The Long Short

Book excerpt: The plane from Paris slammed into the Atlantic and broke apart. Bill and Martin joined Claire in the tail section where the last raft was anchored to the door with a tether. Claire lugged her Gucci bags into the raft and Martin had his rollaboard clutched tightly in his arms. Bill fought to get the tether untied from the door, but the base of the door was under water. He had to go into the dark depths while thunder and lightning roared overhead. He pulled at the tether and got it untied. The raft shot up and slammed Bill’s head into the metal frame of the door; he felt the gash and shook his head. Adrift, Bill and Claire fought over why Martin was no longer with them. Bill told Claire that it was just the two of them now. Claire asked if that was a threat and Bill happily replied, yes. They found an island and ditched the raft on the beachhead. Claire’s mind was on two things, rescue and to do anything to get away from Bill. Bill’s head injury set his mind adrift in a sea of mystery about pirates and treasure. He looked at Claire and felt anger surge up his throat like lava rising to the top of a volcano where it would spew destruction. Bill and Claire had two different goals; one of them will get to their way at the expense of the other.