Ocean Blue (Sea Lab Book 1)

CHAPTER 31

Beyond a pair of guest chairs stood a large desk, made of mahogany like the door. Behind that, a leather chair rested, a man sitting in it, his fingers linked in a contemplating manner. And yet beyond this Mr. Zanderthal was a tall expanse of wooden cases that looked down on the spacious room with a plethora of leather-bound books, similar to a law library.

Zanderthal, dressed in a tailored black suit—like Jake—with a baby blue tie, scampered over to a conference table and rolled a third chair over the hardwood floor. He bid his guests to sit and snuggled again behind his desk, his elbows resting on the tabletop, hands clasped. Zanderthal studied Jake with a careful eye. He probably wondered if his seemingly equally matched opponent bought his suit from the same store. The only difference, Jake wore no tie, but appeared more relaxed with his top button undone.

"I'm Thomas Gregory, head of our research team," Jake said, then gestured toward Sarah and Tony. "This is Elaine Burke, marine biologist. And, of course, Douglas Fairfield, one of my research assistants." They carried passports and proper identification to match the names.

"Mr. Gregory, how may I assist you and... The Marine Sanctuary, is it?" Zanderthal posed the question in unbroken American English. This came as a surprise. After all, he was born in Australia.

The man's lips curled into a mild smirk as if he viewed their encounter as a game of sorts. A sheen reflected off the fair skin of his head, revealing he'd been bald for years. His ice-blue eyes stared back at Jake as if he could read his mind.

"The Sanctuary, as we refer to ourselves, has been conducting investigations in Tahiti, Paradise Island in The Bahamas, and now Australia on the Great Barrier Reef. At all three sites, the fish populations around the coral reefs have withered away to nonexistence."

"And you've come for my help?" Zanderthal gloated, leaning back in his chair.

"Actually," Sarah said with a British flare, which astonished Jake and Tony, "we came to inquire about a pair of cage traps we discovered in The Bahamas and off the Great Barrier Reef."

The billionaire chuckled, apparently amused by the accent. "Jolly ole England. You studied at Southampton?"

"But of course." With a furrowed brow and businesslike air, she pressed forward before he could probe further. "Concerning the traps, we couldn't identify the owner of the first one because of unfortunate circumstances. The second one, however, we found fully intact."

"I suppose that's why you're here?"

"That's correct," Tony said. As soon as the remark left his mouth, his eyes darted from Zanderthal to Jake, and then to Sarah. "So... we were... just..."

"Wondering why you found my traps in the depleted fish locations?"

"Yes," Jake said, jabbing his eyes at Tony. "That's exactly what my assistant, Douglas, was trying to say."

"I have no qualms with admitting the traps belong to Ocean Blue. We used them to capture fish for tag and release so our research teams could study the specimens for extended periods of time. That's not unheard of in the scientific community, is it, Mr. Gregory?"

"No, but a creature with a powerful bite punctured the pontoons on both traps." He wanted to keep secret the fact they captured and killed one of the barracuda-like specimens. He explained earlier to Sarah that it might work to their advantage if Zanderthal thought they were clueless in that regard. You don't tell everything you know, one thing he learned in naval intelligence.