Riley blew out a breath. “Does anybody else hear the theme from Jaws?”
She poured another drink.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Sawyer studied the painting. “This is on my top five list. Of ways not to die.”
“Hey, me, too.” After a long, slow sip, Riley managed a smile. “What’s your number one?”
“Snake pit. You?”
“Drawn and quartered.”
“That’s a good one.”
“What is drawn and quartered?” Annika asked.
Reaching up, Sawyer rubbed her hand. “You don’t ever want to find out.” He looked over at Sasha. “You saw this?”
“Yes. Very clearly.”
“Us, surrounded by the bad guys, the sharks circling.”
“Yes!” Sasha snapped off the word as she shook her head at Riley’s offer of a drink.
“Looks dire,” he commented. “It also looks like we’ve got a wall between us and Bruce and pals.”
“Bruce?” Shaken, Sasha pressed her fingers to her eyes. “Who the hell is Bruce?”
“Crew’s name for the mechanical shark in Jaws,” Riley explained. “Hmm.”
“Exactly so. Now sit.” Firmly, Bran nudged Sasha into a chair. “We couldn’t ask for a bigger distraction.”
Now Sasha just closed her eyes. “A shark attack is a distraction? A distraction.”
“Damn good one. Odds are they’d go for the prey in the outer circle first.” As he might a battle plan, Doyle stood, studied the painting. “It’s something I’ve missed in my extended life—a shark attack. And you, Gorgeous?”
“We can hear—feel?—them, and we stay away. But we can also make a sound they don’t like, and warn others if they come to feed.”
“What sound?” Riley wondered.
Annika drew a breath, opened her mouth.
Though he heard nothing, Sawyer felt as if an ice pick had been jammed in his ear, and straight to his brain. In the distance, dogs began to bark.
“Wow. Okay.” Riley rubbed her ears.
“If they still come, you fight. Hit them here.” Annika tapped her nose. “Hard.”
“‘Sometimes the shark go away; sometimes he wouldn’t go away.’”
“Quint,” Riley explained. “Sawyer’s still on Jaws.”
“The seas are filled with easier prey. Here, in the painting, the bad guys are easier prey than we are.”
“Annika’s right.” Riley nodded. “Plus, thanks to Sasha we’re forewarned. How do we use it?”
“They’re looking to capture, not kill,” Doyle pointed out. “There’s blood, some of us, some of them are wounded. But we’re outnumbered more than three to one here, and we’re all alive. If they wanted us dead, at least one of us would be. Or more seriously wounded than this.”