Love on Loch Ness (18 page)

"Where's Tabitha?" Flynn's panicked voice cut through Gail's stupor.

Gail whirled around. The patch of ground where Tabitha had slept was empty.

Had she left to go to the bathroom? Gail's heart sank to her stomach. Poor, sick Tabitha was out there with the monster! If she had any sense, she'd hide behind a tree and wait for the beast to pass.

"There!" Blarney pointed to the shore's edge.

Gail whirled back to the opening. Tabitha crawled in the undergrowth three feet away from the back flipper. She reached out with her hand, trying to touch the beast.

"No, no, no!" Flynn's voice rose.

Blarney held Flynn down and put his hand over his mouth. "Ye'll turn this shore into a killin' hoose, lad. If Nessie muives, the lassie is deid."

Gail slapped her hand over her mouth. Blarney was right. If they drew attention to themselves, the beast would turn and the flipper would come down on Tabitha's head. There was no telling how much Nessie weighed, but it had to be tons.

Flynn squiggled out of Blarney's grasp. "What are we going to do?" he whispered. "Leave her there alone?"

Blarney ran his hands through his beard and shook his head as if trying to find the right answer to a no-win situation. "Let her be. Wait for Nessie to gae back under."

Tabitha had pulled herself forward enough to touch the flipper. A growing puddle of water dripping from the beast had soaked her sweatshirt. Her hand dangled in the air as her thin, pale fingers twitched above the sleek surface.

Flynn's eyes were as wide as eggs. "Tabitha, don't do it, honey," he whispered.

Her hand came down gently. As she touched the wet surface, a spark of light traveled from the beast's fin and up Tabitha's arm. Tabitha jerked back, but if the beast noticed, it was too busy feeding off the trees to care.

Gail blinked. "What was that?"

"Electromagnetic energy." Blarney rubbed his beard. "A've seen it happen to trees, but niver to a person."

Gail grabbed Blarney's arm. "Is she going to be all right?"

Blarney shrugged. "Leuks fine ta me."

"Wait!" Flynn scurried to the other end of the tent and peered out. "Something's moving on the hill."

Gail followed him and pressed her face up against the slit in the tarp. She knew that rounded belly anywhere. "It's Tom."

"What's he doing? Is he crazy?" Flynn's voice rose dangerously loud.

"He must be trying to save Tabitha." Gail could only hope.

"No." Blarney was behind them. "He's oot to git Nessie."

Flynn shook his head as if he didn't believe it. "Why is he holding the tripod sideways?"

"That's no tripod." Gail stiffened as reality hit and all the pieces of Tom's identity fit into place: the toupee to hide his bald head; his leathery, sun-dried skin; the way he forgot to turn the video camera on; how he knew exactly how to read a fish scale; the fish and hooks on his boxers; the ASA patch on his bag, which must stand for the American Sportsfishing Association; and how he'd talked to Blarney about mounting Nessie on the wall.

"Tom" was the infamous Charlie Fayette, the man who'd traveled down the Nile and speared the legendary albino catfish the local Abuguru tribe had worshipped as a deity. That had been after he'd killed three endangered manatees, the last known living Hawaiian Monk seal, and a Galapagos tortoise. He was wanted in several countries for violating the Endangered Species Act, among other shady ventures. She'd only seen him on television, but Gail knew it was he deep down in the pit of her gut. She swallowed bile.

"That's a harpoon."

"No!" Flynn shouted as Tom lifted the harpoon and aimed at Nessie. At the same time, Tabitha jumped to her feet and threw herself in front of the beast's heart. She spread her arms. "Don't you dare!"

Behind Tabitha, Nessie opened her mouth and her neck undulated. A loud and deep, crooning call echoed over the lake. Nessie dove backward into the water, and Tom fired. Tabitha stood her ground, closing her eyes. She blocked Nessie's escape with her body.

The harpoon flew through the air in a tragic arc, catching the light of the silvery moon. Gail held her breath, her heart pounding in her ears. The harpoon hit Tabitha straight on, the tip driving through her right side. Tabitha fell backward into the water as Nessie disappeared under the surface.

"No!" Flynn broke through the tent and slid down the hill. Gail pushed through the entrance. A thousand worries flew in her mind. What if Nessie ate Tabitha? What if she'd already been dead when she'd hit the water? What if Flynn jumped in after her and the beast ate him, too?

Before Gail could stop him, Flynn jumped into the water and disappeared underneath the inky blackness. Gail reached the rocks and teetered on the edge, flailing her arms for balance. She bounced from foot to foot, gathering courage to jump in after him and took a deep breath.

"Hold it, lass. Give him a chance." Blarney caught up and pulled her back.

"I'm not letting him die." Gail fought him, but the old man was strong.

Just as Gail broke away from Blarney's grip, Flynn resurfaced with Tabitha. He swam to shore with her in his arms. Her eyes were closed and the harpoon protruded from both sides. Blood streaked her pink pajama pants.

"You bastard!" Flynn shouted at Tom as he reached the canoes Blarney had stashed under the branches. "I trusted you!"

Tom didn't answer. He jumped in a canoe and paddled away with a tracking device blinking under one arm, its light illuminating more ammunition for the harpoon gun strapped to his back.

Flynn placed Tabitha on the forest floor in a bed of leaves. Gail reached down and felt her wrist. "She still has a pulse." She checked the girl's mouth. "She isn't breathing."

Flynn grabbed his phone. "I'm calling an ambulance. Do you know how to do CPR?"

"I do." She'd been required to learn for an undergraduate survival class. She'd never actually tried it on a drowning human being before, but she wasn't about to tell Flynn that now.

I can do this. I can bring her back.

She put her mouth to Tabitha's and breathed in. The girl's lips were as cold as death and Gail couldn't help but think of her father freezing in the Alps.

Nothing.

Gail blew a puff of air into Tabitha's mouth.

Come on.

Tabitha's chest rose, and she coughed up water into Gail's mouth. Gail pulled back, hope rising, and spit out the water.

Flynn knelt beside his sister. "Tabitha, can you hear me?"

She threw up, then clutched her side, shivering. "W-what happened?"

"Don't move, honey." Flynn wiped tears from his eyes. "Just rest right here. The ambulance is on its way."

A plaintive call echoed over the lake, bringing everyone back to the scene behind them. Tom must have fired a tracker. A blinking red light shone beneath the depths.

Blarney took his raccoon hat off and stomped on it, cursing. "He's gaun ta kill her!"

Gail gave Flynn a stern look as she ripped pieces from her coat to wrap around Tabitha's wound and staunch the flow of blood. "We can't let Tom get away with this, and we can't let him kill Nessie."

"I'll stop him." Flynn reached down and stroked Tabitha's cheek. "Just make sure she gets to the hospital."

"I will." Gail grabbed his arm, stopping him from turning away. "Be safe."

Flynn nodded. "Raigmore Hospital emergency room. I'll meet you there."

As much as Gail wanted to stay and help Flynn, she knew every minute counted and the paramedics would have a hard time finding them in the middle of the woods. It wasn't good to move someone with such an injury, but what if Nessie surfaced again?

Gail positioned herself behind Tabitha and stuck her arms under the girl's shoulder.

"Blarney, help me carry her to the road."

"Aye, lass." Blarney grabbed Tabitha's feet as Flynn reached the second canoe and jumped in.

They started up the hill with Gail walking backward. Her eyes darted from Tabitha's shocked expression to Flynn paddling to the middle of the lake where they'd last seen Tom. A cloud covered the moon, and all went black.

Vengeance

Flynn reached the middle of the lake. He was in a tiny canoe with no weapon, floating on top of an angered prehistoric dinosaur with a man firing harpoons nearby.

What was he thinking?

A cloud covered the moon and everything around him darkened to blackness as thick as a sheet. He shivered, holding the paddle as a weapon as his eyes tried to adjust.

Nothing. He couldn't have seen Nessie if she'd floated two inches from his face.

Flynn tried to calm himself, listening to the waves lapping against his canoe. Surely a two-ton dinosaur would disturb the waves if it came close enough, giving him time to defend himself?

Right. Like an old moldy paddle was going to do any good. He'd seen those jaws. Here he was trying to protect Nessie and he could become her main course.

Pull yourself together, man.

Tom. He had to find Tom. That man had had the nerve to shoot a harpoon through his sister and he deserved to face some jail time.

Flynn whirled around, trying to find something that stood out among the league of shadows surrounding his canoe. A twinkle of light caught his attention from the right. He turned, watching the blinking red light of Tom's tracker coming right toward him from underneath the surface.

He'd have given anything to see Nessie, but he hadn't ever thought he'd die trying. So ironic. He could already read the headline of the town paper: Local Loch Ness Boatman Killed by Monster.

Flynn raised the paddle higher and took a deep breath. At least he wouldn't go down without a fight.

The blinking light disappeared underneath his canoe. He released his breath and loosened his death grip on the paddle.
Maybe she can't see me?

Above him, the cloud passed off the moon and the world filled with silvery light.

"Hold it right there. Don't move." Tom stood in his canoe five feet away, his harpoon gun aimed at Flynn's chest.

Flynn froze, his brain racing with rational arguments to convince Tom not to shoot. "What are doing? You can't kill me."

"Yes, I can, and no one will know any better. You know how deep this loch goes down. One more witness ain't gonna do me any favors." He shook the harpoon gun and his fingers tightened on the trigger. "Drop the paddle and put your hands up."

"Gail saw you shoot Tabitha. She's on her way to the hospital right now. Soon this whole forest will swarm with police." At least Flynn hoped. He tried to keep his voice even. "It's over, Tom. Put down the harpoon."

Tom sneered. "And give up the one prize I've wanted to hunt my whole life? Never."

And he'd thought Blarney was the crazy one. Flynn debated which was more dangerous: staying up here with Tom or jumping into the water with Nessie. Either way he'd most likely be fish meat. "Think about what you're doing."

Tom tied a length of rope to the end of the harpoon. "I have thought about it. Looks like you'll be the perfect lure."

This was it. Decision time. Flynn could hurl the paddle at Tom and make a swim for it. It would take Tom a minute to reload, and Flynn could possibly overtake the betrayer in that time if he swam to Tom's boat.

If he was fast enough. If Nessie didn't eat him first.

Two big "ifs."

Flynn brought the paddle back slowly. He only had one shot.

Just then a black fin broke through Tom's canoe, splintering the wood and sending Tom into the water. The force of the waves tipped Flynn's canoe, but he balanced it forward, holding onto the sides.

Nessie's head came through the middle of Tom's canoe, splitting the boat in half. She lunged at the pieces of wood, breaking the planks into splinters while Tom swam in the opposite direction.

Flynn knew he should try to get away, but swishing the paddle in the water would certainly draw her attention.

When the monster had broken all the pieces to shreds, she turned to Flynn.

Flynn froze, looking her in the eye, which was the worst thing to do when confronting a wild beast. But he believed Nessie was more than that. He'd heard longing in her calls and felt her pain. He was willing to bet his life on his gut instinct. Besides, if he was going to die, he wanted to see the beast he'd been searching for his whole life one last time.

He dropped the paddle. It would do no good, and he couldn't bring himself to fight her. Flynn spread his arms like Tabitha had. "I've been looking for you my whole life. I mean you no harm."

Behind them, Tom splashed.

Nessie turned and dove into the water toward Tom.

Tom screamed, flailing his arms to swim faster, which only made louder splashes. Seconds later he disappeared under the black water. A stream of bubbles burst from the surface, along with his harpoon gun. The lake descended into silence.

Flynn collapsed in his canoe, burying his face in his shaking hands. Tom's screams replayed in his head. Flynn gazed at the last place Tom had swum before Nessie had pulled him under. The water flowed in tiny crests, serene.

Gone.

Tom was gone. Nessie had taken him.

Blarney's words came back to him.
Some say she wakes to grant leif to ane lost soul. While others say she wakes to take it away.

Then he remembered Tabitha and Gail. Clutching the paddle, Flynn made his way back to shore.