Shots in the Dark


My head jerked up at the sound, and one hand made a brief, aborted motion towards my bag. "Gun shots," I said quietly. "Sounds like someone is getting started early. Shall we check it out?"

Laughlin nodded, standing and slipping out of the bar behind me. Outside, a few more shots could be heard, clearly ringing across the water. One of the Convention-goers mentioned to us in passing, "Some sort of native celebration. First drums and now firecrackers."

I pretended to believe him. "Oh, is that what that is? Where are they holding it?"

"I thought it was the village down the beach," he replied, "but now it sounds like that little island."

I looked towards the island, but it was now just before dusk, so it was difficult to see anything. The shots definitely seemed to be coming across the water, but with the way the shoreline curved, they could have been coming from Avua'tuopavo to the south or the village, which was a mile down the beach to the west. Moving as fast as I could without drawing too much attention, I ran down the beach, striving to reach the point that put me more between the village and the island. Laughlin followed me. The gunfire was desultory now, and quickly ended, but not before I was able to determine that it was definitely coming from Avua'tuopavo.

I shook my head as the sound of the last shots faded. "If that's Stroeker, he's not wasting any time. Damn! I was hoping he'd wait until after dark." I looked around. "So, do you want to take care of the boat while I hit the dive shop? Or would you rather stick together?"

"I'll meet you at the dock," he responded. "Hurry."

I raced to the dive shop, which from the outside appeared to be empty. It was a sturdy wooden shack locked with a combination lock. My lockpicks wouldn't do me any good against that. Fortunately, there was a glass window on the side of the shack. I looked to make sure no one was inside, then glanced around me one more time to confirm that I was alone. Satisfied I wouldn't be interrupted, I pulled off my sarong, placed it against the glass, and struck the glass with the butt of my gun. Because of the sarong, all the glass went inward and didn't cut me. It also muffled some of the sound, but it still sounded very loud to me. Wadding up the sarong, I placed it on the window ledge to avoid being cut by the broken glass there and levered myself into the small shack.

Inside, it was dark, lit only by the last rays of sunlight, and I had to wait to let my eyes adjust. Once they did, it was fairly simple to make out the equipment I needed. There were full air tanks, dive fins, masks, spear guns and even wetsuits of all sizes. The only damaged items we had were the regulators, but they couldn't be replaced without recharging the attached tanks, so I decided to just take two full tanks from the shop. I also grabbed some spear guns, dive knives and lights, bang sticks and flippers, along with another dive map of the area, since it would save us from having to go back to my cabana to get the gear there. I threw most of this into a duffel bag, then dumped everything out of the window and climbed out. And found myself face-to-face with Vaeamotaka, the proprietor of the dive shop.

"What are you doing?" he asked, looking startled. Then he noticed the pile of gear next to me and shouted, "Thief!"

I moved as soon as I saw him, trying to take him out before he could raise an alarm. He was a strong, young man, with the muscles of a daily swimmer, but I was strong too. He went down with one punch to his abdomen and lay at my feet, gasping for breath. As he tried to regain his feet, I punched him in the jaw, and this time when he went down, he stayed down.

After looking around to make sure we hadn't drawn any attention, I lifted him through the window, then followed his body inside. Looking around for something to bind him, I spotted some bungee cord, and even better, some plastic cord-locks designed to hold hoses out of the way. These were exactly what I had learned to use as temporary handcuffs in riot situations. I gagged Vaeamotaka with his shirt, bound him securely with the cords and cord-locks, and then searched him. He had a dive knife, a watch, and about a hundred dollars in Tongan currency. I took the knife, put him in a corner where he wouldn't be easily visible from the window, then went out through the window again.

Grabbing the gear that was still laying outside the window, I rushed down to the dock. I found Laughlin powering up a small zodiac. "The dock keeper felt a little sleepy," he noted. "So I guess he won't be looking for his boat."

"How convenient," I remarked dryly as I handed the gear over to him, then climbed into the boat. "Vaeamotaka felt like taking a nap too. Shall we motor?"

"Yes, we've only got a few minutes of sunlight left." And indeed, the red ball of the sun was pressing down into the waves crashing over the reef to the west.

Laughlin headed the boat for the breaks in the reef with its throttle wide open. "I don't suppose they'll have any time for lookouts just now. Do you think that instead of swinging around the island and swimming in through the caves, we might just as well head for the beach?"

"How much shorter a route is that? I don't see any harm in heading in that direction and at least checking out the situation. If the beach looks occupied, we can always keep going." I dug around in my bag and pulled out my binoculars. "These won't be all that great once it gets dark, but you never know."

"It'll save us a good forty minutes if we don't have to swim in through the caves, and maybe much more if we avoid monster sharks."

"Let's do it, then. Like I said, if it looks bad, we can always revert to the original plan."

We approached the tiny islet as the sun set. The draft of the boat was shallow enough, and the rubber tough enough, that we could drift over the reef with only a slight scraping. Laughlin cut the engine as we approached. There was a fire going somewhere near the temple entrance. I couldn't see it, but I could see the light reflected on the palm trees, and the smoke rising into the clear night. It was silent onshore, and there were no boats visible. Pulling out my binoculars, I saw two or three unmoving bodies on the beach. Telltale dark stains indicated blood. I scanned the ocean, but saw no sign of the ship the radar had detected out at sea earlier. Laughlin looked to me for a decision.

"Looks quiet now," I whispered. "Let's go in. Aim for a spot not visible from the temple entrance and keep your head down. Just in case our shooter is still lurking around."

Most of the beach could not be seen from the temple entrance, so finding a landing spot wasn't difficult. Laughlin let the boat drift in to the edge of the beach, where it grounded upon the sand as we lay low. Peering over the edge of the boat, I saw evidence that several other boats were recently beached here, and there were shell casings littering the shore.

"I'll go first," I whispered to Laughlin. Slinging a spear gun over my shoulder, I made sure the safety was off on Stroeker's gun before I got out of the boat and scurried for the nearest cover, keeping as low as I could manage, the gun heavy in my hand.


Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth
Jillian's Page | Jillian's Journals


All text on this page is © by Kris Fazzari.

Last modified on January 25, 2016 by Kris Fazzari.