Occasionally, tuna fishermen caught sharks instead.None of the research teams used hooks.They used bait and a rope to get sharks close enough to the boat to tie them off to tag them.
Whatever the cause, it definitely didn’t like people.Mac looked around for it, but it seemed to have swum off.She didn’t think it was gone for good though.It was staying out of sight and waiting for the right moment to attack her from behind again.She needed to get back on the boat.
Mac pushed off the ocean floor and swam as fast and low as she could, her head constantly on a swivel, looking for the shark and trying to find the anchor.
She caught the dark line of the anchor out of the corner of her right eye.She veered in that direction and followed the anchor up, silently praying the shark was now far away.She’d never feared being killed by a shark until now.Then again, she had never gone diving in this area alone before.She always had her team with her.Burt stood on the stern with a stick ready in case a shark got too close, and another diver was always in the water so they could assist each other, but right now it was just her.
As she neared the bottom of the boat, she darted for the back where the ladder was.It wasn’t like her normal boat that had a flat landing she could just prop herself up to and roll away from the water.She’d have to remove her flippers before she climbed up the three steps to get out of the water.
Mac broke through the surface of the water and removed her breathing hose.She started to reach down for her flipper when she was grabbed under her armpits and pulled out of the water, immediately deposited onto the boat.
Mac looked up through the goggles into Barry’s angry face.“What the hell were you doing?”he snapped, pulling her closer by the biceps.
Mac pushed out of his arms and sat down in the cushioned chair to her left and started removing her gear.Out of the corner of her eye, she saw another boat rocking in the waves next to hers.She hadn’t seen it when she’d been surfacing.It looked like one of Jacques’.
“Making coffee, what do you think?I was diving,” she yelled back defensively.She didn’t have to explain herself to him.
“Right off the coast of the hotel that is owned by Miles Banks?”Barry snorted in disbelief.
“Mere coincidence.There are nice corals here I wanted to check out.”She unzipped her wetsuit and shimmied out of it.Mac caught Barry’s glance to her bikini before he focused back on her face.
“What happened to working?”
She knew lying to him was going to bite her in the ass, and it was too late to backpedal now.
Mac huffed out a harsh breath; she should have known she couldn’t pull off such a big lie that involved multiple people.“I am working.This used to be a hot spot for sharks.This was where I did a lot of my research.When Miles bought the hotel spot, he banned us from going into this area.Not long after, the sharks started disappearing from here.I wanted to get a look to see what could have caused their disappearance.”Now that she’d answered his question, he could answer hers.“What are you doing here?”She hadn’t told anyone where she was going.Not even Jacques.
“I rented a boat from Jacques.”
“And just happened to be where I was?”She wasn’t buying it.
“Jacques gave me your GPS coordinates.”Of course, Jacques has trackers on the boats so he didn’t lose them.“But he knew you were coming here anyway.”Damn.Burt must have warned him.She knew it hadn’t been a good lie to tell him she was seeking corals, but she hadn’t thought he’d rat her out to Barry.
“Since this area is restricted, I didn’t want to risk my team getting arrested.”
“So, you came out here alone.”
Mac shrugged.It had seemed like a good idea at the time.It still was.She’d gotten information she could follow up on now.
A tic worked in Barry’s jaw.He didn’t appear happy with her answer.“What if there had been danger?You were alone and unprotected.”
“I have been diving my whole life.I was never in any danger.”It wasn’t the complete truth, but he didn’t need to know about the shark.Besides, after she’d bopped it, it had left her alone.No harm, no foul.
“Even experienced divers don’t dive alone.”
It was true; normally she didn’t dive alone, but she wasn’t going to allow an inexperienced diver to scold her, not when the reason she had done it was so important.“You don’t understand.”She willed him to understand.Mac hadn’t wanted to dive on her own, but no one seemed to believe her that Miles was the bad guy.She had to get proof, and doing her own investigation had been the only way.
Barry’s features softened; she thought she was finally getting through to him how important this was.“Then tell me.Help me understand,” Barry said evenly.It was hard to tell if he believed her or was just humoring her.Not even the locals seemed to believe her.She had spoken to other researchers in the area, but none seemed to want to believe one man was responsible for the disappearance of sharks.
Mac pointed in the direction of the hotel.“He is responsible for the death of these sharks.”The bottom trawling explained the shark disappearances but not the trackers going off, unless someone had turned them off or destroyed them.
Barry didn’t shift his focus from her.He knew who she meant.Mac was very vocal about who she thought was responsible.“Do you know they are dead?”
“Well, no,” she hedged, since she didn’t have actual proof.“But they are disappearing, and it started when he showed up, so what other conclusion am I supposed to make?”Sharks were creatures of habit; they wouldn’t just suddenly stop doing something without cause.The fact the ocean floor had been dredged would explain why they’d left that area, but they should still be in these waters unless the nets were picking them up by the handfuls.
“Maybe something else happened.Maybe a bigger predator?”
“A bigger predator than a shark?”She arched an eyebrow at his suggestion in a dubious fashion.There weren’t many things bigger than sharks in these waters.They were apex predators and the top of the food chain for a reason.
