“How the fuck? Oh, come on, Noonan. This guy’s wacko.”
“Tell him what he wants to know,” shouted Noonan.
Travis hit the water with his fist, “Fuck!”
Madison could see no one was going to budge. Noonan edged closer to Ned. “You wanna explain this to me?”
“He’s got two cell phones. Either one of them could track us. He has a sketch in his backpack of the anchor.”
“All right. Let me explain. Can I come up now?” Travis pleaded.
Noonan helped him up the ladder and threw a towel at him. Ned ran below decks and came up with the other phone, which he held in front of Travis’ face.
“They told me to call them when we got to the site. Look, you’re gonna file a claim anyway, and you have the right to be there, like you said.”
“Who are they, Travis?” asked Noonan.
“They’re just kids. Went to high school with them. Look, they don’t dive. They don’t know what the fuck they’re doing.”
“So why do they care about the coordinates?” Ned asked.
“I don’t know. They just gave me a hundred bucks to do it. That’s all. Honest, I didn’t tell them anything.”
“How did they know then?” he asked again.
“I scored some weed from one of them. I owe him a little bit for it, and I told him I was going to be paid for this dive, and he agreed to wait. When I got back, he was waiting for me, and I told him we were going back, but I didn’t have anything for him yet. But I promised I would. When he asked about it, I told him I couldn’t talk about it.”
Both Ned and Noonan swore at the same time.
“You are a fuckin’ idiot, Travis,” barked Noonan.
“They aren’t connected to any of this stuff. I don’t even know if they swim. I do a little bit of drugs with them, nothing bad, a little stuff here and there to take the edge off.”
“You don’t have anything you need to take the edge off except the occasional thought running through that pea-sized brain about getting a job. You just have to get high until that little ‘feeling’ goes away. You’re off this dive, Travis,” yelled Noonan.
Madison didn’t know what they would do. If they went back to the dock, tossed Travis, and then went back out, it might attract too much attention.
“We can’t risk it. We have to go back.” Noonan looked like he could throw everyone overboard; he was so angry.
“I say we go out, but he stays in the boat. Maddie and I can take the gear,” said Ned.
“You could come with us, Noonan,” Maddie suggested. “Travis can watch the bridge.”
“Nope. Not putting my boat in the hands of a kid who did this.”
Madison knew he was thinking about it, seriously. Finally, he made a decision.
“Okay, you two go. Travis and I stay up top,” Noonan finally mumbled.
“Then let’s crank her up. First, we get rid of this.” Ned pitched the brown phone as far as he could, where it made a tiny splash and disappeared.
Noonan grabbed Travis’ other phone and pitched it as well.
“Hey!” Travis protested.
“So you get a new phone out of me. You get to be the dumbass, and I have to buy you a new fuckin’ phone. But I don’t trust you with either. Ned, Madison, I want your phones.”
“Hold up, I’m not throwing my phone overboard,” objected Ned.
“No, I just want to hold on to them to make sure he doesn’t give out a signal. That’s all.”
Travis sulked with his arms crossed over his chest. Noonan started the motor, and Madison watched Ned slip on his wetsuit, sliding the zipper up his front slowly, giving her a wink. He helped her zip up hers and then planted a kiss on her lips.
“Here’s to another adventure.”
She’d been sure she didn’t want to fall for dangerous guys, but what they were going to do was dangerous. She sat next to Ned as the boat turned, heading North East, holding his hand and enjoying the feel of his warmth as their thighs touched.
Chapter 17
If this had been a mission for work, he’d have a boatload of guys who could probably overtake an oil tanker, subdue the crew, and drive the thing back to port. They even used to joke about it. He had backup and backup for his backup. He’d be properly armed. They’d have some of the best equipment made and all the experience and training necessary to use it.
But this was different. He didn’t even have his sidearm. He had his KA-BAR, but a lot of good that would do except punch a hole in that big grey bubble of a speedboat. Noonan’s electronic equipment was easily twenty years old, and what had been upgraded had been a patch job. He had wires held together with duct tape. He had cracks in the hull of the boat repaired with some kind of super glue. One of the outboards was smoking, and that worried him, too.
Noonan, while he might have been fit at one time, was not the man he was as a Navy diver. Like his dad, he’d aged. Ned had seen those pictures of the two of them standing together. They had both been rugged and built and could handle long swims, planting explosive devices and helping the Coasties before the drug problem got as bad as it did. They rescued distressed families that had been victimized by pirates and sailors unlucky to be abandoned at sea.
But Noonan wasn’t in that shape any longer. He only had one eye, which meant, even if he had a weapon, he wouldn’t be reliable. Their third was Travis, who had created the problem in the first place and whose loyalties were questionable.
And then of course there was Madison. She was the fittest person on the team besides him. She had the drive and the smarts. But she’d not been trained, and if anything happened to her, he would never be able to live with himself.
In addition, she was a beautiful woman, eye candy. He had no right getting her into this vulnerable spot.
It was a risk. If the bad guys were anywhere near where they were heading, he’d make sure they turned back and gave up on the search. So his logical side calculated that it was a risk, but perhaps one worth taking. As long as everything looked doable.
Noonan’s boat would still outrun the other one. He was used to these waters and the weather was good, except for the mist that was now dissipating. Soon it would be hot. No bad weather in sight, and no clouds even.
He knew how people got hooked on treasure. He’d heard the stories. Like the gold fever was in California during the rush. Kings ransomed their kingdoms for a tulip bulb at one time. There was a chance that they could secure something that could set him up for life. Noonan deserved it too. Even Travis could come away with something. If they did this properly, they might be able to claim their treasure. There were a lot hurdles to climb, but he allowed himself to enjoy the fantasy.
He and Maddie could get a fine house by the beach and just sleep and make love for the first year then figure out the rest of their lives after that. That’s what he was going for. That brass ring.
The necklace his dad brought back was proof that fortunes were made out here in the waters off the Florida coast. People had blind luck all the time and went home rich. What were the odds they could start out looking for a dog collar and find the motherlode? They all deserved that shot.
He used Noonan’s binoculars to scan the horizon constantly as they traveled. He searched every inch of water, every ocean swell. Much easier to spot another boat when it was calm too. Lots of things made this find a possibility. It was as if the ocean was laying low for them, calling them to come take her, plunder her wealth and then spend the rest of his life worshiping her.
Noonan raised his eyebrows, and Ned shook his head.
Travis looked bored, leaning on one arm and then sulking and finally falling asleep.
Noonan checked with him one more time. Ned stood this time, scanned the whole gulf in a three-sixty as the boat slowed. Noonan was paying attention to his coordinates, watching the underwater topography dancing in green outline.
He joined Noonan at the bridge. “I don’t see a thing. We have a perfect day for this too,” he t
old his father’s friend.
“Thanks, Son.” He killed the motor and glanced over at Travis who threw over his light anchor while the winch released the other one, which hit bottom at seventy-five feet.
“You see anybody, you let us know. Don’t try to be a hero,” he cautioned Noonan. “Are you sure you’re going to be okay?”
“I’m fine. I feel kind of bad about the kid,” Noonan shrugged. Travis was still giving him death stares. “He’s harmless. Stupid as hell,” Noonan let his voice carry so Travis could hear it. “But he’s just a dumb kid. I did stuff when I was young, too, that I now regret.”
“Anything else we should look for?”
“Just get some good pictures. Don’t spend too much time on the anchor and the cannon. Go farther in, maybe check on that debris wall. Oh, and I brought this.” He pulled out a long canvas bag that looked like it held a pool cue. Inside was a wicked crowbar about two feet long, with a two-pronged edge on one end that could saw through wood, and a hook to use while climbing. The other end was fashioned in a smooth square tip, arched slightly like a regular crowbar, with a slot in the middle for removing nails or other pieces of metal.
“Where’d you get this?”
“One of my friends, God rest his soul, left it to me in his will.”
“This thing looks like an ancient Viking grappling tool.” Ned had never seen anything like it.
“Maybe it was fashioned after one. But it was made in the USA. Got that stamp right there.”
Ned fingered over the flag and the words. “Son of a bitch.”
They brought a plastic-coated wire basket that was sometimes used to catch lobster during their pleasure dives. Ned wound the crowbar through the mesh holes, securing two sides with plastic Velcro straps.
He adjusted his tool belt containing his KA-BAR and pulled on his one piece facemask. Madison was already at the back, sitting on the deck, dangling her flippers in the water. She was wearing the gloves Noonan provided them both, holding on to the metal detector.
“Can you hear me, sweetheart?”
“Yessir, I do.”
“I’ll follow you.” He adjusted his feet into his own fins, slipped into his gloves, and shoved off the deck into the water.
Madison was first to check their coms under water. “I like that you and I can talk dirty now and no one will know.”
“I never knew mermaids had such dirty minds.”
“We’ve been holding out on all of you guys. We’re more than a pretty face, you know.”
“Tell me about it, Madison.”
“Here, I turned it on for you.” She handed him the metal detector. “Just pass it back if you want to trade off.”
“Thank you, ma’am.” The green screen was blank. He slipped the strap around his forearm, held it by the bicycle grip on the aluminum shaft, and angled the wire end in front of him as he followed her pink flippers down into the deeper water.
The turquoise water got darker, so he turned on his spotlight, which only made it worse. Though the water was calm, a golden shower of sediment surrounded them, probably pieces of shells and rocks that picked up sunlight from above. A small school of yellow and black striped fish scurried around them, curiously interested in Madison’s pink fins. She was descending slowly and then stopped to let the fish encircle her. “Look at these guys. My entourage!” she laughed.
“They love you, Madison. You’re a mermaid. They like your fins and wish they had pink ones too.”
She laughed as several of the larger ones allowed her to touch them carefully.
He followed her graceful legs deeper until they descended to the floor. They’d kicked up some silt, so waited for all the dust to settle before assessing their bearings.
The anchor and cannon were nowhere to be found. The debris field wasn’t as richly laden with rocks and pieces of metal as before. He did a sweep with the detector, and it didn’t register any metal. He thought perhaps there was a dark shadow several yards off to the right so he pointed.
“I’m looking for that wall of debris. I’m seeing a shadow over there. How about you?”
“Good eye. Put your light on.”
He felt like an idiot forgetting the lamp. As soon as he switched it on, he found a row of timbers tied together with iron straps lying on the sand. Ends of the wood had been eaten away, and Madison could actually pull small chunks apart with her hands. Fragments of the old timbers dissolved into a cloud of silt, rising toward the surface.
He swung the detector over the platform, and it registered as he followed the bands of iron and the bolts, now concreted with ocean debris. He located a tiny hatch not more than two feet square. Inside, he flashed his light.
There were mounds of rocks scattered all over the floor inside the hatch.
“What do you see?” she asked him.
“Come take a look. Looks to me like remnants of soft cargo.”
She floated near his face, and he illuminated the small hatch space. It was difficult to see anything that stood out to them as being metal until he saw what appeared to be a circular pile of red rocks.
“I’m going to guess a coil of chain, maybe?” she asked.
They followed along the top of the platform until it became buried in a debris field. More timbers laid across the space, and beyond, when he added light, he came to what looked like another wall of debris.
“This might be the backside of what we saw before. Doesn’t look the same.”
“No, it doesn’t.” She examined the pile of rotted timbers, covered in starfish and sea flowers. “Run the wand over here,” she asked.
He traveled from the base of the wall up nearly fifteen feet. All along the way, the detector registered iron or nickel. Madison took pictures as they traveled the wall.
At the top, he crested what he was certain was remnants of a large wooden-hulled ship on its side. It appeared as if it had floated or been dragged over the timber platform, with pieces of lumber scattered all over where it inserted in the sand beyond, as if these pieces fell back onto the ship after the landing.
“Whoa!” Madison said. “I gotta get some pictures of this!”
They slowly examined the slightly curved structure, which was riddled with huge gaps where fish swam in and out. He noted part of a wooden railing. Madison documented the curve of an arched doorway.
There didn’t appear to be anything left of the ship, really, except this piece. If there had been interior spaces, they were crushed during travel or when it landed. They cleared the hull remnants, coming to an eerily bare and pristine patch of white sand. Something lay on the floor, and at first glance, it appeared to be a body. He held up, showing Madison with his lamp.
“What is it?” she asked.
“You tell me. It can’t be a body.”
She was first to swim toward it. Then she stopped, floating above it. “You won’t believe this, Ned.”
The net and metal detector were slowing him down, but as he approached and showed the light on the object, he stared back into the face of a woman. The statue of a female body was encrusted in sea scales and coral. Part of the colorful detail had been recently exposed, scraped off by some force of nature. Only the head and shoulders of the statue were visible. While Madison was photographing her, he removed a small shovel from his tool belt and tried to scrape the sand away. It hadn’t been buried by centuries of debris. This was something that was recent or was recently unearthed.
He moved the metal detector over her body, and the machine lit up. Something was buried beneath her.
“Help me with this, Madison. Can you remove some of the sand holding her down?”
“This can’t be wood, Ned. It looks like carved stone. Is it marble?”
He smoothed his fingers over her shoulder. Then he scraped it with the tip of his knife and then tapped it lightly.
“I think it is marble. It isn’t painted, Madison. It’s inlay.”
It occurred to him that perhaps the object was newer than the age of a
Spanish galleon.
They finished digging around the statue, revealing her form had been broken just below her waist. The roughly four-foot section of her body was lifted carefully. They lay her back down on the white sand and set their attention to the dark stones beneath where she lay. It looked like she was lying in death over a pyre of coal.
The metal detector lit up and vibrated in his hand, registering eighty-eight.
Silver!
Rounded pieces, like charcoal, were scattered just as if someone built a fire beneath her. He was able to dislodge one of the pieces, handing it to Madison to document. She placed it in the basket. He removed several others, all of them slightly larger than a walnut. Madison took pictures of all of them and the area from which he’d pried them loose.
As he worked to dislodge another, a chunk with several clusters of what looked like black seeds the size of grapes came off. The detector also registered silver.
Madison looked up at him. “Do you want to go to another site to search?”
“I’m going to mark it, first.” He tied a piece of red Velcro to a rod of crusted metal sticking out from the hull behind him.
“What about her?”
Ned considered whether it was wise to try to move her. If they dropped her, she might shatter as she fell back down into the wreck.
“Let’s try it. Now I’m wishing we had Travis.”
“I’ll tell you right away,” she said as she started to lift, “if I can’t handle the weight.”
He’d thought it would be lighter in water, but since it was a solid piece of stone, it wasn’t. He tied the detector to his belt and tied his basket to Madison’s, and they slowly ascended after pulling on the dive line three times and receiving the all clear in return.
As they neared the surface, Madison’s grip was failing. Ned quickly untied the basket and let it float back down to the floor, encircling the lady of the sea’s torso with the basket tie line. He knotted it and began to pull it toward the surface. He wasn’t going to make it.
“Let’s lash it to the dive line. Maybe if we get Noonan’s help, we can get it up the rest of the way.”
Treasure Island SEAL: Pirate SEAL Rescues his Mermaid (Sunset SEALs Book 3) Page 12