Megalodon Riptide

by Watts, Russ

  I stood up immediately. “Donovan turn that crap off. This isn’t happening. Even you must—”

  “Sit the fuck down.” Donovan whipped around and pointed his gun at me.

  “Jesus, man, listen to him. Your boss is insane.” Manny stood up and held his hands up. “I’m not letting you do this.”

  Pippa and Chelsea were next to chip in, and even Estelle began to mutter something in Spanish. Quickly the whole room was in uproar and it was only Donovan putting a bullet in the ceiling that stopped the mutiny.

  “All of you, back off!” Donovan’s face had turned deep red and he looked over at Lance. “I’ve got you covered. Do it. Off the girl and we can go home.”

  Lance said nothing as he walked across to Ava.

  “Lance, you stop, right now,” I said, but of course he didn’t.

  Ava stood up and wiped her damp hair from her face. She looked up at her brother and smiled. She actually smiled and I was dumbstruck by how stunning she looked. In her position I think I would have run or fought him, but she simply stood there waiting.

  “So, it’s come to this, brother.”

  Lance was only a couple of feet in front of Ava now. I had no idea what he would do. Surely, even he wouldn’t stoop so low as to kill his own sister?

  “Ava. Why?” Lance looked up. “Why did you have to leave me?”

  All I could see was the back of his head. Was he upset, angry, remorseful; I couldn’t believe he was going through with it. I frantically looked around the room for a weapon, but drew a blank.

  “We’ve been over this,” said Ava calmly. “You left me. You fell in with these scum. I made the right choice. What are you going to do now? You going to kill me? Your own blood?”

  I saw Lance’s arm raise and couldn’t stand it any longer. I wasn’t prepared to sit back and wait to see what he would do. I’d already seen that he was capable of killing. I sprang up and lunged for Donovan. I had to get the gun off him to stop this madness.

  “Stop!”

  Donovan was surprised but he had the advantage on me and as I lunged for him he fired the gun. I heard the bang and felt a pain surge across my chest, but I had no idea where I’d been hit. All I knew was that I was still standing and I had to continue fighting for my family. My hands reached Donovan and I grabbed him. Somewhere between us was his gun, and grappling with him was like fighting a bear. The man was a mountain. I aimed a punch at his kidneys as he gripped me in his huge arms. We fell to the floor, smacking into the hard tiles painfully, him on top of me. I tried to roll him off as the air was squeezed from my lungs. I heard shouting and screaming, but all I was concerned with was Donovan. Blood began to seep inside my shirt and then Donovan landed a punch on the side of my head that made me see stars. I tried to find his gun, to wrestle it away from him, but he was too strong. Another bang exploded around my head and I knew the gun had gone off again. I’d failed.

  CHAPTER 19

  I rolled Donovan off me and clawed across the tiled floor, his blood all over me. I quickly reached a sofa and looked at his lifeless body. I felt sick. His head had been blown wide open, and his brains were spread out over the floor like an oil slick. Crimson liquid ran into the grooves of the tiles, mingling with cold sea-water to create a thick soup of foul blood.

  “That’s enough!” yelled Lance. “Everyone, just back off.”

  I looked up at the smoking gun in Chelsea’s hand. She was trembling and still had it pointed at Donovan. Pippa had her hands over her mouth, tears streaming from her eyes. I watched as Manny reached an arm out to Chelsea gently and told her to lower the gun.

  “That was a stupid thing to do,” said Lance, holding a knife to Ava’s throat. “Real stupid.”

  I clutched the sofa and got to my knees. I was battered and bruised but Chelsea had saved me. I realized then that Lance’s gun that Donovan had tucked into his waistband, must have come free when we were fighting. Chelsea had saved me, but at what cost?

  “Por favor—”

  Estelle’s arms reached down and she helped me up. She was clearly shocked by events, but she understood what was happening. She stood next to me and I looked at Lance. He had Ava in front of him and the knife was at her throat.

  “Quit moving,” said Lance. “All of you had just better back off.”

  “Lance, think about what you’re doing,” said Manny. “That’s your sister. Your sister.”

  Lance’s eyes were wild, his confidence shattered, his illusion of safety gone like Donovan’s skull. I caught my breath trying to block out the pain in my jaw from Donovan’s heavy punches. My broken nose was sore, but I had been lucky. If Chelsea hadn’t shot Donovan I don’t know that I would’ve been able to fight him off. The room was almost silent now. I could hear Pippa sobbing and the wind howling all around us, and the rain was still pelting the deck as we made our way to the rendezvous with Mckade. This was the chance I had wanted. This was the last opportunity to get out of it, to save my family and Ava from Mckade and his murdering bunch of thugs.

  “Lance,” I said quietly. “Look at Ava. She’s scared. You don’t want to do this.”

  He pressed the knife against her throat and she screwed up her eyes as the blade dug into her skin. A thin trickle of blood ran down the hilt of the knife and across Lance’s fingers. I resisted the urge to run for him. He was six or seven feet away from me, and could easily jam the knife into her before I made it to him. I was going to have to talk him down.

  “You’re crazy, all of you,” said Lance. “I gave you a chance, a chance to do something with your lives. Mckade can give you shelter, a purpose, food and water. He’s not going to do that now, not after what you did to Donovan. He’s going to kill all of you.”

  Something in his tone told me he was right. There was no going back from this. Yet he sounded scared too, as if Mckade might not be the wonderful benefactor that Lance made him out to be. Lance was clearly supposed to be in charge of this operation and so far, he was returning with two dead bodies. How would Mckade view that?

  “You’re right, he probably will. I’m sorry about your friend. It wasn’t our intention to kill him, but he kinda brought that on himself. We’re just defending ourselves, Lance, you know that. I was defending my family, my friends; Ava. I know you don’t want to hurt her, so put the knife down. We can talk this through, but we have to do it now. We’re going to be with Mckade any minute, right? So, how about we all calm down and deal with this before the situation gets any worse?” I could see that Lance’s grip on his knife had relaxed slightly. I looked at Ava and she stared right back at me. Her blue eyes were full of fear. I wanted so desperately to hold her, to make this right, but Lance still hadn’t let her go. “Lance, your sister needs you. She misses you. You can join us if you want, you can be the captain of your own ship. You don’t have to do what Mckade tells you to. I can see you’re a strong man. Make your own way. Forget Mckade.”

  “Ha, yeah right.” Lance’s eyes looked at Donovan and then roamed around the room. “He’s heard everything, you know.”

  I followed Lance’s eyes to the edge of the sofa where I saw the forgotten radio. “It doesn’t matter. He’s not here. He can’t hurt you if he doesn’t know where you are.”

  “He knows everything.” Lance tensed up again. “Mckade won’t let me go. I work for him. You don’t just quit a job like that. I have orders and… and this is what’s going to happen. First of all, that bitch is going to get rid of the gun.”

  I looked at Chelsea. She still had it in her hands. “Lose it, Chelsea. Put it down.”

  I gave Manny a nod and he took it from her. Her fingers let go of the gun easily and when it was gone she collapsed into Pippa’s arms. Manny threw the gun over to the far side of the room.

  “There. Gone. See? We can do this all friendly like,” I said. “How about you let Ava go and talk to me? You still have the knife and you have my word that no one is going to try anything.”

  Lance slowly shook his head. “No. Like I said, I
have a job to do. Mckade wants Ava gone.” Lance’s eyes darted furiously from side to side and then picked me out. “I have to prove this wasn’t my fault. He’ll kill all of you, but not me. Not me. I can still recover this.”

  “Lance, slow down.” I took a tentative step toward him. “Talk to me.”

  “No,” whispered Estelle. “Es demasiado peligroso.”

  She put a hand on my shoulder and tried to pull me back, but I resisted. I got a couple of steps and then stopped. A tear fell from Ava’s eyes.

  “Lance, will you please talk to me?” pleaded Ava. “It’s been so long. We haven’t even had a chance to catch up. Mckade will understand. He’s not here with you. If he was, he would understand the pressure that you’re under.”

  Lance closed his eyes and I wondered if she was getting through to him.

  “I think it’s a test,” said Ava, her voice wobbling. “I think he wants you back. I think he wants you to bring us all back to him. We can do so much together. You’re my brother. Come on, Lance, just let me go and—”

  “No.”

  Ava tried to free herself from his grip, but as she did so Lance opened his eyes again and held her tighter. “No, you’re full of it, Ava. Just like dad. All you ever do is control me and tell me what to do. Well, not anymore. I’m somebody now. I don’t need to scrounge around in the dirt looking for food. You fell in with the wrong crowd, Ava. You’re not my problem anymore.”

  I saw Lance press the blade against Ava again and the thin line of blood became thicker. Ava cried out in pain and I winced, knowing the pain and terror she must be feeling.

  “Wait.” Weir had been watching the whole time and suddenly strode purposefully toward Lance. “Hold up a second.”

  “Woah, what are you doing?” Lance shuffled to face Weir. “Don’t tell me you think this is a dumb idea too? I thought you were different from the rest.”

  “Me?” Weir ran a hand over his strong stubbly jaw. “I’m not with these assholes. I already said I wanted to join him. But like you said, Mckade is going to want to kill us all for what happened to Donovan. So, I need to prove myself. Let me do it.” Weir looked at Ava and smiled. “I’ve hated that bitch from the first day I met her. If you remember rightly I didn’t take too well to you either. I thought you were soft in the head. I can see I was wrong about that. I need to do this, Lance. Forget Donovan. I can vouch for you, tell Mckade this wasn’t your doing. Let me deal with Ava. I’ll do it quick and painlessly.”

  “What the fuck, Weir?” I screamed at him. “What the hell are you doing?”

  Weir gave me a wry smile. “Don’t worry, grease-monkey. You’re next.”

  Weir walked right up to Lance and held out his hand, his palm open. “Give me the knife and I’ll do her right now. Then you and me can see to the others and get off this boat, talk to Mckade and make this right. What do you say?”

  I held my breath. Surely Lance would see that he needed to let this madness end, to let Ava walk away.

  “Lance, look at me,” I said. “If you give Weir the knife this is all over. There won’t be any more chances.”

  “I need that gun,” said Lance. He lowered the knife a few inches away from Ava’s neck and she breathed out. “My gear is up in the bridge. I need my gun to go and get it.”

  Weir nodded. “Sure, buddy. So, let me take care of the girl and you go get your shit.”

  Lance lowered the knife a little more, but didn’t let go of Ava. He still had one arm around her and he held onto her tightly. “You’re not dicking around?”

  Weir let out a long sigh. “Luke, you want to tell him how we’re best friends?”

  I was freezing cold and could sense the situation spinning out of control. Adrenalin rushed through my body but it was fading now, and I was tired. This was the last I could do. I had to make Lance see sense.

  “Tell him, boy.”

  I glanced back at Estelle. She was right behind me. If Weir got that knife and killed Ava who would be next? Her? Would he turn on me, or Pippa or Chelsea? Manny would fight, as would I, but the gun was far out of reach. We were unarmed and he was the dangerous one. “Lance, Weir is not our friend. He’s been looking for a way to get rid of us for some time, and you’re his ticket out of here. If you give him that knife your sister is dead. I never thought he would sink so low, but I guess I misread him. You need to ignore him and listen to me. Listen to your sister. She just wants a chance to make amends. We’re not your enemies, Lance. Don’t do anything you’re going to regret for the rest of your life.”

  “It’s true,” said Manny. “Listen to him, buddy.”

  “They will suck you dry,” said Weir. “If you don’t give me that knife, Mckade is going to tear you a new one. Let’s get this over with and move on. You need to get your shit and I need to get off this boat. Time’s up, Lance.”

  Weir extended his hand and reached for the knife. A shiver ran up my spine as Lance relaxed his grip on it. Weir slowly took it from him.

  “Do it quickly,” said Lance quietly, as he let go of the knife.

  “You did the right thing, Lance,” said Weir. He looked triumphant. “You’ve proven you’re with Mckade. I know what I have to do now.”

  The boat swayed and I felt my stomach lurch as Weir twisted the knife around in his thick fingers. How many times had he skinned and gutted a fish? He knew how to handle a blade, and before I could move, he darted forward. Ava screamed and my heart blasted a sonic boom to my head. I ran to her hoping for a miracle, yet knowing I was going to be too late as Weir thrust the knife powerfully forward.

  Blood spurted out furiously, as if the artery was a broken faucet that couldn’t be turned off. Weir jammed the knife into the neck further, right up to the hilt, and opening up a huge mortal wound as blood sprayed over his face. He said nothing as he killed mercilessly, and I felt my knees weaken as the screaming started.

  “No, no, no!” Ava screamed. “Stop it!”

  “It’s okay.” I pulled her away from Weir as he continued to sever Lance’s head from his body. “You’re okay, Ava.”

  We fell to our knees, my arms around her. I fought down the bile rising from my stomach to my throat as I watched Weir kill Lance. He caught me off guard with his move, and more importantly, Lance. They stumbled back to the open doorway together, one of Weir’s strong arms holding Lance up, the other holding the knife in Ava’s brother’s throat. Lance made horrible gurgling noises as blood poured from his mouth and stained his yellow teeth. I could see that Weir took no pleasure in the act of killing, but I understood. He had fooled us all, me included. I thought he was going to kill Ava in front of me, but it had all been a ruse. How long had he been planning and plotting a way out of this mess? How far back had he realized what was happening? Perhaps agreeing to join Mckade had been the start of it, or perhaps he had changed his mind at the last moment. Whatever he had done, I was just glad he had chosen the right side for once. I held Ava in my arms, pleased she was alive. I took no satisfaction in watching Lance die, yet I felt unable to avert my eyes.

  “No, please, no.” Ava’s words turned into sobs as she watched Lance fade away.

  I gritted my teeth and watched Weir finish the job. I wanted to see it done, needed to know it was finished. There was no other way now. Once Lance had started the killing there could be no other outcome than death for all of us onboard. If Weir hadn’t seen the light when he had, then I had no doubt Ava would have been next. Lance’s blue eyes bulged from his head and he strained to free himself from Weir in vain. Weir was far too strong and committed. They staggered further back to the open doorway as the wind swept cold air and rain inside.

  “Let him go, Weir,” said Manny, walking past me. “He’s done. The boy’s done.”

  Lance’s arms fell to his side and the gurgling noises stopped.

  “Almost,” said Weir roughly. “There’s still some fight left in him. I’m not taking any chances with this fucker.”

  Abruptly Weir yanked the knife out of Lance
’s neck and passed it back to Manny. “Hold this.”

  Manny had no choice but to take the bloody knife as Weir put Lance in a bear-hug. He lifted the boy up and carried him over the threshold to the deck outside.

  “Weir?” Manny turned the knife over in his hands and then tossed it onto an empty sofa. He wiped his bloody hands on his legs. “Weir, what are you..?”

  I held Ava to me as she sobbed in my arms, her brother’s blood pooling around us, and we watched Weir lift Lance up into the air like a paper plane. He walked to the edge of the boat and without a sound tossed Lance overboard.

  “Jesus,” said Manny quietly, as he turned to me. “I don’t think he was even dead yet, he was just—”

  I shook my head and Manny shut up. Weir marched back into the room, the rain having washed much of the blood from his face.

  “She okay?”

  Weir’s words shocked me more than anything else he had said. There was genuine concern in his voice, and I was taken aback.

  “Er, sure. Well, I mean… she will be.”

  Weir nodded and held his hands out in front of him. Even from where I sat on the floor I could see they were shaking.

  “Good.”

  Manny rolled his neck around his head and looked up at the ceiling. “Shit, Weir, I thought—”

  “You thought what? That I was going to kill that poor girl? That I would abandon you to pirates and go on a killing spree? I know I’m an asshole, but I’m not like that.” Weir held the back of his hand to his lips and suppressed the nausea growing inside of him. “I’ve never killed a man before, but Lance was not going to back down. That boy was bad news. I saw it the moment we took him in. Ava worked hard, made something of herself, joined in and learnt how to run on the Tukino with us. She might not have been my choice to join the crew, but she certainly put the effort in, I can’t knock her for that. Lance was a slacker. He thought the world owed him everything. He was a waste of breath. He joined up with those pirates at the first opportunity. He knew what he was getting into. We all tried to warn him off. Jonah did everything he could for the kid, but Lance threw it back in his face. I wasn’t about to let him kill Ava. His own sister? What kind of screwed up fuck-head does that? Given the chance he would have let us all die. I couldn’t stand by and watch him do that. I’ve made my own mistakes, but that’s what they were. Mistakes. I didn’t intentionally ground the boat. I didn’t mean to hurt you all. I just… with Jonah gone I guess I let my ego and temper get the better of me. I’m sorry for the trouble I caused you. Things got out of hand and for a while there I lost it. I would’ve explained earlier, but I knew Lance would believe me if you believed me. He’d believe the sun was green if you told him it was so. It was all I could do to make him believe I would sign up to join Mckade’s crew. Mckade is—”