Chapter Eighteen

MIA FROZE IN TERROR as she spotted the remains of Mathews floating in the water. It was hard to tell exactly what was left of him, between the murky water, the green duckweed and the tactical vest – but it seemed like he was missing his head and at least one limb. She was sort of glad he was obscured by the water. She did not have to see his remains any clearer.

Kelly was in full tactical mode – rolling his feet with every step, rifle raised, eyes both open and scanning the area. He just wanted to get in the damn boat and leave, but he needed to be careful.

He could see three gas cans in the watercraft. It was still tied to the small concrete dock. Mathews' remains were floating close to the boat. Within arm's reach, actually. "Whose house are we in, again?"

"Uh. Baryonyx."

"Little more detail, please."

"Sure. Um…big. Pretty solitary. Pretty mean."

"Big… like, Tyranno…big?"

"Not that big. Is that…"

"Yep." Kelly was standing directly to the side of the boat now, still scanning the water for movement. He didn't see any. He waved for Mia to join him. "We gotta get in the boat at the same time."

She nodded. Getting into the boat at the same time minimized the amount of splashing and movement, hopefully minimizing the chance of an animal coming to investigate before they got the motor started. "Yeah, was gonna say that."

Kelly crouched low, rifle still raised, looking at his dead friend. Son of a bitch. Mathews was floating face down – or at least, he would be, if he were whole – and the large tactical pouch on the back of his belt was slightly ajar. Kelly spotted the red and white stripes of a Barbasol can – and Kelly was the only one with the replacement can. Mathews had found the stolen embryos, and they were still within the viable window. He just had to swap them into the replacement canister and make it to Costa Rica.

This was going to complicate things. He wanted to retrieve Mathews' gear – but they were going to have a very limited amount of time once they started making splashes in the water. Coming up with an excuse for the gear would be easy enough but getting Mia in the boat – with her injuries – the motor started and retrieving the body would be a tricky maneuver. Kelly took a short moment to think. They might be able to create a distraction if the dinosaur were close by, but there would be nothing to do other than just hurry the hell up. "We should grab his body."

"Are you sure?"

"He's got ammunition. And… supplies."

Mia looked around at the water. "There's no real telling where it is."

"Are the gas tanks on these boats usually full?"

"Usually."

Kelly frowned. He decided he was going to try to grab Mathews' body before they got into the vehicle. He put one hand out to reach…

"What the hell are you doing" Mia tried to keep her voice down, but she was furious. "Grab it after we get in the boat!"

"I can reach it."

She grabbed the back of his military harness and slowly pulled him back. "Boat first."

"Just let me –"

"Let's just leave!"

Kelly rolled his eyes. He had enough of Mia, of the island, of dinosaurs, of trying to follow her instructions. His friends – friends he had for years, who saw battle with him – were dead and here was the one thing they had come for, floating within reach. Why couldn't she just let him do this one thing? Do it his way? He felt his anger bubbling up. "Fine."

He quickly stood and grabbed Mia by the hips, spun and tossed her into the boat. She yelped in pain as she landed on her side. Kelly tossed his CAR-15 with her before hopping in himself.

"What the fuck!" Mia was struggling to get up, her hip leaking blood again.

Kelly reached over the back of the boat, grabbing Mathews' body and pulling it close. "Said we gotta go, let's go. Get it started."

Mia muttered as she got to her feet and spun to the steering wheel. "Pinche cabrón. Asshole."

The outboard motor hit the water as Kelly tightened the clasps on the pouch with the canister and turned the body over. He glanced up and around just in time to see a large ripple in the water near a tree line. "Not yet!"

"What do you mean not yet?"

"I mean not yet!" He was struggling to undo the plastic buckles on the front of Mathews' vest. "Shit." He lost his grip and it started to float away from him – the rippling from the boat pushing it further…

He glanced up again to see where the dinosaur was but didn't see anything.

Mia spun around, having started the engine. All she had to do was hit the throttle. What the hell is taking so long?

She could not believe her eyes. Kelly was just about to jump into the water. She tried to yell for him but was too late.

Kelly slid off the edge of the boat and into the neck-deep water, arms outstretched toward the remains. Mia ran to the back of the boat and grabbed the back of Kelly's harness with one hand. "I'm gonna leave you if you don't get in this boat!" She could feel her face flushing with anger. She was aware of what she said, and aware that she meant it, but still somehow didn't want to leave Kelly.

"Let go!" Kelly was trying to unclasp the buckles of his own vest to get away from Mia. He needed that canister. He finally worked the last buckle, and with a jolt he fell forward, finally grabbing Mathews' body.

Mia fell backward, yelling in pain again as she landed with Kelly's military equipment on top of her. Her hip felt like it was on fire – a searing pain all the way up her left side. She quickly scrambled into the seat, throwing the tranquilizer gun that was slung around her into the passenger seat. She put her hand on the throttle and glanced back one last time –

Kelly tossed Mathews' gear into the boat as he grabbed the edge and pulled himself up. Just as he cleared the water, Mia saw the Baryonyx emerge.

The dinosaur was nine feet tall – covered in the duckweed and seaweed – its dark green and brown scales shimmering in sunlight. The snout was long and thin like a crocodile and its tiny yellow eyes somehow looked both furious and devoid of any life. It roared as it towered above the back of the boat.

"Fucking go!" Kelly screamed as he scrambled up.

"Seriously?" Mia rocked the throttle forward as hard as she could, and the Islander jerked forward at full speed.

The Baryonyx reached forward, trying to grab the boat – each hand had a huge claw and two smaller ones – but it missed. It started to run. Now that it was fully standing, it was only about hip-deep in the water.

Mia was having a hard time keeping track of the swamp ahead of her. She knew that eventually the swamp funneled into a river that led to the ocean. She felt the pain in her left side was affecting her vision – she was having a hard time keeping her left eye open.

Kelly was tossed from side to side in the back of the boat as Mia skidded around trees and avoided running aground. Once he finally found himself stable enough to kneel, he glanced behind him. The Baryonyx was close, but not dangerously close. As long as she doesn't fuck up, he thought, we're in the clear.

He couldn't believe his luck. He was the only member of his team to have survived the ordeal. And he was even going to complete the mission. He was devastated that his friends – his fellow soldiers – were dead, but the promise of hundreds of thousands of dollars eased the devastation. As he regained his balance, he felt his face flush with embarrassment. He started to shake. Only moments before, he had been thinking about how foolish the other men were – careless at the finish line. Faced with greed, he had fallen into the same fervor. Oh well, he thought, I'm still alive.