Mackenzie Grant, Mac to everyone, stood next to her boat captain Burt as he guided the vessel back into port.It was another hot day in the Caribbean, and she was looking forward to a cold shower and beer—exactly in that order.Her back ached from all the sharks they had hauled into the boat for research, and she could use something to ease all of her muscles.
“Youotaybes?”Burt asked.
Mac was used to Burt’s thick accent.She wasn’t sure where he was from.It wasn’t British, or even Irish, or any accent she was familiar with for that matter.Most of his words were slurred together as if he couldn’t be bothered to enunciate them.It had been frustrating to communicate with him at first; it was because he was the best boat captain on the island that she had stuck with him for so long.
After eight years together, she understood him fluently.He was also knowledgeable about sharks and had a passion for them like she did.
“I’m concerned, Burt.”
“The harks?”
“Of course, the sharks.”What else would she be concerned about?The weather?That never changed except in hurricane season, but that was a different subject matter.The sharks were her one and only true concern.
She had hoped to see more sharks, but every week there were less and less.As if something was driving them out or worse, someone was killing them.Mac had an idea about the cause of their decline, but without proof, it was just a hunch.One couldn’t go around accusing people of killing sharks without proof.Especially if it was the person she thought was responsible for it.
“I haven’t seen Lucy in weeks.Her tracker isn’t working,” Mac complained as her hand balled into a fist.She wished she could deck the man she thought responsible for it, but it wouldn’t do her any good.The man would just end up suing her or putting her in jail, and then she really couldn’t help the sharks.
“We’ll hind er,” Burt said, sounding confident.More so than she was.That was Burt for you.He was a seasoned seafarer and had seen everything.Few things surprised him.It was one of the things she liked best about him.
“If she hasn’t been slaughtered and turned into chum herself,” Mac mused angerly.She wished she knew where the sharks were going.There was a chance their migration pattern was adapting due to all the changes on the island and increase in human population, but she feared there was more to it.
Everyone kept telling her she was being paranoid, but she knew these sharks better than she knew herself.Something was going on.She could feel it; she just needed to prove it.
Burt docked the boat and jumped onto the dock barefoot.The man didn’t believe in shoes, or he didn’t own any.She had never seen him wear any.Mac on the other hand always wore tennis shoes on the boat and sandals on shore.Splinters were hard to get out of one’s foot.
“So dar, bes.Les ge e beer,” Burt offered her a hand and helped from the boat.“Geh ur mind off tings.”
She’d planned to shower first, but suddenly a beer sounded perfect.“Let’s.”Worrying wasn’t going to give her more answers.She needed to give her brain a break.Easier said than done.
They walked down to their favorite bar and sat outside.There was a small dancing area to the corner, and the view looked out over the ocean.The sun was getting ready to set; the bright blue sky was darkening and turning pink.
The weather was still warm but had cooled by several degrees as the sun went down.The waitress set their beers on the table without them having to order.They were frequenters there.With it being a small island, there were only so many bars, and people learned your habits quickly.Condensation was already dripping down the side of the bottle.
As much as Mac had been looking forward to a beer, it sat untouched in front of her.Her mind was too preoccupied to let alcohol inhibit her senses.Her gaze was fixated on the ocean.The water was calm, only the gentle crash of the waves as it reached the shoreline.
She knew under that calm surface that a world of sea creatures inhabited it below.Fish swam; sharks should be getting ready to feed.If only she knew where they were.
“Don thin so mug bud it.”
“How can I not?”she asked through gritted teeth.“Sharks are disappearing, and I know the cause.”She just wished she knew how to prove it.Mac was a biologist, not a police officer or a journalist.The police wouldn’t help her without proof, and she didn’t know the first thing about how to find it.
A deep laugh pulled her from her thoughts and focused her on the bane of her existence.Her hand clenched into a fist in her lap.The other clutched her beer bottle.How she wanted to storm over to him and dump its contents on his head.
Her sharks were disappearing, threatening the ecosystem, and he was sitting there, drinking with his investors or whoever they were without a care in the world.He thought money solved everything.Money didn’t help the ecosystem.Money wasn’t going to bring her sharks back.
“Ou cana pov id, Mac.”
“Not yet.Maybe I’ll kidnap him and force him to tell me.Tell the world what a crook he is.”
Burt barked out in laugher.“I pay ta see ad.”
She knew he wasn’t speaking in terms of physically kidnapping him.She hefted fifteen-hundred-pound sharks to her boat on a regular basis.Some weighed more.He wasn’t referring to her five-foot-nine height either.
Mac wasn’t the tallest woman on the island, but she wasn’t the shortest either.It was his reference in getting close to him: Miles Banks, the owner of the Sunset Meridian hotel chain.His newest hotel was being built on the island along the southeastern coast.Right where all of her sharks used to gather.
The man was a billionaire with not only a hotel chain but also political ties and an investment in the oil industry.In other words, he was untouchable for someone like her.Even if he was the reason the sharks were disappearing and she had proof, he’d bury it and her.It was why she hadn’t outright accused him yet.
He was also always surrounded by an entourage of bodyguards.Getting close to him would be next to impossible, especially since he only allowed business partners and his arm floozies near him.
