Chapter Twenty-Six

Day Nine, Afternoon

Kate's heart lurched into her stomach as she grabbed frantically at nothing but air. With a huge splash, the yacht settled back into the water, causing the wheelchair to ram into the side of the cabin. Kate grabbed a safety line to stabilize herself and she was able to breathe again.

A sobbing Ryan held onto her mother as tightly as she could. This was it. Kate had limited time before the shark freed itself. She swiftly pushed the wheels of her chair to the stern. The yacht continued rocking.

After Kate turned her chair to face Ryan, her daughter's head went into her lap, and both of Ryan's hands clung to Kate's shirt. The shark was not getting her daughter, but what needed to happen next would be unbearable for Ryan. Kate didn't see another way. The hooks were empty, and they were out of meat.

She cupped Ryan's cheeks and lifted her head so her daughter had to look into her eyes. Everything inside Kate rebelled at what she had to do.

"I need you to be strong for me," she said in a harsh tone and hated herself for it. Her voice leveled out with her next words, "I love you, and I know you can do this. The shark is going to break loose, and there's only one way to stop it."

Ryan's lips trembled, and she shook her head slightly, her fingers tightening and digging into Kate's stomach. "Listen to me," Kate said firmly. "You will do exactly as I say, do you understand?"

"I'm scared, Mommy." Tears flowed down her face, and there was nothing Kate could do to make this easier.

She took a few seconds to hug her daughter, hoping it wouldn't be the last time. Life could be cruel, and she hated that Ryan had to learn the lesson so young. She finally pulled back.

"We're both scared," Kate said. "It's okay. I'm getting the raft out so it's ready."

"No," Ryan said, her terror causing her small body to shake even more.

"We don't have a choice. The coastguard will come for us, but the boat might go down first. We need to be prepared. I'm going to make sure the shark can't get away from the boat, and it drowns quickly." Kate had been running what she knew about sharks dying from lack of oxygen through her head since the anchor idea came to her. From what she remembered, the larger the shark, the quicker it died from lack of oxygen. The shark continued thrashing, and the only explanation was that it had too much room to maneuver. Crap, it would break the cables that held it before she had it secured tightly enough.

She wheeled to the storage container that held the life raft, and with Ryan's help, she managed to drag it out. Kate pulled the thirty-foot inflation strap halfway out so it would be easier for Ryan if she had to inflate it herself.

"You keep pulling this until it won't go any farther." She quickly showed Ryan what she meant, while she panicked internally that the shark would be free before she could fully secure it. "The raft has everything you need. When you can't pull this anymore, you give it a hard tug. After it inflates, push the raft off the swim platform and climb into it. Okay?" The raft had several chambers that held air so if one leaked, it would still float.

Ryan's blank expression showed she wasn't keeping up. "How are you going to kill the shark?" she asked softly.

She was too smart for her own good, and Kate needed her to hold on mentally just a bit more. Then, Kate thought of something that would help.

"Shoot off another flare. We're drifting, and we want the coastguard to see us as quickly as possible." After a short hesitation, Ryan had no problem doing the task, and it distracted her, which was exactly what Kate wanted.

"Do you understand how the raft works?" Kate asked.

Ryan nodded uncertainly.

Kate secured her to a different safety line so she didn't need to worry about her going overboard.

"We're moving to the anchor," Kate said next.

She wheeled to where she left the anchor on the port side. With Ryan's help, they lifted it to Kate's lap. She managed to heft enough chain with it so she could reach the starboard side and still have plenty of length to work with. Kate tied a section of rope that she'd left secured to one of the rails and attached it to the chain close to the anchor. The yacht pitched high again, and Kate had to hold the rail. She struggled to wheel around the yacht to where the shark was trapped, but she made it and peered over the side. Dark eyes settled on her immediately. Her gaze locked with the shark's.

Animosity, vengeance, and determination hit Kate like strong waves from the ocean. It didn't worry her. She had her own vengeance to settle. The shark went into another frenzy and one of the spears came out. Time was on the shark's side, and sooner or later, it would be free. The next part of her plan had to work.

"We're going to swing the anchor high enough to go over the shark," Kate said. "It won't be easy."

"Will it stab him?" Ryan asked.

The anchor had dual points at the end, so it grabbed the sea floor. "No," Kate replied. "We want it over the shark's back."

Ryan didn't understand, and Kate didn't want her to until the last possible moment. The railing groaned, and Kate wasn't sure if the T-brackets would hold much longer. The cleats were starting to rattle too. She allowed the chain to slip from her lap until all she held was the anchor.

"We can do this," she told Ryan. "Stand next to me while I prop it on the rail." Kate's upper body was strong, but thirty-five pounds of ungainly weight would not be easy to toss far enough. Slowly, using the upright post against the anchor as a guide, she lifted it until the weight teetered on the middle rail. The anchor almost slipped and went into the water, but Kate managed to hang on. Refusing to consider the ache in her arms, she was ready.

"When the shark's body is alongside the hull, we'll try to toss it," she told her daughter.

"The shark went under again," Ryan said warily while peering into the water. She had one hand gripped tightly to the arm of Kate's chair and the other holding her safety line.

The yacht groaned and dipped. Kate was sure the water from the engine compartment had reached the berths. The yacht was going down, and the shark was still alive. They may not have another chance.

"He's up," Ryan yelled.

"Here we go. Push as hard as you can on three." Ryan placed both hands on the anchor. "One, two, three," Kate said as she grunted with effort. The anchor hit the shark in the back and seemed to stun it for a moment. Unfortunately, Kate knew it hadn't caused lasting damage. The shark disappeared, and she couldn't see it in the murky water. Kate wasn't sure if the anchor was out far enough to do what she needed. The weight of the anchor pulled the chain off the deck until one of the ropes attached slid into the water too.

When the shark finally came back up, the rope was on the far side and not between the shark and the boat. She pulled on the rope until the chain hit the sharks side and she could secure it tighter. The first part of her plan had worked. Now she had to act fast. Kate took hold of Ryan's shoulders.

"Listen to me," she said. "I need to go into the water. You know how to inflate the life raft. If I don't come back up, that's what you will do. Okay?"

Ryan stared at her and then began to slowly shake her head.

"Ryan. I need you to tell me you understand."

"No," Ryan whispered. "It will eat you."

"No, it won't. It's still caught by the spears. I won't get close enough to it, but I need to grab the rope tied to the chain and bring it up on the port side where we can tighten it and the shark won't be able to escape."

"Mommy, no." Ryan grabbed onto Kate frantically.

Kate took hold of her fingers and pried them away, holding Ryan's hands in hers. "I know this is scary, but the boat is sinking, and we need to get into the raft. In order to do that safely, the shark must be secured to the boat. I love you." She pulled her sobbing daughter into her arms. "I'm going to come back, I promise."

Ryan's small shoulders shook uncontrollably and her cries twisted Kate's heart. She had to go through with her plan to keep her daughter alive. Kate checked the rope attached to the anchor to make sure it was secure. She then lifted Ryan into her arms and moved the wheelchair forward until she circled around the stern and stopped where she left the raft. She tied it off on a cleat, ready to be inflated. Ryan clung to her. Once the raft was tied using a slipknot, Kate turned around and went back to the stern. When she tried to place Ryan on the deck, she cried out and held tighter. Kate glanced at the water behind them. The shark still had spears attached, but Kate knew she had minutes to make sure it couldn't escape.

She forcefully separated Ryan from her and Ryan started screaming.

"Ryan, stop," Kate yelled as she swung from the wheelchair to the deck.

"Mommy, please don't go, please."

Kate was barely paying attention to Ryan. She hated this, but it was the only chance her daughter had. Kate propped herself on the swimming platform and swung her legs into the water. If she looked at Ryan, she wasn't sure if she could do what was needed. Kate pushed off with her arms and plunged beneath the surface.