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Back Blood in the Water
Chapters (82)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Notice
  3. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  4. ONE
  5. TWO
  6. THREE
  7. FOUR
  8. FIVE
  9. SIX
  10. SEVEN
  11. EIGHT
  12. NINE
  13. TEN
  14. ELEVEN
  15. TWELVE
  16. THIRTEEN
  17. FOURTEEN
  18. FIFTEEN
  19. SIXTEEN
  20. SEVENTEEN
  21. EIGHTEEN
  22. NINETEEN
  23. TWENTY
  24. TWENTY-ONE
  25. TWENTY-TWO
  26. TWENTY-THREE
  27. TWENTY-FOUR
  28. TWENTY-FIVE
  29. TWENTY-SIX
  30. TWENTY-SEVEN
  31. TWENTY-EIGHT
  32. TWENTY-NINE
  33. THIRTY
  34. THIRTY-ONE
  35. THIRTY-TWO
  36. THIRTY-THREE
  37. THIRTY-FOUR
  38. THIRTY-FIVE
  39. THIRTY-SIX
  40. THIRTY-SEVEN
  41. THIRTY-EIGHT
  42. THIRTY-NINE
  43. FORTY
  44. FORTY-ONE
  45. FORTY-TWO
  46. FORTY-THREE
  47. FORTY-FOUR
  48. FORTY-FIVE
  49. FORTY-SIX
  50. FORTY-SEVEN
  51. FORTY-EIGHT
  52. FORTY-NINE
  53. FIFTY
  54. FIFTY-ONE
  55. FIFTY-TWO
  56. FIFTY-THREE
  57. FIFTY-FOUR
  58. FIFTY-FIVE
  59. FIFTY-SIX
  60. FIFTY-SEVEN
  61. FIFTY-EIGHT
  62. FIFTY-NINE
  63. SIXTY
  64. SIXTY-ONE
  65. SIXTY-TWO
  66. SIXTY-THREE
  67. SIXTY-FOUR
  68. SIXTY-FIVE
  69. SIXTY-SIX
  70. SIXTY-SEVEN
  71. SIXTY-EIGHT
  72. SIXTY-NINE
  73. SEVENTY
  74. SEVENTY-ONE
  75. SEVENTY-TWO
  76. SEVENTY-THREE
  77. SEVENTY-FOUR
  78. SEVENTY-FIVE
  79. SEVENTY-SIX
  80. Praise for Blood in the Water
  81. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  82. Newsletter Sign-up

She squatted, hovering over the receptacle, careful not to touch the metal. She looked around for anything that might help her. There was a matching metal sink that was also disgusting. It appeared that men had begun treating it as a urinal. Looking closely at the edge of the sink, she saw words etched into the steel. They were faint, and covered in dirt. She pulled the sleeve of her sweater over her hand and rubbed the metal until she could see the words.

UNITED STATES WAR DEPARTMENT.

She frowned. Abandoned military forts dotted the Harbor Islands—relics from the days when the United States worried about an impending German invasion. Perhaps she was being held in one of them. If so, escape would be almost impossible. Even if she could escape from whatever building they were in, she would still need to find a way to get back to the mainland. The water was too cold to think of swimming, even if she’d been a better swimmer. She would have to hope to find some sort of a small rowboat, and even that seemed untenable. Her captors had large boats, and would undoubtedly track her down on the water before she could get to safety. Still, she had to try something. She knew in her heart that if she didn’t escape, she would be killed.

The floor was covered with scraps of toilet paper and trash. After she’d finished relieving herself, she got down on her knees to search the floor for anything that could be useful to her in any way. There was nothing that seemed worthwhile. There were little empty nip bottles of cheap booze, some empty cigarette packs, and paper bags.

She looked more closely at one of the paper bags in the corner of the cramped space. It wasn’t empty. There was a bottle in it. She pulled the bottle out and looked at it. It was empty. It had been a cheap brand of sweet whiskey, the kind she’d seen young derelicts drinking on street corners for as long as she could remember. It had a thin neck and a wide, flat body. She held it by the neck and swung it like a mini club. It wasn’t much, but it might be something.

She slid the bottle into the inside pocket of her jacket. She stood in front of the sink, and started to reach in to wash her hands before she remembered where she was. She looked at her reflection in the steel mirror behind the sink. Her face and hair were a mess, and she looked older than her nineteen years.

“Stay alive,” she said quietly to her reflection. “Stay alive and keep your head, and you’ll be OK.” The sound of her voice made her feel better, but only slightly. She knew that the odds were still against her survival.

FORTY-SIX

Tuesday, February 5