Lien-hua’s thoughts were still foggy, but she stood her ground, waited to see if Melice would fight her. “Are you that scared of me, Creighton? Scared of a chained-up girl? Maybe now I won’t beat you as badly as I did at the hotel, but I doubt it. You’re not nearly as good as you think.”
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a tripod on the edge of the deck above her. For a moment she thought it might be the device, but then she saw that it was a video camcorder.
Oh, not good. Definitely not good.
“I don’t want to fight you,” Melice said. “I want to watch you. See how you do compared to the others. And tonight the whole world will be watching. Lots of people out there with my taste in entertainment. An FBI agent? At the world’s largest aquarium? We’ll get at least eighty thousand hits by tomorrow. Maybe a hundred.”
Lien-hua yanked her foot against the chain.
“That’s good. Keep that up. The more you tug the better the video will be.” He began to climb the ladder that led out of the pool, leaving bloody prints from his wounded hands on each rung.
“You broke my tank at the warehouse, but this should work just as good, don’t you think? Sorry to say, it won’t be a live feed, though.
I don’t want us to be interrupted by any cops.” When he reached the deck he gazed around the animal husbandry area. “Kind of ironic, huh? That we’re back here where everything started yesterday morning.”
Dread dripped into Lien-hua’s stomach. Be brave. You need to be brave. “Where’s Shade? Still too afraid to show his face?” she asked.
“Shade is taking care of a few loose ends.”
She worried that Melice might be referring to Pat, but she didn’t want to appear weak or scared so she didn’t let her concern reach her face. Melice glanced at his watch and then continued, “Be here in thirty minutes. I’m sorry you two won’t have the chance to meet.
The filming will be done by then.”
Then she had it. She realized Melice’s primary motive. “Pain.
Shade’s going to kill you with the device. Make you feel pain.”
“Oh yes.” He looked to the side, across the deck. “It’s already set up and waiting for me.” Then, he let his eyes roam back toward the acclimation pool and walk across Lien-hua’s body. “You look good in that dress, by the way. I’m sure your viewers will appreciate that you’ve kept yourself in shape.”
Lien-hua looked around, tried to think of some way to escape, but saw no viable options.
Not drowning. Please, no. Anything but drowning.
Melice positioned the camera. “Now, you may need to work with me a little here. I’m not sure how quick that pool is gonna fill. I’ll probably have to shoot this a couple times, let some water out, and then refill the pool again, before I can get all the footage I need. So, do your best to hold your breath and you might last two or three takes.”
And then, Creighton Melice stepped out of sight and turned on a valve somewhere, and the thirteen-foot-deep shark acclimation pool began to fill with water.