Page 34 of Shark’s Pride

“What the fuck?” I finally growled. I prepared myself for similar outbursts from Abbi and Tawny, meaning I was pathetically taken aback by what my woman actually did instead.

“Oh my God!” Abbi sobbed. “This…this poor baby!”

“What?” I sputtered.

“Huh?” Tawny got out at the same time.

“Is it still alive?” Abbi insisted, crouching down. “Can you tell? Is it alive, Bas? Can we get it into the water?”

“What water?” It sounded as lame on my lips as it had in my head. “Abbi, the pool is saltwater, but how would we move the thing…”

“Okay, so maybe get the hose and wet it down. Come on! We have to try!”

My sweet, amazing woman. She was sputtering question after frantic question. While I wondered if she was serious about them, my gut already told me the answer. She really was.

“Babe.” I gently pulled on her shoulders. “Come on. I’m pretty sure it’s dead.”

“Oh goooddd.” Tawny’s moan jabbed through the air. She clamped a trembling hand over her mouth and nose. “God, that smell! I’m—I’m going to be sick.” She dashed over to the grassy area of the landscape and then folded at the waist. She’d reached the lawn just in time to heave dramatically.

“Clearly she’s never cleaned out spoiled produce from a walk-in,” Abbi mumbled as we walked around to the other side of the huge mammal. Once we were there, her shocked gasp took the place of her brief levity. “Wh-What is that?” she queried, pointing at the long length of silver steel protruding from the shark’s upended belly. “A spear?”

“A harpoon,” I supplied and did it with confidence. Years of doing business in every international shipping lane on the planet gave a guy some basic knowledge of the tools used on ships, big and small. “Fishing line only catches the big biters. More stabby things are needed to haul in a big fella like this.”

Despite my sarcasm, my tone was solemn. Making light of a situation only went so far when one had gone through a huge bout of trouble and effort to bring the “situation” to a guy’s backyard.

“So that’s how it was killed?” Abbi bounced her big green stare back and forth between the dead shark and me. “But…but who would do something like this? Or why?”

“I doubt this was how they actually killed the beast,” I answered. “I think the hardware is more for dramatic impact than anything.”

I trailed off the end of the assertion, noticing a piece of paper stuck to the end of the spear like an advertisement banner flying from the back of an airplane. I reached to grab the note, but Abbi’s sharp yelp stopped me.

“No!”

I locked my teeth again. “Abbig—”

“Wait!” She twisted her hold tighter. In other circumstances, I’d chuckle at the cute assumption she could restrain me, but I didn’t have the heart. She was as speared by agitation as Mini Jaws was by that harpoon. I couldn’t entirely blame her. This day was getting more freakish by the minute. “I really think we should call the police, Bas. This is your house. Someone was on your property, doing this. And that’s evidence.”

“Solid point.” I used the moment to arch a brow Tawny’s way. “Perhaps even while I was being distracted by the dead woman at my front door.”

The woman bared her teeth. “You think I had something to do with this?” she spat. “After I just fertilized your lawn with everything in my stomach?”

“Another solid point,” Abbi said. She pivoted back toward the stinking carcass. “Further verifying why you shouldn’t touch…it.”

Her guttural pause before that final word was my impetus to tug her close once more. I was certain she was seconds away from giving the damn thing a name instead of “it.” I had to provide distraction before she started looking up shark burial services on her phone.

“If you’re calling the cops, I need to disappear.” Tawny stepped over again but kept her mouth and nose covered. “I don’t want to be anywhere around when they show up.”

I pinned her with a glare over Abbi’s head. “Not happening.”

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me,” I stated. “I’m going to insist you stay here, Tawny.”

“But—”

“You’ve walked into this one, woman. You said it yourself. You’re ‘between addresses.’ Besides, there’s more than enough room.” I turned in a semicircle, pointing out the obvious. “You can stay in the pool house, as I said before,” I insisted. “It’ll be adequate for your needs.”

She narrowed her gaze. “You can’t just keep me prisoner—”