along the rooftop.
“Hey,” I called after him. “Now you’re the one that’s talking crazy!”
“I know what I saw,” he said over his shoulder. “So knock your shit off.”
He stalked to the other side and cast the line out again. His shoulders were tense, his jaw clenched.
I stared back out at the water again, but all I saw were the raindrops coming down and the waves rising up to greet them.
I went back inside and looked for Lori, but she was busy doing laundry with Lashawn and Sarah, and I didn’t want to intrude on them. Even now, I still wasn’t sure how to act around her—especially since it appeared that everybody knew about us. I wondered if Sarah and Lashawn were giving her a hard time, the way the guys had given me.
Later in the day, Mike, Juan, and I went down to the lower levels, searching for materials to build another boat. The lower levels always gave me the creeps. If you stood still, you could feel the ocean pressing against the sides of the building. It was eerily quiet. The only good thing about the stillness was that since we were below the surface, the constant sound of the rain was noticeably absent.
We’d found a round, wooden coffee table that looked promising, and Mike and I were lifting it when he suddenly stopped.
“Too heavy?” I asked.
He didn’t reply.
“Mike?”
He sat his end of the table down. “Did you guys hear something?”
Juan shrugged. “Not me. Why, what did you hear?”
“Voices,” Mike whispered. “Or a voice.”
“Down here?” I asked, sitting my end down as well.
“I’m not sure.”
All three of us listened, but heard nothing.
We picked the table back up, struggling to move it. Damn thing was heavy. Mike started humming “Riders On The Storm” by The Doors.
Juan opened his mouth to speak and then froze.
Somebody else was singing, too.
The voice was beautiful. Melodious and faint and definitely female, that much was certain. I couldn’t understand the words, but I
“What the fuck is that?” Juan whispered.
“One of the girls,” Mike guessed, “playing a joke on us? Sarah, maybe?”
I shook my head. “That’s not Sarah. Whatever it is, it’s coming from the other side of that wall.”
“What’s on the other side?” Mike asked.
Juan and I looked at each other.
“The ocean,” I said.
“Bullshit.” Mike shook his head.
“He’s right,” Juan insisted. “Think about it. We’re at least fifteen feet below the surface right now.”
The singing grew louder.
“So then what the fuck
“Somebody’s in the water!” Mike shouted. “It’s a chick’s voice. There’s a woman out there.”
“A castaway?” Juan asked. “How’s she singing underwater?”
Mike stepped around the table. “I don’t fucking know, man! But you heard her, too.”
“Maybe we’d better go see,” I suggested.
“Good idea,” Juan agreed.
I remembered what Nate thought he’d seen—a naked blond woman, singing in the water. I started to tell Juan, but he was already running for the stairs. Mike and I dashed after him.
The others came out when they heard us thundering up the stairwell and we told them what was going on. They all followed us up to the roof. We ran through the door and into the rain. We startled Salty and he almost dropped his fishing rod.
Nate whirled around, his rifle at the ready. “What’s going on? What’s wrong?”
“Have you seen anything?” Juan asked.
“It’s been raining,” Salty chuckled. “Oh, and some birds flew overhead, looking for Alka-Seltzer. But other than that, no.”
“What’s going on?” Nate asked again.
Juan and Mike ran to the edge of the roof and looked out over the water.
Salty frowned. “What are you lads doing?”
“We were down below,” Juan said, “and we heard a woman. Sounded like she was outside, in the water.” He turned back to the group. “Were any of you down on the lower levels?”
They shook their heads.
“I knew it!” Nate stomped his feet. “I
Juan glanced at me. “What the hell’s he talking about?”
“Earlier today,” Nate told him, “when Kevin was out here, I thought I saw a woman in the water. She was singing. And she was nude.”
“Oh, for Christ’s sake,” Lee scoffed. “First Salty with his mother of all squids and now this?”
Nate’s ears turned red. “Listen asshole, I know what I saw!”
Lee refused to back down. “Be rational, man. Even if there were somebody out there, how long would she last? Do you have any idea how cold that water is or how rough those seas are?”
“You calling me a liar?” Nate stepped towards him, his fists clenched.
“Back off, man,” Lee warned him.
“Or what?”
“Keep it up and you’ll find out.”
Juan stepped between them. “That’s enough, both of you. I don’t know what’s going on, but I want the watch doubled. Taz and Ducky, you guys relieve Salty and Nate. Sarah, I want you and Lashawn out here with them.”
Little Malik stepped forward, clutching Anna’s hand. “It’s the fish lady.”
“What?” Juan asked.
“The fish lady,” the boy repeated. “I see her sometimes at night when I sleep. She sings to me.”
“Me too,” James echoed. “She makes me miss my mommy. She used to sing to me at night, too.”
Juan took a deep breath. “Okay. Taz, Ducky, Lashawn, and Sarah, you guys are on watch. Everybody else, head down to the common area. We need to talk about this in detail.”
“Yo,” Taz called, “what do we do if we see this naked bitch?”
“I know what I’m gonna do.” Ducky grinned, rubbing his crotch. “I’m gonna get me some pussy.”
“Great,” Sarah muttered under her breath. “Juan, why did you stick me with these assholes?”
“Hey!” Taz protested.
“Because Christian and Louis aren’t back yet,” Juan told her. “If they don’t get back soon, I’ll send Kevin or Mike up.”
Dripping, we followed him downstairs, shrugged out of our rain gear, and took our seats.
“Okay,” Juan said, shaking the water from his hair, “anybody else hear or see this mysterious woman?”
Nobody spoke.
“All right. Nate, give me a rehash. Tell us exactly what you saw.”
“Kevin and I were out on the roof, talking about what Salty said last night, and I heard somebody singing. When I glanced out at the ocean, just for a second, I saw a woman.”
He paused, lost in thought, and then continued.
