Read Hungry Darkness: A Deep Sea Thriller for Free Online

fishing trips, Mr. Suarez,” replied Gabe. “Anything else is not really my business, so I will happily sign any confidentiality agreement you want me to and give you my word that this conversation will remain between us regardless of its outcome. If you know about me without talking to me, then that means you’ve talked to someone else about me. I hope that person also told you that I’m not one to be discussing anyone else’s business with anyone.”
    Suarez seems pleased. The smile returned to his face, lifting once again only the right side of his mouth. The man looked down at his desk and moved some papers around before finding what he was looking for. He pulled a document from under a few others, placed it on top of everything else, and turned it around so that it faced Gabe. Then he placed his index finger next to a dotted line at the bottom of the document.
    “I’m glad to hear that. Now please sign here and we can get down to business, Mr. Robles.”
    Rebeca’s hand darted into Gabe’s field of vision. She was holding out a black pen. Gabe took it. Her nails were long and painted a strange shade of purple that Gabe had never seen on nails before. The pen was heavy and obviously expensive. He thanked her and signed on the line. When he looked up, Suarez was busy looking for something on his computer monitor. Gabe could see it was entirely covered by icons.
    “Ah, here it is,” he said, and turned to face Gabe again.
    “I don’t know if you knew this, Mr. Robles, but an American named Nick Ayres recently received a grant from the National Geographic to explore Giant Cave. Ayres wanted to be the first one to explore the entire cave system, and he wanted to have a film crew with him while it happened. More than a scientist, Ayres was the kind of ego-driven explorer who cares more about seeing his name in big letters than about helping science reach new frontiers. Were you in any way familiar with Ayres’ efforts?”
    “No, sir,” replied Gabe.
    “Well, this man somehow got that grant, bought a boat, recruited a crew, and got the necessary permits to dive into Giant Cave. Unfortunately, it was the last thing he did. Last Friday the Coast Guard received a call from Ayres’ captain. Apparently the divers had been deep in Giant Cave when there was some commotion, and communication was lost. The captain decided to give them a few minutes. Those minutes ended up turning into a few hours. When it was clear the divers would not be returning because they had surely run out of oxygen, the captain made the call. The Coast Guard interviewed everyone involved and sent in a rescue team of three divers to see if they could find the bodies. Instead of the divers, the rescue team found some busted equipment and…hold on…” Suarez again looked down and rummaged through the papers covering his desk.
    “Here it is,” he said, picking up what looked like an official report with the Belize Coast Guard Service logo at the top. “They found a broken mask, a knife, two cameras, one of them broken, and a pair of scuba tanks that had been crushed by something. No sign of the divers. The Coast Guard retrieved the footage from the working camera. That’s what you’re about to see, and it’s the thing you can’t talk to anyone else about.”
    Gabe could think of nothing to say, so he remained quiet and nodded at Suarez the same way he’d done before. He was beginning to feel like a bobble head.
    Suarez turned the monitor toward Gabe another inch or so, grabbed his mouse, and clicked twice on a QuickTime file.
    The large screen was filled with a close up of a greenish rock. There was no sound. It was obvious the images had been shot underwater. The yellowish light and floating debris which seemed to be floating there instead of moving with a current, immediately told Gabe he was looking at the inside of the cave. The cameraman was taking his time panning down the rock. Then the shot moved as if the man had sneezed or been