Ocean Blue (Sea Lab Book 1)

CHAPTER 18

ATLANTIS PARADISE ISLAND, THE BAHAMAS

The same monstrous shape chased after Jake. The difference, this time it happened at night in a sea of black. He twisted his body sideways and allowed the gaping mouth of the luminous fish to blaze by him. Its saw-like teeth missed his ribcage by inches, but the creature's colossal tail-fin struck him as it shot by and disappeared like a ghost in the night. For a moment, he thought the apparition was gone until it emerged again and rocketed toward him, jaws wide, daunting.

Jake braced himself, clinched his eyes tight, and then opened them.

The image of death vanished.

He stared at the condo's smooth white ceiling. He rose to an elbow, and without thinking, touched the cross that hung from his neck. The moment of anxiety burned through his chest and waned. He suddenly noticed his grip on the necklace, his fingertips indented with the impression of the gold keepsake.

Was he foolish for thinking the charm offered some kind of protective power? At nine years old, his mother had given it to him after he'd inquired about his father. What was he like? Who was he? He recalled being shown pictures of the man his parents named him after. Come to think of it, now he remembered with vivid clarity the striking resemblance between himself and his dad.

His mother said the necklace was the last thing his father gave her before he died. She told him what she knew of his demise. He was courageous to the end. The ill-fated ship, the Edmund Fitzgerald, had sunk with all hands on deck during a winter storm on Lake Superior. Jake often wondered if her version of the events was true, since no one survived to tell the tale. Had she fabricated most of it to give him a good image of his father? Despite what happened, whether the man had been brave, he was dead now.

Jake exhaled long and hard. No, in the core of his scientific mind, he didn't believe the cross around his neck held any protective power. It was only an object he used to bring focus and clarity. A way to release anxiety. And once again, it worked.

He eased from the bed's linen sheets, lumbered into the bathroom, flipped on the light and looked in the mirror. He ran a palm over the bristles covering his cheeks. Sarah didn't mind a couple of days' growth, but she preferred a clean shave and didn't care for a goatee. After emptying his bladder, Jake dipped into his travel bag and broke out a razor and shaving gel. Within five minutes, his dimpled chin was smooth with a minor cut.

As he exited the room, he heard Tony snoring on the bottom bunk at the end of the hall between the bedrooms.

From the living room, Sarah said, "I've got to go." Then something clasped shut.

Her Mac notebook.

Jake left the room and rounded the corner. On the fly, she crammed something into her laptop case. It wasn't her computer because it still rested on the desk. Sarah swiveled in the chair, placed the leather case against a desk leg and faced him.

She beheld him with a disapproving eye, like his mother used to do.

"You know," Jake said, "whatever you stashed in your case is none of my business."

"You're right."

"But as long as we're on the subject, why would you feel the need to hide something from me?"