anymore. Now I’m a realist, but I also don’t believe in coincidence, and things are stacking up here that makes me think maybe you might not be as crazy as I thought.”
“So you believe me?”
“Do I think you saw a sea monster? No. That’s something I can’t buy until I see it for myself. I do believe that whatever you saw is the thing Russo and Andrews are looking for, and that’s enough for me to be interested. Maybe some new piece of military kit that has gone rogue. A sub maybe, I don’t know. Whatever it is must be important to have the government sniffing around like this.”
“I don’t get it, if it was Andrews who found us, why keep it quiet? Why ask us later on about the accident if he was there?”
“Exactly. Nothing about this situation sits right. I get the feelin’ we have only scratched the surface.”
“I still don’t understand why top line government would be involved in this. Maybe we should get in touch with them, see if we can work together.”
“I don’t think you understand. If Russo and Andrews want to find this thing, I want to get there first.”
“Why?”
“Because I still owe that asshole one. You might think I wouldn’t be so bitter after all these years, but you’d be wrong.”
“I thought you didn’t believe me?”
“I said I’d have to see it for myself, and I ain’t ever gonna do it from here on dry land.”
“It’s no good,” Rainwater said, shaking his head. “If they have the resources you say they have, and the expertise, we don’t stand a chance.”
“They’re soldiers and pencil pushers. Not fishermen. We know the seas, and that gives us the advantage.”
“Maybe I should go with them. I’m no fisherman either, you said so yourself.”
“Maybe it’s time you learned. What I’m saying is, if you really want to find out what this thing is, I’ll come out and help. Maybe you’ll prove me wrong and I’ll see this monster with my own eyes, although I suspect it won’t be anything quite so dramatic when we get to the bottom of it.”
“I don’t know if I can do it. The thought of setting foot on that boat scares me, Mackay. I keep thinking about the accident, how close we came to dying…”
Mackay nodded.
“It’s normal to be scared. Fear keeps you on your toes. If you don’t conquer this, it’ll eat at you until there is nothing left.”
“I don’t think I can do it.”
“You will.”
“Why so confident?”
“Because despite whatever you choose to call yourself, you still have Harris blood running through your veins. You belong on the water, even if you don’t know it yet.”
A mixture of pride, nerves and fear surged through him as he looked at the boat rocking against the dock.
“It won’t be enough with just us, we need more help.”
“I might know a guy. He’s ex-army too, but he knows about hunting things. He a tough son of a bitch, spent some time in Japan working on a whaler and also did some safari stuff in Africa in between tours in the forces.”
“We aren’t hunting lions here, Mackay.”
“I know that, my point is that he knows the way to hunt things. He’s our only option anyway, so it was a case of take it or leave it.”
“So where is he?”
“Flying in today as it happens. We recently got in touch again and had been planning to meet up anyway. I asked him to come and see if he can help us.”
“You don’t want to leave right away?”
Mackay shook his head.
“Not without prepping first. We should head out in a day or two. It gives us a chance to make some kind of plan instead of going out into the unknown.”
“I’m not sure this is anything we can plan for. Not really.”
“Doesn’t hurt to be prepared though, kid.”
“I suppose.”
“Let me make a few calls, see what I can arrange. In the meantime, you need to get your shit together and be ready for when we leave. If there’s one thing I know about Russo, it’s that he doesn’t fuck around when he has a job to
“So you believe me?”
“Do I think you saw a sea monster? No. That’s something I can’t buy until I see it for myself. I do believe that whatever you saw is the thing Russo and Andrews are looking for, and that’s enough for me to be interested. Maybe some new piece of military kit that has gone rogue. A sub maybe, I don’t know. Whatever it is must be important to have the government sniffing around like this.”
“I don’t get it, if it was Andrews who found us, why keep it quiet? Why ask us later on about the accident if he was there?”
“Exactly. Nothing about this situation sits right. I get the feelin’ we have only scratched the surface.”
“I still don’t understand why top line government would be involved in this. Maybe we should get in touch with them, see if we can work together.”
“I don’t think you understand. If Russo and Andrews want to find this thing, I want to get there first.”
“Why?”
“Because I still owe that asshole one. You might think I wouldn’t be so bitter after all these years, but you’d be wrong.”
“I thought you didn’t believe me?”
“I said I’d have to see it for myself, and I ain’t ever gonna do it from here on dry land.”
“It’s no good,” Rainwater said, shaking his head. “If they have the resources you say they have, and the expertise, we don’t stand a chance.”
“They’re soldiers and pencil pushers. Not fishermen. We know the seas, and that gives us the advantage.”
“Maybe I should go with them. I’m no fisherman either, you said so yourself.”
“Maybe it’s time you learned. What I’m saying is, if you really want to find out what this thing is, I’ll come out and help. Maybe you’ll prove me wrong and I’ll see this monster with my own eyes, although I suspect it won’t be anything quite so dramatic when we get to the bottom of it.”
“I don’t know if I can do it. The thought of setting foot on that boat scares me, Mackay. I keep thinking about the accident, how close we came to dying…”
Mackay nodded.
“It’s normal to be scared. Fear keeps you on your toes. If you don’t conquer this, it’ll eat at you until there is nothing left.”
“I don’t think I can do it.”
“You will.”
“Why so confident?”
“Because despite whatever you choose to call yourself, you still have Harris blood running through your veins. You belong on the water, even if you don’t know it yet.”
A mixture of pride, nerves and fear surged through him as he looked at the boat rocking against the dock.
“It won’t be enough with just us, we need more help.”
“I might know a guy. He’s ex-army too, but he knows about hunting things. He a tough son of a bitch, spent some time in Japan working on a whaler and also did some safari stuff in Africa in between tours in the forces.”
“We aren’t hunting lions here, Mackay.”
“I know that, my point is that he knows the way to hunt things. He’s our only option anyway, so it was a case of take it or leave it.”
“So where is he?”
“Flying in today as it happens. We recently got in touch again and had been planning to meet up anyway. I asked him to come and see if he can help us.”
“You don’t want to leave right away?”
Mackay shook his head.
“Not without prepping first. We should head out in a day or two. It gives us a chance to make some kind of plan instead of going out into the unknown.”
“I’m not sure this is anything we can plan for. Not really.”
“Doesn’t hurt to be prepared though, kid.”
“I suppose.”
“Let me make a few calls, see what I can arrange. In the meantime, you need to get your shit together and be ready for when we leave. If there’s one thing I know about Russo, it’s that he doesn’t fuck around when he has a job to
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