Phantom Prospect - Alex Archer [57]
She found that admirable.
I’d probably like it even more if it didn’t entail him risking death to do it, she thought.
The spotlight cut through the water in all directions. She wished that Cole had radio contact with her. It would make the wait a lot less tense. It would probably have been nice for him, as well, she thought.
But they didn’t have the radios. And they had to wait. Annja on deck and Cole in the water.
They could have prepared some chum for the shark. A few fish heads and assorted bloody goop in the water would draw it in nice and fast.
She glanced down and frowned. What was Cole doing? He had one of his gloves off.
That water looks terribly cold, Annja thought.
She saw a flash of metal.
Cole took his knife and cut into the palm of his hand. The ambient light from the spotlight showed an immediate cloud of dark blood mixing with the ocean water. Annja shook her head. He must have had the same idea about the chum line. And not to be too concerned, he cut his own palm and waved it around in the water trying to attract the shark.
She wondered if it would work.
“What the hell is going on down here?”
Annja turned and saw Jax descending the stairs. She looked over at the winch and then at the water. “Oh, shit. Don’t tell me the nutty professor is down there trying to attract the shark.”
“He is.”
“You helped him?”
Annja shrugged. “He raised some interesting questions.”
“Like what? How he’d taste to the shark after it chews him up? Jesus, Annja, you realize this is completely nuts?”
Annja nodded. “Yeah. I’m not crazy about it. But he would have done it, anyway, if I hadn’t helped him. Cole’s like that. At least, this way, I can be here if something goes wrong.”
Jax shook her head. “You mean when something goes wrong. Because looking at this situation, I can already see that happening.” She took a breath and sighed. “Garin warned me that you sometimes made decisions that left him speechless.”
“That was nice of him,” Annja said. “Are you going to stay here and tell me how bad I am for helping him?”
“Nah, but Hunter’s going to go into a conniption fit when he hears about this.”
“Now why would he hear about it?”
Jax looked at her. “You want me to pretend I don’t know what’s going on? When I’m on the bridge and manning the wheelhouse? That would cost me a hell of a lot with Hunter.”
“But it would gain you a powerful ally in me.”
Jax shrugged. “I don’t need a powerful ally. I’ve already got one of my own and his name is Garin.”
“Garin doesn’t have the sword.”
“No, but he does have a lot of other stuff.” Jax smiled. “A lot of other stuff that I can certainly find a use for.”
“So you’d sell me out for that?”
Jax sighed. “Probably not. But if it happens, it happens. I can’t explain it, Annja. I’ve been on my own a long time and watching out for numero uno is the way I live my life.”
“I know a lot of people like that. Most of them are incredibly selfish and lack any sort of compassion or ability to see things from another perspective,” Annja said.
Jax frowned. “If you’re going to stand here and insult me all night, I’ll go back to the bridge.”
“Maybe you should.”
Jax spun and climbed the steps to the wheelhouse. Annja watched her go, trying to figure out what made Jax tick. She sighed and turned back to the cage floating in the darkness.
She could see Cole down below. The bleeding seemed to have stopped on the cut he’d made on his palm. Annja wondered how long it would take for blood to dissipate and work its way down the current to where waiting sharks could smell it?
Cole’s spotlight continued to move back and forth in all directions. She wondered if he was trying some sort of visual experimentation.