“I don’t have any.”
Captain Pancake stared up at her.
Annie shifted.
“I suddenly feel like I’m lying.”
“He has that effect.”
She crouched and scratched behind his ears.
Captain Pancake leaned into her hand with the full weight of a dog who had spent years perfecting emotional manipulation.
“Traitor,” I told him.
He ignored me.
Annie looked up.
“So. What terrifying aquatic challenge have you planned?”
“Boat dive.”
Her smile flickered.
“Boat?”
“Small one.”
“How small?”
“Bigger than a bathtub.”
“That wasn’t the reassurance you thought it was.”
“You did well yesterday. We’ll stay shallow, but I want to show you a better reef.”
“I thought yesterday was a reef.”
“It was a gateway reef.”
“That sounds like something a cult would say.”
Hank carried two tanks toward the back door.
“Boat leaves in fifteen.”
Annie watched him disappear.
“Does he always sound like the trailer for a disaster movie?”
“Only before breakfast.”
“Has he had breakfast?”
“No.”
“That feels unsafe.”
