LUST & MONEY

Prologue

Decker burst through the water surface, reaching for the side of his boat. He sucked air into his chest and practically spasmed with adrenaline. Gold! It had to be. He rolled the object around in his hand. It had been only 10 feet down and yet it was solid and heavy: a ring. Not one of those touristy Florida gold gimmicks. This was real. This was going to change his life!

Despite the warm water, Decker felt cold. The faint glimmer he had spotted almost two hours previously had kept him sifting through the constantly changing carpet of sand. In his absence the sun continued its blistering assault on the flaking navy blue paint that he liked to joke held his boat together. He embraced it now for its loyalty, and to keep himself above water.

At seventeen years of age, the Glades were about to become his personal playground. Money, baby, money. I'm the man!

Decker lay one arm over the bow to haul himself aboard the boat that moved and shifted with the tide, when the sound first dawned on him. A distant drone. Familiar, yet foreign. The sound of a motor getting closer. He peered over his boat and looked to the horizon. It took almost 30 seconds before he could make out the three men in the motorboat. Squinting, Decker tried to gauge the newcomer's distance. Too hard to tell, but in all the open sea around him, their steady approach in his direction was unnerving.

Moving quickly, he wrapped the gold ring in an oil rag and tucked it under the beers in the cooler he kept beneath a dirty canopy at the fore of the boat. The drone was getting louder. Decker could make out some details of the three men on the motorboat. It wasn't the coastguard, so he breathed a little easier about the beers he had on board. But why in all this open ocean where they coming directly towards him?

Decker felt another cold chill explode through his spine. One of the men held a shotgun, another a spear gun. The third, manning the wheel, had scars that from a distance seemed to connect  every feature on his face. Even without being able to see beneath the man's  waist, Decker knew he would have a weapon at his belt.

With the sun behind him, he had split seconds to take action before they would have him fully in their sights. He pushed his diving mask over his eyes; sucked in air three, then four times, steadied his mind and pushed against his boat, driving himself back underwater. Decker straightened his legs and let his ankles go loose as he powered downwards, his fins turning the water around him into movement.

He grabbed hold of the reef and looked up to watch the shadow of the approaching boat. It was only then he realized the stupidity of his action. What were they going to think? That a boat just happened to be left deserted out on the water? That its owner wouldn't return soon? That was if they didn't see him in the water. The edge of the reef hid him partially, but if they looked closely enough it would be obvious he was trying to hide.

Decker heard the men move and shout above their engine, as much a physical wave of sound travelling through the water as an aural one. Two of the men had boarded his boat, the QE5. 

The ring! It had to be something to do with the ring. There was no other reason for him to be disturbed at this spot. It was outside of any shipping lane. Only the occasional rich guy's yacht passed here. He'd seen them looking for somewhere secluded in plain sight to indulge themselves in their pleasures.

The immediate change in pressure beside him alerted Decker to the spear swooshing through the water close to his arm. Fuck!

Abandoning the reef, Decker turned towards shore and pumped his legs hard. He didn't care about breath. If he had to, he'd surface far enough to get some air through the snorkel attached to his mask. Maybe if he changed direction a few times they'd get bored and leave him once they had found the gold ring. If they hadn't found it already.

Decker altered his course and set out parallel to the coast, figuring he could turn inwards again from a different direction and bring the men into view so he could keep an eye on them as he moved away.  

This time he heard it; the sound as water broke behind him. The pain was so sudden, so fierce, that he almost choked; screaming with pain from the spear that sliced open the skin across his rib cage. Blood in the water! 

Decker turned and tried to get an idea where they were. The water wasn't deep here, but fatigue and panic were clouding his judgement. The blood that billowed from his torso only panicked him further. The world around him was spinning into obscurity.

Then it burst into view beside him. A man  with a scuba tank on his back and a spear gun.

The face behind the mask was grinning. It was the man with the scars. Decker understood what the scuba gear meant. Scar Face had no intention of him leaving the water. The scarred man reached easily for Decker's leg and took hold of his ankle. Even hidden behind the mask there was no mistaking the smile threatening to split the man's face apart. Decker's stomach threatened to empty itself in his mouth.

His heart tried to burst through his chest. Adrenaline coursed through his body, ready to shunt him into motion. But his brain interpreted it as a command to freeze. The struggle ended there. He knew he hadn't enough oxygen left to struggle against the man, just as he knew he wouldn't make it to the surface. He finally looked at the man who had him trapped.

The man with the scars  smiled as he held his ankle; watching him drown. Decker was dead within minutes.

This is the first (approx.) thousand words of my first short book here on WattPad for the #JustWriteIt challenge to write a 10,000 word story during October. If you'd like to comment on it, please do. If you'd like to know more about how the characters here will become part of my NaNoWriMo novel in November 2016, just visit me at http://davelynch.info and join my newsletter. I'll be giving weekly updates on the book during the month of November.