Read Online Dead in the Water by Robin Stevenson - Free Book Online Page B

problem,” I said, thinking quickly. “We’re sorry we disturbed you and all that. We just wanted to get off our boat and explore a little, you know?” I nudged Olivia, hoping she’d clue in. “We don’t really care what you guys are doing. It’s none of our business.”
    â€œSince when are you two minding your own business?” Patrick asked. He sounded resigned. “I think we all know you came over here to snoop.”
    Shut up, Patrick, shut up. I tried to think fast, to make up some story about what we were doing, but I didn’t know how much Patrick had already told them. He looked just like he always did—the crooked smile, the blue eyes, the easy relaxed posture. But he was standing over us, and beside him Victor was clenching and unclenching his fists.
    I backtracked and spoke directly to Victor and Keith. “Okay, I admit that. We were curious about your boat and what you were diving for. Like I said, I’m sorry. We had no right to be snooping around, and we’ll stay away now.”
    â€œBit late for that,” Victor said. His voice was a harsh whisper. He looked at Keith. “Patrick says they saw the abalone.”
    My heart was banging away like crazy, and my hands were cold and sweaty. Victor looked like the kind of guy who might decide that smacking us around a bit might teach usa lesson. I tried to look relaxed, which took some pretty impressive acting. I leaned back and opened my arms wide. “Look, guys, I’m really sorry. But like I said, it’s none of our business what you’re doing here.”
    Olivia looked at me like I was nuts. “It’s absolutely our business. It’s everyone’s business.” She looked at Victor and at Keith. “Abalone is a threatened species. The reason you’re not allowed to catch it is because the numbers have declined dramatically since people started diving for them and harvesting them to sell.” She leaned toward them, eyes wide. “There is a real chance of northern aba-lone becoming an endangered species. Surely you don’t want to contribute to that?”
    I closed my eyes, groaning inwardly. She sounded as passionate as a TV evangelist trying to persuade her audience to see the light. Only this audience wasn’t likely to be converted.
    Victor started to laugh, and my eyes flew open again at the sound. It was the creepiest laugh I’d ever heard: soft, harsh and utterly chilling. Even under the bright deck light, hispupils were huge, and I wondered if he was on drugs. “You’re going to report us as soon as you get back to Hardy, aren’t you?” he said.
    I jabbed my elbow into Olivia’s ribs and hoped she’d take the hint. “Of course not,” I said. “It’s none of our business.”
    â€œRight. That’s why you were snooping around our boat.”
    I shrugged, feeling helpless. “We won’t report you.”
    â€œDo you know what would happen if we got caught?” he asked.
    I shook my head, trying to remember what Patrick had said. “Not really. A fine, right?”
    Keith answered, “A huge fine, on top of the money we’d be losing by not selling what we’ve got onboard. We’ve got a full freezer of shucked meat, plus a couple hundred pounds of live abalone, and we’ve got buyers waiting for all of it.” He grinned. “Got a wholesale seafood company in Vancouver that’ll take as much frozen abalone as we can get.”
    â€œBut that’s the least of it,” Victor cut in. “We could get jail time. For sure, they’d confiscate our boats and our dive gear. That’sa couple hundred thousand bucks right there.”
    I swallowed hard. I’d had no idea the stakes were so high. No wonder Patrick had tried to keep us away. “I promise,” I said. “I give you my word we won’t tell.” Olivia, please don’t say anything, I