Before she’d taken three steps, the thing in the boat moved again. And this time there could be no question. It was real. Unquestionably solid, undeniably human, it moved toward her, a fast-moving and barely seen blur.

Kathy’s first instinct was to raise her arm to protect her face. Her second, delayed by a precious second or two, was to run screaming, back toward the office. But as another ear-shattering rumble of thunder rolled across the sky, she knew she wasn’t going to have that chance.