Natural Selection

by Liz Wolfe

  Paige glanced out the window. At least they weren’t sinking fast. Still, she figured they had less than an hour before they’d have to leave the plane. And it would be dark soon. The sun was already close to the horizon.

  Wasn’t that just perfect? Floating around a shark-infested ocean at night with three members of the team bleeding.

  “Alex, Aleisha, I want you to pad your wounds with anything you can find, then cover them with a piece of this tarp and wrap it all in duct tape.”

  Aleisha looked questioningly at Paige, and knowledge dawned in her dark brown eyes. She took the knife from Paige and cut off a large square of tarp, then handed the knife to Alex.

  “Connor?” Paige lightly slapped his cheeks.

  “Huh?” His head rolled from one side to the other.

  “Connor, you gotta wake up now.”

  “Yeah.” His head lolled to the side.

  “Connor, damn it! The plane is sinking. You have to wake up!”

  “What? The plane?” Connor struggled to sit up, wincing against the pain. “The plane is sinking? How?”

  “No time to explain. We have about another thirty minutes before we go under. I wrapped your wound.” Paige hesitated, then decided she needed to let him know the situation. “There were sharks out there not long ago. And it’s going to be dark soon.”

  “Great,” he said and leaned back against her. “How’s the rest of the group?”

  “They’re good. Everyone is fine.” Except her. Paige wanted to cry with frustration. How the hell was she going to keep them all together in the ocean at night and away from the sharks?

  “Hey, you hear that?” Nick yelled from the door of the plane. “It’s a boat!”

  “Get the flares!” Paige yelled. The sun was setting, and she had no faith that they’d see the plane without them. Ty grabbed the flares and passed them to Aleisha who ran the short distance to Nick.

  “Light! I need a light!” Nick yelled. Ty leapt over Connor and Paige, digging his lighter out of his shorts pocket. Paige prayed.

  “Damn!” Nick cursed.

  “What?” Paige demanded.

  “Nick just dropped one of the flares. It’s all right, we still have two left.”

  “Get those flares lit!” A few seconds later she could see the lighted tip and orange smoke through the cabin windows. She could also see that they were close to sea level. The waves broke against the side of the plane, water sloshing into the broken windows, which was just making them sink faster.

  They all waited, listening to the sound of the boat’s motor, wanting to believe that it was getting closer.

  Paige saw the light and smoke of the second flare and sent up another prayer with it. Connor struggled to get to his feet. She threw his arm over her shoulder and leveraged him up. Damn, he was big and holding up his weight the twelve feet to the door wasn’t easy. Paige stumbled under his weight and lowered him onto a seat.

  “Just stay here for a minute. There’s a boat out there.” She looked out the window as another flare lit up the darkening sky.

  They were answering! The boat had seen them and recognized that they were in trouble.

  “It’s going to be all right,” Paige told Connor. “The boat sees us. They lit a flare in answer to ours.”

  “Thank God,” Connor said.

  The weakness of his voice worried her. She had no idea how much blood he’d lost, but from the looks of his shirt it was significant.

  “I’m going to go talk to the people on the boat. I’ll be right back.”

  Alex was standing half outside the cockpit, one foot on a pontoon, talking in Spanish to the men on the boat. The pontoons were already several inches under water.

  “I told him we have an injured person who can’t hold onto a rope. They’re rigging up a fishing net to bring him over.”

  “I want to get Connor off first, then you and Aleisha.”

  “I can wait,” Alex insisted.

  Paige shook her head. “I don’t want to take a chance on you or Aleisha falling into the water. You’re both bleeding, and I’m not sure the nylon and tape will keep the scent of the blood away from the sharks.”

  “Good point,” Alex agreed.

  “Ty, go help Connor get up here,” she instructed.

  The men on the boat had attached a small fishing net to a rope, and swung it over to the plane. Paige caught it and hauled it in just as Ty half carried and half dragged Connor into the cockpit. His side was soaked with blood again, but there was nothing she could do about it. Ty and Paige got Connor into the fishing net and out onto the pontoon. The boat had pulled alongside the plane so there were only a few feet between them.

  Alex spoke to the fishermen again in Spanish and they pulled on the rope until it was taut. Paige could see that Connor was going to slam into the side of the boat when they let him go. She grabbed the bulky rope, hooked a foot into the net and pulled herself up.

  “Now!” she shouted to Alex. He relayed the command to the fishermen and let go of the rope. Paige hung onto it as the net holding Connor swung out over the water. She put a leg out so he wouldn’t be jarred as much by hitting the side of the boat.

  Suddenly they were dropping into the water.

  “Ellos se caen! Levantelos!!” Alex yelled at the fishermen just as Paige felt her foot hit the water. The fishermen put more effort into it and lifted Paige and Connor slowly up the side of the boat. Paige ventured a glance at the water and saw that one of the sharks had returned. Probably he’d picked up the scent of the blood on Connor’s shirt.

  “Alex, tell them to let me down again. I’m coming back over with the rope.”

  “Stay there!” he yelled back.

  “Not until everyone is over here.”

  Alex said something to the men. Paige thought the words “stubborn bitch” were included in their answer, but the rope lowered, and she pushed off the side of the boat and swung over to the plane.

  Next were Aleisha and Alex. With her injured shoulder, there was no way Aleisha would be able to hang on to the rope.

  “I’ll go with her,” Alex said. Paige nodded and tied a loop in the bottom of the rope for him to place his good foot in. She guessed they had another ten minutes before the cockpit would start taking on water. Maybe five minutes after that they would be making buddies with the sharks. Aleisha wrapped her arms and legs around Alex and they swung out. The fishermen were more prepared this time, and the transfer went smoothly.

  “You next,” Paige said to Nick. They both froze as the sound of a plane whined overhead. It passed and Nick and Paige breathed a sigh of relief when there was no gunfire. Just a plane. Not the Hunters.

  Nick placed his foot in the loop and swung out. He wasn’t prepared for the encounter with the boat and slammed against the side. His foot slipped out of the loop, his hands slid down the rope, and he dropped into the water before he could catch himself.

  “Hang on!” Paige yelled while Alex shouted to the fishermen in Spanish. Nick wrapped his arm around the rope and gave her a wave.

  Paige saw one of the sharks swim rapidly in Nick’s direction. He screamed and Paige watched the frothing water turn red. The water around Nick churned as the other sharks moved in.

  “Get him out of there!” Paige yelled to the fishermen over everyone’s screams. Alex was already giving directions to the men in Spanish. The fishermen scrambled for a better grip on the rope, yelling to each other and the sharks were denied their meal as they hauled Nick out of the sea and up the side of the boat.

  Paige could see Nick’s leg was ripped and bleeding. The sharks were small, but she knew they could inflict extensive damage. Nick was pulled onto the boat, and one of the fishermen picked him up and carried him aft. Paige took a deep breath and tried to shake off her panic. She still had to get Ty and herself onto the boat.

  “You next,” she told Ty. “And if you drop in that water, I’m coming in after you to beat you senseless.”

  “Yes, ma’am!” Ty gave her a moc
k salute and a big grin.

  His transfer went without a hitch and the rope swung back to Paige. The cockpit was almost knee-deep in water and the only thing keeping the sharks away was the height of the door opening. She put her foot in the loop and swung out, just inches above the ocean surface. Closer to the sharks than she really cared to be. The fishermen hauled her over the side, and Paige breathed a sigh of relief.

  They had made it. They had cheated death one more time.

  Damn, she hoped she wouldn’t need to again.

  CHAPTER

  TWENTY-EIGHT

  PAIGE FOLLOWED ALEISHA DOWN BELOW TO a cramped cabin where Nick was lying on a cot, Connor sitting beside him. Connor sitting up was a good sign, but Nick didn’t look all that good.

  “He’s all right.” Connor nodded at Nick. “Sharks left some pretty deep gashes, but it doesn’t look like the muscle was mangled.”

  “Hey, Nick. How are you feeling?” Paige asked.

  “Not bad. Just feels like something tried to chew my leg off.” He grinned, but it turned into a grimace of pain.

  “I know.” Paige squeezed his hand and swallowed a sob. “We’ll be in Florida soon. It’s going to be all right.” She choked back another sob, not sure she believed her own words. Nick had to be in incredible pain. One of the fishermen had wrapped his leg in thick bandages, but blood was already seeping through.

  “Come here, you.” Connor pulled her over, wrapped an arm around her waist and gave her a thoroughly pleasant kiss.

  “What’s that for?”

  “For saving my ass. For saving all of us.”

  “Hey, everyone did their parts. You included.”

  “Yeah, we make a pretty good team.” Connor smiled. “You make a damn good leader.”

  Alex stuck his head inside the cabin. “Captain says it’ll take about three hours to get back to port. Said to help ourselves to the coffee.”

  “Make sure Alex tells him how thankful we are for this rescue,” Paige said. She glanced at the ancient aluminum coffee pot sitting on a propane stove. Coffee. Nectar of the gods. She pulled out of Connor’s arms and poured each of them a cup of the thick black brew. Her mouth watered just smelling it. She handed a cup to Connor and motioned toward the stairs. When they reached the deck, she settled Connor down with the others and handed him her cup.

  “I want to check Nick’s bandage, then I’ll come back up.” She went back below deck.

  “Hey, Nick.” She laid a hand on his arm, and he opened his eyes. “Painful, huh?” She peeled the bloody bandage away and noticed that the fisherman had cleaned the wound and applied some kind of ointment.

  “Not so much now. One of the fishermen gave me a couple of codeine. It’s helping.” His words were slurred, and Paige thought the fisherman had probably given him more than just a couple of the pain relievers. She would have given him a handful.

  “Get some rest if you can. We’ll be there in a couple of hours. Then you can get some real drugs.”

  Nick grinned and closed his eyes. She patted his arm again and returned to the deck. It was full dark now, and they all sat in the stern of the boat.

  “The captain says he’s radioed in for an ambulance to be there when we arrive.” Alex handed her the cup of coffee.

  “Thanks.” The brew was a little bitter but she didn’t care. “Good thing we had you around. I don’t think any of us speaks Spanish.”

  “We’ve been lucky in a lot of ways, in spite of everything.” Alex’s eyes slid over to Aleisha, and he smiled. Paige grinned at him. Maybe something good could come of this mess after all.

  “The Captain says we’ll dock just south of Miami in a few hours.” Alex settled himself next to Aleisha.

  Paige briefly considered asking the captain to take them to the closest place he could dock, even though they’d be on Florida’s gulf coast. It probably wasn’t necessary. Even though several of them required medical attention, only Nick’s injury and Connor’s gunshot wound were really serious, and they both were doing all right for the moment. No, it would be better to be closer to Miami. Closer to a large hospital and an airport.

  Paige leaned against Connor, being careful of his wound, and was lulled to sleep by the chugging of the boat’s motor and the warmth of his arm around her shoulders. When she woke, she could see the lights from the coast, and soon after that she could make out the flashing lights of two ambulances and a police car. She sighed. It was going to be a long night.

  The EMTs insisted on taking all of them to the hospital, even though Ty and Paige protested that they weren’t injured. In the end, it was easier to go along with them. The policeman took Ty and Paige in his car, while the others were piled into the ambulances. Paige almost laughed remembering the look on the officer’s face when he saw the AK-47. He’d confiscated it immediately and secured it in the trunk of his car. She didn’t care. She had no need for it now.

  The hospital was having a slow night, and everyone was hustled off to individual rooms immediately. Paige received a quick exam and was released. Ty was in the room next to her, complaining loudly about being kept overnight. When she got back to the ER waiting room, the police officer was waiting for her.

  “Ma’am. I’m Officer Barrow with the Topanga Bay Police Department.” He tipped his hat. “You feel up to talking about what happened?” He was young and clean cut with short dark hair and a neatly pressed uniform.

  “Sure. But first I want to check on my friends,” she said.

  “No problem. I talked with the nurse.” He pulled out a small notepad. “They’re putting stitches in Mr. Harrison’s leg. That’s the guy with the shark bite, right?”

  Paige nodded. “Nick.”

  “Taking a bullet out of Mr. McKinnon’s side.” He raised his eyebrows. Paige shrugged.

  “They’re cleaning up Ms. Cramer’s shoulder. Another bullet wound, I understand?”

  Paige nodded again. He flipped the page in his notebook.

  “Mr. Sullivan is being kept overnight for observation, due to exhaustion and exposure. Mr. Montoya’s foot appears to have some infection, but they don’t think it’s serious. That would be the one who got caught in the bear trap?” He paused. “That’s an interesting array of injuries.”

  She couldn’t deny the truth of that. “You want to talk down at the station?” Paige asked. He nodded. “You’ve got coffee there, right?”

  “That’s what everyone calls it, anyway. You want some real coffee, we could stop at Starbucks.”

  “No problem. I used to be a cop. I thrive on station house coffee.”

  Being a former member of the Portland Police Department seemed to marginally impress Officer Barrow, but after an hour-long interview, he still wasn’t buying her story.

  “Ma’am, I’m going to pull one of our more seasoned detectives in on this, if you don’t mind.”

  Paige didn’t mind. Maybe someone with a little more experience could grasp the situation. She sipped her tepid, bitter coffee and waited about half an hour. Finally the interview room door opened.

  The detective was in his fifties, thin, with a sharp nose and chin and a receding hairline that he tried to cover with a comb-over.

  “Ms. Blackwell?”

  “Yes.”

  “Detective John Mason. Officer Barrow tells me you’re with the Portland PD?”

  “I used to be. I’m a private investigator now.”

  “I used to live in Portland. Nice town. I’m sure you don’t mind if we check that out.”

  “Please do.”

  “Officer Barrow also told me a pretty unbelievable story about you and your friends being hunted on some uninhabited island?”

  “You want to hear it again?” Paige asked.

  “Let me see if I’ve got it straight. You all went to this island to be on a reality TV show?”

  “They called it Xtreme Survival.”

  “And you were told it’s a new show and not to tell anyone about it?”

  Paige nodded again.
/>   “Where exactly was this island located?”

  “Just north of Turneffe Islands off the coast of Belize. Connor said it was privately owned by the men.” How many times was she going to have to go over it? The detective went over the story she had given Officer Barrow in detail with Paige nodding along the way. After another hour of that torture, the door opened again, and Officer Barrow handed the detective a slip of paper. Detective Mason read the paper and put it in his pocket.

  “So, you’re a private investigator.”

  “Right.”

  “And how long were you with the Portland PD?”

  “Six years,” she supplied.

  “I used to be with the Portland PD. Took early retirement after twenty years on the force and moved down here. Wife thought she’d like Florida better. Lots of sunshine and all.”

  Paige nodded, wondering where this story was going. Cops didn’t start telling their life stories for no reason.

  “Worked out of the one-five-eight. You familiar with that precinct?”

  “Actually, my father worked out of the one-five-eight. Sam Blackwell.”

  “You’re Sam’s little girl?”

  Paige nodded. “You knew him?”

  “Sam and I used to grab a beer every now and then. Your mom would always give him hell for coming home late. How’s she doing?”

  “You must have worked with my father a long time ago.” What the hell was this jerk doing?

  “I suppose it’s been about twelve or thirteen years since we worked together.”

  “Then you’d know that my mother died fifteen years ago.”

  “Damn. You really are Sam’s daughter.”

  “You didn’t believe me?”

  “We couldn’t get confirmation of your employment with Portland PD until tomorrow morning. I thought you might be faking it.”

  “Tell you what.” Paige stood up and set her Styrofoam cup on the table. “Since my word wasn’t enough for you, you go ahead and get your confirmation tomorrow morning. I’m going to check into a motel and get a hot shower and some sleep.”

  “Which motel?”

  “You tell me. I’m not real familiar with Topanga Bay.”