Gianfranco Mancini’s Reviews > Ocean Grave > Status Update

Once she was certain the bastard was truly dead, and wouldn’t be pressing his thumbs into her eye sockets again, Carly began to settle her attention on the overturned ship, trying to determine what she should retrieve from the inside of it.

What now? She drifted toward the open beach and drew her weapon. Just behind the boat, the fin cut the water. And then somewhere out of sight, Guillaume began to scream.

The blurry shadow glided out from beneath the hull. The sparkling aquamarine water made the fish shimmer. It sliced toward the small boats as if guided by magnets. Sara couldn’t help it. She screamed. It might’ve been “watch out” or “hang on” or something just as futile.

“Okay,” the Baroness said. “Just Sara, I would like you to know that I pride myself on reputation. For all matters similar, I am fair and honest. The treasure we search for, that of Alejandro Roche, will be mine. That is non-negotiable.” Guillaume’s hand moved like lightning, raising his weapon. Cold steel bit Sara’s temple. “Say that you understand and we will move at once beyond this unpleasantness.”

Kaahin realized there were body parts floating alongside the debris. Limp and half-eaten hunks that floated face down on relaxed swells. The sole survivor chanted nonsense from the center of their boat. One of this man’s legs was missing beneath the knee. The gushing appendage blasted their ankles with a flood of crimson.

Complete terror rushed in off the winds, swooping through the souls of every tourist. That horrible noise somehow continued even though nobody’s lungs could hold that much air. The scream was wet and swirled with madness because there was laughter in it too. Relief. It seemed to go on forever, until it didn’t, leaving everyone there listening to the benign sound of ebbing water lapping somewhere in the dark beyond.

“You will not believe me.” Mosi was close enough now to see him. He stopped paddling. The man was sun-beaten, his face full of broken blisters. “Came right out of the ocean.”

She squeezed her eyes shut, regretting every decision that had brought her here. The ship swayed and all Carly could think about were the severed body parts settling onto the ocean floor somewhere beneath her.