Hungry Darkness: A Deep Sea Thriller (4 page)

Then it hit him.

“Wait, you think this and what we just saw are related?”

“Very perceptive, Mr. Robles. The short answer is yes. We have a say in what makes it into the papers. Our goal is to bring tourists in, not to scare them away. This reporter was only rehashing an official statement the police prepared with our help. In other words, the media only had the information we gave them. What we left out, and please remember that you signed a confidentiality agreement, was the fact that Emilio’s left arm was not missing. It was in the boat. Something ripped it from its socket and left it there before taking the poor man off to God knows what horrible fate. I know there are many dangers involved in night fishing, but it’s hard to imagine a scenario where a man would get his arm ripped off in an accident.”

“Okay, so…there’s something in that cave, and it’s hunting in the surrounding waters? I guess I can understand that, but I don’t see where this Ayres guy comes in. You think he disturbed whatever was living in Giant Cave? Is that it?” Gabe was still trying to wrap his mind around the video and wasn’t even prepared to start dealing with the newspaper article and its implications just yet.

“That’s what the Coast Guard believes. Ayres apparently did more than just explore Giant Cave. Rumor has it he opened up a few spots no one had gone through before by using underwater explosives. He would be in big trouble for that, probably thrown in jail for a few years and forbidden from diving ever again, but the man is probably dead, so that’s not our main concern right now. The project hasn’t been publicly announced yet, but the BTB is partnering with Belize Diving Services to turn Giant Cave into a tourist attraction, and something like this could kill the project before it’s even off the ground. Between boat and gear rental, not to mention the jobs that would be created because of it and the collateral impact it could have on places like restaurants and hotels both here and in Caye Caulker, the initiative would generate a lot of revenue every year, and the people who have already invested in making it happen are not happy.”

Gabe finally had an idea where all of this was going. He took advantage of Suarez’s short breathing stop to jump into the conversation.

“Let me guess: this is where I come in,” he said.

“Correct, Mr. Robles.”

“Okay, but I really have no idea what you guys expect me to do about all this.”

“You know the area, you know Giant Cave, you have a boat, and you have been out there fishing for everything from sharks to goliath groupers for almost a decade, Robles. You have the equipment and the know-how. Also, the locals know you and won’t think twice about seeing you out there. If we brought someone in, some stranger, locals would probably be suspicious and keep an eye on him, especially if he’s out there without a group of drunken tourists in his boat. The tourist and fishing and diving guide community is not that big, Robles, and anything that breaks its pattern will be immediately spotted and scrutinized. That goes against everything that we want to accomplish. Basically, what we want from you is to make this problem go away. You’re a local. You can make it happen without anyone getting suspicious and trying to get his or her nose into your business. Oh, and we’d appreciate if you could do it quickly.”

Suarez’s pudgy, goateed face now struck Gabe as somewhat evil. He turned to his right and looked at Rebeca. Now that he had all the information he needed, he recognized her for what she really was: smart bait. He felt tricked. He felt like getting up and walking out without another word. Then he thought about the money and calmed down a bit. They had brought him here to discuss a job, and that was exactly what they were offering him. He hadn’t expected the gig to include going out and trying to catch and kill a gigantic octopus that, as far as anyone knew, had developed a taste for human flesh, but a job was a job, and the fact that this was something a bunch of concerned rich people wanted taken care of quickly and quietly probably meant there was serious money involved. Maybe the kind of money that would make him stop worrying about making enough for rent, gas, and food for a few months. Gabe took a deep breath and spoke.

“You have yourself a fisherman, Mr. Suarez, but first we need to discuss payment and...a few other things that are troubling me a bit.”

“I’m glad to hear that. Payment is easy: we don’t know what you might need to acquire to pull this off, so we’re giving you five thousand dollars now, and once you can prove to us that thing is no longer an issue and we can continue without development plans, you’ll get another seven thousand.”

It was more money than Gabe had allowed himself to wish for. He struggled to keep from giggling like a little child when he heard the sum. A total of $12,000 in his bank account meant a year of peace of mind, a bit longer if he didn’t go crazy buying crap he didn’t need.

‘That sounds great, Mr. Suarez.”

“Glad to hear that, Robles. Now, what else is bothering you?”

“Well, you brought me here and made me sign a document stating I wouldn’t mention a word of this to anyone. However, you also mentioned there was a whole crew with Ayres when he and his divers died in Giant Cave. Where are those crewmembers now? If the press gets wind of this, how will you know who gave them the information?”

“That’s actually a very good question, Robles,” Suarez said before stopping for a second and inhaling half the air in the office through his mouth. “The members of Ayres’ crew were all from the United States. He didn’t hire a single local. Once we got hold of the information, we made sure the authorities told every one of them a believable story. As far as they’re concerned, what happened to Ayres and the three divers that were down there with him was just an unlucky collapse. We told them the divers reached a new part of the cave and pushed some rocks around in order to get through. Moving those rocks around made other rocks coming crashing down. They were all crushed to death. Considering no one on the boat was either an expert diver or an expert on caves, our guess is they bought the story. Two days after the…accident, we put them all on a plane back home with all their gear and our most sincere condolences. You don’t have to worry about any of them. In fact, from what we’ve been able to gather, Ayres’ death didn’t make a big splash. There was a note on the National Geographic website sending prayers to his family and friends and coverage on a few newspapers. Basically he became one more name on the long list of adventurers who put fame and fortune before safety, and he suffered a horrible death he brought on himself. The fact that he was in charge of protecting three other divers and failed to do so also kept him from becoming a martyr. In other words, he’s dead and no one really cares all that much.”

Suarez stopped talking. Gabe was satisfied with the answer, but the way Suarez dismissed the divers’ deaths didn’t sit well with him. In any case, he was eager to see the check, to have a rectangle of paper in his hands with some numbers and a signature that would change his life, so he decided not to say anything.

  “If you say no one in that boat will be a problem, then I guess we’re ready to move forward.”

“Great! I will write you a check right now.”

Suarez’s smile made Gabe feel uncomfortable, but it wouldn’t be the first time Gabe had accepted a check from a man he wouldn’t like to share a beer with.

Chapter Eight

Jamaal and Huestes had been fishing together since they were kids. Their friendship was the kind where things can be left unsaid because the bond runs so deep that looks and gestures become as effective as words. For Jamaal, the fact that Huestes was his brother from another mother was never as clear as when they were out fishing, sharing a deep, thoughtful silence that could last for hours without a single interruption.

This was not going to be one of those afternoons.

“Give me another beer, man.”

Jamaal looked at Huestes. The skinny boy he had played with throughout his entire childhood had been replaced by a grown man, and then that man had gotten fatter and fatter until it looked like the boy he once had been was somehow trapped in his stomach. Huestes’ dirty white shirt was stretched across his prodigious gut so tightly it had become almost transparent. His breathing was hard and heavy. It reminded Jamaal of a wounded animal. If this was the way he breathed when sitting down and not doing much, Jamaal didn’t want to know what he breathed like after having to run up some stairs.

“You sure you need another beer, brother? Soon that belly of yours is gonna push my ass outta this boat,” Jamaal said.

“This isn’t a belly,” said Huestes while caressing his huge gut. “This is a fuel tank for a love machine. Now give me a cold one and stop looking at my sexy abs before you pop a boner.”

With a smile, Jamaal pulled a cold beer out of the blue cooler near his feet and threw it at his friend. Despite his weight and apparent sluggishness, Huestes’ left hand shot up and clutched the can mid-air. Jamaal was going to say something about him looking more like a ball than someone who plays ball, but his reel started spinning, it’s whiny sound suddenly becoming the only thing in the world he cared about.

The two friends were out near where the reef drops, fishing for Nassau grouper, and judging by the speed at which Jamaal’s reel was unspooling, he had a hell of a fish at the end of the line. The sight of that taut fishing line cutting a V-shaped trail in the water sent a shot of adrenaline into his system and made his heart beat a little faster.

Jamaal turned around, grabbed his fishing rod from its resting place, and threw on the reel’s brake. The whiny sound turned into something more akin to a banshee’s scream. He’d done this hundreds of times, and his instincts told him the strength and speed he was witnessing meant there was a very large Nassau grouper with his hook stuck deep in its mouth. That thought was one that never failed to make Jamaal happy.

“How long are you gonna let that thing run?”

Jamaal’s approach to fishing resembled a strange dance. He allowed the fish to tire itself out before finally bringing it in. Huestes’ approach was different, and instead of a graceful dance, possessed the elegance of a sumo wrestler trying to overpower a moving vehicle. The big man’s reel would start spinning and he’d immediately try to muscle the fish to the surface and get it in the boat as if trying to beat the speed with which he’d done the same thing the previous time. Each man knew trying to change the other’s style was useless, but they kept jabbing each other simply because pushing each other’s buttons was part of their relationship.

After a while the reel’s speed lessened and Jamaal began pulling the fish his way. He fell into a groove for a minute or two and then allowed the fish to move away from him again.

The same back-and-forth dance went on for about fifteen minutes before the grouper was close to the boat. With a grunt that belonged to a man twice his age, Huestes pushed his bulk forward and grabbed their net and the hook. Then, groaning as if the move was shattering his kneecaps, he kneeled on the floor of the boat to have a better look at whatever Jamaal was reeling in.

The Nassau grouper was a few feet below the surface. Its tawny color was very clear under the water. Its characteristically large mouth was open.

“You got yourself a beautiful fish, Jamaal! Pull him in a little more. Let’s get that big sucked in here.”

Huestes was an experienced fisherman, and he knew a fish that size would be around fifty pounds, so he prepared himself for a bit of a struggle getting him out of the water and over the side of the boat.

Jamaal reeled the fish in a few more feet and then gasped. Huestes was looking at the fish and had seen the same thing that made his friend gasp, so he didn’t have to ask if he had seen it. Instead, he asked a different question.

“What the hell was that?”

Before Jamaal could reply, the large greenish creature the two men had seen showed up right behind their grouper, and with a sudden movement, caught up to it and wrapped itself around the large fish, which looked like a goldfish in comparison.

“Holy shit! That’s the biggest octopus I’ve ever seen!”

Huestes’ voice was too loud. Jamaal knew that meant he was both excited and scared, and probably more of the latter than the former.

Jamaal was so enthralled by what they were seeing that he didn’t even realize he was still pulling on the line, so he was knocked back a bit when it snapped. The friends looked at each other. At any other time, someone would’ve made a comment about the snapped line which meant the fish was gone, but with the scene playing out in front of them, all usual comments were forgotten about.

A dark underwater cloud of blood surrounded the gigantic octopus. Their fish had become someone else’s meal, and they were fine with that.

Then, instead of retreating into the reef which is what both men expected the beast to do, the octopus moved closer to the surface.

“Whoa!” 

Jamaal heard Huestes and wanted to communicate something in return, but the mantle that was coming their way, too close for comfort now, was impossibly big, and that silenced him and glued his eyes to the creature under the water.

The water was so clear, they knew the octopus’ arm would pop out of the water a second before it broke the surface. It rose up a few feet and then plopped down on the boat. The two men jumped away from the slimy appendage.

“Oh, man…”

Jamaal said nothing, but he knew perfectly well what his friend meant.

“Start the motor.”

The command was out of Jamaal’s mouth before he realized he’d thought of it.

Huestes turned around and reached toward the motor, but Jamaal’s scream made him turn back around and forget the order he’d just received.

The arm had moved toward Jamaal and seemed to be looking for him. Huestes looked at his friend. Jamaal always seemed to be in control. He was always cool and funny. Nothing fazed him. Now, that man was gone and in his place stood a someone with pure fear overpowering his features.

“Start the fucking motor, man!”

Huestes turned around toward the motor again. As he turned his head, he saw a second arm plopping down on the boat. He yanked the starter as hard as he could. The sound of the motor coughing to life was not enough to drown out the cracking sound of the boat. The octopus was underneath them, its mantle replacing water on all sides. With three arms inside the boat, the beast was squeezing the vessel, and the wood was splintering as if it were nothing more than cheap gypsum board.

The middle of the boat shattered with an explosion of splinters. Both men were in the water before they had a chance to process that the thing under their feet, the only thing keeping them from the monster under their boat, was gone.

Huestes kicked his feet to stay afloat and felt the mantle underneath him. Then an arm came over his left shoulder and pushed him down. He heard Jamaal’s muffled screaming and felt the salt water sting his eyes.  Then the arm that had pushed him down wrapped around him by going under his right arm and circling his back. He only felt the first part of its tightening before his neck snapped like a dry twig.

Jamaal saw his lifelong friend disappear under the water and knew that he had to move away as fast as possible, or he would face the same fate. He started swimming as fast as he could, but his speed was nothing compared to that of his pursuer.

Two arms reached him simultaneously. A second later the massive mantle had replaced everything around him. He screamed again. Bubbles moved over his face and reached the surface. The arms tucked him deeper into the greenish/red softness that engulfed him. Jamaal could only see the thing that was surrounding him and feel its incredible strength. Then the thing bit into his right leg. He felt like a car had dropped on his thigh. The pressure was followed by a crunch and then a release. He knew his leg was gone. The arms moved him around. The water between him and the beast that was eating him alive suddenly become brown. At the last second, vibrating just beyond the bubbles that were moving in front of his eyes, the bubbles that contained screams no one would hear, Jamaal saw a pitch-black thing. Then that thing closed around his head. Everything went dark.