Extremities: Stories of Death, Murder, and Revenge by Lubar David

Author:Lubar, David [Lubar, David]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates
Published: 2013-07-23T04:00:00+00:00

Free Seas

“Which boat is it?”

“Shhh. Quiet. It’s Pace Cruise Lines,” Steven whispered. He crouched down on the pier next to Mary.

“There. That’s it,” she said.

“Yeah. Good job.” Steven felt a rush of adrenaline shoot through his gut when he realized they were going to do it. Not just talk and plan. Not just daydream. Really do it. There was the ship. He could see most of the name, except for a couple of letters that were blocked by a cargo crane. There was the P on the left, then the E on the other side of the crane arm, followed by CRUISE LINES. It was the ship Brennan Winston had told him about.

“Ready?” he asked Mary.

“You sure about this?” she asked.

“Yeah. It’ll be awesome. We’ll blend right in with the passengers. It’s just for three days. But think about all that food and fun.”

He crept toward the ship, trying to move silently on the old wood of the pier. He could hear Mary slipping along behind him. All they had to do was sneak down below and hide. Brennan had told him how to do it.

“It’s real dark,” Mary complained as they made their way up the walkway and onto the ship.

“Shhh. The passengers aren’t boarding until tomorrow morning. Just follow me.” Steven led Mary down below.

“What if we get caught?” Mary asked when they reached the bottom of the lowest deck, guided only by dim night-lights.

“I told you, they won’t do anything. We’re minors. They’ll just wait until the boat gets back to the dock and make us leave. Keep calm and they won’t catch us. Okay?” Steven reached out and gave her arm a squeeze.

“Okay,” Mary said. “I guess.…”

* * *

The rocking of the boat woke Steven the next morning. “Hey, we made it,” he said, nudging Mary’s shoulder.

She sat up fast, looking startled, and he had to shush her again. “I need a bathroom,” she said.

“No problem,” Steven told her. “Put on your suit and we’ll go up on deck.”

Mary pulled off her shorts and top, revealing she’d worn her suit underneath. Steven grabbed his from his backpack. He noticed that Mary turned around when he changed. She’ll get over it, he told himself.

“Now be cool,” he said. “We belong here. Just keep that in mind and nobody will pay any attention to us.” He opened the door and peeked out. There wasn’t anyone in the hallway. As long as they weren’t spotted coming out of the storage room, there’d be no problem.

Steven braced himself to meet people. He knew the first moments would be the toughest. But all he had to do was nod and smile, or just ignore the other passengers. That would work. Adults expected to be ignored by teens. You’re on vacation, he reminded himself.

They didn’t meet anyone as they climbed the steps from level to level.

“Must be early,” Steven said.

There was nobody on deck.

“This is wrong.” Mary grabbed his arm. “This is really strange.”

“Relax,” Steven said, though he had to fight to keep the calm tone in his voice.

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