The Tessa Randolph Collection, Books 1-3 by Paula Lester (good short books .TXT) 📕

This time, Tessa couldn’t hold back the chuckle. “There you go. You got it.” She popped up onto her feet and stood, balancing with the paddle in her hand. “Now, just get to the center of the board and stand up. It’s not hard. Keep your center of gravity under you and just sort of . . . feel the water. Move with it.”

Gloria shot her a look that clearly said what on earth are you babbling on about? She inched forward on her belly, trying to get closer to the center of the board. But she went too far and, before it was possible for her to do anything to stop herself, plunged head-first off the far edge of the board into the water.

Tessa laughed and used her paddle to turn back toward her friend. The rest of the group was further out, watching April and Lee compete for who could stay on their board the longest.

Gloria’s head popped up, her life jacket helping her get upright. She sputtered, coughed, and splashed. “Argh,” she cried.

Tessa paddled closer. “Are you okay?”

More sputtering was the only answer.

Then something caught Tessa’s attention in the water near Gloria.

No. It couldn’t be. There was no way.

Tessa, being from Michigan, had always felt safe in the water. There was no salt and there were no sharks or other crazy marine life that could kill you. You just had to respect the power of the Great Lakes. And the cold. They were always cold.

But that wasn’t the case here. Here, the warm and clear waters harbored sharks.

And Tessa had never, ever expected to see one, but there it was—within a few feet of Gloria, its dorsal fin looking just like they did in movies. Until that moment, she hadn’t even believed that was really a thing outside of Jaws and its many imitators.

For a moment, Tessa froze. She didn’t know what to do. Should she shout, “Shark!” again, like they do in movies? Should she alert the instructor and everyone else?

It didn’t take her long to dismiss that idea. It would only panic Gloria, and that probably wasn’t the best idea. In fact, Tessa needed to get her friend to calm down and stop acting like a flopping fish in the water.

She maneuvered her paddle boat carefully between the shark and Gloria. Her heart pounded wildly, but Tessa ignored it, focusing only on the two beings in the water. Time seemed to slow down as she forced her breathing to calm. She told herself Gloria wasn’t going to die. There was no reaper around, ready to escort her soul over the veil.

That was when she saw Lydia standing on the beach. She wasn’t watching April’s and Lee’s antics. She was staring right at Gloria.

No. No, no, no, no.

Tessa spoke as calmly as possible but infused her tone with authority. “Gloria. Stop splashing now. There’s a problem, and I need you to do what I say.”

The other reaper looked at Tessa’s face. She must have seen something there because she stilled.

“Okay. Grab the far side of paddleboard with both hands. Pull it toward yourself and then kick . . . calmly . . . to get yourself up. Do it now.”

Gloria did what Tessa said, and Tessa glanced at the shark. It seemed to have stopped swimming and was just sort of hovering there, as though it were watching. Waiting.

Tessa gulped and turned her attention back to Gloria, who was about halfway onto the paddle board. Tessa glanced at the shore.

Lydia was gone.

By the time she looked back, Gloria was on her knees on the board.

The shark’s fin changed directions and the creature sped off, toward the dock.

Tessa blew out a breath. “Hey, what do you say we head to shore? I think I’m done paddle boarding.”

“I’m with you.” Gloria didn’t stand up. She used her hands to doggy paddle her way back to the sand.

They got out of the water, and Gloria laid on her back on the beach, panting and staring at the sky. Her black hair was matted to her head, drenched.

Tessa giggled and sat next to her friend.

“How come you’re so good at that and I’m so horrible?” Gloria grumbled.

Tessa shrugged. “I have no idea. But it was fun! Thanks for insisting on it.” Okay, it hadn’t actually been fun. But Tessa didn’t think Gloria really needed to know about the shark. “Let’s put our gear away.”

They both got up and carried their paddle boards back to the small building.

Gloria sighed, “Honestly, I was hoping my hair wouldn’t get wet or else we’d have gone snorkeling. Now, I need to go back to the room and get changed and redo my hair.”

As they approached the dock in front of the hotel, Tessa realized something was going on. An ambulance, silent but with lights flashing, was parked as close to the water as possible, and a crowd had gathered around it. For as many people as were there, the atmosphere was almost dead quiet. It felt eerie.

Tessa and Gloria stood on tiptoes at the back of the crowd, craning their necks to get a glimpse of what was going on. In front of them, people silently shifted, letting the two women maneuver their way through. In fact, it seemed as though many people were easing away from the scene.

When they got to a clear spot, Tessa immediately knew why people would be get away.

There was blood all over the dock and in the water.

She heard the word shark filter through the crowd. A few reapers stood dripping water, towels wrapped around them, snorkels and masks pushed onto their heads. Everywhere, there were pale, shocked faces.

Tessa forced herself to look at the injured person the EMTs were working on. It was clear their efforts would be fruitless—no one could survive injuries like that. It had to be the same shark she’d seen. The one that had considered attacking Gloria. It must have found easier prey by the dock.

“Who is it?”