Phantom Prospect - Alex Archer [62]
Damn you, Annja thought. You took one of my friends.
The fin swerved away from the boat and then cut a course a few degrees off the starboard side. To Annja’s eyes it looked as if it was zigzagging back and forth.
Is it going to attack the boat? If it did, it could do a lot of damage. And that would mean a really big problem for the crew. If any of them went into the water, the shark would devour them.
Was that its goal? Did it want the boat so badly damaged that everyone would have to abandon ship and go into the water? She looked at the waves lapping against the side of the boat and wondered how cold it was. Would death come from the hypothermia or from the shark? Which would get to them first?
The shark is…
Annja pondered Cole’s words. Is what? Big? That was obvious. Along with being dangerous and deadly and to be avoided and pretty much everything else Annja could think of.
What had Cole been about to say before the shark had attacked him?
Maybe he’d been trying to tell her something critical that he thought she needed to know in case he was attacked. But what? Had Cole been able to see the shark on a collision course with him? Was he trying to save Annja from it?
It was possible, she supposed, but it didn’t make any sense. Cole had seemed utterly relaxed as he bobbed atop that cage. She frowned. Anyone else would have been terrified.
But not Cole.
Was he simply courageous beyond any shadow of doubt? Or did he know something?
Annja thought back to the first time when she had seen the shark. The head had lifted out of the water, that immense enormous maw filled with those serrated teeth.
And yet…
Jax came down the steps behind her. “Hunter just told me.”
Annja shook her head. “It happened way too fast for me to do anything.”
Jax shrugged. “What were you supposed to do? Dive in and fend it off with the sword? How well would that have worked?”
“I have no idea. I’ve never done anything like that before.”
“Exactly,” Jax said. “That’s the thing. You always have to remember to look out for numero uno. That’s you. If you couldn’t help without risking your own life, then it’s not worth it.”
“He was my friend. I owed him more than I tried.”
“You didn’t owe him crap,” Jax said. “You know how many people I’ve had tell me that I owed them something? Tons. I don’t owe anyone anything. Where I’m at in my life is where I got myself.”
Annja looked at her. “Yeah, but doesn’t that seem a little selfish to you? Not exactly compassionate of your fellow human beings.”
“What—it’s selfish to look after yourself?”
“I didn’t say that.”
Jax pointed at the ocean. “Look, Annja, I don’t know what sort of thing you and Cole had going on, if anything, but the fact of the matter is, he’s gone. There’s nothing you could have done to protect him even with that gift you have.”
“Doesn’t feel like a gift right now.”
Jax nodded. “Yeah, I know that feeling.”
“Do you?”
“Well, not exactly in your context, of course. I think there’s only one sword and you’ve got it. But I can grasp the idea that something that’s supposed to make you better, able to do more, suddenly feeling as though it’s the worst thing to have to bear.”
Annja nodded. “Yeah. You’re right.”
“I’m making some coffee. With a bit of whiskey in it. You want a cup?”
Annja pointed at the ocean. “There’s nothing left of him. No trace of his body anywhere.”
Jax nodded. “Well, yeah. That’s good, though, right?”
“Why would you say that?”
“Well, it’s just that you don’t want to have body parts floating on the waves. You’d have to collect it all and try to get it back ashore for the funeral. In a way, it’s almost better this way.”
Annja stared at her. “Go make that coffee.”
“Just saying,” Jax said. But she turned and walked away. “I’ll let you know when it’s done.”
Annja watched her go and then turned toward the ocean. She heard another splash and then saw the huge dorsal fin cutting back and forth in front of