Moses and Alex burst into the wheelhouse and froze.
“What are you doing?” Alex asked. “We’re about to be sucked in.”
“That’s the plan.” As his friends shouted out warnings, Stone turned the wheel to the port side and guided Thresher into the whirlpool.
The effect was instantaneous and alarming. The boat, already shooting forward at a rapid clip, seemed to grow wings as the spinning water swept it in a great, counterclockwise circle. Stone fought to keep them near the edge as they shot forward. “Hold on!” he shouted.
Thresher yawed dangerously to port. Trinity and Moses found handholds, but Alex lost his balance and slammed into the wall.
“I’m all right,” he croaked. “Doesn’t matter anyway, seeing how as we’ll all be dead in a minute.”
“That’s what you think.” Stone gritted his teeth and strained against the wheel as Thresher completed its first circuit around the whirlpool. “Just one more time around the mulberry bush,” he said.
“How can you tell?” Trinity asked.
“I just can.” Indeed, Stone had always had a keen sense of direction that had been sharpened by the training he’d received since he left the service. He kept his focus on the water in front of him, marking the spot where they’d entered the whirlpool in his peripheral vision. His heart raced and sweat now poured in rivulets down his face. Could this work? It had to.
“No no no no no,” Alex murmured.
“Everyone say a prayer,” Stone said. “Here… we… go!”
He yanked the wheel hard to starboard. The engine whined and, for an instant, he feared it would blow.
“Come on you son of a…”
And then, with a jarring thump, Thresher crested the rim of the whirlpool and shot out into open water.
“Thank God,” Trinity breathed.
But it wasn’t over yet. They had to escape the pull of the deadly vortex. Their spin around the whirlpool had given them an incredible burst of speed, but would it be enough? Everyone fell silent, listening to the roar of the engine as it fought the current. Stone felt the craft begin to slow, and wished he had more to give.
“I suppose we could paddle,” Alex offered.
“You’re welcome to try.” Stone gazed straight ahead, willing the craft to move forward. All around them, the world seemed to slow down as the craft lost momentum to the pull of the water. The whine of the engine grew in pitch.
“It ain’t gonna last much longer,” Moses warned. “They’s limits, you know.”
Just as he spoke, the whining dissipated into a low rumble.
“Let me guess,” Trinity said. “Out of gas? Threw a rod?”
“Not a chance, dollface,” Stone said with a wink. “We’re free.”
Indeed, Thresher now sliced through the waves free and easy. “You two can furl the sails now,” he said to Alex and Moses. “We shouldn’t need them.”
“Nicely done,” Alex said. He turned and peered out the pilothouse door. “Looks like we lost the ghost ship, too.”
“Think it got sucked in?” Trinity asked.
“I don’t know. I’m just glad it’s gone.”
As Alex and Moses headed out onto the deck, Trinity wrapped her arms around Stone and gave him a squeezed. “That was nicely done. I don’t know why I ever doubted you.”
“You wouldn’t be you if you didn’t question my every move,” Stone said. “It’s what makes you a great reporter. You question everything.”
Trinity’s gaze softened. “You think I’m a great reporter?”
“Of course I do.”
She rose up on her tiptoes and brushed her lips against his cheek. “You’re not so bad for a big lug. You…” She paused. “Wait a minute. How would you even know if I’m a great reporter? You’ve been away since before I started working for the Scribe.”
“I’ve read your work,” Stone said, his brain running a mile a minute to try and recall even one of her articles he’d perused.
“Really?” She arched her eyebrows. “Which one is your favorite?”
“See what I mean? Always questioning me. You can’t even take a compliment.”
She put her hands on her hips and frowned. “You’re deflecting, Stone. It won’t work on me.”
“For your information, it was a piece on violence in the Hoovervilles,” he guessed wildly. It seemed like the sort of thing Trinity would report on: economic injustice, tragedy, the little guy suffering at the hands of the big lug.
“Oh.” The fire in her eyes flickered and died. “Thank you. My editor worried that it was too incendiary, but he ran it anyway. He figured whoever found it offensive would just chalk it up to womanly hysterics.”
“You? Hysterical? Never.” Keeping one hand on the wheel, Stone pulled her in tightly with his other arm and kissed the top of her head.
She rested her head on his chest and gave a purr of contentment. “I hope it’s a romantic island you’re taking me to. You owe me.”
Up ahead, a fog-shrouded shape appeared on the horizon.
“I think,” Stone said, “that we’re about to find out.”
16- The Reef
“We’ll drop anchor here for now.” Stone picked up the binoculars and focused them on the fog-shrouded island. A solitary peak rose up above a halo of low-hanging clouds. Though the distance was not great, he could tell very little about the place. The mist that rose all around rendered visibility almost nil.
“Why so far away?” Trinity asked.
“Coral reefs. Shallow and razor sharp.”
“How can you tell they’re sharp?”
“Look over there.” He handed her the binoculars and pointed to a distant spot to the southeast.
It took her a few seconds to see what Stone had already spotted — a German U-boat, the center of its hull shredded, straddling one of the reefs that guarded the island.
“Odd. It’s facing backward, and only the center of the hull is damaged. It’s like someone picked it up and dropped it onto the reef.” Trinity lowered the binoculars and looked up at him. “How could that happen?”
“A freak wave, I suppose. No telling what the sea will do in these parts.” Stone tucked the binoculars into their case and dropped the case into a rucksack. “In any event, I’m not taking Thresher across the reefs. It would be suicide.”
“How are we going to get there?” she asked. “It’s too far to swim.”
“Maybe for you.” Stone winked. “Don’t worry. I have a plan.”
Thirty minutes later, they piled into a canvas raft equipped with a powerful outboard motor. Each of them wore a Mae West — the brand new, inflatable life jackets that, when inflated, gave the wearer the appearance of being as well-endowed as the popular actress. Their provisions, along with three Enfield M1917 rifles, were secured in a second, smaller raft tied to the one in which they rode. Stone wore his Webley at his hip, and each of his companions was also equipped with a handgun. He didn’t know what they might face on the island and hoped they were sufficiently prepared. Had they carried much more, the rafts would have ridden too low in the water to clear the coral reefs.
He fired up the outboard motor and soon the craft was skimming across the surface of the water. The raft leapt up and splashed down as it crested each swell. Trinity threw back her head and laughed, letting the salt breeze blow back her hair. She always managed to find joy in simple things.
On the other side of the raft, Moses wore his usual, grave expression and Alex’s mouth twisted into a sour grimace as he stared balefully at the water.