Read Online The Voice inside My Head by S.J. Laidlaw - Free Book Online

up a little. We’re almost at Bluewater.
    “You wouldn’t have to do the whole course.”
    “I’m not going in the ocean, Zach. I’m sorry.”
    “We could stay in the shallow water, near the shore.”
    “Sharks can attack in less than two feet of water.”
    “The sharks like the reef. We’ll stay in the sandy area.”
    “Cone shells bury themselves in the sand and shoot out their teeth like spearguns,” I say.
    “You’d be wearing flippers.”
    “Lionfish are moving south from Florida.”
    “The water’s so clear, you’d see them a mile away.”
    “What about the voodoo doll?”
    He stops walking. “Oh, man.” Zach slaps his forehead and looks at me in horror. “I totally forgot you were hexed. How could I forget that? I’m so sorry.”
    “It’s okay,” I say, biting my lip to stop from smiling.
    “It’s not okay. We’re like brothers now. I should have your back and I almost killed you.”
    “You didn’t almost kill me.”
    “I did, brother, I totally did. You would have got bitten by a shark for sure and had one of the cone things stab you and a lionfish sting you, and it would’ve been all my fault.”
    “Probably not all those things would have happened.” Though knowing my luck, at least one of them would have.
    “You need to go back to your room and stay there. Okay? I’ll come get you after my dive.”
    “Sure,” I agree. I’ll stay in my room, right after I shower, wash some clothes and talk to Jamie.
    “And don’t open the door for anyone till I come back.”
    “Okay.”
    “We need a code word.”
    “A code word?”
    “Yeah. Like how will you know it’s me at the door and not a voodoo zombie pretending to be me? We definitely need a code word. Something a voodoo zombie wouldn’t think of. What should I say?” He gives me an earnest look.
    “Cosmic?” I suggest.
    “Yeah.” Zach grins and puts up his hand for a high five.
    “Cosmic. That’s genius. Who would ever think of it?”
    “Almost no one,” I deadpan.
    “Okay, I won’t fail you a second time, my brother. Just wait for the code word.”

CHAPTER 6
    I run into Reesie when I step out of the shower room wrapped in my towel. I’m holding all three of my shirts and my only shorts, freshly laundered with bath soap. Reesie’s got her pail and cleaning brush and gives me an irritated look before she tries to push past me.
    “We’ve got to stop meeting like this.” I smile, deliberately stepping into her path.
    “Don’t bother trying your flirting on me.” She scowls.
    “I was hoping to talk to your brother this morning.” I keep my tone friendly, but this girl’s as cuddly as a sea urchin. “He’s gone to the cays. Won’t be back till tomorrow.”
    “The cays?”
    “Yeah, you know, the little islands just west of here. The
cays
,” she enunciates. When I don’t respond, she shakes her head in disgust and brushes past me into the shower room.
    I stand there listening to her fill her pail. I was really counting on talking to Jamie this morning. Zach’s revelation that Pat was drinking a lot on her last night makes me think she must have been upset about something. Of course, she could have been celebrating. Either way, the mostlikely person to know her state of mind is her alleged fiancé.
    Something’s biting me. I suddenly notice tiny red spots covering my chest and arms. What the hell?
    Reesie emerges from the shower room and pauses when she notices me examining myself. “They really got you,” she observes.
    “What are
they
?”
    “You really don’t know anything, do you?”
    I shrug.
    “Sand flies. The bites’ll start itching fierce in about twenty-four hours. You want to get yourself some medicine before then. Some people find salt water helps. You planning on swimming?”
    “Not likely,” I say.
    She cocks a brow. “Tea tree oil might help. You can pick it up most anywhere, but if you want to get away from ’em right now, there’s a strong wind at the end of the dock.”
    I