From INTO THE KILLING SEASThe sun was closer to the western horizon now. As it dropped further, the wind rose and came whistling across the surface of the water. Not long after that, the waves started up again, the pallet lifting and falling as it floated along. "Patty, boy, listen," Benny said. "The seas is gettin' rough again. You gotta wake Teddy up and you boys find a way to tie yourselves to this pallet. Use your belts. We don't need nobody fallin' off in the dark."I looked around at the water's surface. The waves were a couple of feet high and getting bigger. We had been in a debris field earlier and I wondered if maybe there was something floating by we could use. The only thing I found was a piece of wood about three feet long and four inches wide. I managed to snatch it from the water. I kept scanning the waters surface hoping to find a piece of rope, a strap or netting, anything, but the only thing I saw made me shrink back in fear"Benny we got worse problems," I said."What is it, sport?" "The sharks are back. The big ones." First one, then two, then five large dorsal fins popped out of the water, slowly circling the raft. Excerpted from Into the Killing Seas by Michael P. Spradlin All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.