Wrecked

by Sydney Canyon

  “Where’s the other guy?” Berto questioned, looking around.

  Before Reid could say anything, Louie swung the wheelhouse door open with the spear gun aimed at Berto’s head.

  “Let Nadia go and there won’t be any problems. I have another coin,” Reid said, pulling a second gold piece from her pocket. “You can both have one, take off in the dinghy, and we’ll never have to see each other again.”

  “We don’t want a couple of coins, we want them all,” Juan sneered, lunging forward.

  Reid dove at him, knocking them both overboard.

  Louie pulled the trigger on the spear gun as Berto brought his pistol to Nadia’s face. The spear stuck through the middle of his forehead, jutting out the back of his skull as Nadia sunk to the floor, screaming.

  *

  Underwater, Reid and Juan grappled back and forth. He tried desperately to get to the surface, but Reid had pulled him to the bottom of the twenty foot deep water. She wrapped her feet around a coral rock to keep herself down, and held onto Juan’s leg as he flailed all around, trying to get free. She gripped his leg with all of her strength, knowing she could hold her breath much longer. Die you son of a bitch, she kept thinking over and over.

  A minute later, Juan stopped moving and a large air bubble escaped his nostrils and mouth. Reid gripped his pant leg, pulling him closer. His eyes were bulging out of their sockets, indicating he’d drown. She grimaced, pushing him away before she swam up, slowly releasing the air inside of her as she ascended. Her lungs burned from holding her breath for nearly two minutes while using every bit of strength and energy she had to hold the man down. She sucked in a huge breath when she broke the surface, causing her to gasp a few times.

  *

  Louie scanned the water with the binoculars in the direction where Reid went overboard with Juan, but he saw no signs of her. He knew Reid was very comfortable under the water and able to hold her breath much longer than most people because of her years of diving, but he was still on edge, trying to count the number of minutes she’d been under.

  Nadia stood against the gunwale, looking across the water as her heart pounded. It seemed like Reid had been underwater forever. She silently prayed over and over for Reid to come up. Please let her be okay, she thought.

  “Come back to me, Reid…please,” she whispered as a tear rolled down her cheek. She wiped the tear away, squinting when she saw something on the top of the water. “She’s alive!” Nadia shouted, pointing off the stern where Reid’s head was sticking out of the water.

  Louie cheered and set the binoculars down while Reid slowly swam over to the boat and climbed up onto the swim platform.

  “Holy shit,” Reid mumbled, as her lungs began to relax.

  “Holy shit is right, my friend,” Louie laughed, handing her a dry towel as she stepped over the stern rail.

  Nadia wrapped her arms around Reid’s wet body, meeting her lips with a gentle, yet passionate kiss. “I thought I’d lost you,” she sighed.

  “You can’t get rid of me that easily,” Reid said with a smile.

  Nadia’s face pressed against Reid’s neck, feeling her pulse against her cheek. “I love you,” she murmured.

  Reid pulled away, opening her mouth to speak, then she looked at Nadia at grinned. “You love me?”

  “Yes,” Nadia laughed as she pulled her in for a searing kiss.

  Reid held her a little tighter. “I love you, too,” she whispered in her ear.

  Louie stepped back, giving them a minute as he watched a seagull fly overhead. Seeing the love and admiration between the two women, made him think of Abeje and gave him hope that maybe he could find love again someday.

  “Where’s the other guy?” Reid finally asked, breaking his concentration when she noticed the bloody spear arrow on the deck and the trail of blood leading to the port gunwale.

  Louie pointed to the water. “He tried to shoot her, so I shot him in the forehead and we tossed him to the sharks.”

  Reid shook her head and softly laughed. “What a mess.”

  “What happens now?” Nadia asked.

  “Whether their boss knows about us or the treasure doesn’t matter. He’ll be looking for them soon, as well as this boat, when they don’t show up. We need to get rid of any trace of us,” Reid answered as she opened the compartment for the dive gear.

  “Where are you going?” Nadia asked, watching her strap on a dive tank, grab a mask, and pull on a set of flippers.

  “They have one of our gold coins,” Reid replied, looking around the deck of the boat for the coin she’d been holding when Juan lunged at her.

  “I think it went over with you,” Louie said.

  “Damn it,” Reid mumbled as she shook her head, pulled her mask on and flipped over the side into the water.

  TWENTY-FIVE

  Reid found Juan’s body quickly. He was lying on the bottom with his eyes still protruding from his face. She tried not to look at the disgusting sight as she searched his pockets. The only things she found were his wallet and pistol. She stuck them both in the net bag attached to her dive belt and began looking around the bottom for the coin that went overboard with her. She was about to go up to get the metal detector when she saw something shiny. Pumping her fist under water, she swam over, retrieving the doubloon.

  Unable to locate the second body, she surfaced near the stern of the boat and spit her regulator out.

  “I found the guy that went in with me, but I don’t see the other one,” she yelled.

  Louie grabbed the binoculars and climbed up on top of the wheelhouse near the radar and other antennas. Reid treaded water as he scanned back and forth. The last thing they needed was for his body to float into the harbor.

  “There he is!” Louie shouted, pointing off the bow of the boat where Berto’s overweight body was floating just below the surface and headed out to sea with the current.

  Reid swam over to the dinghy and pulled herself up inside of it. She quickly pulled off her dive mask and flippers, before starting the outboard and untying the line. The short ride out to the body, which was about fifty yards away from the boat, didn’t take long. She pulled up alongside, noticing the huge hole in the dead man’s forehead where the spear had gone through and been pulled back out.

  “Gross,” she murmured, reaching down to pull him halfway out of the water and into the boat far enough to check his pockets.

  His wallet and a set of car keys were in his back pocket, both of which she tossed in the floor of the raft. “Yes,” she cheered when she felt the gold coin in the front pocket of his jeans. She put it on the floor with the other items and held onto his torso as she motored the small boat further out to sea.

  When she could no longer see the Lady Pearl, Reid let go of the body, watching it sink about two feet under the surface. The water was dark blue, indicating it was fairly deep in that area. She hastily turned the inflatable around and raced back to the boat with the throttle twisted open as far as it would go.

  *

  Back aboard her boat, Reid showed Nadia the bowl full of coins and pictures of the cannon.

  “I can’t believe you found it!” Nadia exclaimed, holding one of the gold doubloons. “How old is this?”

  “The ship sank in 1709, so it was probably minted around the turn of the century.”

  “Wow,” Nadia murmured, running her finger over the markings and flipping it over in her hand. “I thought it would be more round, like the coins we use today.”

  “These were all handmade. They basically melted down a piece of gold until it was the correct thickness. The amount of the currency was based on its weight. Once they had the correct thickness for the weight, they simply cut out each coin by hand using a hammer and chisel. That’s why they’re shaped more like a stop sign than a real coin. Once they were cut out, they stamped them with different markings that indicated where they were from and how much they weighed. These are definitely Spanish doubloons because of these markings here,” she said, sh
owing her the different features.

  “Why aren’t they covered in barnacles like the cannon?”

  “Because they’re gold. That particular metal doesn’t oxidize and it’s not porous. Marine growth doesn’t stick to it and can’t live on it either.”

  “So, all of the coins should look like this?”

  “Yep. They look a lot duller out here in the sunlight, but when you shine a flashlight on them underwater, they light up like a Christmas tree.”

  Nadia shook her head in disbelief. “When you told me the story of the Duchess, I never thought you’d actually find it. I figured we were on a wild goose chase.” She placed the coin back in the bowl. “I’m amazed.”

  Reid smiled and squeezed her hand before she closed the lid and stowed the container. “Go ahead and pull the anchor up,” she said to Louie as she kissed Nadia softly and moved into the helm seat.

  “Where are we going?” Nadia asked.

  “We’re getting the hell away from here. Then, we have to get rid of this boat. The Dom will be looking for it before long.”

  “They only talked to him once that I know of and he had no idea they’d even found the boat. They had decided to kill us all and keep the treasure for themselves, screwing their boss over.”

  “That’s good. He will probably never be able to figure out who we are then,” Reid replied, feeling a bit of relief. “We have a six hour ride, so you might as well try and get some sleep.”

  “I think I’m going to take a shower first,” Nadia said, going into the cabin.

  “Where are we headed?” Louie asked, sitting down on the portside bench seat.

  “Back towards San Salvador. I’m going to scuttle this thing so there is no trace of it near those two bodies or the Duchess.”

  “That’s a good idea,” he replied. “The last thing we need is more trouble.”

  “Exactly.”

  Nadia stepped out of the cabin with her small toiletry bag. She was wearing a different bikini top with matching bottoms. “I know it’s only been two days, but I feel like it’s been months since I had a shower.”

  Reid smiled.

  “Take all the time you need,” Louie said. “After the last two days, I need a nap.”

  Nadia laughed, watching him lie down.

  Reid pulled her eyes away from the windshield and electronics in front of her, peering through the back window towards the stern where Nadia was lathering up with soap and rinsing it off with the freshwater washdown hose. She had on her bikini, but the sight was still breathtaking.

  “Eyes on the horizon, my friend,” Louie laughed.

  “Yeah, yeah,” Reid chuckled, turning back around.

  TWENTY-SIX

  Nadia was stretched out in a deck chair on the stern with her eyes closed behind her sunglasses, listening to the lull of the engine. She was tired, but couldn’t fall asleep. Every time she dozed off, she dreamt of being back in that musty motel room and immediately woke up. She wanted to go into the wheelhouse just to simply be near Reid. The thought of never seeing her again had crossed her mind so many times in the last two days, she was a little scared it may still happen. Their journey certainly wasn’t over. It surprised her how easily she had fallen for the adventurer, but knowing how close she came…they all came, to death, made her stop questioning the situation that brought them together and revel in the fact that she was in love.

  *

  Reid glanced through the window on the wheelhouse door, smiling when she saw Nadia. “We need to put a plan of action together,” she sighed, looking back through the windshield.

  “What do you want to do?” Louie asked.

  “We need to put this boat on the bottom,” she replied. “I think that is the safest thing to do. Those thugs are dead and if Nadia is right, they didn’t tell their boss about us, finding the boat, or the treasure for that matter. One thing is for sure, whether or not he figures out they’re dead, he will still be looking for this boat. We pretty much only had it docked a couple of times for fuel, which I paid for with cash. So, more than likely, he will never be able to tie us to any of this mess.”

  “The further we are from all of this, the better,” Louie agreed. “How are we going to sink it?”

  “I think if we put a big enough hole in her side, she’ll go down pretty easily,” she said. “Here, take the helm. We have a little less than an hour to go. I need to put all of my charts, research information, and coordinates for the Duchess into a dry bag.”

  Louie nodded, taking her seat.

  Reid went to work, stuffing all of her important documents carefully into a large, waterproof bag. She checked the cabin for anything else that would also need to be kept dry, then she rolled the top down and snapped it closed.

  “I need you to bring out all of the gas cans and dive tanks. We’re going to use them to fashion a bomb at the waterline,” Reid said to Louie as she opened the wheelhouse door. “Nadia, I need your help in here,” she called.

  Nadia yawned, stretching from sitting for so long in the uncomfortable position as she stood up. “Are we almost there?” she asked.

  “Yes. I need you to pack up the cabin. Put all of our belongings into the smallest bag you can fit them in. Then, pack up a little bag of food.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “We’re sinking the boat,” Reid said, retaking the helm as Louie headed out of the wheelhouse to retrieve the bomb-making materials.

  “We’re what?” Nadia exclaimed with her eyes bugging out of her head.

  “Sinking the boat,” Reid repeated. “We have to. It’s the only way to be sure we’ve broken all ties to those thugs and their boss.” She stood up, letting go of the steering wheel. “We’ll be okay,” she murmured, pulling Nadia against her.

  “I will be so glad when we’re back on land,” Nadia sighed.

  “I love life at sea. It’s where I can be me. I’m more comfortable on the water than anything else. Although, this trip has certainly been unlike anything I have ever experienced. It’s been a complete wreck, except for a couple of things.” Reid smiled, kissing Nadia’s lips softly. “Getting close to you and finding the Duchess are two of the best things that have ever happened to me in my entire life.”

  Nadia pushed Reid’s sunglasses up so she could see her eyes. “I had a feeling I was never going to see you again. I think that scared me more than being held captive.”

  “I’m thankful they didn’t hurt you. I’m sorry it took me so long to get you back. I knew I couldn’t lure them out without finding something enticing. The fact that I found the shipwreck is…well, it’s unbelievable,” she said, shaking her head as she sat back down, taking the wheel with one hand while keeping her other arm around Nadia’s waist.

  “My Italian grandmother used to tell me, everything happens for a reason. I believe her. I came to the islands in the first place to plead with my father to give me the remainder of my inheritance, including my portion from the sale of her property. Back home in Macedonia, my life is so different. I went away to college because I knew deep down, running the family business wasn’t what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. That money was my ticket out. I’ve been through hell and back on a trip he forced me to go on in order to see any of my money, that I’m sure, knowing what I know now, isn’t even there,” Nadia sighed. “But, I’d do it all over again because it brought me to you. This entire, fucked up trip, from beginning to however it ends, has happened so that you and I would find each other.”

  “You think so?” Reid grinned. “This has been a hell of a way to meet someone and fall in love.”

  Nadia laughed. “I completely agree. You know, I’ve thought a lot about what I am going to do when we get back to my father. Most of my ideas have been to punch him in the face, but honestly, I want to thank him for sending me on this trip with you. Then, I want to watch his face distort, knowing how much he can’t stand you, when I tell him I’m in love with you.”

  Reid chuckled. “Can I be a witness to t
hat?”

  “Absolutely. I may even throw in a little PDA, for spite.” Nadia smiled. “I also plan to tell him that you and Louie found that treasure. I wasn’t even on the damn boat. So, he has no claim in whatever happens.”

  “Guillermo can kiss my ass. We’ve used each other to get what we want for years, so as far as I’m concerned, it’s a draw. Game over,” Reid stated, looking through the windshield. “As for the Duchess, if it wasn’t for you being taken hostage, I may not have pushed myself to look in the area where I found the wreck. It was actually my last resort because it was the least probable based on known pirate routes, and potentially a waste of time. However, it has always been the course I favored. So, I guess it is kind of fitting that that’s where I found her.” She turned her eyes back to Nadia, who bent down, meeting her lips.

  “We’re ready out here,” Louie said, clearing his throat.

  “Great. We should be in the area in about twenty minutes,” Reid replied, looking at San Salvador Island coming into focus on the GPS and radar.

  TWENTY-SEVEN

  With one final check of the radar and a long sweep around with the binoculars to make sure no other boats or planes were in the area, Reid cut the engine. “I’m going to miss this boat,” she murmured, all alone in the wheelhouse as she took one last look at the GPS. The depth read 855 meters, which was a little over 2800 feet and the location was roughly fifteen nautical miles from land.

  Louie and Nadia were launching the dinghy when Reid stepped onto the stern deck. “Are we ready?” Louie asked.

  Reid nodded.

  Nadia began loading the bags into the raft. Then she climbed in, waiting while Louie and Reid used a dock line to tie two dive tanks and three gas cans together in a tight bundle. With a second line, they secured the contraption to the side of the boat, tying it to the stainless steel handrail, and lowering it until it was at the waterline. The last line, which had been doused in gas, was tied to the handrail and draped down. They stuffed it into the middle of their contraption and lit the top of it on fire. The rope began to burn quickly, with the flames racing towards their homemade bomb.