“Don’t do it,” Joaquin said. “I really don’t want to shoot you, but I will.”
Holloway dug into his pocket and pulled out a small, snub-nosed revolver. “No heroics! Even if you can take one of us, the other will shoot you dead and feed you to our girl.” He inclined his head toward the water. “Now, get over there with those two.”
Aston fumed, ground his teeth, impotent in the face of two guns. He moved to Slater and she reached out and squeezed his hand. He saw she already held Carly’s hand tightly in her other. Carly hung the camera at her side, her whole body shivering with fearful tremors.
“Let’s go below,” Joaquin said. “Please, just comply. I really don’t want to shoot anyone.”
“But you will?” Slater spat. “Are you compromising your morals yet?”
Joaquin pressed his lips together and gestured again with the gun.
With a grunt of annoyance, Aston turned and led the way below deck. They were ushered inside a small cabin, thus far unused during the expedition. It was little more than a closet with a single bunk, small bedside table and tiny, sealed porthole window.
“You’re idiots!” Aston shouted as the door was closed. “Just the two of you trying to operate that winch, the electrics, the harpoon. You’ll die!”
His only answer was the click of the door closing and the snap of a padlock being secured.
Chapter 35
Cramped together in the tiny cabin, fear was a heavy presence among them. Aston held tight to Slater’s hand while she maintained her grip on Carly.
“What do we do now?” Carly asked weakly.
Slater shook her head, but Aston’s ire was up. He had had enough and refused to take any more. “We have to get out of here. We’re going to bust out and leave those idiots to it.” How, exactly, they were going to accomplish that, he couldn’t say.
“Hey, look, there’s someone there,” Slater said, eyes narrowed at the porthole. “On the lake shore.”
The man wore a loose-fitting robe, the hood pulled up. “I saw him while we were on deck,” Aston said. “And then Joaquin pulled a gun on us. He must have been there when all hell broke loose.”
They watched the dark figure move slowly in the shadows of the trees. Their view also afforded them clear sight of the net being let out again and the hooded man seemed very interested in it. He gestured with something.
“What’s he got?” Slater asked.
“Looks like a bundle of twigs wrapped in cloth.” Aston frowned. “He was chanting before, but I couldn’t hear what. He’s probably still doing it.”
“Can’t Holloway or Joaquin see him or hear him?” Carly asked.
“Too preoccupied, I guess.”
Slater narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips as she gazed at the figure. “He looks like some kind of religious nut.”
“He probably is,” Carly said. “You know, some kind of pagan. I’ll bet he worships the lake monster.”
“I suppose,” Slater admitted. “All the lore and legend around this thing, it wouldn’t be a surprise if at least some of the locals were nutters for it. If there’s a tradition of human sacrifice surrounding the monster, that indicates religion of some sort. It makes perverse sense.”
Aston shook his head, brow creased. “Even so, what’s he doing? Just watching?”
“What if he’s developed some level of rapport?” Carly whispered. “Like, can he communicate with it or control it with that voodoo doll-looking thing?”
Aston laughed nervously. “It’s insane to suggest anyone could communicate with a dinosaur, but after what we’ve seen all bets are off.”
“You can train a dog,” Carly said quietly. “Give it a tasty treat every time it does the right thing.”
Aston and Slater turned to stare at her. “You think he’s trained that monster by rewarding it with tasty humans?” Aston asked.
Carly shrugged.
“Where is it?” Holloway’s muffled voice was strident, affronted, from the deck above.
They heard some murmur in response from Joaquin.
“Well we need to lure it back again!” Holloway barked. “This time we’ll zap it the moment the net is closing, shock it and wrap it up at the same time. I will have that beast. And while you’re doing that, I’ll man the harpoon. If it looks like she’s escaping again, I’ll shoot her. I’d rather have her alive, but I’m going to get her one way or the other.”
There was more conversation, dropped too low for them to make out. The man in the trees continued to sway and wave his rustic icon. Cold realization settled over Aston.
“We have to find a way out,” he said. “Right now.”
“They have guns.” Slater glanced up at the ceiling.
“I know, but they’re busy. Holloway’s preoccupied. There’s a dinghy right outside, and the dive platform is only a few paces from that door. We bust out, grab the boat and get the hell out of dodge. Come on!”
He turned in the small space, took the two steps he could manage, and drove one shoulder into the door. He bounced off with a bark of pain.
“This is stronger than it looks.”
But it was only an internal door, surely not built to withstand any punishment. He needed to get it open before Joaquin or Holloway heard the commotion and came down to investigate. The women moved to either side to allow him more space and he ran at it again. It flexed in its frame, but didn’t crack.
“Damn this thing!” Aston yelled and ran again. He bounced off once more, but the door hinges squealed a sound of damage and protest.
“You’re almost there,” Slater said. “Why don’t you let me try? We’ll take turns or you’ll hurt yourself.”
Seeing reason, Aston moved to the side, resisting the urge to rub his shoulder, while Slater backed up and turned. Before she could take a run at it, the door swung open. Holloway and Joaquin stood outside, guns leveled at the three of them.
Ice flooded Aston’s gut.
“Start with her,” Holloway said, flicking the barrel of his revolver toward Carly.
“What..?” Carly started.
Aston knew what was about to happen and red fury slipped over his vision. “No!” he shouted and dove at Joaquin as the big man stepped into the cramped cabin. He caught Joaquin’s gun hand and drove his good shoulder into the man’s chest. They stumbled back, locked in a tussle for the weapon. Joaquin slammed into the doorframe, grunting in pain. He drove a knee into Aston’s ribs and Aston repaid him with a head butt that caught him on the bridge of the nose.
“That is enough!” Holloway yelled and Aston had a moment to see the billionaire’s arm raised before the butt of the revolver cracked into his temple.
Blackness swept in from the edges of his vision and sound whined away to silence. Something hard hit his back and he realized it was the deck. He heard distant screaming, a sharp slap, more screaming, and a door slammed.
Aston groggily turned onto his hands and knees, and shook his head to clear the ringing in his ears. As his vision came back he saw Slater sitting on the edge of the bunk, one hand pressed to her cheek. Tears of anger and pain streaked her face. He spun around. The cabin door was shut and locked. Carly was no longer with them. He heard her screaming.
“That son of a bitch!” Aston yelled, scrambling up to the porthole.
“He’s not really going to do it, is he?” Slater asked quietly.
Cold certainty chilled Aston’s marrow. “Of course he is. There’s nothing he won’t do. I’m sure of it.”
Carly’s screams were interrupted by dull thwacks and then she began sobbing. More hits and a sharp cry and then she fell silent.