“Just a sec. I saw something I just have to take care of.”
“What?” she asked.
Ned pulled down a can of beef stew he’d bought, emptied it into a dish, then filled a small plastic bowl with water, and gave it to Madison.
At the door, the dog lifted up his head and began to skitter off toward the beach.
“Here you go, boy. I’ve got some food for you,” he said, extending the bowl toward the scrawny animal. He laid it down and took Madison’s bowl, setting the water beside it before backing away. He stepped inside the living room, closing the door.
The two of them watched as the dog sniffed the food and then started gulping it down. Ned could see the ribs on the side of the mutt and wondered if a previous owner living here had left him behind. He was heartened that the dog ate.
“Aww. Poor thing. I’m so glad you fed him. I can’t imagine how some people treat their pets,” she said.
“I’ll get some regular food maybe tonight. See if he comes back. But that should do him some good now.”
Ned was happy he’d solved his conscience. The brownish mutt looked up at him with warm brown eyes and licked his nose. The bowl was empty.
It made him proud to be that kind of a man.
“Jesus fuckin’ Christ,” Noonan said, checking his watch. “Don’t they teach you to be on time? You start all your missions like forty minutes late?” he barked at Ned.
They had agreed to meet at Flamingo Pete’s, a crusty bar up the road in Indian Shores. Ned understood Noonan was trying to be stealth about his new find.
Travis had a stupid expression on his face and had devoured a plate of French fries. Noonan didn’t even ask if anyone wanted to eat.
“What did you find out?” Ned asked, not addressing Noonan’s dig.
They were seated at a high table off in the corner near the parking lot. Traffic noise made listening difficult, but Ned knew it was chosen for that reason.
“I got a friend who does these subcontracts out to bigger dive companies. They hire him when they get a good lead. Otherwise, he goes out on his own. He said there was a buzz about ten years ago about something, but he looked into it and can’t find a claim. I don’t want to show my face around the office. I tried Googling the area and can’t find a damned thing. But ten years ago? I mean there wasn’t that much out there. At least not on this coast.
“He checked archeological sites, not just pleasure dives?”
“He did. Looked up all the bigs and couldn’t find anything. He was going to go back to the office on Monday to do some additional digging around, but we have a couple of choices.”
They waited.
“We can file a claim, like the family did for the salvage. I mean, we have a right to be there. But we’re supposed to let the State of Florida know what we suspect we’ve found. On the other hand, we could also tell the estate what we found on their dime, so to speak. I mean, it’s a grey area.”
“Who are they?” Madison asked.
“From North Carolina. Some businessman there owns furniture stores or something. I dealt with their attorney.”
“So you’re diving for people you don’t really know?” asked Ned.
“Hey! May I remind you that you’re in the same boat!”
“But I assumed—” Ned began to protest.
“You know what they say about that word. Look, we have to make a decision.”
“What if we go back down there this weekend, look around, and then wait until your friend gets more information on Monday?” suggested Madison.
“We could. I mean, we are legally allowed to be there,” Noonan answered.
“Let me get this straight. What you’re saying is that there’s the proper way, and then there’s a smart way,” added Ned.
“Yes. And either way could be dangerous. Not for finding a fuckin’ dog collar. That was a no-brainer. No problem. But now, if we’ve found something big, well, people have disappeared over that. And if we report it to the State, there’s no guarantee that someone doesn’t get tipped off, you know. I mean, I want to trust everyone in government, but Ned, do I have to tell you there are dirty players out there, especially if we’re talking about—”
Their waitress appeared, asking for their drink order. Before Ned could decline, Travis ordered a beer. Ned knew Noonan wasn’t happy with that. When the waitress went away, he scolded the young diver.
“Shit, Travis. We’re trying to be left alone. Just where is your head at?”
Ned’s growing concern over Travis as a dive partner was tarnished further. They all searched around them for signs anyone was interested in the foursome, waiting until the beer arrived, and then Ned continued.
“I like Madison’s idea. We go look for something concrete first, something we can have verified before we make a claim.”
Travis asked, “And what about the red rocks, Noonan? Anything come of them?”
“Mush. It might have been an iron tool of some kind. But it was like red pudding, just fell apart in my hands,” said Noonan.
“That’s too bad,” whispered Madison. “I was hoping for something there.”
Ned continued with his question. “What are the rules about this sort of thing? I mean, does the fact that you got the permission for the one dive mean that anything as a result of that dive is also theirs?”
“It could. One could argue either way. We were given the authority to keep some artifacts for ourselves, limited to a value of five hundred dollars. So we find a chest, something special, well, you couldn’t argue that it was worth less than five hundred, could you?”
Travis suddenly pushed his arm across the table at Madison.
“Where’d you get that?” he said as he pulled the mermaid pendant with the eight coin up from her chest.
Noonan slapped his hand. “You don’t touch a lady like that, you dumbass. That’s her person and her stuff.” He sat back and winked at Ned. There was a reason he didn’t want to acknowledge the pendant to Travis, so Ned played along.
Madison was just as smart. “A friend of my mother’s gave it to me.” She tucked it into her shirt and added, “It’s a replica. If it were the real thing, well, would I be wearing it around?”
Travis grinned, “Still a pretty nice piece. It suits you, Madison. I like it.”
Ned’s concern over their situation grew. He locked eyes with Noonan. He wished the old pirate hadn’t included Travis in his findings. Maybe it would be a good idea to surgically remove him from the group, make up something to send him away thinking their find was not really the valuable wreck of a Spanish Galleon. It was all getting sticky.
But Noonan was being honorable to the young diver. “So I agree. We go down one more time, see if we can find anything we can research. And then we’ll reassess on Monday after I hear from my buddy.”
“I’m cool with that,” said Travis.
Madison nodded. She looked at Ned. “Are we in?”
“Hell yeah,” Ned answered.
“Okay, it’s oh-eight-hundred, same place?” Noonan asked the group, and everyone agreed.
Ned and Madison stopped at a local pet store and bought a small bag of kibble and some canned food to moisten it up.
“You mind slumming at my place tonight?” he asked her on the way back to his cottage.
“As long as I’m slumming with you, I don’t. It does smell a little bit. Do you have any candles?”
“We’ll get some.”
They stopped at a beach shop where he let Madison pick out three pillars. He also bought some shampoo and shower gel and sweet-smelling hand soap. He knew ladies liked that sort of thing. This pad had never been intended to be a place to entertain her in.
They also bought some ice cream and stopped and ordered Mexican food to go.
The dog wasn’t there when they returned. He left the water, but started another dish with the new food he bought, substituting it for the dirty one, before going inside to have their dinner.
Madison set one
of the candles on the table between them. She placed another one in the bathroom with the shower gel and soap, and she placed the third one by his bed on the tiny bedside table. He liked watching her work her magic, setting up a stage for the evening, not being shy about what she wanted to do.
They ate without speaking. He was hungrier than he’d thought.
She leaned back, sipping on her beer. “Are you nervous about this?”
“No, not at all. I’ve made love to a woman before,” Ned said with a completely straight face.
She rapid-blinked at the joke. “You know what I mean.”
He pulled her hand to him and kissed her palm. “I do. I get your meaning. I’m on your wavelength. Totally.” He followed it up with a smile as she put her hand back in her lap.
He picked up the two empty containers, taking them to the trash in the kitchen. “Ice cream?”
“Maybe later?”
“I think you’re gonna be busy later. No time for ice cream.”
“Depends on how you use it.”
He’d opened the gallon lid and was just about to scoop himself a large bite. He stopped mid-air and pointed the spoon at her. “You have a point there. I might need further instruction. Should I bring it into the bedroom then?” He raised his eyebrows like he was waiting for her command.
“No. I have something else in mind, first.”
“Okay. She’s being all mysterious tonight.” He put the lid back on the ice cream and placed the spoon in the sink.
“I’m not being mysterious at all. I just find there are things more important than ice cream. First things first. And then dessert. That’s just the way I look at it.”
He quickly arrived at her side, pulled her up, and started to remove her blouse.
Behind him, he heard a bark. The dog had finished the plate of food Ned brought him and walked away.
“He says he likes it,” said Madison.
“Oh, so mermaids talk to dogs, do they?” he said while he removed her bra and gasped at the look of her breasts with the pendant hanging between them.
“They do.”
“What else do they do?
“They have very sensitive fingers,” she said as she slipped her hand inside his waistband and grabbed him.
“Oh, sweetheart, you are so right.”
“They like deep diving too.”
“I can just bet they do.” He knelt before her, unzipped her jeans, and pulled her pants down to her knees. He placed his hand on the juncture between her thighs. He rubbed her panties back and forth, curling two fingers to fondle the ridge between her lips. “They love to dive for buried treasure,” he said as he exhaled and slipped her panties down over her jeans.
As his fingers breached her swollen lips, he felt her hands on his shoulders. She leaned over, spread her knees, and gave him access. His tongue slid inside her opening. He leaned back and looked up at her.
“Nice. You are so sweet.” With one arm under her knees and the other under the small of her back, he picked her up, her jeans still flapping behind. Until he could remove everything.
While he undressed, he watched her position herself back on his bed, prop her little butt under one of his pillows, and fondle the necklace glistening between her nipples.
She squeezed her little rosy pink areolas until they got stiff. She licked her lips. His cock was rock hard and ready. He wasn’t going to think about anything else tonight except how many times he could make her come.
There would be time tomorrow for his logical side. But in the meantime, there was a lot of her golden flesh to kiss, to explore.
And there was a whole gallon of ice cream to eat.
Chapter 16
Travis and Noonan were waiting for them when she and Ned arrived. They were a whole ten minutes early. They’d even had time to take a morning run on the beach. Their stray followed them part of the way then greeted them when they returned. He was left with some food. Neither one of them were able to touch him yet.
Madison’s wetsuit and flippers were loaded. Ned grabbed his equipment from the pile Noonan had once again assembled on the pier and checked it.
The morning was a little cooler with fingers of light grey fog stretching out into the gulf like those of a skeleton. No one was out yet, but Sundays were light days, especially for the drinking crowd, Noonan told them.
He let Travis pilot the boat for a bit while he grabbed the two of them, directing them down into the galley for coffee.
“What’s up?” Ned asked as he was handed his coffee.
“My guy called me last night and asked if we’d said anything to anybody.”
“Uh oh,” said Madison. She knew there was the only one place such a leak would come from.
“I knew it, dammit.” Ned started grinding his teeth.
“I’m gonna tell my friend to just file a damned claim for us tomorrow. Try to make a mistake on the coordinates and correct them later.”
Madison didn’t know that was an option. “Aren’t you going to confront him?”
“Trouble with all these treasure seekers, they all try to stay secretive. Like pulling teeth to get anything out of my buddy. He just left it at that; it was a rumor.”
“Could be the old rumor,” Ned added.
“The coincidence is uncanny,” Noonan said. “I don’t trust him. But then, who would Travis know? He doesn’t know anybody. He’s not plugged in at all.”
Madison disagreed. She knew if there was one rumor it had the potential to get out of control. “You have to find out who he talked to about our dive. Maybe someone knew he was going and got it out of him. Someone could have just been smarter.”
“I’m with Madison. I think someone’s just fishing.”
“Well, I’m going to have a little talk with him when I go up top. Just keep your eyes and ears open. Let me know if you see anything about him that sets you funny,” sighed Noonan.
“I wanna search his pack.” Ned wasn’t kidding.
Madison thought it was an excellent idea.
“Go ahead, but I don’t want to know about it, okay?”
“Agreed. Unless I find something.”
“I’m going up. Make it quick. I’ll make sure he’s tied up for ten or so.”
After Noonan climbed the ladder, Ned grabbed the diver’s backpack and unzipped the large side first. He found a hash pipe and a small tin foil wad in a baggie.
“Fuckin’ drugs,” he muttered.
“That’s not bad, Ned. You should see what people do here,” she added.
Ned continued with his search and found a cell phone, a change of shorts, some candy, a soda can, and a small wad of dollars.
“Doesn’t look like anything here is out of the ordinary.”
Madison unzipped the small bottom pocket and found a sketchbook and black felt tipped pen. She flipped through the pages. Travis was actually a fairly good artist, which surprised her. The last page drawn on was a sketch of the anchor. She held it up to Ned.
“Sonofabitch.”
“Might not mean anything. He might not have shown it to anyone,” she said.
“It depends where he drew it. I don’t like it.”
“He doesn’t say where it came from. It could have been an illustration from a book, for all anyone knows.”
“Why are you defending him?”
“I’m not. I’m just thinking you’re getting a little paranoid, that’s all.”
“You haven’t seen the kinds of things out there I have. There are people who will sell their children to get their hands on something that has the potential to make them some money. The world is a very wicked place.”
“I know, but don’t make things up that don’t exist, Ned. This isn’t proof he showed anybody.”
“But—”
Noonan’s booming voice told them to get topside.
A rubber pontoon boat with several divers lay off to their left. The fog had partially obscured them. Madison wondered if they’d followed the group.
“Who are they?” asked Ned.
“I think they’re just weekend divers,” said Travis.
“How do you know that?” Noonan drilled him. “You know any of the guys over there?”
“I can’t tell. But no, I don’t think so. I don’t know anyone that has an inflatable like that. They’re all in black. Look like research grunts to me,” answered Travis.
“We’re changing course,” Noonan said and took over the wheel. He passed a map to Travis. “Find me something over here,” he said pointing to a deep portion of the gulf. “I’m going to pretend we’re on our way over there. I don’t want them following us.”
Travis pointed out the notation of a fishing vessel that sank ten years previous. “We could be doing a recovery dive there.”
As Noonan veered left, the boat next to them continued straight ahead, right toward the spot they intended to explore, disappearing into the mist.
“Shit,” he muttered under his breath.
But they stuck to their plan, even went so far as to prepare for a dive. Noonan shut the motor down and was preparing to drop the anchor. Travis slipped off his khakis and tee shirt then put the wetsuit on over his underwear. He folded his clothes, leaving them in a plastic cubby, placing his red cell phone on top.
Madison noted that the other phone Ned found in the galley was brown. She held the phone up so Ned would see it. Noonan was perplexed.
Ned picked Travis up under his arms and threw him overboard before he had any of his gear on. The metal detector crashed in behind him.
Travis scrambled to retrieve it. “Hey! What the hell was that for? You asshole. Keep your hands off me.”
“Who’d you tell, Travis?” asked Ned, leaning over the boat.
“What do you mean? Tell what?”
“Crank her over, Noonan. Let’s see how bad he wants to talk.”
Before Noonan could turn the key, Travis was sputtering, screaming, “No!” He swam to climb up the ladder, the metal detector in his left hand. Ned grabbed the machine and then kicked Travis in the chest, sending him backward into the water again.
“Who was it? You’re not getting back on this boat until you tell me.”
Treasure Island SEAL: Pirate SEAL Rescues his Mermaid (Sunset SEALs Book 3) Page 11