Deeper (21 page)

That was about
the time my mind decided it had had enough.

Macho man that
I am
,
I passed out.

13

Little
something I've learned as time has gone on:
 
sometimes reality can mess with your dreams.
 
I had a nice thing going on, me and Belle on
the beach, sunning in the summer heat, somewhere in the
Caribbean
,
I think.
 
Maybe it was supposed to be
Hawaii
.
 
Either way, it was warm and sunny and the
water was as clear as blue glass.
 
There
were a few people around us, but not too many.
 
Just like the sort of place where I've often dreamed of us retiring.

When the
clouds came in, I barely even noticed.
 
But Belle got a nervous look on her face and started fidgeting.
 
Before I could even ask her what was wrong,
the sky darkened and the rain fell; torrential, bitterly cold drops that hit
like ice pellets.
 
So in the dream we
both got up to run, the rain got worse and the ocean bubbled, the pristine
water turning slate gray and green as the waves grew to tsunami-sized walls of
water.

And then the
frogs fell, thousands of black frogs with red eyes and fangs in their
mouths.
 
Everywhere they touched me,
biting deeply into my skin and Belle's, and I heard Belle calling my name as
the damned things hopped and flopped and chewed on flesh.

I tried to
turn to Belle, tried to protect her, but the pain was too much.
 
And then to make matters worse, something
rose out of the water, a bloated thing, almost too big to fully see, but just
as vile as the frogs.
 
It let out a
noise, a wet, throaty roar, and...

I woke up
covered in sweat, disoriented as hell.
 
Some things are obvious to a person with proper sea legs, like when
you're on solid land instead of on the water.
 
That was my first hint that I wasn't on my yacht anymore.
 
The second was the smell of antiseptic.

I was in a
hospital room.
 
One thing you can always
count on in a tourist town is that they'll have a facility for taking care of
injuries.

It was three
hours later than it should have been by my reckoning.
 
The doctors had already done most of the
workup on me by then.
 
I didn't have a
cracked skull, but I did have a minor concussion.
 
Also, I had two stitches in my head from
where I'd cracked my noggin on the shower stall tiles.

I found all of
that out after I opened my eyes and saw Belle, Jacob and Charlie all sitting
around the cot the hospital had chosen for me.
 
Belle had my hand in hers.
 
If I
hadn't already been head over heels for her, I would have fallen in love right
then.

Charlie was
looking just fine, except for a few bandages on his right arm.
 
And by a few, I mean it looked like he was
working as a hand model for
The Mummy
.
 
He also had a bruise doing ugly things to the
left side of his face and a grin that said he was happy to see me alive.

Jacob wasn't
looking as thrilled, but then again, he almost never managed so much as a
smile.
 
It just didn't seem like he was
designed for them.
 
Also, I bet Jacob was
maybe just a tiny bit worried about the fact that I was going to sue the
bejesus out of his buddy, Professor Ward.

I felt along
the new stitches on my head while all three of them chatted away and asked me
how I felt.
 
My head hurt where the
stitches pulled my skin back together, and my jaw was throbbing dully to its
own beat.
 
All I could think about was
how much I wanted to tie a certain college teacher to an anchor and drag his
sorry ass across the ocean floor for a few hours.

When the
pleasantries were done, Jacob got straight to the point.

"Joe, I'm
so sorry for what Martin did."

I nodded my
head.
 
"Don't feel too bad.
 
I'm sure the local police will treat him just
fine."

"So,
you're pressing charges?"
 
Jacob was
looking a little crestfallen.

"I'm
either going to press charges and have him put in a jail cell for a few days,
or I'm going to beat the ever-loving shit out of him.
 
Right now I don't know which one sounds
better to me.
 
Hell, maybe I'll press
charges and then beat him black and blue."

"He
thought you were going to kill his fish man."

"No, I
just didn't want it calling a whole bunch of friends in to save it.
 
I'm silly like that.
 
I don't want to get eaten by fish
people."

"We
figured that out later, Joe."

"After he
sucker punched me?"

"Well,
yes."

Jacob looked
all apologetic and I did my best to look unforgiving.
 
But the thing here is I wasn't mad at
him.
 
I was mad at the college boy who
decided to do me in for playing with his fish.

"So did
he get his fish man off my boat?"

"Yes.
 
All went well."

"Good.
 
From now on he's not allowed on the
yacht."

"What?"
 
Jacob and Charlie both looked like I'd stolen
their favorite toy.
 
Jacob I could
understand, but Charlie made me a little worried.

"Your
expedition goes on just fine, Jacob.
 
But
Professor Ward is no longer allowed on the
Isabella
."
 
I looked him dead in the eyes and he looked
back without flinching.
 
Again, not a man
I'd ever like to play poker with.

"How can
he do his research if he can't get out to the reef, Joe?"

"He
should have thought about that before he hit me."

"Joe, we
all make mistakes..."
 
I held up my
hand to cut off Charlie.
 
This wasn't his
decision to make and it wasn't his fight.

"I can
see where you're coming from, Captain, but don't you think you're
overreacting?"

"No, I
don't."
 
And don't think I missed
the cold in his voice or the sudden reversion to my title instead of my
name.
 
I was a little hurt by it, too,
because I liked Jacob.
 
"I might be
overreacting if he hit me once, Jacob.
 
But he kicked me when I was down, while you were trying to restrain
him.
 
I don't think he's playing with a
full deck of cards.
 
So here's the
thing:
 
Diana is welcome on the yacht and
so are all of his people.
 
But Professor
Ward is not welcome.
 
He can stay back on
land and study his precious fish man.
 
He
can even get on the yacht when we are docked, but he is not welcome on my yacht
when we're away from land and I can't call the police to subdue him."

"He's
offered to pay all of your medical bills."

"Last I
checked you were footing his bills for this little expedition, Jacob.
 
I'm insured and I can certainly send the
deductible to you.
 
But his generosity
with your money isn't winning him any points right now.
 
Maybe I'll change my mind after I have a
little time to calm down, but I don't much take to people trying to kill
me."

Was I acting
like a spoiled brat?
 
I didn't think
so.
 
The educated man of science had gone
over the edge as far as I was concerned.
 
I don't like to fight; I never have, but I don't back down from them
either.
 
The man was dangerously obsessed
with his work as far as I was concerned.
 
He'd come close to killing me for preventing imminent danger, and small
as he was, Jacob had been hard-pressed to stop him from doing it.

Charlie was
itching to have it out with me.
 
So I
decided to let him.
 
I was feeling a
little
scrappy,
even with a headache trying to crack
my skull open.

"Belle, honey, why don't you ask Jacob here to get you a cup
of coffee?
 
I get the idea Charlie
would like to discuss a few things with me."

Belle smiled
at Jacob and then nodded her head.
 
She
knew I wasn't dismissing her from any serious discussions, but she also knew
Charlie well enough to know that things were going to get ugly very fast and that
she would probably want to jump into the middle of things.

I know that
sounds odd, but Charlie and I have had a long understanding about how we settle
matters.
 
Mostly I say how high he should
jump and he does it, even if he disagrees.
 
When he feels the need to argue it out, we've always done it in
private.
 
It's only fair to my way of
thinking, because Charlie can be a bit old-fashioned, and by that I mean he can
clam up if there's a lady present.
 
Some
things don't get said that maybe should if were around mixed company.

Belle gave me
a kiss on the mouth and I held onto the feeling.
 
It helped me keep calm while she and Jacob
left the room.
 
We waited a few moments
and Charlie settled in for a proper argument.

"You
think I'm being an asshole?"
 
I decided
to get right to the point.

Charlie
shrugged.
 
"Yeah, Joe, I do.
 
I know why you're being an asshole, but I
think you should reconsider."

"Man hits
me with a sucker punch he doesn't exactly get only my Christmas card list,
Charlie."

"Okay, so
maybe he's a little obsessed."

"Yeah, so
were the terrorists who flew planes into the
World
Trade
Center
, and the
Pentagon."

"Don't be
an idiot."
 
He scoffed at the
idea.
 
"He's not a terrorist."

"You
don't have to be a religious man to be a fanatic about something,
Charlie."

"Look,
you're the one who signed us on for this gig in the first place."

"And
you're the one who joined the diving team and hooked up with Diana.
 
And more power to you, but that doesn't mean
I feel like having a fruitcake on the yacht who likes hitting people when they
aren't looking."

"Just
kick his sorry ass and be done with it, Joe.
 
Jesus."

"Okay,
fine.
 
I'll let him back on the yacht,
Charlie.
 
But the next time he does
anything, I'm holding you accountable.
 
You okay with that decision?
 
Because it's all up to you, big boy."
 
He started to look happy about getting his
way until that last part.
 
Then he got
thoughtful and nodded his head.

"Okay,
Joe.
 
You have a deal."

"Fine.
 
Go tell
Jacob his pet professor can come out and play."

"Want me
to get Belle for you?"
 
He stood up
and shrugged on his pea coat.

"Yeah.
 
And have
her get the doctor.
 
I'm getting out of
here."

"Sure you
don't want to stay for observation?"

"Hell
will freeze over before I will spend a night in observation because a geek
kicked my ass."

Charlie got a
shit-eating grin on his face and chuckled.
 
"A geek kicked your ass, Joe."

"And I'm
gonna kick yours if you don't get out of my face, you prick."
 
We were both grinning by then.
 
Now and then you have to let your friends have
their way or nothing runs smoothly.

*
         
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*

I was out of
the emergency room and clinic just before midnight.
 
We stayed in a hotel room that night at
Belle's insistence.
 
Who am I to
argue?
 
We got a nice room at a decent
price, and in the morning I found out that Jacob had footed the bill.
 
I wasn't going to stop him.
 
I felt like getting a little pampered after
having Ward kick me in the head.

Belle, God
love her, made me
take
a hot bath and then gave me a
massage across my back and shoulders.
 
We
ate steaks and room service meals that cost as much as I normally spend in a
week on food, and then we talked and caught up.

"Mary
Parsons is something else," Belle said, looking at me with a little
mischief in her eyes.
 
I think she knew I
found the other woman attractive.
 
Happily, she also knew I'd never consider doing anything about it.

"Yeah,
she's a sharp one.
 
What did you two talk
about all afternoon?"

"Mostly about all the stories of the town that used to be here
and about her ghost hunting."