Taking a deep breath, he dove into the water. All the sounds became muffled and it was just him and the fish in the water. As he grew closer, it became more and more clear that it was a skeleton. He didn’t want to get too close, but he needed more information before going back up. Closing his eyes when he saw the mouth open in a silent scream, he hoped her death came quick. Swimming around, he saw there were chains around her, holding her under the water. He thought he saw a purse but he couldn’t be sure and didn’t want to disturb the evidence.
Swimming up to the surface, he wondered how Evie would take the news. This wasn’t the first time they came across a dead body together. Jeremy needed to be stopped.
Pulling himself into the boat Evie must have sensed that it wasn’t good news because she launched herself into his arms. Holding on tight, he closed his eyes in a silent prayer for the woman at the bottom of the ocean.
“Is it her?”
“I can’t tell. There is a purse, so I’m assuming it’s a woman. Hopefully the authorities will be able to tell.”
“Shit.”
“Exactly.”
“What should we do now?”
“Head back into town and I expect spend a long night with the local police.”
“Great. Well let’s get this over with.”
After they dressed, he started the boat and turned it around for the trip back to St. Thomas. Sensing her emotions were on overdrive, he held out his hand. Once it was in his he pulled her so she was in standing in front of him, resting her body on his. He could feel her shaking and wanted to take all this mess away from her.
Heading into the setting sun it would have been romantic, but the thought of a woman long dead at the bottom of the ocean couldn’t leave him. They were almost back to the island when out of the corner of his eye he saw a boat speeding towards them.
Slightly changing his course so they wouldn’t collide, he was shocked when the boat changed its course also.
“Hang on,” he shouted to Evie. She dropped to the floor and moved out of his way. Barely glancing at her to make sure she was safe, he concentrated on the game of chicken this other boat was playing. His timing had to be perfect. At the last second, he jerked the wheel to the left hoping the other boat wouldn’t do the same.
Quickly straightening the boat out, he pushed on full speed to the island. Looking back over his shoulder he saw the other boat turn around and start to chase them. The other boat was faster so Anthony had to be smarter. He wasn’t sure who was driving it but he was afraid he knew. While he wanted nothing more than to destroy that monster, even at the sake of his own life, he wouldn’t put Evie in that kind of danger.
He looked down and saw her watching him with huge eyes. “Get a life jacket and put it on.”
“What about you?”
“I can’t deal with it right now. Just take care of yourself.”
Knowing that the fastest way between two points was a straight line, Anthony didn’t deviate from the harbor. As the lights came closer, he was feeling optimistic. When he felt Evie come up by him, he checked to make sure she had the vest on and was going to yell at her to get back down when she managed to put a waist life preserver around his waist.
“I’ll take care of you.” She sat back down.
Turning around he saw the boat was too close for comfort. Taking a few extra seconds, he tried to get a look at the driver but it was getting too dark and it looked like they had something over their head.
“See if we’ve got cell phone service,” he shouted to Evie. “We’re close enough to shore now.”
Hearing her shout to someone on the other end of the line made him breathe a little easier. Now if someone could get to them quickly, everything should be fine. His heart was beating so hard he could feel it throughout his whole body. He had to keep Evie safe and out of that monster’s hands.
He kept searching the horizon for a boat to come racing from the harbor and turning around to see how close the other boat was. Now only feet separated them. Not sure what the other driver had in mind, Anthony thought about taking a chance and ramming the other boat. He was afraid with dark approaching they would have a hard time being found if the boat became too damaged to drive, or they were in the water.
The choice was taken out of his hands as the boat caught up to them and smashed into the side of their boat. It took all that Anthony had to hang on and not fall. He quickly looked down and saw Evie still hanging onto a pole with blood dripping down the side of her head.
Searching to see where the other boat was, his heart dropped as he saw it approaching them. With the motor starting to sputter he knew they didn’t have much time left before they would be dead in the water. Judging the time, he cut the engine at the precise moment so that the other boat passed by them without hitting them.
He tried to start the boat up, but it wouldn’t. “Shit. Come on. Come on. Start.”
“Anthony?”
“Stand up. You might have to jump overboard.”