The Devil's Triangle Read Online Free

face.
    ‘Medium?’ Callum offered tentatively.
    Sam, Niamh and Mr Cutler all burst out laughing. The waitress looked on, clearly bemused by the hilarity.
    ‘Sunny side up? Scrambled? Over easy?’ Sam offered, giving his friend a few options that the waitress would understand.
    ‘Oh, sunny side up, please,’ Callum said, flushing red with embarrassment.
    ‘Hash browns or grits?’
    ‘I’d go for hash browns if I were you,’ Sam suggested, delighted to see his friend fall for the usual question generators. ‘I don’t know how anyone can eat grits.’
    ‘Hash browns then, please.’
    ‘White or brown toast?’
    ‘White, please,’ he replied.
    Sam raised three fingers on his right hand. Callum ignored him.
    ‘Any sauces?’
    Sam raised another finger.
    ‘Ketchup will be fine, thanks.’
    ‘That’s great,’ the waitress said. ‘And will there be anything else at all?’
    ‘No, that’s it, thanks,’ Callum said.
    Mr Cutler was smiling openly. Niamh had her hands over her mouth to hide her grin, but her eyes were laughing louder than any smile.
    ‘Nice one, Cal,’ Sam chuckled. He turned to face the waitress. ‘I’ll have the steak and eggs, please. Steak medium rare, eggs over easy. No toast. Ketchup and a side of mushrooms, thanks.’
    The waitress nodded. ‘Anything else at all?’ she asked, seemingly by reflex.
    ‘No, that’s it, thanks,’ he said, pursing his lips and shaking his head as the others all took obvious delight in his failure.
    The only person who managed to order without being asked a single question was Niamh. Sam noted she looked suitably smug as she sipped her orange juice afterwards. ‘So what’s it to be, sis?’
    ‘Oh, any soft rock station will be fine,’ she said.
    ‘The winner of the Denny’s challenge gets to choose the radio station for the rest of the journey,’ Sam explained to Callum. ‘It could have been worse. If Dad had won, we’d have been subjected to Mozart, Bach and Handel for the next two hours.’
    The food came quickly and it was not long before they were back on the road. Once off the mainland and out on to the Keys, mangrove trees lined both sides of the road for much of the route between the more densely inhabited islands. Occasional views of the sea became progressively more frequent the further they drove. Just seeing the turquoise shallow waters and the darker blue beyond brought a forgotten excitement to Sam.
    To his surprise, he found he was looking forward to his summer holiday here with eager anticipation. It would be good to show off what the Keys had to offer to Callum. Just having him along brought a feeling of freshness to the place. Sam hadn’t felt this way about their summer holiday in the Keys for ages.
    The mood in the car was light, with much laughter at the advertisements, both on billboards and on the radio.
    ‘Avoid scurvy – eat Key lime pie,’ read Callum, laughing and pointing at a sign.
    ‘Don’t miss out on this amazing offer. Be shopper-tunistic!’ urged an advert on the radio.
    ‘Shoppertunistic? What sort of a word is that?’ Mr Cutler asked, shaking his head with apparent disbelief. ‘As you can see, Callum, people on this side of the Atlantic have little regard for the Queen’s English. What do you think, Niamh? Are you going to be shoppertunistic while we’re here?’
    ‘Of course I am, Dad. It’s top of my priority list,’ she replied. ‘Right above having a tantastic time.’
    They all laughed, and for the next ten minutes everyone took turns in making up words that ranged from outrageous to ridiculous, and, as they found more and more things to laugh at, the journey to the house seemed to fly by. Sam was genuinely surprised when he saw the sign for Summerland Key ahead.
    ‘Wow!’ he said. ‘That was a quick run.’
    ‘No traffic to speak of,’ his dad agreed, turning the car into the road that led to the house. ‘Here we are, Callum. Welcome to our home from home.’

 
CHAPTER THREE
    The