Phantom Prospect - Alex Archer [11]
Hunter shrugged. “The rest of us were a little slow getting into wet suits. I was nursing an awful headache that I woke up with and the team was a bit slow. All of a sudden, the captain calls me on to the bridge and jabs a finger at the sonar. I thought it was a submarine at first, you know? This big thing just moving along.”
“You think about radioing down to Jock?” Cole asked.
“Would have if he’d gone down with a radio unit. But Jock didn’t like them. Said they didn’t allow him the freedom he liked underwater. He used to rely on hand signals only.”
“And he was down there all alone,” Annja said.
“We saw the shape moving—Jock didn’t show up on the sonar—and then it was gone. Someone screamed off the stern and when we went out, we saw an upwelling of blood break the surface of the water. We knew something was wrong so we went down.”
Annja leaned back. “You went down there knowing that the shark might still be around?”
“My man was down there,” Hunter said. “It’s my responsibility to get him back, even at risk.”
“What’d you find?”
“Two pieces of body. Shredded wet suit with these long tears. His air tanks were crushed. It was a horrible sight. His head was gone, too.”
Annja frowned. “You sure it’s him? The body, I mean.”
Hunter stared at her. “Why would you even ask that question? Of course we’re sure. Jock was the only one down there, then this big thing cruises by and then Jock’s remains are found. Seems like an easy equation to me.”
Annja held up her hand. “Just asking.”
“Well, it was a bad question,” Hunter said. “Jock was a good man and I don’t like the memory of him being questioned.”
“But you’ll lie in order to protect the salvage operation you’ve got going on here,” Annja said. “I get it.”
Hunter frowned and glanced at Cole. “Just who is this chick, bro?”
“This ‘chick,’ as you call her happens to be a pretty damned good archaeologist. You’d do well to remember that she’s not only pretty smart, but also a pretty tough woman.”
“Pretty tough?” Annja smirked. If only you had the first clue about that one.
Cole turned around. “I don’t want your ego getting out of check.”
“Thanks for the concern.” She looked at Hunter. “Look, I don’t want to get off on the wrong foot here, so let’s just agree that this is a real tragedy and that we will do everything we can to help you make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Hunter paused and then nodded. “Yeah, okay.”
Cole pointed at the sign for Prospect. “Not much farther now, is it?”
“Five minutes or so to get down to the harbor and catch the dingy out to the boat. That shouldn’t take that long.”
Annja looked at the small town as they drove through. It didn’t look like there was a lot of traffic in the area. Small homes bordered streets and she could make out eateries and neighborhood taverns. It was a cozy town.
“There haven’t been other shark attacks here, have they?”
Hunter laughed. “You kidding? The Canadian Atlantic is considered to be one of the safest places to swim. I mean, the water temperatures are fairly cold year round, so that’s a major factor. Less people in the water, means less chance of interaction with sharks.”
“Yeah, but great whites swim these waters, too,” Cole said. “They can tolerate the cooler temps.”
“Last great white seen around these parts was five years ago,” Hunter said. “I checked.”
“Maybe they’re migrating north,” Cole said. “How’s the seal population?”
“Don’t know,” Hunter said. “They would like that, though, wouldn’t they? And Jock always did like his gray wet suit.”
Cole shrugged. “It could have been a case of mistaken identity, I suppose.” His voice trailed off.
“But you don’t think so,” Annja said.
Cole shook his head. “I don’t know. It just doesn’t feel like it. I could be completely wrong, of course. I’ve been wrong before. But a shark that big as what showed up on sonar, well, I don’t know.”
“A rogue shark hunting these waters would be unbelievable unusual,” Hunter said. “Like I said, it’s not like there’s a lot of people up here to sustain it.”
Cole nodded. “I know. I know.” He sighed. “Well, I suppose we’ll see when