Ocean Burning

Ocean Burning by Henry Carver Page B

Book: Ocean Burning by Henry Carver Read Free Book Online
Authors: Henry Carver
Ads: Link
fingers before grabbing the ignition key again. I twisted it back to it’s neutral position, then rotated it ninety degrees clockwise in one smooth turn.
    Nothing happened.
    I’m not a big believer in coincidences either.
    A bad feeling crept its way out of my gut and up through the center of my chest. I made my way down the ladder and around to the stern. There, right in the middle of the deck, was a big fiberglass bulge with hinges on one side and clasps on the other. I opened the clasps and bent back the whole waist-high dome until it leaned on the superstructure. The engine, housed inside, glinted wetly at me.
    “Problem mate?”
    I jumped up and backed away. Rigger didn’t move, either towards me or away from me. Nor did he look surprised at my jumpiness.
    My hands clenched into fists. Maybe this was it, the moment when Rigger would clean house. I waited.
    He stared at me, leaning casually against a bulkhead.
    When I couldn’t take the silence any more, I decided I had to play the situation out. “Not sure,” I said, “but maybe you can go below and give me a little space to figure this thing out.”
    He put out his good arm, palm open, contrite, and disappeared down the stairs. When I was sure he was gone I popped the flashlight into my mouth and got down on all fours. I stuck my head down into the hollow space below the bubble and took a good look at the engine.
    I’d been maintaining this engine myself for years—cheaper that way—and even so I almost missed the tiny change that had been made.
    The fuel line was a sieve.
    Tiny holes, so small they were almost invisible, perforated its entire length. It looked almost like something had eaten away at the plastic, degraded it to the point that gasoline was leaking from all over. Pressure from the fuel pump when I tried to start the engine had turned the hose into a sprinkler. Gas dripped slowly from every surface.
    I let out a long, slow breath, almost a whistle. We were very lucky the gas fumes trapped under the hood hadn’t caught fire when the spark plug fired. I screwed shut the intake for the gas so that no one twisting the key could accidentally burn us all to death, then disconnected and removed the offending fuel line and brought it out into the light. Holding it up, tiny beams of sunlight shot through the pinpricks and speckled my face. That kind of damage can happen on its own, but only with care so poor it approaches negligence.
    I sat back and added it up. Someone had sabotaged the engine by replacing the hose with one already damaged. I felt pretty sure that whoever it was, they didn’t want to be stuck out here forever. That meant they had kept the working fuel line. It was hidden somewhere aboard right now.
    It was a clever, preplanned move. They had done a fair job of making it look like an accident, as though it could be a mistake on my part. In fact, if I wasn’t so consistent about examining the engine, I might even have held myself responsible. They hadn’t counted on my being so conscientious. But I had been, and I knew it was sabotage.
    Clearly these three didn’t want us back on dry land just yet.
    But then what did they want? By any rational logic they should either let me take them back to land, or kill both Carmen and I and toss our bodies over the side. Then they could sail wherever they wanted to go. But this? The delay must serve some purpose I didn’t understand. The puzzle was coming into focus, but I must still be missing some vital piece.
    The dome flipped closed easily and I latched it in place, then stormed down the stairs. Rigger had stretched out on the couch; Carlos, Ben, and Carmen sat around the table.
    “What’s wrong?” Carmen asked.
    “Engine trouble,” I said, and hoped my entire meaning was obvious. Her mouth pressed itself razor-thin, so I was sure she’d gotten the message.
    “Can anything be done?” Ben asked.
    “For now, we need to take advantage of the tide. It’s going out, and it’s going to

Similar Books

Infinity One

Robert Hoskins (Ed.)

Linda Ford

The Cowboy's Surprise Bride

Night Thunder

Jill Gregory

Virgin

Radhika Sanghani

Long Knife

JAMES ALEXANDER Thom

Hidden Meanings

Carolyn Keene

The Day Trader

Stephen Frey