Free Return to The Deep (From The Deep Book 2) by Michael Bray Page B

me, I know what I'm doing."
    Clayton nodded. The fact that Jim seemed so comfortable was part of the problem. For as much as they were friends, Clayton knew he was known to get volatile and unpredictable. It was something he had wanted to approach more than once in the past, yet, hadn’t because he was a little bit afraid of the reaction it might receive. Checking his phone again, he shifted position and tried to push his negativity away.
    "So," Jim said with a grin, "you and Marie. What's the story there?"
    "Nothin' to tell."
    "Come on, don’t give me that shit. I've seen the way she gives you the eye."
    "Like I said, nothing to tell."
    "Yeah, I bet,” Jim snorted. “What happened? She knock you back?"
    "Come on, knock it off," Clayton snapped.
    "Jesus, relax, I was just screwin' around."
    Clayton didn’t answer, and checked his phone again. Jim watched, an amused grin stretched across his face. "She said she'd call when the truck was on its way."
    "I still don’t know how we’re going to do this. We don’t even know if the driver will get out of the truck."
    "He will."
    "What makes you so sure?"
    Jim grinned, the expression making Claytons heart plummet into his shoes. Jim reached into the glove box and pulled out a rag. Even before it was unwrapped, Clayton knew what it was.
    "No, absolutely not," Clayton said as Jim revealed the handgun.
    "Come on, it’s just so we can intimidate the guy into giving up the truck.”
    "Screw this, man. Helping to free this whale is one thing. Guns are something else. I won’t have any part of it."
    Clayton started the engine, intending to drive to the meeting point where they were to pick up the others.
    "Shut it off," Jim said.
    Clayton froze. His friend was still grinning, but the sightless eye of the gun was trained on Clayton from the passenger side.
    "Are you fucking insane?" Clayton hissed, his fear masquerading as anger.
    "Relax, I’m not gonna shoot you. Look." He pulled the trigger, causing Clayton to flinch away. The gun clicked harmlessly. "Fuckin' things empty."
    "That’s not the point. This is too much. We're getting in way over our heads here."
    "You won’t be saying that when it’s done. When this fish is free, me and you will be the heroes," he said, widening his grin.
    "Heroes to who?"
    "The rest of the group. We'll be legends."
    Clayton turned away and looked out the window. The grin on his friend’s face was starting to scare him. He was trying to think of ways to get out of what they were about to do when his phone vibrated. Watched by Jim, Clayton picked up the handset. "It's time," he said, flicking another glance in the direction of the handgun in Jim's lap.
    "Good," Jim said, looking more agitated. "Just follow my lead and everything will go down smooth. Trust me."
    Clayton nodded, and then despite the nausea racing through him, he started the engine and pulled off the hard shoulder and into traffic.
     
    II
     
    Fully loaded with its cargo, the specially designed flatbed truck was hard to control even for its experienced driver. Even the minute adjustments to allow for the contours of the road were slow and had to be pre-empted. For a lesser driver, it would have been easy to overcompensate and slew off the road. Sam Bolton, however, was masterful as he shifted into high gear. As instructed, he kept to a safe speed, keeping the journey as smooth as he could. Even on the straight, flat route, the engine was struggling to haul its massive load. He hadn’t been allowed to see the creature, and it had already been loaded onto his vehicle when he returned from his overpriced lunch in the aquarium restaurant, which suited him fine. 
    He shifted into a lower gear as the road inclined slightly, balancing the throttle, careful not to go too fast. For the first time in years, he was feeling nervous, and had to give every ounce of his concentration to the road ahead. The oncoming traffic rubbernecked as they passed, unused to seeing such a huge vehicle on the