All at once she was crying. She looked in the mirror. To her the beauty had suddenly fled; she felt old and alone.

Something was dreadfully wrong.

She found herself before the crucifix on their bedroom wall. She crossed herself and found herself praying:

"Holy Mary, Mother of God..."

Mama, send your loa flying to the sea....

"...pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death—"

She could go no further. She knew with cold certainty that she would never see Jake again.

***

In Neptune's Folly's cockpit, Ellen watched as Jake bound the strobe to a long wooden boat hook with electrician's tape. He would try to jam it into the massive jaws and run.

The fin was circling. Below, the beat of the heart was steady: Boom... boom... boom...

He had abandoned his shoes before the plane was ditched. Now, carefully, he laid down the pole and strobe and drew off his socks. They didn't match, she noticed: brown and beige. Men....

He smiled at her and looked to starboard. The fin was cruising, ready for another run. Mike stepped out of the deckhouse with the transmitter to fire the strobe. He looked doubtfully at the squall. "I got through to Nassau. They'll have a boat out from Whiskey Cay in half an hour.”

The beat below increased: Boom, boom, boom...

"He hits us again like the last time," Jake promised, "and we won't be here in half an hour."

The two men's eyes met. "Good luck, partner," said Mike.

Jake nodded, and their palms slapped and flew upward. "Gwine feed our shark, mon," Jake said unsteadily. "Gwine feed our shark a little juice."

With an islander's barefoot grace he moved forward along the lurching deck. Abeam the creaking mainmast, he steadied himself on the ratlines leading aloft. He gazed to starboard, studying the fin. It was coming fast. He gauged the moment, and as the gray shape grew in the water, he ran forward to the stem of the bow.

Knees flexed, riding the swell, he waited, boat hook raised.

The great conical snout rose from the water. Jake crouched low. Slowly the massive jaws opened. Higher and higher the body rose, driving inward over the bow. It dwarfed the man. At the last moment Jake plunged the boat hook into the mouth. Mike fired the strobe.

They heard a beep-beep. The cavernous mouth turned blue, and the creature convulsed and jerked into the water.

Folly rolled to starboard. Jake flailed his arms for balance and fell in.

Ellen screamed. Mike ran forward. He saw a swirl of blood in the water. Jake was gone, without a sound.

"No!" screamed Mike. He pressed the trigger: Beep-beep.

The shark sprang from the water, shuddering, and crashed down on his flank in a shower of spray. Below, the heartbeat faltered. "Got you, you son of a bitch!" yelled Mike. Below, they heard the whine of the next charge building, building...