He turned to swim back to the boat, then realized the capsized hull was spinning, the boat moving towards him!
"Oh shit …"
Brager turned and swam, his arms and legs barely moving through the layers of clothing. Pausing, he forcibly yanked off his shoes, allowing himself a quick glance back.
The boat's hull was coming at him stern first now, the fractured transom and its cursed steel cable just visible above the waterline.
Brager tore off his windbreaker jacket, then launched himself into a rapid crawl stroke.
Two hundred feet… it's got two hundred feet of goddam cable!
His heart jumped as he registered the gunshot twang of snapping steel line-its echo as clear as the opening trapdoor of a gallows.
A dam-bursting wave of adrenaline ignited Brager's muscles, propelling him through the water — even as searing pain ignited his half- frozen nerve cells as he was jolted forward… then mercifully released from consciousness, his spine crushed and severed, his torso savagely ripped apart and swallowed.
The Nessie III slowed.
I stood quietly, nudging the tarp away so I could see.
The Nothosaur had arrived first, judging by its proximity to the capsized boat. The other two vessels circled close by, their spotlights aimed at the black water.
David fumbled with the radio, Brandy finally grabbing it from him. "Nothosaur, this is the Nessie III. Come in."
"This is Hoagland. We were too late. Three bodies went into the water, the Galon's recovered the lone survivor. He's babbling, but in shock. A chopper's flying in to transport him to Inverness."
David took the microphone. "Hoagland, this is Caldwell. Did he say what happened to the others?"
"Negative, but we found the remains of a forearm floating in a jacket sleeve. I think we can assume the rest of him's warming the belly of our friend."
I slumped to the deck, bile rising towards the lump in my throat. And there, but for the grace of God, go I …
Chapter 23
"As an M.I.T. trained scientist and inventor, I had always been intrigued about the possibilities of using modern technology to resolve the mystery of Loch Ness.
Dr. Charlie Wyckoff and I began our search back in 1970, but a full two years would pass before our first sighting. We were standing on shore, above Urquhart's Castle, when a hump surfaced in Urquhart Bay. Through my telescope, I saw something that resembled the back of an elephant. I could make out its crest and estimated the hump was at least twenty-five-feet long and four feet out of the water. I managed to get some footage of what looked like a blob on the water, but the photos all turned out blurry."
The Nessie III remained in the area another two hours until the sun rose, by which time my bladder had inflated like a hot-water bottle.
Brandy docked. David kissed her good-bye, he and the provost heading off to prepare for yet another press conference. I waited until she went below, then climbed from my makeshift hiding place and crept out of the pilothouse onto the main deck.
"I was wonderin' when ye'd be leavin'?"
Startled, I turned, Brandy now dressed in a lavender bathrobe. "You knew?"
She leaned back casually against the stern rail, arms folded against her chest. "I smelled ye the moment we stopped movin'."
"Why didn't you say anything?"
"I figured ye'd a'ready made enough o' an arse out o' yersel' for one evenin'. Still afraid o' the water, are ye?"
"Your brother has a big mouth."
"An' you should've said somethin'. Ye think ye're the only one stricken by a phobia?" She parted her robe, showing me an exquisitely tanned leg, the inner thigh blemished by a series of zigzagging white scars. "When depression hit, I turned tae hurtin' mysel'. Sort o' gives all new meanin' to the term, shavin' yer legs."
"But you got over it?"
"I control it, that's all. Pills take the edge away, but the fear's always there. It sort o' lurks on the periphery, waitin' for me tae let my guard down."
I nodded. "I think I'm more angry now than scared. Guess that's an improvement."
"No' necessarily. Anger's a double-edged sword. While it gives ye the strength tae hunt one monster, it can turn ye intae another."
"Meaning?"
"Now's no' the time."
"No, go on. Finish."
"Okay then. The Zachary Wallace I knew never resorted tae usin' his fists tae make a point. Angus Wallace, on the other hand …"
"David's way out of line."
"That's Angus's ego talkin'."
"Brandy, I'm not about to let David destroy my life."
"Seems yer life was sufferin' long before David Caldwell ever came along."
"And you put it in my face. Why him, Brandy? Of all people, why get involved with him?"
"Look at me, Zachary. My boat's fallin' apart, I'm barely survivin', an' I've no money nor savings nor rich parents to borrow from. Bad enough I'm alone, but tae face the coming winter wi' no means tae live? David's job, it pays more in one day than I can earn in a good week."
"And in exchange, you're sleeping with him."
Her eyes angered. Stepping closer, she struck me hard in the chest with the heel of her palms. "First off, mister, I am no' a whore. Second, I'll sleep wi' who I please, when I please, an' it's none o' yer damn business!"
Glancing over my shoulder, she spotted David, Owen Hollifeld, and the engineer from NIST approaching along the pier.
"Ye need tae leave."
"Look, I'm sorry—"
"Did ye no' hear me? Get off my boat. Go on!" She pushed me toward the rail.
I climbed down just as David reached the berth. "What's all this?"
"He was lookin' for ye," Brandy lied. "Had tae threaten tae arrest him for trespassin' before he'd leave."
The NIST engineer hurried on board to check his equipment. The provost got in my face. "We're no' gonnae have any trouble from ye, are we Dr. Wallace?"
"I was just leaving."
"Good," David chirped. "I hear there's a nice vacant cell next to your father's."
I raised my hands, slowly backing away. "I was just making conversation with the lady. Do whatever you have to do to catch your monster, but you'd better think twice before you hurt Brandy, that's all I've got to say."
I walked away, the veins in my neck throbbing, my inflated ego shunting off any remaining whispers coming from the left side of my brain—
"Hey, Angus!"
— my psyche deflating once more as Brandy buried her open mouth against David's.
"Well, whit did ye expect?" said Angus, finishing his Scotch broth soup and chips. "Ne'er mess wi' a Scots livelihood, especially a woman's. Brandy kens whit she's doin', believe you me."
"I love her."
"Love? Ah, that's jist yer knob talkin'. B'sides, there's plenty o' fish in the sea. Last thing ye need is tae be hitchin' up wi' a MacDonald."
I shook my head, wondering how I'd sunk so low as to be asking advice about women from my father.
"So, lad, tell me again about this latest attack."
"I told you all I know. According to the papers, the American photographer's still in a coma."
"But he lost the camera?"
"Yes."
"Bollocks. My trial restarts next week. While every Nessie encounter pushes me that much closer tae freedom, Maxie says it's still no' enough. I need yer help here, son."