In a moment there was more splashing, but also laughter and cursing. Vincent swam back to the side of the raft, with another person under his arm – Regina.

“I found a mermaid. Can I keep her?” He pushed the tired woman over the side, where she flopped down and lay panting, but grinning madly. After a moment, she lifted her head.

“I saw the flare – I’m assuming you won?”

Jack hugged her and Cate knelt to push the wet hair back off the woman’s face.

“Damn right we did,” Cate said. “We killed it.” She knelt back, and thumbed over her shoulder. “Well, Alexi did.”

The young harpooner shrugged. “My job, but Mr Monroe made it come to surface. Use himself as bait – crazy man.”

Jack opened his arms wide. “Yeah, don’t mess with Jack Monroe.” He high-fived Alexi.

Valery Mironov leant forward to rub the harpooner shoulder. “That job just earned you a million dollars and a new home in America if you want it.”

Alexi turned and grinned. “Yes, I would like it, very much, Mr Mironov.”

“Shush, listen,” Cate said.

The group quietened, and a tiny thumping could be heard in the distance. Vincent lifted Regina into his arms. “That’s our ride. See? You’ve just brought us luck.”

She threw an arm around his neck. “What a dream date you turned out to be.”

Jack held out his hand to Olander. “The flashlight.” He stood, beginning to wave it back and forth. He looked down, grinning. “Am I the only one looking forward to a cold beer and some ribs on dry land?”

“You just described my heaven, buddy.” Vincent held onto Jack’s leg as the downdraft from the huge chopper passed over them, shaking the raft. “They’ve seen us.”

Jack eased down beside Cate as the Coast Guard helicopter did a quick circuit over the area. Cate felt her body finally begin to relax, but there was still a niggling worm of doubt crawling in her mind. She turned and tugged on Jack’s shirt, leaning close to his ear. “Did we? Did we really kill it?”

Jack nodded. “Yeah, I think so. It was badly wounded, most likely mortally so.” He leaned back and opened his mouth as if about to say more, but then let it snap shut.

“I hope so,” she said. “But the thing about sharks is, they are such great survivors. They’re one of the few creatures in the world to never get cancer.”

“I know,” he said softly.

She looked up at his face, but he continued to stare out over the water. “And there’s this other damn thing about them; they’ve evolved an almost miraculous biology for wound repair. Even if it’s a serious trauma, within two weeks the wound secretes mucus, then the epidermis regenerates and expands to close over the site. And then they’re as good as new.”