Read Online Dead in the Water by Dana Stabenow - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Dana Stabenow
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about av gas I remember from when I was a kid, but. . ." She shook her head and smiled at him. "At two o'clock this morning I'll probably sit bolt upright in bed and shout it out."
"Not if you're in the sack with me, you won't," he told her.
"Whatever you say." She grinned at him. "Come on.
Let's walk down to the beach."
It was Jack who found it, or rather fell through the roof of it. He'd been wandering behind her, through the tall rye grass poking up through the thin layer of crusted snow, enjoying the sun and the salt breeze and the sound of the surf, when the previously solid ground beneath his feet gave way and suddenly he was sliding through the turf and into an empty space beneath.
"Hey," he said. The turf engulfed his legs and started up his butt to nibble at his waist and he raised his voice.
"Hey? Hey! Hey, Kate! Kate! Help! Help!"
He kicked out with his legs, trying to find purchase, something to brace himself against, and immediately slid in up to his chest. His hands scrabbled around and grasped at the grass, anything to keep him from sliding even farther into what his naturally strong sense of optimism assured him was probably a bubbling pit of volcanic lava. If it came to that, he suffered from a lifelong case of acrophobia, and would have preferred a pit of lava to an empty, endless abyss.
Kate's head appeared, ending this morbid speculation, and peered down at him through the rye grass with interest.
"What seems to be the problem?"
"What the hell does it took like, I'm falling into the center of the earth here! Get me out!"
She looked at him, pursing her lips, displaying less concern than he considered the situation warranted. "I wonder-" Abruptly, her head vanished again from sight.
He panicked, just a little, no more than he considered absolutely necessary. "Wait! Where the hell you going?
Kate!"
"Relax," he heard her say. He waited, unrelaxed, sweating beneath his jacket and clutching at some very insubstantial stalks of grass. An overactive imagination conjured up a chasm beneath his dangling legs, a bottomless chasm into which he would fall and keep falling something grabbed hold of his right foot and gave a vigorous tug. "Hey!" he yelled.
"Relax," Kate said again, laughter in her voice, which seemed now to be coming from beneath him. "It's only me. The floor's about two feet beneath you. Let go and slide on down."
He hesitated. "Are you sure?"
"Would I lie to you?"
Her voice sounded entirely too innocent to suit him, but he trusted her enough to let go of the grass, one stalk at a time. Nothing happened. He raised his arms and wriggled a little. His shoulders caught in the hole for a moment, before the edges of the hole disintegrated and he slipped through in a rain of soil and grass.
Almost at once his feet hit solid ground. Staggering, he caught his balance and found himself in a small room, square, twelve feet on a side. The walls had been dug into the surface of the island and, looking up, through the dim light coming through the hole he'd made he could see that the builders had roofed the room over in turf and let the grass do the rest.
"People have been here," Kate said positively, standing next to him.
"Well, of course people have been here, Kate, even I can tell that this is a man-made structure."
"No, I mean recently," she told him. He followed her pointing finger and saw a half-dozen cases of Van Camp's Pork and Beans stacked next to a virtual tower of Costco's twenty-four-roll packages of Scot tissue Premium two-ply Bathroom Tissue.
He walked over to take a closer look. "All the essentials of life." He raised his head and stared around. "The Coasties never said anything about this place. I don't remember reading about it in any of the reports on the search missions. They must have missed it completely."
I don't know how," Kate said, "all you have to do is fall through the roof."
Jack ignored her. "Alcala and Brown must have missed it, too. Too bad. They could have
"Not if you're in the sack with me, you won't," he told her.
"Whatever you say." She grinned at him. "Come on.
Let's walk down to the beach."
It was Jack who found it, or rather fell through the roof of it. He'd been wandering behind her, through the tall rye grass poking up through the thin layer of crusted snow, enjoying the sun and the salt breeze and the sound of the surf, when the previously solid ground beneath his feet gave way and suddenly he was sliding through the turf and into an empty space beneath.
"Hey," he said. The turf engulfed his legs and started up his butt to nibble at his waist and he raised his voice.
"Hey? Hey! Hey, Kate! Kate! Help! Help!"
He kicked out with his legs, trying to find purchase, something to brace himself against, and immediately slid in up to his chest. His hands scrabbled around and grasped at the grass, anything to keep him from sliding even farther into what his naturally strong sense of optimism assured him was probably a bubbling pit of volcanic lava. If it came to that, he suffered from a lifelong case of acrophobia, and would have preferred a pit of lava to an empty, endless abyss.
Kate's head appeared, ending this morbid speculation, and peered down at him through the rye grass with interest.
"What seems to be the problem?"
"What the hell does it took like, I'm falling into the center of the earth here! Get me out!"
She looked at him, pursing her lips, displaying less concern than he considered the situation warranted. "I wonder-" Abruptly, her head vanished again from sight.
He panicked, just a little, no more than he considered absolutely necessary. "Wait! Where the hell you going?
Kate!"
"Relax," he heard her say. He waited, unrelaxed, sweating beneath his jacket and clutching at some very insubstantial stalks of grass. An overactive imagination conjured up a chasm beneath his dangling legs, a bottomless chasm into which he would fall and keep falling something grabbed hold of his right foot and gave a vigorous tug. "Hey!" he yelled.
"Relax," Kate said again, laughter in her voice, which seemed now to be coming from beneath him. "It's only me. The floor's about two feet beneath you. Let go and slide on down."
He hesitated. "Are you sure?"
"Would I lie to you?"
Her voice sounded entirely too innocent to suit him, but he trusted her enough to let go of the grass, one stalk at a time. Nothing happened. He raised his arms and wriggled a little. His shoulders caught in the hole for a moment, before the edges of the hole disintegrated and he slipped through in a rain of soil and grass.
Almost at once his feet hit solid ground. Staggering, he caught his balance and found himself in a small room, square, twelve feet on a side. The walls had been dug into the surface of the island and, looking up, through the dim light coming through the hole he'd made he could see that the builders had roofed the room over in turf and let the grass do the rest.
"People have been here," Kate said positively, standing next to him.
"Well, of course people have been here, Kate, even I can tell that this is a man-made structure."
"No, I mean recently," she told him. He followed her pointing finger and saw a half-dozen cases of Van Camp's Pork and Beans stacked next to a virtual tower of Costco's twenty-four-roll packages of Scot tissue Premium two-ply Bathroom Tissue.
He walked over to take a closer look. "All the essentials of life." He raised his head and stared around. "The Coasties never said anything about this place. I don't remember reading about it in any of the reports on the search missions. They must have missed it completely."
I don't know how," Kate said, "all you have to do is fall through the roof."
Jack ignored her. "Alcala and Brown must have missed it, too. Too bad. They could have
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