunk tapped Cooper’s arm, pointed at the knife and then back at himself. Cooper handed it to him. Lunk attacked the lanyard with the knife from his angle.
The boat lurched forward — slamming Cooper and Lunk against the bottom of the boat. We’re being towed!
Cooper gripped the camera tighter. The boat was going slowly now — but once they got clear of the other moorings, he’d open it up. Cooper twisted and turned in the current. He bit the mouthpiece harder and prayed his mask wouldn’t get ripped off. He slammed into Lunk, who was struggling as hard as he was. They were like two human torpedoes.
Hang on! Just a few more seconds. We have to get that camera!
Lunk grabbed onto the camera too and hacked away at the lanyard again — and the camera suddenly broke free!
Krypto Night’s rudder sliced by, and the weight belts dragged Cooper and Lunk down. Both of them held onto the camera — and to each other. They hit the lake bottom a few seconds later, landing on their sides in the soft muck. Cooper still had his glow stick. Lunk had obviously lost his. But they had the camera!
They got on their knees and checked the camera. It looked perfect. No cracks in the housing. For a moment Cooper felt total elation. They’d done it!
Billows of silt surrounded them like cream pouring into coffee. Only this was black cream. Cooper looked for the glow stick at the end of the towrope. Nothing. How far had they been dragged? The water was so . . . dark.
Reality must have hit Lunk too. He was doing a slow threesixty — obviously looking for the rope hanging from Gordy’s inflatable. But the only glow stick around was the one in Cooper’s hand.
Hiro watched the Gage Marine boat tow Krypto Night right past her. Kryptoski stood in the cockpit with the driver and stared at Hiro as they passed. She hugged herself and stared back like she wasn’t one bit afraid. Like the sight of him didn’t make her want to hang her head over the railing and heave.
Once past the no-wake bouys, the boat picked up speed and cut a straight course toward William’s Bay and the marina.
Good. They were out of earshot. Hiro felt like if she had to wait even a second longer, she’d explode. “Gordy!” she shouted. “Where are they?”
Gordy raised both hands. “He never pulled on the rope. I — I don’t know.”
“But they made it to the boat, right?”
Gordy was on his knees now, peering into the water. “I have no idea. Kryptoski was right there watching me. I was just trying to keep him busy so he wouldn’t get suspicious.”
Hiro climbed over the rail to the swim platform and pulled on the ski rope lifeline. There was some resistance — but was it enough? If he was swimming with it — definitely. Hand over hand she pulled in the rope, faster and faster. “C’mon, Coop. Hang on.” Loose coils spilled around her feet and back into the water.
“Is he there?” Gordy shouted.
The rope was getting heavier. It bit into her palms, but she kept pulling. A mass of seaweed surfaced with the weighted handle. “No!” she wailed. “No!”
Hiro fought back panic. She dropped the rope and motioned Gordy over. “Pick me up. I’ll help you search.”
Gordy hesitated as if he was afraid to leave the area in case Coop was close by.
“Hurry!” she shouted. She had to do something. She had to help.
Gordy dug in with both arms and paddled hard.
Hiro hopped into the inflatable the moment he swung it around the back of the boat.
“Go, go, go!” Hiro said. She leaned over and paddled with him and didn’t stop until they neared the empty buoy where Krypto Night had been moored. Both of them kneeled and searched the surface of the water.
“C’mon, Coop!” Hiro looked for bubbles or a disturbance in the water. Anything, really. But the water was getting too rough for that. Foam trailed the waves. Their bubbles could be breaking within ten feet of them, and she’d never spot them. “Could they be caught in the weeds? Trapped somehow?”
Gordy shook his head. “Tangled, sure. But they should be able to break free, right?”
“That’s what I’m asking you.”
Gordy pulled in the line like a fisherman checking his bait. The light sticks were still attached and glowing. “How long have they been under?”
Hiro bit her lip. “Twenty minutes. Twenty-five.” It was too long. Too long.
“They’re lost,” Gordy said.
Hiro eyed him. Did he think they were gone, gone?
“He’s lost his bearings,” Gordy said. “That can happen underwater.” He peered over the edge.
“He’s got a compass, right?”
Gordy stared into the water. “It’s dark. I’m not sure he could see it. And navigating underwater isn’t like doing it on land.” He hesitated. “It’s . . . tricky.”
Which was Gordy’s way of saying it was nearly impossible unless you really knew what you were doing.
“What can we do?”
Gordy leaned over the edge and dunked his head underwater. He screamed. At least that’s how it sounded to Hiro. Giant bubbles broke the surface around his head.
His actions totally unnerved Hiro. Gordy was losing it, which wasn’t helping her one bit.
He raised his head — water streamed from his hair — and took two quick breaths before he did it again. Longer this time. He lifted his head and gulped in some air.
“What are you doing?”
Gordy shook his head like a dog. “Trying to signal them. Sound travels a really long way underwater.”
That actually made sense, no matter how strange it looked. “I’ll help.” She leaned over the side, dunked her face in the water, and screamed. Not that she really believed it was going to help Coop find them. But screaming made her feel better — because she’d wanted to do exactly that from the moment Coop announced his wild plan.
She raised her head just enough to get some air, then plunged back underwater. She screamed until her vocal chords felt like they were going to rip right out of her throat.
Gordy was doing the same thing on the other side of the inflatable.
Hiro did it again. And again. She opened her eyes underwater — staring into the inky blackness. Coop was down there somewhere. She went back up for air.
“Hiro.” Gordy put a hand on her shoulder. “Take a break.”
She nodded, panting, her face dripping. “See anything?”
Gordy shook his head. “Their air must be really low.”
Or gone already. “Why don’t they just surface?”
Gordy kept scanning the water. “Maybe they’re just waiting until they think it’s safe.”
He didn’t sound like he believed it. “Do you think the boat clipped them?”
Gordy shook his head. “One of them? Maybe. Both of them? No.”
Hiro wiped the water from her eyes. “Surface, Coop. Surface!”
The look on Gordy’s face said it all. They didn’t surface because they couldn’t.
Hiro rolled onto her stomach and hung her head over the side, inches from the water. She drew in several deep breaths.
“What are you going to do?” Gordy said.
Hiro didn’t answer. She closed her eyes, stuck her head in the water . . . and screamed.
Cooper heard it again. An unearthly scream warbling from the depths. The Lady of the Lake. Lunk’s story popped into his mind. He knew it was just a story — one that Lunk had told to scare Gordy. It was doing a pretty good job of scaring Cooper now too. He had to keep from panicking. There was no body floating around in the cu
rrents of the lake. Or was there?
The images on the camera’s memory card would likely tell a story a whole lot scarier than Lunk’s. And if Cooper didn’t keep his head, they could get clipped by a boat before they got to safety themselves. Then there really would be bodies drifting in the underwater currents of the lake.
Cooper shook off the dark thoughts. He had to stay focused. They tried swimming in a large circle, hoping to catch sight of the ski rope or Gordy’s line. Nothing. They must have been dragged farther than he thought.
Cooper felt the waistline of his shorts. Two more light sticks. He grabbed both of them and cracked them. As soon as they started glowing, he let one go. It rose to the surface with the bubbles. He let the second one go. Maybe Gordy would see it and come find them.
Lunk flashed him a thumbs-up.
The idea of making another circle, another sweep for their lost line, didn’t seem like a good idea. What if they ran out of air and had to surface — and they were far from shore? They’d be sitting ducks for somebody out joyriding in a boat or on a jet ski. And the thought of running into a dead woman’s body on the lake bottom haunted him no matter how much he tried to tell himself it wouldn’t happen.
No sign of Gordy. The idea of waiting in this spot for Gordy to find them didn’t give Cooper a good feeling at all. He had no idea where they were. They could be outside the no-wake buoys.
He checked his compass. There was no way he could navigate his way back to The Getaway, but the beach would be straight east. Why didn’t he think of it before?
Cooper signaled to Lunk, and together they followed the compass. His stomach twisted, forcing the bitter taste of bile in his mouth. Were they going in the right direction? The water was so dark. He’d have to trust the compass to guide them, although by the looks of the lake bottom, they could be heading toward the middle of the lake. They kicked and pulled their way along the bottom with everything they had.
It was definitely getting harder to breathe now. It took more effort. Was it because they were moving faster? No. Without even looking at the pressure gauge, Cooper knew they were almost out of air.
He glanced at Lunk. His friend’s eyes were wide. Scared. Cooper pointed east again. They’d go as far as they could before surfacing — just to be safe.
Reach and pull. Reach and pull. The weeds wrapped around his head and shoulders; they caught on the tank and snagged the air hose between Cooper and Lunk. Together they ripped free and the routine started all over again. It seemed like the weeds had their own plans. They wanted the boys to stay.
Cooper was sucking hard on the mouthpiece now. Draining the tank.
Lunk grabbed his arm and clutched at his throat.
Cooper stopped. This was it. He pointed up. Lunk nodded.
Cooper reached for Lunk’s weight belt, released it, and let it drop. Lunk’s feet lifted off the bottom, and Lunk grabbed Cooper.
Cooper didn’t release his own belt. He didn’t want them going up too quick. And if a boat were to head their way, they’d need to duck down fast.
Cooper raised the light stick and camera over his head. He looked up and listened for the sound of an engine. Certain it was clear above him, he pushed off from the bottom. He kicked hard, and Lunk was right there beside him.
Seconds later, they broke the surface. Immediately, Cooper ditched his weight belt and spit out the mouthpiece.
It was brighter outside than Cooper would have guessed, even though rain fell steadily. And they weren’t more than twenty yards from the beach!
“We did it!” Lunk said. “We did it!”
“Thank you, God!” Cooper slapped the water with both hands. Together they struck out for shore. When his feet touched the bottom, Cooper scanned the horizon for Gordy and Hiro. He saw them bobbing in the inflatable out near the no-wake buoys.
Cooper whistled and waved.
Both of them jerked around and looked his way. Gordy waved both arms over his head and whistled back like his baseball team had just scored a home run. Cooper gripped the camera tighter in his hands. They’d done better than a grand slam.
His foot hooked on something. He peered underwater. A bike. With a Wiffle ball bat strapped to the frame. “Hey, Lunk — take a look at what’s down here by my feet.”
Lunk bobbed underwater and came up laughing. “Do you think yours and Gordy’s are here too?”
“Probably within ten feet of me.” Cooper glanced underwater again and saw the shadowy frame of another bike. “After we ditch our gear, we’ll come back and fish ’em out.”
Lunk nodded.
Gordy was on his stomach now, paddling for shore like a madman. Hiro knelt in the back of the inflatable, doing the same.
When Cooper got to waist-deep water, he shrugged out of the tank harness, pulled off his fins, and dragged his gear to the beach.
For a moment, Cooper and Lunk just looked at each other — then Cooper grabbed his friend and gave him a bear hug. “I could not have done that without you.”
Lunk hugged him back. “I wasn’t going to let you go down there alone.”
Cooper couldn’t describe what he was feeling, and he didn’t even want to try. It was like he and Lunk were war buddies now. They’d stuck together and survived a battle. Somehow, Cooper knew he’d never feel alone again.
Cooper stepped back.
Lunk grinned at him. “And if you ever get a bozo idea like that again —”
“Talk me out of it,” Cooper said.
They both laughed hysterically as the relief swept over them.
Cooper set the camera down next to the tank, and the two of them waded into the water to meet Gordy and Hiro. At this moment, Cooper felt like he could do anything. He could swim across the whole lake even in this storm. He’d faced his fears with a sword instead of a shovel. And it felt good. This wouldn’t be the last time he tangled with fear, but now he knew how to fight it.
Hiro’s hair was soaked. She looked like she’d been crying. Cooper grabbed one side of the inflatable, Lunk grabbed the other, and the two of them pulled it to shore.
Hiro was on the beach instantly. She threw her arms around Cooper’s neck and squeezed him hard. He pried her arms loose and gasped for air.
“You scared me!” she said. “I was afraid I’d lost you.”
“You were scared,” Gordy said. “I think I peed in my swim shorts.”
Hiro punched him in the arm. “That’s disgusting.”
Gordy rubbed his arm. “It’s true.” He pointed at the inflatable. “That wasn’t just lake water sloshing around in there.”
Hiro’s eyes narrowed to a glare, and she rushed into the water and started rinsing furiously.
Gordy, Lunk, and Cooper started laughing. Cooper felt giddy.
Hiro got out of the water and tried to put on a mad face. But she was a lousy actress. She stepped over to Lunk and gave him a hug. “How can one girl have three such courageous friends?”
A police car raced down the hill and reality hit. The camera.
“We have something for you, Hiro.” Cooper grabbed the camera and held it out to her.
She took it in her hands like a lost treasure. “You got it!” There was a sense of wonder in her voice. She touched the frayed edge of the green lanyard where they’d cut it free.
Gordy crowded in. “Think there’s any juice left in the batteries?”
Hiro hesitated. She wanted to turn it on to check out the pictures. It was all over her face. “This is evidence,” she said. “I’m not sure I should.” She turned the camera over, examining it. “It’s in perfect condition.”
The police car screeched to a stop on the shoulder of Lake Shore Drive, and Officer Tarpy jumped out. He left the motor running. His wipers slapped out a rhythm that matched his excited mood. “I got here as quickly as I could. The dispatcher made it sound urgent. What’s up?”
Hiro held up the camera.
Tarpy stopped in his tracks. “Is that what I think it is?”
Hiro nod
ded and quickly filled him in. Cooper stood there watching her, listening to her. It was like she really was a cop. A good one.
“The housing looks fine,” she said. Her finger hovered over the power button. “May I?”
Tarpy hesitated, then gave a single nod.
Hiro pressed the button, and the camera came to life. Everyone pressed in closer to see. Hiro pressed the display button and held the camera up so Officer Tarpy could see too.
“You’d better let me have a look first,” he said.
Hiro looked disappointed but handed him the camera. Tarpy held the camera so none of them could see as he scrolled through the pictures.
Cooper watched Tarpy’s face. He stopped on one of the pictures and stared at the screen. He swallowed hard. Tarpy studied the screen again as if to be sure.
“How long ago did Gage Marine pick up Tommy Kryptoski’s boat?”
Gordy looked at Hiro and shrugged. “Fifteen minutes ago? Maybe twenty.”
“And Kryptoski was with him?”
Gordy nodded.
Hiro pointed at the camera. “What did you see?”
Tarpy’s jaw muscles tightened. “Enough.”
He hustled over to his car, talking into the shoulder mic as he ran. “I need a car at Gage Marine. Now. Call WBPD too. And tell the chief to phone me directly. We’re going to need a warrant for Tommy Kryptoski.” Tarpy paused and looked back at them like he’d just realized everyone was listening. He cupped his hand over the mic, but not well enough to keep from being heard. “We got him,” Tarpy said. “First degree.”
The look on Hiro’s face confirmed she’d heard everything Tarpy said.
The cop slammed the driver’s door and called out through the open passenger side window, “I’m going to need to get a statement from each of you tomorrow. But right now I have to fly.” He touched the camera to his forehead in a salute. “Great work, kids.” He shook his head and smiled slightly. “Amazing.” He gunned the engine, sending gravel flying. Tarpy made a squealing U-turn and raced along the beach toward town, siren blaring.
Below the Surface Page 27