Alison was relieved to find the rest of the team was as excited as she was. After some assurance from the elders that their journey destination was close, Kelly was confident the boat would be fine. They had more than enough fuel and food.
Several hours of motoring later, Alison was woken by Chris shaking her vigorously. She had managed to catch up on some sleep, but when she blinked up at him, he had an urgent look on his face.
“Ali! Ali! You’ve got to get up!”
Her eyes darted around the small cabin in a panic. “What’s wrong?! Is something wrong with the boat?!”
Chris simply grabbed her hand and pulled her toward him. “Just get up! You need to see something!”
Alison shook the cobwebs from her mind and slid out of the bed, onto the cool wooden floorboards. Still being pulled by Chris, she stumbled up the stairs behind him and into the salon. Lee’s laptop sat abandoned on the round table.
Chris yanked on her hand again, pulling her outside into the wide cockpit, where both Lee and Kelly were staring out across the water.
Alison blinked again and this time when her eyes cleared, she gasped. “Oh my god!” She turned and looked past the stern, then over to port. “OH MY GOD!”
She finished a three hundred and sixty degree scan before turning back to Chris and the others. She was speechless.
Together, they all stared incredulously. That morning, during Alison’s second dive, they had seen more dolphins than ever before. Hundreds of them.
But that paled in comparison to what they were seeing now. They were now surrounded by thousands of dolphins. No, tens of thousands! As far as they could see in any direction were the familiar gray shapes and dorsal fins rising rhythmically up and out of the water, everywhere!
Alison stepped forward, completely bewildered. “My god,” she whispered to the others. “This isn’t a journey. This is a pilgrimage!”
39
DeeAnn peered over Juan’s shoulder at his laptop screen, watching as he typed. He tried again and waited. Finally, he shook his head and leaned back in the chair.
“Still nothing. It’s dead.”
DeeAnn remained bent over. “Maybe it’s a fluke,” she whispered. “I mean internet lines go down, right?”
“Not like this,” he said. “I can’t even ping the router. Which means either a failure inside the building itself…”
“Or?”
Juan shrugged. “Or we’ve been cut off.” He checked his phone again. “And we still have no cell signal.”
“Couldn’t they both be down at the same time?”
He nodded. “Yes, but these are two different signal types. They could certainly both be plugged into the same bad power circuit but that would be the worst example of putting everything in one basket.” He spun around, still keeping his voice low. “And Alves doesn’t strike me as a person who cuts a lot of corners.”
“Maybe the power’s just out,” DeeAnn offered. She turned to the small lamp on the table, then reached under the shade and rolled the switch. It lit up immediately. “Okay, maybe not.”
In another room, Alves and Blanco watched them from the high-definition feed of a hidden camera. Both DeeAnn and Juan could be seen near the top of the picture, hunched over the desk in Juan’s small room. It was difficult to see his computer screen, but their whispering was easily picked up by the camera’s microphone.
“Why don’t we just ask them?”
Juan could be seen looking at her sarcastically. “Because then they would know that we know.”
“Then what do you suggest we do?”
“I think the sooner we get out of here, the better. I have a feeling that this is all related to that monkey. They sure wanted to find him awfully bad.”
DeeAnn nodded, almost reluctantly, before adding, “To find Luke.”
“At least that’s what they said.” Juan leaned in closer to her, pressing his hands together thoughtfully. “Let me ask you a question,” he whispered. “First, let me say that I’m really sorry about your friend, Dee. I really am. But… do you really think he’s already… you know?”
“Gone?”
“Right.” Juan watched DeeAnn’s composure deflate.
“I think so.”
He waited a moment before continuing. “Well, if it’s true, what if Alves already knew that?”
DeeAnn’s eyes immediately grew wider. “What do you mean?”
“I’ve been thinking more about Dulce’s last translation from Dexter.”
She paused, trying to recall it. “Friend die teacher?”
Juan nodded silently then leveled his gaze. “If that little monkey is right, who do you think the ’friend’ is?”
The two sat silently, staring at each other.
There was a loud knock at the door. They both jumped and spun around. DeeAnn and Juan nervously watched the door but said nothing. A few moments later, there was a second knock.
“What do we do?” she whispered.
“I don’t know!”
They remained frozen, making no sound. Finally, they could hear the back and forth movement of the doorknob as it was turned from side to side. Juan had locked it. He shot to his feet and cleared his voice.
“Yes. Who is it?”
The reply was muffled through the thick door. “It’s Mateus. Is Ms. Draper still with you?”
There was no point in lying. “Yes. Yes, she is.”
“May I come in? I’d like to talk to you.”
He frowned worriedly at DeeAnn but moved hesitantly toward the door. He reached out and unlocked the knob, then turned it and pulled the door open. On the other side stood Alves in the doorway. Behind him was Blanco, towering above his boss and wearing his usual stone-cold expression.
“May I come in?” Alves asked.
“Uh, yeah, sure.” Juan stepped to the side, feigning a welcoming gesture.
Both men immediately entered the room. Alves smiled at DeeAnn, who stood near the window. She grinned and nervously tucked a strand of hair behind one ear.
“Ah, hello, Ms. Draper. How are you feeling?”
“Good. Fine.”
“I’m very relieved. We were quite worried about you.”
As Alves crossed the room, something about him seemed different. She wasn’t sure whether something had changed or if it was her own nervousness.
“I’m fine, really. Thank you. I just needed some rest. It’s been a hectic few days.”
“It has indeed,” agreed Alves. “I’m sorry we’ve been so pressed.” His smile was still on his face as he scanned the room. He gazed at Juan’s open laptop and frowned. “Still working hard, I see.” He turned back to Juan. “But not too hard, I hope.”
Juan shrugged. “Oh, you know, just going through the logs again.”
Alves nodded. “Of course. Have you found anything interesting?”
“Not really,” Juan lied. “Just standard system stuff.”
Alves grinned and stepped closer to the laptop. He bent forward slightly, squinting to see the screen. “Just finishing up, I guess.” He turned back around. “It’s been quite a day, yes? I must say, it never occurred to me that Dexter was still here.”
DeeAnn shrugged. “They are unpredictable.”
“Indeed. I’ve been eager to hear what you found out this morning. Was the communication with Dulce successful?”
DeeAnn looked at Juan before turning back to Alves, trying not to appear nervous. It felt like she was failing, miserably. “Not much yet, I’m afraid. Mostly trying to establish some common words and trust. I’m afraid it’s going to take a while, but it looks promising.” DeeAnn felt a streak of panic rush through her. She suddenly remembered what Juan told her: that they had set up a video camera to record them. If true, it meant they undoubtedly would have heard Dulce’s words through the speaker on DeeAnn’s vest. But if Alves knew she was lying, he didn’t let it show.