“Mummy,” Teddy said slightly subdued. “I don’t think that’s a Nurse shark.”
Dillon glanced over to find a very large and very striped dorsal fin cutting toward Teddy.
That was a juvenile tiger shark fin.
Dillon dashed over, tackling Teddy just as the shark leapt from the pool at the boy. Dillon felt the shark’s sensory filaments brush up against his arm and the whoosh of air as the powerful shark bit down, snapping a Nurse shark in half.
Luckily the tiger only got a shark. Right? Dillon felt up and down his body, making sure he had all his body parts. His dad had said when his limb had been bitten off, he didn’t feel the pain for five minutes.
“You okay?” Dillon asked Teddy.
“I…” Teddy said shakily. “I think so.”
The red lights blinked and the warning voice came on again, albeit a little late. “Warning, there has been a perimeter breach. Warning, there is cross contamination.”
“Get back!” Dillon shouted. “Everyone out of the exhibit!”
Children screamed and ran to the mothers who hurried them away as the tiger shark glided back out into the deep end of the pool, hidden from sight.
* * *
Shalie stood motionless as Callum strung together quite possibly the longest consecutive list of curse words in the English language. And that was impressive since he was an Aussie after all.
“I knew it,” Callum finally said three words that weren’t naughty together. “I fucking knew it.”
Okay, so almost not naughty.
“I’m sorry,” Shalie said. “I should have taken the warnings more seriously.”
“How the bloody hell did we end up with a tiger shark in our ‘safe zone’ Nurse shark pool?” Callum asked to apparently no one in particular and everyone. “How? All the lights are green across the board. According to this we’re fine.”
He pulled the mic to the island intercom to his lips. Shalie was slightly afraid of what might come out, but Callum calmed himself and sounded completely professional.
“All of our guests, we are expecting the second half of the storm to hit shortly. All exhibits are closing. Please make your way back to your room until dinner is called. If you are hungry or need anything before that, please contact room service at no charge.”
“No charge?” Knightly demanded as he entered the control room. She could tell that Callum was in no mood for the moneyman.
“Yes, no charge,” Callum said. “We’ve had a major breech in the Nurse shark pool.”
Knightly snorted. “If you listen to the computers they are happening everywhere.”
“Perhaps we should have listened to them,” Shalie stated. “A tiger shark nearly ate a little boy in the petting pool.”
Knightley’s face blanched at that news. Not that he cared for the boy. You could see him calculate the lawsuit that would have generated.
“What are we going to do?” Knightly asked.
Before Callum could answer Dillon burst in through the outer door. “I’ve gotten everyone out of the “touch” exhibits.”
Callum only nodded. He was usually all about the positive reinforcement so Shalie stepped in. “Great job, Dillon.”
“Great job?” Callum snorted. “We need all QXs on deck. We need every inch of every enclosure visually inspected and stress tested.”
“They’re going to insist on going out in pairs,” Shalie reminded Callum.
“Insist?” Knightly asked but everyone ignored him.
“Fine, just get it done. And I mean all QXs, Dillon. We need everyone on board.”
Shalie knew exactly the robot that Callum was talking about was QX59.
“We’ll take the whale shark tank,” Dillon said.
QX59 didn’t seem so sure of that. “But--”
Dillon elbowed the robot. “We’ve got it.”
“Make sure that you do,” Callum said as Dillon and QX59 disappeared out the door.
“And the tiger shark?” Knightly asked.
“Back in his enclosure. There was a crack in the reef that he slipped through.”
“I don’t think I need to tell you how essential it is to get this problem under wraps before dinner?”
“I know,” Callum answered sounding more tired than resentful.
Shalie looked at the bank of monitors. Everything seemed so peaceful and normal. Not at all like they’d almost had bloodshed on their hands. She thought back to all of the “false” alarms and cringed thinking of how many of those could have been real.
CHAPTER 15
Nami slammed on the brakes. “This isn’t the way back to our room.”
“Well, I figured since we were on such a roll, we might want to double down.”
“Meaning?” Nami asked very fearful of the answer.
“There’s this whale shark exhibit --”
“No,” Nami said, backing away. “Just no. A definitive ‘no.’ There aren’t enough therapy-free days to cover that.”
Her dad insisted in pleading though. “You wouldn’t even have to get into the water. He comes to the side of the pool.”
What part of ‘no’ did her father not understand? “N.O. No. Absolutely not. No way. No how.”
Maybe he would get it this time.
“Honey,” her father sighed. “I know you know about whale sharks. You know they are completely harmless.”
“Until they aren’t. I do not want to go down as the first whale shark victim ever,” Nami protested. “I don’t want to get sucked down its gullet.”
Her father tilted his head in that really annoying “I understand but disagree with you” way. “Too late. Some guy already got sucked in, then spat back out so hollow argument there.”
Nami could feel her cheeks getting red. Her face felt poker hot. Why was her dad being such a demanding dweeb? Just when the trip was starting to not suck so bad.
“I’ll get you a pony if you just pet him once,” her father stated.
Nami’s head spun around like the Exorcist. “A pony? A real live one? Not a pink plastic one.”
Her father chuckled. “A real live one for you to ride.”
“You aren’t pulling my chain?” Nami asked.
“Nope. I’ll call ahead and have it stabled near the cabin in Aspen.”
Oh, how her father loved to torture her. A pony? That was crazy. She’d been asking for one for how long? How old was she? Sixteen, then factor in the time to start talking, she would guess she’d been asking for one for fifteen years. Maybe longer, she had a pretty good point and coo method down even at four months.
Heck her first word had been “pony.” Followed by Captain Crunch.
Her mother was aghast. Apparently she didn’t know about Nami and her dad’s secret weekend breakfasts. Given the fact that her mother seldom rose before one pm, that wasn’t surprising.
“A pony,” Nami said again to clarify. Plus the word just felt good to roll around in her mouth. Even imagining of this moment flooded through her. She could see the pony. It would be a Shetland pony. Brown body with a blond mane and tail. It would nuzzle her hand for carrots and want to go on trail rides every day. She could imagine every last detail except for the whole going and petting the whale shark thing.
“Can’t I do anything else to earn it?”
“Nope,” her dad said. “Now or never.”
Nami breathed hard through her nose, which made an odd whistle. Normally she would be mortified but there was a pony on the line.
“Nothing at all?”
“N. O. No. Absolutely not. No way. No how.”
Ugh, she hated it when her father threw her sarcasm right back into her face. And he looked so very pleased with himself.
A pony. Five minutes of torture versus a lifetime of ponies.
“As soon as we get to Aspen?” she asked to clarify. She wasn’t going to walk through hell if he was going to sting her along on the other side.
“I am telling you, stabled and waiting for you when we land,�
�� her father reassured her.
Nami hated the fact that she could be bought so easily. Dangle an equine in front of her and she would go back on her word never to be near a shark again.
She put out her hand. “Deal.”
“Deal,” her father responded. “And look we’re already here.”
Nami had been hoping for a few more minutes to wander around the facility before she had to face the whale shark. But maybe this was for the best.
Best just to suck it up and get it over with.
Her father opened the door and led her out onto the deck. It looked so different from the last time she was here. There was no pelleting rain. No lashing winds. It was eerily calm. So calm you could hear the water lapping at the pool’s edge.
Dr. Yashimoto and his wife were just getting out of the whale shark’s enclosure. A robot was helping Mrs. Yashimoto to her feet. As they parted, Nami saw the beast. Its head was broader than a semi-truck’s engine. It was crazy. She knew it didn’t have any teeth, it had baleen cartilage instead, but at that size, did it matter?
Panic welled. She tried to walk back, but her dad blocked her exit.
“What are you doing here?” a familiar voice asked.
She turned to find Dillon in a wet suit, looking super-hot by the way, walking toward her. If there was ever a time to pull it together, and override her phobia, it was now.
“Oh, we’re just going to visit Lebowski,” she said, way too high pitched for even her ear. She’d missed casual by about two decibels.
* * *
Nami was cute even when she was scared out of her mind. She was the last person he expected to see out at the whale shark’s pen.
Her father put both hands on Nami’s shoulders. “She’s going to pet the big guy.”
“For a pony,” the girl blurted out.
“Sorry, but the exhibit is closed,” Dillon informed her thinking that would make her day.
“I’m not going in. I just want to pet him. Please. It’s super important. Pony important.”
Dillon nodded to the last bucket of brine shrimp. “Just dump that over the side, he’ll be here in a New York minute, but you can’t get in there.”
“Don’t worry,” Nami said. “I won’t.”
“Thank you,” Nick said. “But if the exhibit is closed for the storm, why are you and your robot here?”
“Oh, just some routine maintenance. We want to make sure everything is safe and secure before the storm.”
“There is nothing routine about this,” Quax complained. Dillon elbowed him hard enough to send him into the pool.
“You know how he gets,” Dillon said. “See you at dinner?”
“Hopefully,” Nami answered, kind of making his day.
Dillon placed his respirator into his mouth, then threw himself backward into the water. Sinking down, he passed by Lebowski, giving the big guy a pat, he made his way to the far reef.
Time to make sure Salechii was safe.
* * *
Nick held his daughter’s hand. Or more like his daughter nearly broke his hand with her vice-like grip. He could feel the sheer terror coursing through her veins. It was a palpable sense. Yet she walked forward, step by step toward the whale shark pool.
That girl really wanted a pony.
Nami had her eyes so squeezed tightly shut that the corners of her eyes were all wrinkles.
Maybe he could take her mind off of the shark. “What are you going to name your pony?”
“Polly,” Nami said then shook her head. “No, Pauline. No. Porky. No.”
Her hand slightly relaxed as she ran through a dozen other “P” names.
Nick stopped. “We’re here.”
Nami halted as well, her body as straight as a board. Her muscles stiffened to the point he feared she’d bust a tendon in her back.
“You can open your eyes.”
“Hey, you said nothing about that. I just have to pet the stupid thing.”
She was right. He really needed to get better at negotiating with her. He should have his agent give him some lessons.
Nick lifted the bucket of brine shrimp and before he could even bang it on the side Lebowski swam over, rising just out of the water, opening his huge mouth.
“Fine, you want it straight lined, Lebowski?” Nick asked as he picked up the bucket and emptied it right into the whale shark’s mouth.
Once he was done with that, he took his daughter’s hand and brought it over to the side of the shark’s face.
“There ya go,” he said.
Her eyes flew open as she inhaled. “He’s so soft.”
“I told you,” Nick said. There really was something magical about Lebowski.
On her own, Nami knelt down on the deck and gave the shark a pat as he skimmed past. “He is kind of sweet, isn’t he?”
“He is,” Nick answered not wanting to push his luck asking any more from Nami. She’d already done enough to score a pony.
Then the big guy realizing there was no more brine shrimp to be had, sank back down below the water.
“Ah,” Nami said. “Don’t we have any more shrimp?”
Nick looked around, “Sorry, we used the last one.”
She stood up. “Go ahead, get it out of your system.”
“What?” Nick asked.
“The ‘I told you so,’ go ahead, you earned it.”
Nick wouldn’t stoop that low. Why bother when his point was already made. “I’m just so proud of you, Nami.”
His daughter looked around. “You know, it wasn’t that bad. And I get pony.”
Nick chuckled. “Yes, you do.”
A warning horn blared, although it wasn’t exactly a warning as the deck beneath them bucked, rising high in the air. It must have been another rogue wave. Nami was thrown in the air.
Nick could see the look of sheer horror on her face as she flew over the edge, heading to the water. He didn’t wait for her to come down. He dove into the water, angling toward where he thought she would land.
But the wave had really knocked her back. He saw her splash into the water ahead of him. She was stiff as a board. She didn’t flail or try to swim, she just sank and sank. Could he get to her in time?
Bubbles escaped her mouth as she screamed “Daddy.” He couldn’t hear her of course, but he knew her lip motion. He knew that look of desperation. The last time he saw it was back on the beach in Malibu on that fateful day.
He kicked hard, trying to get to her, but he feared he couldn’t.
Then Lebowski was beneath her. His giant pectoral fin under her, raising her to the surface. She bent her knees and sat down on the fin as she breached the surface. Nick struck for the top as well, breaking the water, blowing out his breath.
Only Nami’s head and neck were above the water and shockingly there was a smile on her face. “I thought only dolphins did that.”
So did Nick, but he owed his daughter’s life to a whale shark.
Dillon surfaced on the other side of the pool. “Stay with Lebowski!” he screamed. But that didn’t make any sense. They needed to get out of the pool.
“Stay!” Dillon screamed, again, sounding pretty panicked and not making a lot of sense until he pointed to the east.
As a dorsal fin cut through the water.
* * *
Nami knew what was wrong before she even turned around. She’d heard it in Dillon’s voice. And now she saw it in her father’s eyes.
Great White. Only that freaking species inspired that level of terror.
Even though she didn’t want to, Nami turned her head and watched as the dorsal fin, which was attached to a huge Great White shark, charged towards them. She could feel Lebowski tilt forward. She sucked in a huge breath before the whale shark submerged again.
Her father held her hand as she held onto the whale shark’s fin. Whatever happened to Lebowski happened to them.
Up ahead, she could see Gabby approaching, coming straight at them. She had her prey in her sights. Was that
what the shark that attacked Rusty looked like? Had it been that hyper-focused?
The Great White opened its mouth, showing off all those awful, awful teeth each one as sharp as a scalpel blade. Was it going to take Lebowski’s fin off with them?
Then the whale shark bent its huge neck and brought it back forcibly, knocking the Great White to the side. Gabby tumbled in the water as if she were nothing more than a toy doll.
* * *
Callum held his finger over the nuclear button.
The unimaginable had happened. A Great White shark had gotten into a swimming exhibit and now the movie star and his daughter were in Gabby’s sights. And he knew better than most what happened next.
“Why aren’t you hitting it?” Shalie asked.
“If either of them have any kind of heart condition or arrhythmia, I could kill them. Hell, with this much voltage even without a preexisting condition I could kill them.”
The nuclear option was never intended to be used with humans in the water.
Like he said, unimaginable. What could stun a Great White shark could kill a human and his son was in that water.
And for right now Lebowski was holding his own. They had captured him as an adult. From the scars over his back, he’d had run ins with Great Whites before and survived. The whale shark had the weight. The question was could he outsmart a Great White.
The entire room was fixated on the forward monitor.
“Lebowski,” one of the techs yelled. Soon it became a chant.
“Lebowski, Lebowski, Lebowski.” Even Shalie joined in.
Callum couldn’t help himself, “Lebowski!”
* * *
Nami’s brain wanted her to breath, but they dare not leave the whale shark. If they did, she knew the Great White would pick them off, so she held her breath.
Gabby wasn’t deterred though, she righted herself from her tumble and circled back around, this time coming in from the side. She angled down. Nami felt a chill course through her veins. The shark was going to come underneath of them and gobble them up.
Lebowski must have realized the same thing as he angled away. Was he sacrificing them for himself? Then Nami realized what he was doing. His huge girth rammed into Gabby, pinning her against the side of the enclosure. She thrashed and tried to bite, but Lebowski had about a gazillion tons on her.
Apex Predator Thriller Series Collection (Including the blockbuster new shark park thriller, Salechii) Page 18