Jack Beale 00 - Dangerous Shoals

stopped. Max had already begun walking back to the cockpit, and now she had to grab onto one of the stays as the boat lurched. John, who had been watching and waiting quickly motored over. “Looks like you snagged somethin’ in your prop.”

CHAPTER 45
    THEY WERE DRIFTING toward another boat. Jack leapt from the cockpit and raced to the bow. “Jack, …?” her words were lost as he raced past.
    He frantically untied the lashings that held the anchor in place on the deck and dropped it overboard. As soon as the anchor hit bottom, Jack snubbed the anchor line on the deck cleat and held it tightly. The anchor dug in, the bow was jerked around and Irrepressible came to a sharp stop. The collision, that moments before had seemed imminent, had been averted. He secured the line and headed aft. Max was still hanging onto the stay.
    “What happened?” she asked as he moved past her.
    “I don’t know. It seems that we caught something in the prop,” he said.
    Jack bent over and restarted the engine. The old diesel roared to life, apparently none the worse for wear despite that abrupt stop. Satisfied, Jack turned toward the harbormaster who was once again holding onto Irrepressible ’s rail. “We caught something?”
    “Yep. Can’t tell what, but somethin’s there. I could feel it when I poked around with my boat hook. Seems pretty good-sized. I’ve dealt with a lot of boats that caught pot warps and this doesn’t feel like that.”
    As Jack leaned over the rail, trying to see what had caught the prop, he said, “Damn. Any ideas for getting free?”
    “Nope. First let’s get you over onto that new mooring. I’ll tow you, and then we’ll poke around some more. Maybe the move will help.”
    “Fine by me.
    The move was uneventful. It was obvious that John had done this many times before.
    Secure on the new mooring, Jack climbed into his dinghy so he could get a closer look under his boat. Jack was on one side of Irrepressible ’s stern, and the harbormaster on the other. Jack leaned over the side and peered into the water and even though his head was close to the surface, the dark water hid whatever was fouling his prop. While Jack looked, John, using his boat hook, poked and prodded.
    “Max, pass me our boat hook. Maybe with two of us poking we’ll get free.”
    Boathook in hand, Jack began to attack the unseen object as well. “I think I’ve got hold of it,” Jack shouted across his boat to the harbormaster. “Can you push on it?”
    Without replying, John bent down to push.
    “It feels like it moved. Push again,” shouted Jack.
    Another hard push and a sharp tug by Jack did the trick. Jack lost his balance and fell back onto the seat and his boat hook came out of the water as the object came free.
    Max, who had been watching intently from the cockpit, let out a laugh as Jack fell back, rocking the dinghy violently. Her laugh suddenly changed into a scream, which startled Jack so much that he nearly tipped the dinghy over again. “Max!” he shouted. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
    Her response was simply to point at the water in silence, while her other hand covered her mouth. For just a moment, the world went silent as all three of them stared at the water. Floating just under the surface, a body looked up at them.

CHAPTER 46
    “HOLY SHIT.” JACK exhaled.
    “He’s starting to get away.” John extended his boat hook to catch the corpse.
    Max screamed again. “Oh, my god. It’s Daniel!”
    “Daniel?” said Jack. He turned toward the floating body as if it could answer.
    “Who’s Daniel?” asked the harbormaster.
    Tears began to well up in Max’s eyes as she stared at Daniel’s body. He had bobbed to the surface face up. His perfect hair still looked great and his eyes were wide open in a gentle look of surprise, as if he couldn’t believe what had just happened and yet was at peace with it. There were cuts and gashes in his clothes, backed by dark stains. It was obvious that more than a simple killing had taken place. As Max stared, her lips silently mouthed the words again, “Oh, my god.”
    Jack continued to stare down in disbelief as John held on to the body with his boat hook. “You know him?” he asked Jack.
    “Yes, I do,” replied Jack in a quiet monotone as he continued to stare at Daniel.
    “Hold on to him. Grab him with your boat hook so I can call the authorities.”
    Jack got hold of Daniel with his boat hook, and as he held on, memories flashed through