Heads You Die by Steve Cole

Author:Steve Cole [Cole, Steve]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781448193745
Publisher: RHCP
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

17

A Darkling Shore

THERE WAS NO time for delay. Chest aching, temples prickling, James grabbed Jagua’s wrist, planted both feet on the side of the hull and propelled himself away, pulling her with him.

Jagua snatched back her arm and swam alongside as they raced upward. Down below, the light was fading. Was that suffocation robbing him of his sight, James wondered, or simple distance? He turned to check that Jagua was still beside him, but there was only a black soup of nothingness. His head started to pound and desperation clawed at his chest. How far to go now? Was he still swimming upwards? There was no reference point. The knife slipped out of his hand. His lungs were on fire. His arms and legs were cramping. He felt sick. His whole body was screaming at him to breathe in, but blind, stupid defiance drove his arms into a final wild windmill – until—

At last James’s head burst through the surface. He gulped air down into his lungs, choked on seawater. He remembered Jagua’s safety warning: to stay submerged ten feet below the surface – well, that had gone to hell!

Jagua surfaced a few feet away, whooping for breath. ‘Boat gone!’ she gasped. ‘Helmet . . . came away. Almost . . . pulled my head off.’

‘Hugo?’ James tried to shout, treading water, looking around desperately.

‘They left,’ Jagua hissed.

James retched up water, realized there was a noise behind the roar of adrenalin in his ears. ‘Listen!’ It was the drone of an engine rolling out across the ocean, growing louder. ‘They’re coming back for us!’ He turned through 360 degrees but couldn’t pinpoint the source – until powerful headlights torched the water around them. A motorboat was approaching. Behind the blinding haze, incomprehensible words squawked through a loudhailer.

‘That must be the boat that brought the divers!’ James shouted. Hugo had heard an engine after all; the newcomers must have rowed closer to the dive site in order to take them by surprise, but now the need for stealth had passed.

Jagua was already striking out for shore. James powered after her, forcing his arms into a furious front crawl. He heard the chilling crack of gunfire, risked a look behind, glimpsed a silhouette standing in the boat, firing into the darkness. Jagua had got off to a good start but was slowing down now.

‘Come on!’ James tried to goad her. ‘You going to let me beat you?’

‘Go to hell!’ she panted, pain pinching her face as she forced herself to swim harder.

James used his anger to fuel his strength. If only he and Jagua had made it to the site just five minutes earlier! Then they might have won the prize they’d risked so much for. If only the divers had stayed away longer, they’d have found nothing of interest . . .

The swell lifted James again, and he fought to keep going. His legs were cramping; he felt light-headed. The tower on the headland was his marker, the muddy beach of Playa Caimito not far now.

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