Page 54 of Two Favors Repaid

“We can’t swim to shore,” she cried. “We don’t even know where it is. We’ll die out here.”

“We’re not going to die out here,” Rob said patiently. “But we do need to start swimming.”

Rob pointed and Emma didn’t have the heart to ask him whether he’d chosen that direction randomly or actually knew shore was that way.

In a way, it didn’t matter.

“We’re alive, Emma,” Rob said. “So we swim. Please swim with me. Ford made a big miscalculation if he thought we would die out here.”

Emma began swimming. She swam until her arms felt like they would fall off, her courage bolstered by his words of encouragement.

“You’re doing really well. Kick hard. Your legs are stronger than your arms.”

Another wave appeared in front of them. Emma flailed, expecting to be swallowed once again, but this time Rob was there to keep her head above water.

“Thank you,” she gasped.

The back of her arm throbbed where Ford cut her, but Emma didn’t stop to look at it. She swam on, not because she really thought they were getting any closer to shore but because Rob was so determined, and she wanted him to keep believing.

And then she saw something on the horizon. She blinked salty water out of her eyes a couple times to make sure she wasn’t making it up, but no, it was right there, a thin reddish line on the horizon.

“Land!” she shouted.

She looked back, surprised because Rob hadn’t replied. “Dry land,” she repeated, but he was staring at something behind them.

“What’s going on, Rob?”

And then she saw it, a dark triangular shape peeking out of the water. Even though it wasn’t the full fin, like in the movies, there was no mistaking it. Emma felt a primeval fear take over. This was a fear of the dark magnified times a hundred. Times a thousand.

The fin turned in the water, moving in a lazy semicircle around them.

Sunlight hit the water just right for an instant, and she caught sight of the mass under the fin.

Emma gasped.

The shark was huge. At least fifteen feet. Maybe even bigger than that.

How big do great whites even get?

The fact that it was currently swimming away from them did nothing to allay her fear.

Her eyes flashed angrily at Rob.

“When were you planning on telling me about this?”

A grim smile slid across his rugged features.

“I was hoping it could wait until we got to shore.”

As they watched the shark changed directions, swimming leisurely back towards them. Its interest was fully engaged.

“He’s not going to let us get to shore, is he?”

Rob’s gaze was on the animal.

Suddenly, a small cloud of red wafted from her wounded arm, tinting the water around them.

Oh God, they can smell me, they can smell the blood.