Fifth Ave 02.5 - From Manhattan With Love (11 page)

EPILOGUE

ONE MONTH LATER

Save for the black bikini bottom she wore, Carmen Gragera walked naked onto the dock of her round Bora Bora hut, which stretched deep into the Pacific ocean, and looked down at the impossibly clear blue water before she dived into it.
 
Below her, she could see a wave of fish scatter in her wake and it occurred to her again that if this wasn’t paradise, she’d never see it in her lifetime.

She heard another splash come behind her and popped to the surface just as Alex did.
 
They smiled at each other, circled each other and eventually swam toward one another.
 
After spending four weeks with him here, if this wasn’t love she was feeling, she wasn’t sure what it was.

“What are we having for dinner?” he asked.

“Whatever you poke with your spear.”

“So, it might be you on the menu?”

“You’re hilarious.”

“Whatever keeps you happy.”

“Did you get the goggles?”

“I put them on the edge of the dock.”

“Want to explore?”

He swam over, snatched the goggles and tossed one of them to her.
 
They put them on.
 
“Think we’ll see sharks again.
 
It’s been days.”

“You never know.”
 
She spit a jet of water at him.
 
“But in case we do see them, just know I’m getting out of the water this time.
 
You won’t trick me into hiding behind some reef like you did last time.
 
They came too close.
 
They freak me out.”

“They’re just black-tipped reef sharks.
 
They have zero interest in us.
 
Where’s your sense of adventure?”

“That would be you.
 
In the bedroom.
 
And believe me, it’s more than enough.”

They dived beneath the surface, which now looked pristine to Carmen with the goggles in place.
 
Scores of black fish she wished she knew the names of were swimming in schools along with brightly colored yellow fish, sea turtles, iridescent blue fish with happy yellow tails, the occasional manta ray, a few massive bat rays and, near the bottom, the choral reef that sustained so many of them.
 
She looked up and on the other side of the hut, and saw a gathering of other fish lingering along the bottom of her speed boat.

She fanned out her arms, lifted herself to the surface to take a breath and then dived down again.
 
Apparently, their presence was now known, because within seconds, each was surrounded by dozens of curious yellow- and black-striped fish, which were their favorites because they were gentle, beautiful, curious and fearless.
 

Carmen looked across at Alex, who was floating among them, turning in circles while they followed his rhythms.
 
She was about to do the same when what looked like a harpoon shot into the water and came within inches of cutting through him.

He was so distracted by the fish while he flipped over and over that he didn’t see or hear it.
 
And so she quickly kicked over to him just as another harpoon sliced through the water.
 

This time he saw and heard it; it carved between them and speared one of the turtles.
 
Blood entered the water, which would call other beasts neither wanted to deal with.

Already she was running out of air and was certain he was as well.
 
She pointed beneath the hut, they dived down as far as they could, but in the whirl of bubbles they left in their wake, the gig was up.
 
Dozens of harpoons started to pierce the water.
 
One cut clean through her hair, severing a lock of it.
 
Alex came beside her, put his arm around her and together, they kicked furiously until they were in the large pocket of air beneath the hut.

“They’ve found us,” he said.

“How?
 
Nobody know I live here.”

“Somebody knows.”
 

“That impossible.”

“Obviously not.”
 
He looked up.
 
“Grab onto one of those beams and pull yourself up.
 
They’re shooting harpoons.
 
One of them could get lodged into our legs.”

They each scrambled up.

“I’ve heard no boat,” Carmen said.
 
“You know that’s the only way to get out here.
 
Otherwise, we’re isolated.”

“They could be scuba diving.”

She shook her head.
 
“The harpoons came from above.
 
They drove
down
into the water, not horizontally.
 
They must be shooting at us from the shoreline.
 
We need to get to the other side of the hut and into my boat.”
 
She reached down and dipped her head into the water.
 
“You’ve got your sharks,” she said.
 
“The turtle brought them out.
 
Right below us, they’re tearing it apart.”

Another harpoon was released and this time it was clear that it was shot from the shore.
 
But instead of going into the water, the harpoon went straight through the house, smashing glass and sailing through open windows before it splashed into the water on the other side of it.

“They’ve seen my boat,” she said.
 
“That harpoon went through the hut.
 
How are we going to get out of here?”

“We shield ourselves with the boat.
 
We take it off its moorings and paddle out as far as we can until we can get inside it and get the hell out of here.”

“You’re telling me that we get in the water with those sharks?
 
I need you to slip your goggles down and have a look into the water.
 
Then tell me what we do.”

He stared at her for a moment, then he lowered the goggles and dipped his head into the water.
 
When he emerged, his mouth was set.
 
“There must be a hundred of them down there.”

“I’m assuming the turtle’s gone.”

“The blood isn’t.”

“Actually, that could work in our favor.
 
If they see blood rise to the surface, they might think one of us was hit.
 
Maybe dead.”

Another harpoon shot through the hut, shattering more glass.

“We’ve got to get to the boat,” he said.
 
“It’s our only chance.”

“They’ll run out of harpoons,” she said.
 
“We could wait them out until nightfall.”

“Carmen, it’s morning.
 
They’ll find a way to get out here.
 
We don’t know if they have guns or rifles.
 
They came here to kill us, not frighten us.
 
We can’t stay here.”

“I can’t believe they’re doing this,” she said.
 
“We warned them that if they came near us, we’d treat them exactly as we treated Laurent.”

“What if it’s someone else?
 
Someone you’ve crossed in the past?”

“It could be.
 
I don’t know.
 
None of this makes sense.
 
You know how careful I am.
 
I don’t understand how anyone knows I have a place here.”

“It doesn’t matter now,” he said.
 
“We get to the boat, you slip on the other side of it, I remove it from its moorings and then, once I’m with you, we paddle it out as far as we can.
 
Then, when their harpoons can’t touch us, we get inside, crank the engine and gun it out of here.”

She knew they had no choice.
 
“What’s the shark situation?”

He lowered his head into the water and came up quickly, spitting out a mouthful of water.
 
“It’s worse.
 
Now we’ve got hammerheads.”

“I’m going to be sick.”

“Let’s move.
 
Get on the other side of the boat.”

Above them, a harpoon sounded its warning by sinking into the deck.

Carmen lowered herself into the water and looked down at the sharks below her.
 
She knew exactly where the boat was and swam to the other side of it while never taking her eyes off the roaming, darting swarm.
 

So far, the sharks didn’t seem to be interested in them.
 
But how long would that last?
 
They were hungry.
 
It was obvious.
 
The blood in the water would only call for more.
 
Worse for her and Alex is something she hadn’t told him.
 
She started her period this morning, which is why she wasn’t fully naked.
 
She’d taken precautions, such as wearing a black bikini bottom and wearing a tampon, but even a trace of blood in this environment would only create more interest in them.

She watched him swim over to the moorings.
 
There were two of them.
 
He’d need to lift his hands above the dock and untie each.
 
Because they were shielded by the hut, no one on the shoreline would be able to see him.
 
And they didn’t.
 
Soon, the boat was free and he dived under it to be next to her.

“Now, we paddle,” he said.

“How far?”

“Maybe a quarter of a mile.”

“Pushing this boat?
 
With those sharks?
 
Deeper water is out there.
 
Bigger fish.
 
It’s dangerous.
 
We don’t know what we’ll find.”

“It won’t take as long as you think.
 
We paddle and paddle hard, but with our feet beneath the surface.
 
Never break the surface.
 
Are we clear on that?
 
If they hear us, they’ll shoot at us.”

“Eventually, they’ll see the boat, Alex.”

“That’s right, but at a distance they might not be able to reach.
 
That’s a chance we’re going to have to take.
 
Come on,” he said.
 
“Paddle.”

“I need to tell you something,” she said.
 
“My period started this morning.”
 
She saw the concerned look on his face and didn’t wait for him to speak.
 
“I’m wearing a tampon, but it won’t be enough.
 
The sharks will still smell the blood.”

“Then we hurry.
 
Keep your head lowered.
 
If a shark comes near you, bash it on top of its head with your fist.
 
If the situation becomes too dangerous, we hope for the best, get into the boat and speed away.”

She put her head in the water and this time, she faced her greatest fright.
 
Far away from them and to the right were two men in scuba gear.
 
The water was so clear, she figured they were five hundred yards away, but swimming so hard, they were quickly closing the distance between them.
 
In their hands were harpoon guns.
 
When she saw one of the men turn to the other and point at them, she knew they had been spotted.