Phantom Prospect - Alex Archer [13]
“Together?” Annja asked.
“Yeah.”
Cole sighed. “I don’t get my own room?”
“I don’t have any to spare. Your pal Tom is being stuffed into an old storage closet that we managed to fit a mattress into, but even that’s a stretch. And not in a good way.”
Cole took a deep breath and looked at Annja. “I apologize for this. If you want to leave, I don’t blame you in the slightest.”
Annja smirked. “Do I look like some little innocent miss you’ve got to save from the perils of man? I’ve been in awkward situations before. I’ll manage with this one.” She looked at Hunter. “Don’t worry about it. It’s fine.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah. Let’s not lose sight of why we’re here. If I can help out somehow, then that’s all that matters.”
Cole shrugged. “Suit yourself.”
He started forward, but Annja lobbed her bag onto the bed first. “I sleep on that side. You get the porthole.”
Cole looked at the bed and then back at Annja. “I don’t do well on the porthole side.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know. I just never have.”
Hunter chuckled. “That’s true. One of the first boats our dad bought, Cole there slept funny and woke up heaving halfway through the night. He blew chunks all over dad’s teakwood finish. Hoo boy, the old man was furious about that one.”
“Thanks for bringing that up,” Cole said.
“Anytime.”
Annja sighed. “All right, take the door side. But if any trouble comes through that door, I’ll expect you to be up and defending the room. If you can’t do that, I’ll take over. Just hold them off long enough for me to wake up.”
Hunter and Cole looked at her.
“What?” Annja asked.
“That sort of thing happen to you before?” Hunter asked.
“You’d be surprised,” Annja said. “A lot of things have come through my bedroom doors over the years and not all of them have been good. Or even remotely pleasant.”
Hunter glanced at Cole. “That’s some roommate you scored for yourself there, bro. Best of luck making it through the night.”
Cole nodded slowly. “I might need it from the sound of things.”
Annja clapped her hands. “No use dwelling on it. Just that my work has exposed me to a lot of potential risks is all.”
“And here I thought you were just a mild-mannered scientist with an outdoor streak,” Cole said.
Annja grinned. “And I used to think you had some common sense rattling around in that skull of yours.”
Hunter frowned. “Oh, no, don’t you tell me he’s swimming with great whites again.”
“He is.”
“Jeez.” Hunter shook his head. “Dude, how many times have I told you that’s not a good idea?”
“It’s fine,” Cole said. “I’ve done it a few times now and there’s nothing to worry about.”
“Famous last words.”
“Annja was there on my most recent swim,” Cole said.
Hunter glanced at her. “You were? You let him go and do it?”
“Hey, I had no clue anything of the sort was going on. We were in the cage, he motioned for me to get back on to the boat so I did. Next thing I know Jacques Cousteau there is off trying to catch a ride on a giant dorsal fin.”
Hunter looked at Cole. “You’re trying to ride them now?”
“It was a thought.”
“Yeah, a bad one. How in the world can you think that grabbing a dorsal fin on a shark is a good idea? One wrong move and you’ll end up down their gullet as a noontime snack.”
Cole shook his head. “Not going to happen, Hunter. I’ve researched this. There’s no danger provided I keep my wits about me.”
“Did you chum the waters this time?”
“I need a way to attract the fish.”
Annja looked at Hunter. “Sounds like you’ve been witness to his swimming with sharks before.”
“Yeah, I saw him do it. Damn near scared me to death. He didn’t tell me he was going to do it until he was actually in the water with them without a cage. I’d had no time to prepare or be ready in case he needed help.”
“If I needed help,” Cole said. “There would have been nothing you could have done. It would be too late.”
“Yeah, well, forgive a brother for wanting to help out in case of emergency. It’s not like I love you or anything.