BOOK SUMMARY
A group of friends in the Gulf of Mexico sunbath on a yacht. It’s as close as to paradise as you can get.
But something has just woken up in paradise.
And it’s coming.
“The sea has neither meaning nor pity.
– Anton Chekhov
“I’m not going to waste my time arguing with a man who’s lining up to be a hot lunch.”
– Hooper, Jaws (1975), Universal Pictures
-1 -
The Gulf of Mexico was as the Gulf of Mexico always was – pristinely beautiful and pleasurably hot. Which made it a perfect setting for a Saturday afternoon on a yacht. They were lucky to have a friend like Conrad.
“This is amazing,” Ellie said, spreading out her body like an octopus and taking in every inch of the blazing sun. “I’m in Heaven.”
Natalie was a little more modest than her best friend – and a fair amount rounder – so though she also took in the sun eagerly, she kept her arms draped perpetually over her soft tummy. Being semi-naked in front of guys was not her ideal environment like it was for Ellie.
“Don’t let yourself burn,” said Ellie’s boyfriend, Tate; only wearing a pair of shorts himself. “You’re no good with pain.”
“I put lotion on my skin,” Ellie muttered irritably.
“Good,” said Tate. “Then you won’t have to get the hose again.”
Nat almost spat her Mojito through her nose, but nobody else got the joke.
Ellie rose up on her sunbed and frowned. “Huh?”
Tate held his arms out in the air. “Come on? You never saw Silence of the Lambs?”
“I don’t like animated movies, Tate. You know that.”
Tate looked at Nat and rolled his eyes. She had to stifle another laugh.
Conrad came out of the yacht’s wheelhouse, a small whiskey in his hand making him look quite the gentleman. He wore pressed white trousers and a navy blue blazer beneath a classic captain’s hat. With his grey-brown hair and light blue eyes he looked more like a dashing hero than a Miami banker.
“How are we getting on?” he asked. “Is everybody okay for drinks?”
“Yeah,” said Tate. “We’re doing just great. Thanks again for inviting us all out here.”
Conrad gave a lopsided grin. “Your investments all paid off this year, Tate. The least I could do.”
“So have you just brought Tate here as his boss, then?” Ellie asked. “I thought you two were friends.”
“We are,” Conrad said. “But only friends who make the bank lots of money get to come aboard my yacht.”
They all laughed.
The next few hours consisted of copious amounts of sun, music, and liquor; until the morning heat became afternoon heat and drove them all inside the lounge cabin. There they sat now and continued getting drunker and merrier. Ellie draped herself across Tate’s lap while Nat and Conrad conversed on the opposite sofa.
“So what do you do again, Natalie?” Conrad enquired. “Forgive me for forgetting.”
“That’s alright. I’m not sure I told you. I’m a florist in the city.”
“Ah, what a great line of work. A great many funerals in Miami.”
She chuckled. “That’s terrible. Although, yes, a big part of my business is funeral arrangements.”
“How did you get into flowers?”
“Not sure, really. Must have been my dad. He used to be so proud of his garden at our old house in Jacksonville. He used to grow these giant sunflowers and told me that when I was in bed at night they would come awake and dance around the garden. I used to believe him. So silly.”
“Your father is gone now?” Conrad assumed.
“Six years now. Still miss him. I moved down to Miami to be with my boyfriend. He was a musician. Dumped me six months after I got into town.”
Conrad almost spilt his drink. “What an asshole!”
Nat chuckled. “Yeah, he is. I just wish I’d realised that while we were dating. It’s okay, though. I love Miami. The beaches…”
“The beaches certainly are something, aren’t they?”
“And this, too,” said Nat, pointing to the long windows of the cabin. To be on the water like this is so wonderful. It makes me feel utterly at peace.”
“That’s because we’re eight miles off the coast,” Conrad quipped. “Funny how much we allow ourselves to become so obsessed with ownership – our homes, our gadgets, our friends and favourite hangouts – but the moment we get away from it all, we feel much better. We pen ourselves in without even realising it. Money is the root of all evil, they say.”
“That’s an odd thing to hear from a banker.”
Conrad sipped his drink and shrugged. “A banker sees more than anyone the evil of money, but by then he is too dependent on it to get away. I see the problems that money causes, yet here we sit on a boat that cost more than a million dollars. That either makes me an ironic tragedy or a hypocrite. Which do you think?”
Nat looked into the older man’s deep blue eyes and smiled. “I think it makes you very down to earth to realise so much about who you are. We’re all obsessed with money, but at least you see how unhealthy it is. Better than being ignorant.”
“Thank you, Natalie. That’s very kind of you to say.”
“Call me Nat.”
A sound caught their attention and when they saw that it was Tate and Ellie both drunkenly snoring on the other sofa, they couldn’t help but giggle.
“Come on!” Conrad got up and offered his hand to her. “Let’s leave them in peace.”
“Where are we going?”
“Somewhere quieter.”
Nat knew where things were going and she didn’t fight them. Conrad led her below deck to his suite, leading her over to the bed and then going and pouring her another drink. When he handed the glass to her, she put it down on the bedside table and told him she wasn’t thirsty.
She kissed him.
They were naked under the covers within seconds and, under the influence of copious amounts of alcohol, she didn’t worry about her body at all.
Conrad certainly seemed to enjoy it.
***
Nat woke up to rumbling. At first she thought it was her head, which throbbed terribly, but then she realised that the whole cabin was rocking to-and-fro.
Conrad was lying beside her and bolted upright. “What the hell is going on?”
“I don’t know. I just woke up and the room was tilting. I think I’m going to throw up.”
Conrad leapt up and started pulling on his pants clumsily as the floor continued shifting. He looked concerned.
Nat started getting dressed too. “Are we in danger?” she asked.
“No, no, we’ll be fine. I’m just worried we’ve hit something.”
“Wouldn’t that make us sink?”
“Not necessarily, but we have a life boat anyway. If the ship goes down the only thing that suffers is my bank account.”
“Don’t you have insurance?”
“It doesn’t cover me for when I’m having sex instead of piloting the boat.”
Nat thought he was angry for a moment, but then he looked at her with a blank expression that slowly cracked into a smile.
“Go on.” Nat shooed him away. “Get up there.”
“I’m going, I’m going. Just enjoying the sight of your sexy butt.”
“You’re too old to say ‘butt’. Now go!”
Conrad disappeared upstairs and a couple minutes later Nat neatened herself up and went after him.
She found him on the swim deck with Tate and Ellie. All of them were looking out at the water.
“What is it?” Nat asked, hu
rrying over.
“I have no idea,” Conrad admitted.
Nat looked out at the water and saw a frothing, foaming swirl of waves, like a plug had been released from the bottom of the ocean.
“It’s dying down,” Tate said. “It was much worse a moment ago.”
Nat nodded. “Yeah, I know. It woke me up.”
Ellie looked at her then, examining her suspiciously, but she didn’t say anything. Nat wondered how obvious it was that she had been asleep in bed with Conrad. She had fixed her hair before coming up, but Conrad hadn’t. His stuck up like a clown’s.
The water slowly settled. Eventually the patch of churning ocean was no different than the miles and miles surrounding it.
“I should go call this in to the Coast Guard,” Conrad said, heading for the wheelhouse.
“I’m getting something to eat,” Tate said. “I’m starving. I drank way too much.”
That left Nat alone with Ellie, who was once again examining her. “You didn’t?”
Nat shuffled her feet and turned away. “Did what?”
“You did, didn’t you? You slept with Conrad. Oh my God, you big slut!”
Nat spun on her best friend. “So what? I can’t have a little fun?”
“He’s like twenty years older than you. Eww.”
Nat clenched her fists. “What does that have to do with anything? I like him.”
Ellie narrowed her eyes and titled her head. After a moment’s thought she said. “You want yourself a sugar daddy, huh? Tired of living in that shitty little apartment above your shop?”
“That shitty little apartment is my home, Ellie, and I’m proud of it.”
Ellie raised an eyebrow. “Really?”
“Yes! Who are you to judge, anyway? You don’t even work. Your lovely house is bought and paid for by Tate. You accuse me of wanting a sugar daddy when you already have one.”
“Bitch!”
“Ditto.”
“Hey, girls,” Tate called from the lounge. “Can I make you anything?”
“Yeah, honey. I’ll have a salad. Do we still have those walnuts?”
“I don’t know. I’ll look.”
Ellie shot Nat a scolding glance and then left her standing there alone. She turned back to the water, now fully calm, and wondered what on earth had been going on. Was it something dangerous?
-2-
When Nat joined Conrad in the wheelhouse, he looked confused.
“What is it?” she asked him.
“The Coast Guard couldn’t fill me in on what we saw out there. They are getting in touch with some local marine biologists to see if any of them picked it up on their monitors. That’s not what’s confusing me, though.”
“Then what?”
“We’ve drifted another sixteen miles from the coast. We’re in International Waters.”
“Is that a problem?” she asked.
“No. It’s just that I weighed anchor. We shouldn’t have moved sixteen feet, let alone miles.”
He stood up and went back outside. Nat tagged along after him.
“Coming for a swim?” Ellie said, standing on the edge of the swim deck.
“Not right now,” said Conrad.
“Suit yourself.” She dove into the water before anyone could object.
Tate was standing nearby, chomping on a sandwich. “Perhaps you should get her back out the water,” Conrad told him. “We don’t know what caused those choppy conditions.”
Tate shrugged. Through a mouthful of bread and meat he said, “I tried telling her.”
Conrad went over to the anchor recall and pulled the lever. The chain started ravelling, leaping out of the water and back into the boat. A minute went by and it was still coming.
Then.
The chain flew up into the air and almost hit Nat in the face. It was only Conrad pulling her aside that prevented it.
“Not possible,” he said a moment afterwards. He was looking down at the anchor chain, but the anchor itself was missing. In its place was a twisted link of steel.
“Something cut the anchor?” Tate asked.
“It’s solid steel,” Conrad said. “I don’t understand.”
“Explains why we drifted,” Nat said.
“It does that. Tate, get Ellie back in the boat. I’m taking us back to shore.”
“Really? We were having such a blast.”
Conrad straightened up and looked at Tate. “I don’t understand what’s going on here, and when the person piloting the boat doesn’t know what’s going on, it’s time to leave.”
“Yeah, okay. Point taken. Hey, Ellie. Come on, we need you back in the boat.”
“No way,” she shouted from the water. “This is Heaven. You all need to come join me. Come on, Conrad, you and Nat were just getting to know each other. Let’s not ruin the party now.”
Conrad gritted his teeth, then cut Tate a look that made it very clear who was who’s boss. “Tate, control your goddamn woman.”
Tate took on a hangdog expression and went over to the edge of the deck. “Hey, Ellie. Get your ass back in the boat now!”
“Don’t you talk to me like that, Tate Brewster. I don’t take orders from-”
The water churned.
Ellie flapped her arms in the water and spun in a circle. “What’s happening?”
Tate shouted. “Ellie, back in the boat. Hustle!”
Ellie didn’t argue this time. She started paddling her way back to the boat as quickly as she could.
The water churned harder.
Something was wrong.
Nat thought she saw a shadow move beneath the water. She put her hands both side of her mouth and yEllied at her friend to hurry. “Come on, Ellie. Keep swimming.”
A look of pure determination game over Ellie’s face. Nat knew her friend was afraid, but she was one of those lucky people who chose fight over flight and could handle any situation with action rather than emotion. If it were Nat in the water, somebody would have had to come get her.
The water began to swirl.
“What’s with the water?” Tate asked Conrad. “What is that?”
Conrad was silent, staring. He gave no answer for it was obvious he didn’t have one.
Nat saw the shadow move again. This time it was bigger, like whatever was casting it had moved closer to the surface.
Ellie was almost at the boat.
Then the shadow rose out of the water.
At first it looked like a large grey boulder rising up behind Ellie, but then it split down the middle and revealed a set of teeth the size of fence posts. The jaws opened wide, a thousand teeth glinting in the harsh glare of sunlight.
It was a monster.
The jaws clamped down and Ellie vanished.
Nat screamed while both men were silent.
The huge grey boulder disappeared back beneath the surface and the water went still.
Ellie was gone.
It was if she’d never even been there.
***
Conrad was yelling into the yacht’s sat phone, relaying what had just happened – or at least trying to. Nobody really understood.
“Something took her right in the water,” he said again to whoever was on the other end of the call. “A goddamn monster rose up out of the ocean and snatched her up in its jaws. It was the size of a bus, I swear to you. I’m heading back to shore, but you need to inspect this area immediately. Whatever is in the water is dangerous.”
Tate was sobbing outside on the deck, so Nat hurried back out to him. She put both arms around him and pulled him close.
“Conrad is calling for help,” she told him.
“Too fuckin’ late. She’s gone, Nat. That thing…what the hell was it?”
“I have no idea. I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s jaws…”
Tate pushed her away and went over to the edge of the deck. He glared down into the water and shouted angrily. “Come on, you sonofabitch, show yourself. You got about an hour to live before the coas
t guard comes and harpoons you right in the fuckin’ heart. Hope you enjoyed your lunch because it’s the last thing you’ll ever eat.”
The boat rocked.
“Shit!”
Nat reached out. “Tate, be careful.”
But Tate tumbled down the deck and fell into the water.
Nat stumbled onto her hands and knees and crawled to the edge of the deck. She shot out her hand to the water. “Tate, grab my hand.”
Tate’s expression was pure terror. He clawed his way through the water, trying to make it to the boat.
Nat urged him to move faster.
Beneath the water a shadow moved.
That same grey boulder rose from the water.
Those same wicked jaws opened wide.
Tate grabbed a hold of Nat’s hand and she immediately started pulling him up and out of the water. She gritted her teeth and groaned as she fought to get his heavy body back onboard. He outweighed her by fifty-pounds.
Then suddenly Tate got much lighter. Nat found herself tumbling backwards onto her back, Tate landed on top of her and the two of them ended up embracing face to face like lovers.
“Tate, Tate, I got you. Are you okay?”
Tate just stared at her.
Then his body slumped sideways onto the deck.
Nat screamed.
When Conrad came out, he found her kneeling next to Tate’s body – but only the top half. Tate had been sliced in two, his legs missing somewhere in the water – or in the guts of that great grey boulder that was hunting them.
Blood pooled onto the deck, running through the channels between the boards, soaking the pants of Nat’s bathing suit as she collapsed weakly onto her side.
“The coast guard are on their way,” Conrad said. “What the hell is happening?”
The boat shook again as the monster crashed against the side of the yacht, making the vessel leap up out of the water before crashing down on the waves. Conrad fell forward, colliding with Nat.
They slid along the deck.
Towards the edge.
Conrad managed to stick a leg against the railing and keep them both from going overboard just in time.
“It’s trying to sink us,” Nat squealed, trying to keep her bladder from releasing.
J is for Jaws (A-Z of Horror Book 10) Page 1