Sunken Shadows

by Kathleen Brooks

  “Diversion it is then.” Granger turned to the group. “Raise your hand if you have a boat. “One, two, three . . . eight.”

  “Okay, good. Here’s what we’re going to do. Trent, since you look the most like Wade, you and Harper take Wade’s boat out with Kord. Harper, wear a hat. I want them to think you’re Wade and Darcy. But to confuse them even more, I wish I had the same hats for everyone. Then we all leave at the exact same time and as soon as we get out of the harbor, we each break off in a different direction. It would be eight options for them to choose from and, hopefully, we’ll be able to see if anyone is following, and I can cut him off.”

  “I have plenty of identical hats,” Maggie said with a smile.

  “Great. Get them,” Granger ordered as he went back to studying the map.

  “I need something in exchange.” Darcy wondered what Maggie was getting at because it looked like she had something up her sleeve.

  “I’ll pay for them, just get them,” Ryker barked.

  “It’s not money I want, but your body.”

  “Magnum!” her father said with wide eyes.

  “I want every single one of you—” Maggie smiled even wider, “—bachelors for my charity auction.”

  Darcy hid her laughter by coughing, but the rest of the women let loose.

  “Honey,” Suze said as she fought, and lost, not to smile. “I don’t normally condone blackmail, but it is for charity. Gentlemen?”

  One by one they agreed, reluctantly. Darcy had to hand it to Maggie. She’d just gotten a month’s worth of begging and cajoling done in one minute.

  “I’ll be right back.”

  “Will you take Trent’s boat?” Granger asked as they waited for Maggie to return.

  “I was hoping to take Ryker’s since it’s the fastest.” Darcy thought she’d be a nervous wreck when she found a clue this big, but it was hard to be nervous when they were making her laugh.

  Ryker’s lips fell into a frown as he crossed his arms over his chest. “It’s a brand new boat,” he complained.

  “But it’s the fastest, and we have the farthest to go,” Wade pointed out.

  Darcy was pretty sure Ryker growled, but he dropped his arms in defeat. “Fine,” he said, tossing his keys to Wade. “But no dead people in it this time.”

  “Here you go,” Maggie called out. She was breathing heavily as she carried a box so large that Darcy couldn’t see her face from behind it.

  Ryker turned and grabbed it from her and set it on the floor. Maggie opened it and pulled out not only identical hats, but identical shirts that all read BACHELOR on them.

  Ryker turned his glare to Darcy. “You owe me, and I always collect.”

  “I’ll give you a diamond if I find the treasure,” Darcy joked.

  “I have enough money. I deal in favors.”

  “I’m pretty sure half the town wants to give you their favors,” Miss Winnie said in the quiet. Darcy laughed again as each man and woman put on the matching T-shirts and hats.

  Darcy snapped pictures of the map and had Suze put it in the most secure location she could find, which turned out to be a safe in the office. Edie ran over to Wade’s house and got Darcy’s equipment while they were getting ready. Fifteen minutes after the possible location of the treasure was marked, everyone stood behind the closed doors in the lobby. Everyone had on matching BACHELOR shirts and hats and were carrying DOSL tote bags. They had been paired as best they could in teams of one man and one woman. They’d all been assigned boats to take and had keys in hand.

  “Thank you,” Darcy said loud enough to get everyone’s attention. “Before meeting Wade and coming to Shadows Landing, I thought I didn’t need a team. I didn’t need friends. I thought I could do it all on my own. I realize now, that while I probably could, it’s not nearly as meaningful. In a short time, I’ve found love, friendship, and a place to call home, and it’s because of each of you. Thank you.”

  Wade pulled her against him and kissed the top of her head as her friends rushed to give her hugs. It was an odd yet absolutely right feeling to suddenly belong. Her heart was full, and she was ready to face anything with her friends at her side.

  Darcy reached over and laced her hand with Wade’s and faced the group after the last hug was given. “Now, who wants to see if this crazy theory of mine is right?”

  29

  Suze and Clark opened the locked doors to the street. No one talked as they kept their heads down and walked quickly down the street to the marina or the nearby riverfront houses as one large group. They peeled off, two by two, headed to their assigned boats and prepared to launch. In under ten minutes, they had the Cooper River looking like a highway during rush hour as they sped toward Charleston Harbor side by side, row by row.

  As Wade drove he kept his eyes on the people in front of him and glanced behind him as well. A minute behind them, almost out of sight, was Granger. He was keeping his distance in order to see if anyone followed them.

  “The equipment looks good,” Darcy said from where she sat on the deck of the boat, checking scuba gear. “Actually, it looks better than good. I’ve got to hand it to your cousin. Ryker sure knows how to get the best of the best. He even has a wireless diver communication system. I just push it to talk and communicate with the boat.”

  Wade smiled down at Darcy who was so excited she was practically vibrating with excitement. “Would you check mine, too?”

  “I was thinking about that,” Darcy called up to him as she grabbed the other diving gear. “If you’re diving with me, no one is keeping an eye out for whoever is behind these murders.”

  “My family will be close.”

  “Close, yes, but still a good distance away. That was the point—to divide up so whoever is behind this wouldn’t know who to follow. Most of your relatives will be out of sight completely.” Darcy took a deep breath, and Wade saw the vulnerability but also the trust she was showing him. “And I trust you to keep me safe. I will be able to focus one hundred percent on the treasure when I know you have my back.”

  Wade hated having her out of sight, but Darcy made an excellent point. And with the communication system, they could talk to each other. Granted, underwater wireless communication wasn’t always the best. However, it was still better than nothing.

  “I’ll always have your back. I’ll keep watch and you finish what you started. I have no doubt you’ll find it.”

  Darcy stood up and wrapped her arms around him as he drove. “Thank you so much for believing in me.”

  “Always.” Wade turned his head and kissed her quickly before slowing down as they entered the harbor.

  Wade’s phone indicated there was a text message, and he looked down at it. “Granger said no one is following us.”

  “Good. Let’s hope it stays that way.”

  Darcy wrapped her hands around his arm and leaned her cheek against his shoulder. In silence, they made their way out of the harbor and the group split as soon as they were in open water.

  “It’s crazy to think about,” Darcy said, breaking the silence.

  “What is?” Wade asked as he headed for Rattlesnake Shoal.

  “Thinking that three hundred years ago a teenage kid sank the ship of one of the most notorious pirates of his time. He would have been rowing for his life right through here. It’s almost as if I feel Timothy with us here. The tension. The heart-pounding nervousness. Is this how he felt being chased?”

  “Hopefully, we aren’t being chased, and back then Timothy was just with his two buddies. You have half of Shadows Landing here to back you up. No one will touch you. We’ll all make sure of it.” Wade looked down into Darcy’s upturned face. “But Timothy is here. He’s waited three hundred years for someone to find what he left.”

  Wade looked around at the boats already out on the waters. The number of his friends and family in sight had decreased. There were already some tourists, some fishermen, and some cargo ships out here. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, though. />
  “The shoal is another mile out,” Wade told Darcy.

  “How many miles offshore are we?”

  “We’re almost three miles out now,” Wade confirmed for her. It would be a legal nightmare if the boat were in state waters. The best scenario was to be beyond the state’s control of the water, but not so far out that it became international waters. Dealing only with U.S. federal laws would make things easier for salvaging.

  “Good. There should be no fighting over the distance then.” Darcy stood stiffly as she looked out ahead of them. Wade didn’t bother with conversation. Darcy was deep in thought. She was probably running over every clue to verify they were in the right place.

  It seemed to take an age, but they finally reached the shoal. “There’s Rattlesnake Shoal,” Wade said, breaking into Darcy’s thoughts.

  “Okay, let’s do this.” Darcy looked at the map with the dancing steps drawn over it and began giving him step-by-step instructions.

  * * *

  Darcy felt cold. Her whole body felt as if it were frozen. She was stiff, and while she wanted to move, she couldn’t without thinking about it. It was as if her whole body was on overload when Wade stopped the boat. This was it.

  This was the moment she found out if she was a failure or if she had achieved her dreams. Twelve years. She was about to discover if twelve years of her life had been wasted hunting for something that didn’t exist.

  “What’s the depth?”

  “We’re in luck,” Wade told her. “The shoal is only eleven feet or so. Then it goes down to thirty feet. We’re a mile past the shoal and this spot happens to be only eighteen to twenty feet deep for a couple hundred yards before falling to thirty. A little way out and the ocean floor drops dramatically. Around this area is a different matter, though. It’s shallower, but you also need to be careful. This area was used as a mine-dumping site. It’s why I’m not anchoring.”

  “Mines?” Darcy asked shocked. Why hadn’t he told her this before? “Are you saying I am excavating a freaking minefield?”

  “The Navy used the area for sonar-detection practice. The Coast Guard was told about it and the Navy said there were probably some bombs left down there but most likely inert, not armed or anything.”

  “Probably?” Oh great. Now on top of finding a treasure, she had to avoid a murderer and not get blown up. “Did they set off explosives in this area?”

  “I don’t know. It was before my time.”

  “If they did, they could have damaged the ship or at the very least either exposed it or worse, covered it with debris.” Darcy blew out her breath. She was agitated now and snapping at Wade. It wasn’t his fault, but her nerves were frayed.

  “Take a deep breath.” Wade took her by her upper arms and rubbed some heat into them, even though it was ninety degrees outside. “We know X marks the spot, literally. It’s right down there, and you’re going to find it. You’re about to validate your life’s work.”

  Darcy took a deep centering breath and nodded. “I’ve got this.”

  “You do.” Wade helped her put on her oxygen tank and walked to the steps at the back of the boat with her. “I have faith in you. Be safe and find your treasure.”

  Darcy leaned forward and kissed him hard and fast. She was afraid he’d be able to taste her fear and her nervousness. She pulled back, and he bent down to strap a knife to her thigh and a second one to her forearm.

  “Now, just be careful and go get it. I’ll be here, waiting to kiss you as soon as you come back up.”

  Darcy nodded and pulled her mask on. She pushed the transmitter. “Testing, testing.”

  She heard it crackle on the transmitter setup on the boat and Wade gave her a thumbs-up. This was it. Darcy took another deep, slow breath with her eyes closed. When she opened them and looked around, she saw her friends way off in the distance on both the right and left. Between them were some fishermen and a party boat filled with young women tanning and sipping on drinks. If this all went well, tonight she’d be toasting with a big bottle of champagne to the greatest treasure ever found.

  Darcy looked over her shoulder and winked at Wade before jumping into the Atlantic Ocean.

  * * *

  Wade let out the breath he was holding, but his body didn’t relax. Instead, he was on high alert. He picked up his phone and sent a group text.

  Wade: She’s gone under. Does anyone see anything suspicious?

  Granger: No one followed you that I could tell.

  Ridge: Nothing here. I’m keeping an eye on the party boat between us.

  Tinsley: Stop looking at scantily clad women and watch the waters.

  Ridge: You’re no fun, sis.

  Wade smiled as the rest of his friends and family texted that they didn’t see anything. If he were anyone else he’d relax, but he knew better than anyone how the ocean could turn dangerous in a split second.

  Now all there was to do was to wait and remain vigilant. Wade picked up the transmitter and pushed the button. “How are you doing?”

  “All clear so far.”

  He let out another breath at Darcy’s response. “I’ll check in every five minutes.”

  “Okay.”

  Wade set his watch to beep every five minutes before turning to pick up a pair of binoculars. He slowly scanned the area as if he were conducting a search-and-rescue. Not a single wave was unaccounted for by the time his watch beeped again.

  30

  Darcy swam almost straight down. She wasn’t herself, and she was afraid she’d mess up. She was jumpy and completely on edge. Every fish, every sea creature had her jerking to a stop and reaching for her knife.

  “Check in.” She knew the first five minutes were past as Wade’s voice crackled through. It wasn’t loud, and it wasn’t clear, but it was good enough.

  “I’m at the ocean floor. You were right. It’s not that deep here. I am registering eighteen feet.” What she didn’t tell him was she’d been here for minutes, too scared to see what was below her.

  “Begin your grid search and I’ll check back in five minutes for an update.”

  The coms went quiet, and Darcy shifted into action. She spent the next ten minutes marking out a hundred-by-hundred-foot section of the sea floor with bright yellow flags. Every ten feet was marked with a tiny GPS coordinator that had her name on them.

  The routine was familiar and relaxed her. When Wade checked in again, she asked him to pull up the GPS trackers to verify they were on. “I’ve got a large field of active GPS,” he told her.

  “I’m going to start in the first grid in the lower right. I’ll work my way left and then to the second row and work my way back to the right. First grid is one. Second is two. I’ll call up when I clear each grid if you don’t mind marking it on the app.”

  Darcy was organized now and ready to get started. She pulled out her metal detector and got to work.

  * * *

  Wade had the GPS app up on his phone as he waited for Darcy to clear the first grid. He scanned the waters while he waited. The party boat hadn’t moved. Fishing boats were coming and going while some were trolling the area for the best spot.

  “Five minutes,” Wade said.

  “Okay,” Darcy said back.

  Wade set the communication device down and scanned the area with binoculars again. A second party boat had just come into view way off in the distance. People were still hard to make out, but it was clear this boat was filled with young men. One of the men pointed and Wade followed his direction. They’d seen the girls’ party boat. The guys’ boat turned almost comically straight for the girls. In fifteen minutes, the boys and girls would meet up. Wade moved on with his scan. He’d let Ridge handle that one.

  He was about to check on Darcy again when she reported that grid one was clear. After a moment of pressing buttons, Wade got a check to appear on the outer flag on the first grid.

  His phone rang as he was watching the ocean. “Yes,” he said when he saw Granger’s number.

 
“I don’t see a darn thing. I called Detective Chambers and asked for the location of Hugo and Cash. Their boats are still docked in Charleston. According to the marina owner, they’ve been there all night and all day.”

  Finally, Wade felt as if he could breathe. “Thanks for checking on that. Are you going in?”

  “No, I’ll stay out until Darcy is done diving for the day. I’m at the entrance of the harbor, so I’m a good distance away from you. Kord is the closest to you with Trent and Harper.”

  “Yeah, Ridge is close too. He’s with Edie since she’s the second-closest in appearance to Darcy.”

  “How is Darcy doing?”

  “Grid two, clear,” Darcy’s voice said as if answering Granger.

  “Got it,” Wade responded back to Darcy before putting the phone on speaker and checking off the second grid. “She’s set up a grid and has started a search. I wish I was down there with her.”

  “It’s better that you have eyes above the surface. If we have two boats together, it will clue anyone in that you’re the main target. This way Darcy can do her thing and you can watch her back.”

  “As you watch mine.”

  “What are friends for?” Granger said, not expecting a response. “I’ll check in again in thirty minutes.”

  “Darcy will come up for air in another hour. She said at this depth she gets almost two hours with her oxygen, but to be on the safe side, she’ll surface every ninety minutes.”

  “Okay. Talk to you soon.”

  * * *

  Wade set down his phone and picked up his binoculars. Time seemed to creep by slowly, but one by one, he marked off the grids as Darcy searched them. Granger checked in twice again as did the rest of the group via text.

  “Darcy, it’s time to surface.”

  “I’m on the last grid of the row. My pressure gauge shows that I have enough time as long as I keep my breathing as steady as I have been.”

  “Okay, but don’t push it.”