“Right. Because of the blood and sharks. And there are a lot of sharks out here, right?”
“Yup. They usually mind their own business, but…” He shrugged. “I had a friend once who liked to stay down and try to get a lot of fish at once. He used his swim trunks for a storage area. If a shark did smell the blood, the first place it would attack would be…”
“Ouch!” Zach said, laughing.
He tousled the kid’s hair, pressed his own mask to his face and made a backward dive into the water.
He meant to give Zach his day out on the boat. He was anxious, however, to return to the dock at Moon Bay before noon. Before Alex would be out of the public eye.
Before she could be alone anywhere…
With anyone.
When the swim was over, Alex rewarded her dolphins with some pats, praise and fish, then stood, anxious to hurry over to the next platform and accost Laurie.
She didn’t get a chance to. Jay, in another one of his handsome suits, came hurrying along the dock.
“We’re starting evacuation proceedings now,” he told her.
“Now?”
She looked at the sky. It was an unbelievably beautiful day, the sky an almost pure blue.
“Don’t even bother looking up. You know how fast things can change.”
“The storm turned toward us?”
“The Middle Keys may get a direct hit as early as late tonight or tomorrow morning. She’s not a big one, but…well, you know. A storm is a storm. The ferry is here, and the guests are packing up. I’d like you and Gil to take a walk down to the beach and make sure we haven’t missed anyone.”
“Sure.”
“The others can rinse down the equipment and get this part of the operation closed down. Later, if the storm keeps on coming, you can go down and open the lagoon gates so the dolphins can escape to the open sea if necessary.”
She nodded. The lagoons were fairly deep; her charges could ride out a storm much better than people could. Still, the facility had been planned with escape routes for the animals, should they be needed.
“Did they act strangely today?” Jay asked.
“No.”
“Then I’d say we’ve still got plenty of time.”
Jay didn’t have a particular affinity for the animals, but he knew enough about them to know that the dolphins would know when the storm was getting close.
“I see that Laurie arrived fine,” Jay said.
“Yes.”
“She told Len she forgot to charge her cell phone.”
“Well, yesterday was her day off, and she wasn’t that late this morning,” Alex reminded him. Until she had a chance to listen to Laurie, she certainly didn’t intend to tell Jay that anything was wrong in any way. She turned around, looking toward the next lagoon. Irritated, she realized that both trainers were already off the platform.
“Where’s Gil? Does he know we’re going on a beach hunt?”
“I just passed him. He’s at the Tiki Hut, grabbing a sandwich.”
“Is Laurie with him?”
“I don’t know,” Jay said. “Don’t worry, you’ll have a chance to talk to her when you get back. You know the island better than anyone else, so I appreciate you doing this yourself with Gil.”
“Sure, I’ll go find him.”
Alex looked around for Laurie as she walked the path to the Tiki Hut, which was almost dead quiet, despite the time of day.
“Grilled chicken,” Gil announced to her, lifting a wrapped sandwich. “I got you one, too, and a couple of bottles of water.”
She arched an eyebrow, amused. “The beach isn’t that far.”
“Yeah, but we’ve got a lot of trails to check, just to make sure. The ferry’s already picked up anyone who planned to check out today. It will be returning soon.”
“Where did Laurie go so quickly?” Alex demanded. “She should be cleaning the equipment and battening down with Manny and Jeb.”
“I don’t know. She was with me right after the swim. She was pretty upset, though. She couldn’t believe Jay had us finish the swim when there had been an evacuation notice. But she knows her responsibilities, and we’ve still got hours to get out, though I’m sure the roads will be a mess. We’ll find her when we get back. Jay said you’re staying, but that the rest of the dolphin team has to be on the next ferry.”
“Amazing, isn’t it?” she said, looking at the sky, despite the fact she knew it didn’t really mean anything.
“Always a calm before a storm. Didn’t your folks teach you that?” Gil teased.
“I suppose.”
They reached the beach. As far as the eye could see, it appeared to be empty.
“Well, I’m sure Jay will make sure all the guests and employees are accounted for,” Gil said. “But I guess we have to comb the trails anyway, huh?”
She smiled. “You go to the left, I’ll go to the right, and we’ll circle around and meet in the middle. How’s that?”
Even as she spoke, she felt a lift in the breeze. It was subtle, but there. “I guess the storm really is coming in,” she said.