by David Wood
“Top of the line!” Holloway said. “Nothing but the best for my crew.” He clapped a hand on Aston’s shoulder.
“Forty-six per cent, boss.” Disappointment rang hollow in Joaquin’s voice.
“Wait! What’s that?” Aston slipped away from Holloway and jabbed at the monitor. “Slow down and zoom in on that object.”
Slater leaned in over his shoulder for a closer look as Joaquin focused the VUE’s camera on the spot. Aston was keenly aware of her breath on his ear, the soft brush of her hair against the back of his neck, and the fresh smell of perfumed soap. Get her out of your head, you wanker. You’ve got a job to do.
Forgetting her wasn’t difficult once he realized what they were looking at. A small, light-colored, round object loomed large on the screen.
“That’s a human skull.” A shiver ran up his spine. “How in the hell did it get all the way back here?”
“Maybe, just hazarding a guess here, the monster dragged a body back and ate it?” Slater said.
“Let’s keep our professionalism about us,” Aston said. “There could be other explanations.” Though he was inclined to agree with her, he was reluctant to admit as much.
“Such as?” she challenged. “I doubt it’s a diver. I don’t see any equipment lying around.”
“According to what we’ve learned about the history of this place, the natives regularly practiced human sacrifice in the lake. Maybe something, I don’t know, fresh water crabs, dragged it back here.” He was inventing wildly and a glance at Slater showed she knew exactly what he was doing. Besides, it would take some hellacious crabs to haul a body this far against the current.
“Did a fresh water crab bite through that femur right there?” She tapped a spot on the screen just above the skull.
Aston felt his throat constrict as he saw what he had missed earlier. Two parts of a human leg bone lay wedged against a rock. And, though he couldn’t say for certain it had been bitten, something had severed it clean in two.
“Isn’t that the strongest bone in the human body?” Joaquin turned a wide-eyed gaze toward Aston.
“Well, the heel bone is the hardest,” Aston said, fighting the chill rising up inside him. “But that one is the biggest.”
“Oh my God!” Slater grabbed him by the shoulder and squeezed. “What if it’s Dave?”
The others exchanged confused glances.
“I’m sure he didn’t just up and leave us. What if the monster got him and took his body back here to…” She couldn’t finish the question.
“It’s not Dave,” Aston said, absently slipping an arm around her waist and pulling her in close.
“Are you sure?” Holloway asked. “Not that I want it to be him, mind you, but there isn’t much to go on.”
Aston nodded. “Joaquin, zoom in just to the right of the femur.” The image grew larger and a dark object swam into focus.
“That’s a knife!” Holloway breathed.
“And not just any knife.” As the VUE moved in, the details became clearer, though Aston already knew what they would see: a black and silver hilt, a red, diamond-shaped emblem, and a black swastika. The knife was remarkably well preserved, all the details clear.
“I think there’s something written on the blade, but I can’t make it out,” Slater said.
Aston didn’t need to see the writing to know what was inscribed there. “Blut und Ehre. Blood and honor. Whoever owned this knife was once a member of the Hitler youth.” He turned to Slater. “I think we’ve found someone from our lost German unit.”
Chapter 25
“I’m getting sick of waiting. We’re accomplishing nothing here. I say we go in.” Laine scowled at the array of monitors, turned, and stalked out onto the deck, slamming the door behind him.
“That’s friendly.” Slater made a face at the man’s back as he walked away. Sighing, she turned back to Aston. “I wouldn’t say it where he could hear me, but I don’t entirely disagree with him. We’ve been hanging out by this channel for nearly two days and we haven’t seen anything. I say the two of us put on the SCUBA gear and do some exploring. Even if we don’t find any new evidence, I can get some cool footage. Maybe search for more dead Germans?”
Aston couldn’t deny the thought of getting off the boat and into the water was appealing, and diving with Slater could be fun. He was a skilled diver, and letting her see him at his best just might spark a little renewed interest.
“Maybe,” he said. “But we’ll have to convince Holloway. He’s certain the creature is in there somewhere and is afraid we’ll frighten it off if we go poking around in its lair. He wants a sighting first, but this sitting around is killing me. Personally, the lack of a sighting is what makes me more keen to dive.” What he wouldn’t give for a long dive in the cool water followed by an evening in his bunk, unwinding with a few drinks, and perhaps some female companionship. He resisted the urge to let his eyes wander up Slater’s legs, and instead kept his focus on the screen in front of him.
“He thinks we’re going to frighten off a sea monster.” She shook her head. “If this thing is real, and I’m still not certain it is, I think we’re the ones who ought to be afraid. It’s big, there’s not enough vegetation in the lake for it to be a herbivore, and if the legends are true, it’s eaten people in the past.”
Aston nodded. “Might have eaten someone quite recently.” He regretted the statement immediately.
Slater stood ramrod-straight and cuffed him on the shoulder. “Don’t say that. Dave was my… is my friend.”
“Sorry. I don’t mean to be insensitive. It’s just that my filter doesn’t always work.”
“It’s all right.” She sank into the chair next to him and rested her head against his shoulder. “He’s dead. I’m sure of it. I suppose he drank too much and somehow managed to capsize his boat. That’s the only thing that makes sense. I don’t want to believe that a big freaking monster ate him, Sam. I just don’t want to think about it.”
“I hear you. He was a good guy.” Aston could think of nothing else to say, so he was relieved when loud voices outside drew their attention. “Can you watch the screen for me?” he asked, rising from his chair, but Slater was already out the door.
“I’ll do it.” Carly had been sitting quietly nearby. Funny how quickly one could grow accustomed to the presence of a camera crew, or a crew member in this case, and stop noticing them.
“Great. Give a shout if anything interesting pops up.” Aston hurried out into the humid day. He immediately spotted the source of the commotion.
Holloway leaned against the stern rail, arguing with Superintendent Rinne, who stood in the bow of a small launch. A deputy manning the outboard watched the two with a bemused grin on his face.
“For the last time, I’m not letting you onto my boat. You have no reason to harass us like this.” Between sunburn and the flush of anger, Holloway’s face was a delicate shade of crimson.
“There has been a pattern of suspicious activity surrounding this craft and I will investigate it.” Rinne held his chin high and his fists clenched. “I’m the authority here.”
“There’s nothing suspicious going on. We’re doing research, as you well know.”
“Research?” Rinne barked a laugh. “What about your missing crew member? I wouldn’t know about it if he hadn’t reported it to me.” Rinne pointed.
Immediately, all eyes turned to Aston, who came to a halt a few paces from Holloway.
“What the hell is he talking about?” The billionaire’s burning gaze might have caused another man to flinch, but in Aston it stirred defiance.
“Dave took off to God knows where. If anyone can find word of him, it’s the police. There’s no reason not to ask them to do their bloody job.”
Holloway narrowed his eyes and stared a hole through Aston. “We’ll discuss this later.” Shaking his head, he tu
rned back to Rinne.
“Do you deny it?” the policeman challenged.
“Yes, one of my men took off. He’s a soft kid from Hollywood who couldn’t handle it out here. In what world does that constitute a pattern of suspicious behavior?”
“What about my missing man?” The moment he uttered the question, Rinne’s eyes widened.
“Oops,” Slater said in a voice meant only for Aston’s ears.
“Your missing man? Are we supposed to know something about your personnel issues?” Holloway asked.
“I sent one of my men out to investigate your activities and he didn’t come back. That’s two missing persons associated with your project.”
Something clicked into place in Aston’s mind. This must be the reason for Rinne’s odd behavior during their meeting. That and the fact the man was a tosser with an obvious power complex.
“When? You’re the first police officer to pay us a visit.” Holloway’s volume had lessened but he kept a white-knuckled grip on the rail.
Rinne grimaced and looked down at the water. “Two nights ago.”
“You’ll have to be more specific. What time did he come by?”
Rinne hesitated. He shot a glance at the officer in the stern.
Aston leaped to a conclusion. “Did you send someone out here in the middle of the night? To scope out our boat? Did they sneak on board?”
Rinne held up a hand. “It doesn’t matter. The fact remains, I sent my man out here and he didn’t come back.” He paused, took a deep breath, and let it out in a rush. “You’re hiding something, Holloway. I know it, and I’ll prove it.”
At the words ‘hiding something’, Slater shot a sideways glance at Aston. He knew what she was thinking: the severed foot.
“Good luck proving anything,” Holloway sneered. “There’s nothing to prove. We’ll be right out here in the open, the same way we’ve been since the very start, until we complete our research and our film. All our paperwork is in order. Not to mention the extra license fees we paid on arrival. And you have no search warrant.”
A grin crept across Rinne’s face. “I think you might not be here for long. I just learned there’s a rare species of plant which can only be found in this lake. We’ll likely have to suspend all boat traffic until scientists can thoroughly investigate and determine how to best protect it. It could take months.”
“You’re lying. There’s no plant.” Holloway’s voice once again rose to a shout and Rinne matched it.
Aston and Slater seized the renewal of hostilities as an opportunity to slip away. As they descended below decks, Slater cocked her head and fixed him with an appraising look. “You did it for me, didn’t you?”
“What’s that?” Aston felt suddenly off-balance.
“Going to Rinne. I know we discussed notifying him, but you don’t seem the sort to trust the authorities. You knew how worried I was but you also knew I have a non-disclosure agreement with Holloway that would be in jeopardy if I spoke to someone outside the expedition.”
Aston didn’t know what to say. The truth was, he had simply done it because his gut told him to, and he’d said he would. But what was the harm in allowing Slater to think he’d stuck his neck out for her? She must have taken his momentary silence as an affirmative reply, because she reached out and gave his hand a squeeze.
“Thank you. There’s more to you than I thought.”
They made their way to the galley, Aston distracted with thoughts of Slater and whether or not he’d just inadvertently improved his chances with her. When they arrived, Slater stood watch at the door while Aston opened the freezer.
His throat clenched and he sucked in a sliver of breath. The foot was still there, but it lay partially unwrapped. Someone had been there, and if it wasn’t one of their crew, that meant Rinne’s man had found it. And if that was the case, they could all be in serious trouble. But where was the man?
Chapter 26
“What do we do?” Slater’s voice quavered and her face drained of color. “Do you think it was Rinne’s man, or could it have been one of the crew?” She ran her fingers through her hair and looked around as if the culprit might be hiding somewhere nearby. “What would someone want with it?”
A variety of scenarios flashed through Aston’s mind: Holloway or Joaquin had come down to check on it, Dave had panicked and disturbed it, the captain had considered disposing of it but changed his mind… But the most likely explanation seemed to be the one the Superintendent had hinted at.
“Do you think Rinne’s man really made it onto the ship and found it without anyone noticing he was here?” Aston asked.
“I suppose it’s possible, if he came late at night after everyone was asleep.”
Aston didn’t miss the fact that she didn’t quite meet his eye as she spoke. Another possibility occurred to him. What if Slater herself had disturbed it during one of her late-night treks?
“Have you been back to look at it since we first discovered it?”
Anger flared in her eyes “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“For the show. Did you or one of your crew come down to get some extra footage or something?” Somehow he couldn’t bring himself to challenge her about her suspicious behavior.
“Absolutely not.” She kept her tone and gaze level, staring him right in the eye.
“Okay,” he said. And it was. He believed her, hopefully not to his detriment. “Then I say Rinne’s man is the most likely culprit. He probably didn’t want to touch it without a warrant, if such things are required in Finland.”
“If that’s the case, I suppose we’re lucky he didn’t make it back to town.” Slater grimaced. “That’s a terrible thing to say.”
“But you’re not wrong. I can’t imagine what Rinne would do if he found out about it. That man is going to be a problem.”
“He wouldn’t be a problem if you hadn’t gone to him.” Holloway loomed in the doorway, his face still florid. “You betrayed my trust, Aston. I knew you were a crook but I thought you could at least be bought.”
Aston didn’t miss the puzzled glance Slater shot in his direction. Anger boiled up anew and he took a step toward Holloway, but stopped when Slater grabbed him by the wrist.
“Let it go, Aston. We’re all on the same side. It just doesn’t feel that way right now because we’re all under so much stress.” She stepped between Aston and Holloway, whose posture indicated he just might be stupid enough to take a swing. If he did, Aston could kiss his payday goodbye because he would pound Holloway into a bloody pulp. “I asked him to talk to the authorities. Begged him, in fact. Dave is my friend and I want to find out what happened to him. I’m sorry if I did the wrong thing, but surely you can see now that hiding things from Rinne can backfire on us. Isn’t it better to at least give the impression we’re above board?”
Slowly, Holloway’s frozen features melted as the tension drained away. “Fine. We’ll let it go for now, but if either of you steps another foot out of bounds, you’ll need better attorneys than mine to get a penny of what was promised to you. And there are no better attorneys than mine. Do we understand each other?”
Aston entertained one more fleeting thought of decking the man and getting the hell out, but reconsidered. When compared to the threat posed by Chang, Rinne was a mosquito. “Fair enough. I’m sorry for not keeping you in the loop.”
“What were you two talking about when I walked in?” Holloway took a step inside and looked around.
“The foot’s been disturbed. Someone’s been messing with it.” Aston couldn’t keep the note of challenge from his voice. “Any idea who might have done that?”
Holloway blinked twice. “No.” He pursed his lips and stared at the ground, probably considering the same set of possibilities Aston had. “Joaquin wouldn’t have done anything with it without my say-so. I suppose I’ll have to question the captai
n and Laine, you ask Carly.” He pressed his hands to his temples. “Good god, it shouldn’t be this difficult. Am I going to have to make an example of someone just to get some teamwork around here? If someone has been screwing around with this foot, I’ll…”
“It would actually be a good thing if one of us has been poking around down here,” Aston interrupted. “It’s much better than the alternative.”
Holloway understood immediately. “The police officer.” He let his hands fall to his sides.
“Do you think there’s any chance Rinne’s man made it here?” Slater bit her lip as she waited for Holloway’s response.
“It’s hard to believe he could have slipped onto the Merenneito without anyone hearing him, but I suppose it’s possible. It’s not like we post guards.”
“Oh my god!” Carly’s faint cry cut off further discussion. “Guys, get up here!”
They dashed to the bridge where the young woman was bouncing on the balls of her feet, her camera trained on the monitor where the image of the underwater cameras was displayed. “Something swam by. I saw it.”
“Let me check.” Aston moved to the controls, grabbed the mouse, backed the video up thirty seconds. The tension in the room was palpable as they gazed at the screen. And then something flashed across the monitor. And then several somethings.
“A school of fish,” Aston groaned. “Carly, I…”
And then he saw it. Something massive shot past the camera, so close he couldn’t make out any details, but he couldn’t deny it was there.
“What was that?” Slater breathed.
“Something big,” Holloway said.
Aston couldn’t deny what he’d seen.
They stood there, staring at one another for the span of several heartbeats, none of them able to speak. Aston knew there were a dozen things they should be doing right now but he was frozen in the moment.
“What’s this, then?” Laine had wandered into the cabin. The simple question seemed to jolt everyone from their collective stupor. They all began talking at once, describing what they’d seen and debating their next move.
