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“Idon’t understand why they pulled us from the field to send us to a fishing town in the middle of who-knows-where just to look at the bloated remains of idiots who likely got drunk while fishing and fell overboard.” Kye tossed aside the briefing he had been reading.
I looked up from my own copy and met Kye’s irritated green gaze. It was ironic that my name was Storm, yet I was the calm one. Kye didn’t hide his emotions, and we were never left in the dark about how he felt at any given moment.
Eason spoke without looking up,“Stop being a baby. They want to get a handle on this situation before the media gets ahold of it. There have been eight bodies found over the past month around Apalachee Bay. A predator is hunting there, either on the land or the sea.”
Kye gave a snort of derision. “Did you read some of their theories? They suggested it may be an unknown, or long extinct, species of shark! This whole thing sounds like a low budget horror film.”
He wasn’t wrong. Some of the wild theories were absolutely laughable. However, the alternative was chilling. If it wasn’t a sea creature, then a deranged serial killer was stalking the quiet coastline.
I sighed. “They have also called in a marine biologist to analyze the wounds,” I responded. “Hopefully there’ll be a simple explanation for these deaths.”
Kye sighed and slumped back onto the SUV’s soft leather seat. “We were so close, Storm. If they hadn’t pulled us, we would have had them.”
I may not express my emotions as easily as Kye, but they are still there. Anger and disappointment roiled in my stomach. We had been tracking an illegal drilling operation for three years, only to be moved on to this new case.
Orpati was discovered by scientists while exploring uncharted deep sea rock formations five years ago. They took samples of the glowing rock. The world was mesmerized by the beauty of the turquoise stone. When it was found that Orpati could be used as a safe natural energy source, there was a mad rush to mine it as quickly as possible. It was a modern-day gold rush.
Governments fought over mining rights, and for a time it seemed that World War III loomed on the horizon. To prevent a devastating war, an agreement was signed that called a temporary halt to all mining of Orpati. This gave the heads of each country, as well as leading scientists, time to create ethical and fair mining practices.
The small amounts of Orpati that had already been mined become the most valuable resource on earth, subsequently driving the prices up beyond belief. Unfortunately, this led to modern day ‘pirating.’
Orpati had been scattered around several thousand miles of the Atlantic Ocean. This made it impossible to fully patrol the area, especially in a world where the rich could buy their own underwater vehicles and robots. Which is exactly what happened.
The rich paid those willing to bend the laws to continue to mine. Since there was no way to distinguish legally mined from illegally mined Orpati, it was easy to sell everything the pirates mined.
The damage these men were doing to the ocean was alarming. Tremors on the ocean floor were being picked up at an increased rate, and a small earthquake had been registered a month before. It was possible that it was simply nature doing her thing, but the scientists were concerned that it was directly related to the crazed mining.
Kye, Eason and I had been working to track the largest of the illegal mining operations. This group had not been careful when mining and had caused some serious damage. We suspected that it was going to trace back to several high-ranking officials inside the government, but we had to obtain concrete proof before pursuing them. Our team had received intel that there would be another mining dive that night, and it would have been a huge break in the case. But that wasn’t going to happen now, since we had been sent to investigate a string of mysterious deaths in fishing towns that no one had ever heard of.
On the one hand, I understood why we had been sent. We had spent our lives dedicated to various branches of government and law enforcement. Tracking killers had become a specialty of ours, and our ability to find the most slippery of people had become something we were known for.
However, there was something about the ocean that had always called to each of us, and we spent every minute we were not on a case either in the sea, or studying it. We had dived shipwrecks, caves, archeological sites. Other times we had been included on deep sea exploration trips to the ocean floor, or trips to film and study different ocean species. We had studied the mechanics of ocean drilling, as well as the risks, and had used that knowledge to help implement better options.
Our knowledge of the ocean and advanced military training gave us unique qualifications. This led to our team being brought in on strange and difficult marine cases, both above and below water. I was not surprised our expertise was requested for this string of deaths, but another part of me wondered if the sudden change in assignment had something to do with how close we were getting to the miners. Was it possible that our theories were correct, and that someone had tipped off the higher-ups?
The sound of the car door opening broke me from my thoughts. We had arrived and Kye, who hated being confined, had jumped out before the vehicle had even come to a complete stop. Eason shook his head at Kye’s antics, but he wasted no time getting out of the vehicle as well. Our team was always more comfortable in open spaces, preferably surrounded by the ocean.
I stretched my aching muscles and glanced around. The smell of saltwater and driftwood filled my lungs. The small town had an aged look, but it had never been a bustling metropolis. This was the type of place you either retired to, or you were born and raised in.
It seemed we were in the town’s center. There was a quaint town hall building that had the sturdy elegance of buildings that had stood for a long time. A gas station with a small deli inside was bustling. That must be the local hangout for lunch. Large trees were scattered around the area draped in moss, they reminded me of creatures from a fantasy movie, as if they would begin to move and talk at any moment.
An officer approached us and quickly introduced himself, “I’m glad you guys have arrived,” he said, after offering us all a firm handshake. “The fish guy got here a few minutes ago, so we can explain everything at the same time. Follow me.”
The officer turned and moved toward the small building marked by the county medical examiner sign. He didn’t bother checking to see if we were following. I got the distinct impression he was eager to get us briefed and hand this case off to us. It was always nice when local law enforcement was friendly, but I didn’t think he wanted anything to do with whatever was going on.
The interior was cool and dry, a stark contrast to the stifling humidity and heat of the Florida coastline. My nose burned with the overwhelming chemical scent permeating the air. We stepped into a large open room with several gurneys spread around, each containing a victim. Glancing around the room, I was thankful for the chemicals that had taken my sense of smell.
“Dr. Fynn, the other investigators have arrived,” the officer said in the direction of a tall man in a lab coat. “If you want to join us in the meeting room, we’ll go over the full briefing.” The officer barely glanced the doctor’s way before moving into the next room.
Kye snickered behind me. I rolled my eyes, already knowing exactly what he was thinking. “Don’t say it, Kye.”
“But––”
“No.” My tone was firm, but Kye didn’t care.
“Fynn, like fin.” He had whispered it, but in the bare room the sound carried.
“Yes, Fynn, like a fish’s fin,” the doctor chimed in. “I am a marine biologist, with a focus on marine mammals. The perfect name for the job, or so I am constantly being told.” The man gave a friendly smile as he strode toward us, not offended in the least by Kye’s pun.
