Free Dead in the Water by Robin Stevenson Page A

completely.
    I felt like I was suffocating. Can’t breathe, I tried to say, but I couldn’t open my lips, and all that came out was a strangled grunt. Frantic for air, I tried to grab the duct tape and tear it away from my mouth. Keith caught my wrists in his massive hands. He pulled them behind my back roughly and started duct-taping them together. My heart was hammering in my chest, and I desperately needed to open my mouth and gasp for breath. This is it, I thought. I’m going to die.
    They were going to kill us. It sounded crazy, but I was pretty sure I was right. Our lives were worth less to them than the abalone.
    Then I had an idea. A crazy idea—an idea that probably wasn’t going to work—but I didn’t have anything to lose. I let myself be shoved back down to the bench, pretending to lose my balance so that I landed a couple of feet away from Olivia. Closer to the cabin doors. Almost on top of that VHF radio.
    â€œSo, do we need to tape you up like your friend, or can you keep your mouth shut?” Keith asked Olivia.
    â€œI’ll be quiet,” she whispered.
    Patrick looked at me, and his forehead creased in concern. “Um, I think Simon’s having some trouble breathing.”
    â€œDoesn’t much matter,” Victor said. “He’s not going to be breathing for much longer anyway.”
    Olivia choked back a sob. I wished I could tell her what I was going to do, but perhaps it was better not to get her hopes up. There was a lot of blood all down my shirt, and I wondered if my nose was broken. I was frantic for air, and for a moment a rising tide of panic almost overwhelmed me.
    Stay calm, I told myself. Stay calm. I concentrated on keeping my breathing slow and even. Then, trying not to let any other part of my body move, I fumbled behind my back with my bound hands. Where was that VHF? I felt around frantically.
    Got it. And there was the Transmit button on the side. I couldn’t say anything, but maybe...just maybe...I wouldn’t have to.
    I had to turn it on without changing the channel. Odds were good that it had beenleft turned to 16—the hailing and distress channel, the channel most boats monitored...and most importantly, the channel that
Jeopardy
’s radio was set to. I could feel three small knobs. One had to be the onoff-volume switch. Most likely, I thought, the first one, the one on the left. I hesitated for a second. If I turned the wrong knob— turned the radio away from channel 16—no one would hear us. And if the main radio in the cabin was still turned on, they’d all hear their conversation being broadcast, and they’d know what I was up to right away. And if my finger slipped off the Transmit button, even for a second, Keith, Victor and Patrick would hear the static of the radio, and that would be the end.
    No one was looking at me. Keith nodded at the other two men. “Victor’s right. If they don’t make it back to Port Hardy, they won’t be reporting anything.” He looked at Patrick. “How about if you just go back to your boat? Swim back. In the morning, you can discover the dinghy gone and two of your students missing.”
    Nothing to lose, I reminded myself. My hands were clumsy and my fingers turning numb from the tightness of the duct tape, but I managed to wedge the VHF against the back of the bench. Then, holding down the Transmit button with one finger, I twisted the first knob clockwise.
    Then all I could do was hope.

chapter sixteen
    â€œSo, I leave and you guys deal with these two. And then what?” Patrick asked, frowning. “I call the Coast Guard in the morning? Report them missing? Organize a search?”
    â€œYeah. But it’ll be too late,” Victor said. “They’ll stay missing. And we’ll be long gone.”
    Olivia stared at Patrick. “This isn’t really happening. You wouldn’t let them kill us.”
    Patrick couldn’t