1 Sunshine Hunter (16 page)

I let go of the vest and
desperately tried to grab onto something, anything. My foot hit the head of the shark and it clamped its jaws down on the sole of my court shoe. All I could see as I looked down were pink laces in its face. I was screaming as loud as I could, but I could still hear Johnny screaming louder as the shark and I slid off the end of the boat into the water.

Racquetball is a strengthening sport. Your legs get stronger and your upper body gains strength. I had good strength for a girl. It served me well as jaws and I slid off the boat.

I had managed to get one hand on some part of one of the cha
irs bolted onto the deck. I didn’t know what it was, but I gripped it with all my might. The falling dead weight of the shark, and my sudden stopping from grabbing the chair, jerked my body hard. My shoulder felt as though my arm had been pulled from the socket. The forward motion forced my fingers off the wet chair, and I went underwater, but I had been able to hold on for just a second, and that second of strength also caused enough force to jerk my foot out of my shoe. The shark slid on down into the depths of the Gulf with the sole of my court shoe firmly clamped in its mouth.

I came to the surface gasping for air. Not because I had been under for very long, but from the sheer terror of the situation. The boat was a short distance in front of me. With the entire back end and almost all of the deck
submerged, the fire was out now. I was able to swim to the edge of the boat and pull myself up along the wooden rail. Darby was leaning down from the bow side of the bridge to grab me and pull me up to him. Neither of us could speak. I’ve never seen him rattled before, but he was white as a ghost and definitely rattled. I was shivering uncontrollably as he wrapped his arms around me and held me close.

Johnny was still in the front of the boat and was holding onto to the railing to keep from sliding downward. It was practically the highest point on the boat now. He was still crying, and I heard the word mommy several times, but he was no longer shrieking.

The Captain was leaning against the bow side of the cabin, his head in his hands. Ryan was ashen beside him.

We were all too quiet for what had just happened. Were we all in shock? Were we all going to die?

I looked at Darby and said, “What happens now?” It came out as a whisper.

He pointed behind me. A couple of hundred yards away was the only other boat on the
water, a fishing boat, coming to rescue us.

Captain Jorje looked around at all of us and said angrily, “Does anybody know who the s.o.b. with the flares was?”

Darby looked at me and slightly shook his head as if to say, “
don’t say anything
.”

Johnny, still weeping, said in a barely audible voice, “Marlon Brando.”

A short time later, the
Irish Wake
pulled up alongside us. There were four men onboard and, go figure, they were all speaking Spanish. Darby helped me to board their boat first; Johnny was next, then Ryan, followed by Darby, and finally Captain Jorje, who stood silently for a moment to say good-bye to the
Shark Trek
. It wasn’t going to be above water much longer.

One of the men handed a blanket to me, and I was grateful to wrap
it around myself and sit down. Darby and Johnny sat on either side of me. Captain Jorje was talking with the men of
The Irish Wake
; Ryan stood beside him.

“Do you know what t
hey’re saying?” I asked.

“Nope,” said Darby. “I never learned Spanish.”

Johnny threw his hands up with a
don’t look at me
expression and said, “I only know enough to barely get by at the restaurant.”

The conversation between the Captain and the four men seemed intense, but the two Captains finally shook hands. Captain Jorje and Ryan walked back to us.

“Well,” the Captain said, “unless you folks have any reason to get the authorities involved, we’re just going to let this go and pretend it never happened.”

“Why?” Johnny asked incredulously. “Why wouldn’t you notify the police?”

“Well,” Captain Jorje said as he hung his head, “I’ve already had a few safety violations in the past, and the insurance lapsed on the boat three months ago. So, I won’t need a police report for insurance, and I think it would be better for me, and even for Ryan here, if we didn’t get the police involved. The Captain of this vessel has a few issues of his own, so he’s in agreement. He’s going to take us back to the marina, and we’ll all go our separate ways.”

That was fine with all of us, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

When we parted at the dock, Johnny was subdued, but tried valiantly to put on his drama queen, “Susan, darling,” he said, “I thought I was going to pass out when I saw that shark chewing off your leg. I was sure we’d seen the last of you when the ocean swallowed you up.” He air kissed me on both cheeks. “I’m so glad you lived through the attack!” He gave me an extra big bear hug. I knew he had been terrified through it all, and he was intensely relieved I was safe. “You go back to the hotel and get some rest. I’ll see you in the morning.” He then hugged Darby, gave him air kisses, turned, and walked off the dock. I think he may have started weeping again.

I still had the blanket from the
Irish Wake
wrapped around me, my
Shark Trek
bucket hat was long gone, and I was only wearing one shoe. Darby looked me over, half smiled, and said, “I owe you a pair of shoes.”

“You bet you owe me a pair of shoes.” I told him.

“Come on,” he said putting his arm around me. “Let’s get out of here. We’ll get you dried out, get something to eat, and we can talk about what we’re going to do about all of this.”

We walked up the dock and into the parking lot. Darby pulled the keys to the Taurus out of his pocket and hit the fob to unlock the doors. We turned into the aisle where our car was parked and saw it right away. Four flat tires!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“Darby, what did Johnny mean when he said he would see me in the morning?” I asked with my mouth full of one the best pizzas I had ever eaten.

We had been back to the hotel for a couple of hours now. After showering and attempting to pack my luggage, I realized we hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast, and I was starved. The desk clerk recommended we have a pie delivered from Breezi Pizzeria, a little hole-in-the-wall joint a few miles away. It wasn’t a pizza from Ohio that was for sure. Wild mushrooms, ricotta, feta, and parmesan cheeses, and fresh basil; it was fantastic. I reached for another slice.

“Johnny’s been thinking about taking a few days off to go home and visit his mother, who coincidenta
lly, lives in Cincinnati,” Darby said. “So, he’s flying back with us tomorrow to spend the weekend at my place, and then he’ll drive the four and half hours to Cincinnati to see his mom. He can fly out from there when he’s ready to go back to Florida. After what happened today, I’m sure he can use some time with family.”

Couldn’t we all
, I thought.

“Listen, Darby, about our flight,” I
said. “I’m going to fly out by myself early in the morning.”

“What? Why?
” he asked. “We already have our tickets. We’ll be on our way home soon enough.”

I shoo
k my head. “I already called to get a flight out this evening, but there wasn’t anything available.” I grabbed a third slice of pizza; I was inhaling this stuff. Between bites I told him, “Think about it. This psycho means business, and it’s deadly business. I’m his target, and he’s been with us every step of the way from the very first day in the restaurant. I don’t want to risk being on an airplane with him. I booked a flight out at 6:00 A.M., so I’ll have to leave the hotel at about 4:30. I’ll have a cab pick me up at the side entrance, and I’ll be out of here and on my way before that nut job even knows I’m gone.” I was contemplating one more piece of pizza, but decided against it. “As soon as I get home, I’ll talk to Detective Bentley and tell him everything I know, including what we know about Wicker Barnes, and that we think he’s responsible for Jerry’s death. He can surely put men at the airport to watch for him when he returns to Ohio.”

“I don’t like it that you’ll be traveling alone, Susan,” Darby said frowning.

“I’m sure I’ll be fine,” I tried to assure him. “Besides, after everything that’s gone wrong here, I can’t imagine anything on the airplane could be worse than this.”

“Are you already packed?” he asked.

“Oh my gosh! I almost forgot. I don’t have room for everything I bought.” I looked at him with a hopeful look and asked, “Do you have any extra room?”

“Take my suitcase,” he said laughing. He pulled the empty case out from his closet and set it by my door. “I’ll put as much as I can in my carry-on, and I’ll have Johnny bring another small bag for me for the rest. We’ll work it out.”

“Thanks, Darby,” I said. I gave him a hug and suddenly felt very melancholy. “You’re a good friend. You’re my best friend.” I felt tears start to well up in my eyes. “I’m so sorry I ruined your vacation.”

“Susan.” He held m
e by both arms and looked into my eyes, “You didn’t ruin my vacation, and none of this has been your fault.” He kissed me on my nose. “You’re my best friend, too.”

“Thanks,
” I said with a little sniffle. I smiled at him and turned to pick up his suitcase. “I want to call Mick and ask him about Wicker. I should do that now.” I started to close the door between our rooms. “I’m exhausted, and since I have to be up at four, I think I’m going to go to bed after I call.”

“I’ll get up with you and help you with your luggage,” he said. “I want to be sure you get off ok.”

“No, I can manage,” I told him. “I think I should be cautious and slip out alone. I’ll text you when I get on the airplane. At least that way, you’ll know I made it ok.”

“That sounds good. I guess I’ll see you at home tomorrow,” he said.

“You and Johnny come over around 5:00,” I said. “If I’m not in jail, I’ll make Reuben sandwiches for us.”

He smiled and nodded his head. I closed the door between our rooms.

Mick wasn’t expecting me to call. We had agreed to talk on Monday, so I could only hope he would be available and could take my call.

He answered right away, “Susan,” he said softly. His voice had a quality to it that ma
de me weak in the knees. It seemed like I hadn’t heard it in ages. I sat down on the bed.

“Hi, Mick. How are you?” I tried to sound cheerful so he wouldn’t notice my intense fatigue.

“I’m fantastic now that I hear your voice,” he said.

I smiled. Did men get weak in their knees, too? “Mick, I don’t have a lot of time to talk, but I need to ask you about something. Or tell you about something.” I
was probably sounding melodramatic, but I didn’t quite know how to approach the subject.

“Ok. What’s up
?” he asked. He sounded a little guarded.

“Well, there’s been a guy down here stalking me and Darby. His name is Wicker Barnes,” I paused for a moment, “and Mick, he’s involved over at the Marshall Community Theater.”

“Stalking you? Are you sure?” he asked surprised. “And how do you know he’s with the theater?”

“It’s a long story, and I’ll tell you about it when I get home, but for now, I need to ask you a favor.”

“Ok, if I can,” he said.

“Could you find out if Jenny knows Wicker? Wicker Bar
nes. And does she know why he’s in Florida right now? This guy is definitely unbalanced,” I paused unsure of how much I wanted to tell him, “and he’s flattened the tires on our car twice.”

“Are you sure it was him?” he asked.

“Oh, we’re sure. But Mick, find out if this is guy she’s been seeing. I know you might not want to do that, but something is really wrong here, and anything you can find out would help. He seems to have it out for me in particular.”

“Susan, has he hurt you? Has he touched you?”
he asked with alarm.

“No, I’m not hurt, and he hasn’t touched me. But I think he could hurt me.” I had to cut this short before I started telling him more than I wanted him to know right now. “I’m leaving early in the morning, so I’ll be home tomorrow. I’m not anticipa
ting any more problems while we’re here, but if you find out anything over the weekend, please let me know.”

“Ok, I’ll see what I can find out, but please be careful.” He was quiet for a moment and then said, “I can’t wait to see you again. Is Monday still ok?”

I smiled through the phone and said, “Monday will be wonderful.”

We said our good-byes and hung up.

I finished packing and climbed into bed. I went over the day’s events in my mind. I nearly lost my life today, but I didn’t feel any anxiety over it at the moment. It was all so surreal when it was happening, and it seemed so far away. Maybe a year from now, this would be one of those things Darby and I would die laughing over. Maybe. I settled down deeper onto the pillows. Right now, all I cared about was that I would be home soon, and I would be home with Mick.