Venom Reef by Belinda Pollard

Author:Belinda Pollard [Pollard, Belinda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Small Blue Dog Publishing

Dinner was simple and hot. Some kind of beef stew with a lot of vegetables and maybe red wine. Warm bread rolls and cold butter. No vegetarian or vegan options. Had Baz and Nina been the only non-meat eaters? And if so, how did Romeo know? It felt odd to think of him monitoring what they all ate, but Jack guessed it was probably his job to notice things like that.

Conversation was minimal. The usually loquacious Romeo stared at his food and ate steadily. Jack had detected coolness between him and Kevin. The issue with Baz and the water wasn’t going to be forgiven anytime soon, by the look of it.

Cutlery scraped on plates. Wind buffeted the building and fluttered the leaves of a potted palm and whistled softly through the narrow gaps in the hinge-points of the concertina doors, now only partially open. Outside, the evening sky show was beginning: purple and pink.

Kevin cleared his throat. “I’ve made a decision to evacuate the island. We’ll head for the mainland in the morning. Pack a smallish bag—remember we’ve all got to fit on the launch and the less extra weight the better—and be here for breakfast at 6.00 am. We’ll finish up the island lock-down tasks as fast as we can and get away mid-morning, hopefully.”

Judging by Laura’s expression he hadn’t discussed it with her, but she didn’t speak. She looked resigned more than surprised.

Aaron pushed his empty plate away. “I wish you’d decided that at lunch time. We could have been on the mainland by now.” No mention of his snails, for once.

Kevin didn’t look at him. “At lunch time, we still had communications.”

“What about the cyclone?” Romeo said. “We can’t even check if it’s coming this way. Maybe we should leave tonight.”

Kevin scowled. “Navigate the reef on a rough night with no radio? What a genius plan.”

Before Romeo could respond, Laura cut in. “The last track map we saw this morning had us getting some bad weather here, but not in the direct path. We’re in the Watch area. I agree with Kevin that leaving tonight wouldn’t be wise. Let’s do as much as we can tonight to get ready.”

Jack wondered again about declaring the satellite phone buried in the trees, but just as he started to angle his gaze toward Callie beside him he felt the pressure of her foot against his own. Very firm pressure. She raised an eyebrow just slightly, shook her head slightly, just once, and looked away. She definitely must be psychic.

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