Dangerous Depths

by Colleen Coble

  “That will take time too. In the meantime, we’re going down there.” Ron set his jaw and went back to his computer. “We’re about ready to dive. Is the minisub in the water?”

  “Yeah.” Bane joined him at the monitor. “You see anything?”

  “Yeah, I see what she said. It’s as clear as rain once I knew where to look.” Ron’s finger circled the anomaly on the screen. “It’s right here.” He glanced back at Leia. “Good work, Leia. We never would have found it.”

  “I don’t think I’m ready to go down again,” Leia said. She clasped her hands on her forearms.

  “We don’t expect you to,” Ron said with an airy wave of his hand. “The sub only holds two men. Bane and I will take a look to see how we can best handle the excavation. It’s too late to do much work right now.”

  Bane shot her a quick look. “We can only look, Ron. No excavation without permission. We’re not going to break the law.” Ron grunted but didn’t answer.

  “I’ll get dressed and go see Pete after you’re back up,” Leia said. “It can’t hurt to try again.” She saw the displeasure on Bane’s face. She tilted her chin up and stared him down. He had no claims on her.

  Bane barely registered the hiss of air above his head, but his tongue noticed the stale, canned taste of it. He maneuvered the controls of the minisub and peered through the window at the surreal world outside. The dying light barely penetrated at this depth, but the bright headlamps of the sub picked out the details: an octopus uncoiled its arms from a rock and zoomed away in a spray of ink, a puffer fish peered in the window at them then lumbered away, and a hammerhead shark cruised its terrain.

  Ron fiddled with his screen settings, and the picture from the camera mounted outside zoomed into focus. Bane was too busy handling the sub to see what the camera was picking up, but he heard Ron whistle. “What is it?” he asked.

  Ron jabbed a finger at the screen. “There she is!”

  Bane saw it then and caught his breath. A Spanish galleon, the stuff of dreams and legends. Coral encased her, but it only showed more clearly the shape of her bow, and the way her masts had bro-ken and fallen as she’d sunk. God was good to let him see this in his lifetime.

  Ron leaned closer to the screen and studied the image. “Can you deploy the shovel?”

  “No excavation, Ron.”

  “Get out of the way.” Ron shouldered him aside. He fiddled with the controls, and the mechanical shovel extended from the sub. It had five claws to take samples of the seabed and was about a foot wide. He maneuvered it to the man-made reef and then plunged it through lobe coral and into the dirt.

  “Careful! We don’t want to harm the galleon or the coral. I think you should stop. This is stupid.” When Ron didn’t answer, Bane leaned forward and watched the claw pick up some samples. Ron retracted the arm and deposited the sample in the hold, then got the equipment into place again for another go. He moved the claw back and forth for nearly an hour, picking up samples from all over the reef. More and more night predators began to come out: sharks, barracuda, squid, moray eels. The water was alive with hungry marine life looking for prey. At least he was inside, away from the daily cycle of life and death playing out in front of him.

  Ron stood and stretched. “That’s enough for now. I’m eager to see what we’ve got. Let’s surface and take a look.”

  “Aye, aye, Captain.” Bane adjusted the controls, and the sub began to rise. An inquisitive tiger shark followed the sub as it surfaced. The sub bobbed to the top of the waves about fifty feet from the ship. A few minutes later, they heard the clang of the winch retrieving the sub, then they rose alongside the boat. Moments later, a crewman rapped on the window, and Bane released the pres-sure and opened the door. The fresh air tasted great.

  Leia and Kaia were waiting outside. Leia had a bottle of water for each of them in her hands. She handed it to them as they stepped onto the deck. “I’m usually parched after a ride in that dry air.”

  “Mahalo.” Bane accepted the water and uncapped it, then took a long swig. The cold, wet liquid soothed his dry throat.

  “Did you find it?” Leia’s voice was a little too casual.

  “You weren’t narced as badly as we thought. We found what you did. You found it. Ron got some samples.” Her smile beamed, and he looked away, nodding toward the men unloading the cargo from the vessel. “Let’s see what we’ve got.”

  “It’s nearly eight o’clock. Aren’t you hungry?” Kaia demanded. “I’m starved.”

  “The whole thing has turned my stomach.”

  The women followed Bane and Ron to the trays that held their illegal booty. “Get me a sieve,” Ron ordered Logan.

  The technician nodded and went below. He came back a few minutes later with a large sieve, two feet square. Ron took it and the small shovel the man had brought him and began to move the dripping-wet mixture onto the sieve. Bane took it, and with great care, began to sift the debris into buckets. He frowned when two round, encrusted objects lay open to his gaze. He picked one up and rubbed it. Caked-on mud began to loosen, and the round, flat object looked familiar.

  “It’s a gold doubloon,” Ron murmured. He picked it out of Bane’s palm. “We’ve found her for sure.”

  Twelve

  Darkness blanketed the water, but moonlight glimmered on the whitecaps. Leia left the research vessel behind and aimed her boat toward the lights along the quay. Even though it was late, Pete would likely be jogging along the shore. He ran every evening about this time.

  She had docked the boat and started toward the town lights when she saw Pete’s familiar form running toward her. “Pete, is that you?” she called. The figure slowed, and the man raised his hand. The restaurant lights illuminated his face, and she relaxed when she saw he was smiling.

  “You’re just getting back?” he asked.

  “They took the sub down. I waited until they got back. It’s there, Pete. Look.” She showed him one of the gold doubloons.

  He picked it up and turned it over in his fingers. “I never would have guessed it would actually be found. You’re sure?”

  “This proves it.”

  He looked up with a frown. “I told Bane there was to be no excavation. How did they get this?”

  Too late she realized her error, but she wasn’t going to lie to him. “They found it down on the shelf I told you about. They didn’t disturb anything.”

  “We can’t take any chances, Leia. The possibility of an ancient burial site is big—huge. If I’m right, this could be as big as the Kawaihae Cave discovery on the Big Island.”

  “And your ticket to fame,” she said.

  His smile faded. “That’s hardly fair. You’ve always been with me on the importance of preserving our culture. Since when did money get to be so important to you?”

  “I don’t care abut the money,” she protested. “The shipwreck is part of our culture too. Our culture didn’t end when the Europeans came.”

  “It was the beginning of the end.”

  The slap at her own heritage made her straighten. “All cultures have a part in what the islands became. Look at me—I’m a mongrel myself. Most people who call themselves Hawaiian have mixed blood. Even you, Pete. You’ve got some Japanese blood in your lineage. We can’t discard part of what makes us Hawaiian.”

  He flushed and looked away. “I didn’t mean to sound so judgmental. Look, let’s not argue. This will all work out. Be patient.”

  “I’d like you to see if you can withdraw the injunction. There’s a cave down there. That’s probably where your artifacts are located. This ledge where we found the ship has nothing to do with your site. Please trust me.”

  “It’s not in my hands.”

  She stopped and put her hand on his arm. “I’m going to be too busy to teach for a few days.”

  “Why? You can’t dive on the wreck. I have nearly fifteen students lined up for you next week. Will you be back by then?”

  “I don’t know.” She tried not to let hi
s impatient tone bother her. She wasn’t his employee. “I want to help Candace, and I have some personal business to take care of.”

  “Let me know if you’re going to make it back in time. If you can’t do the class, I’ll see if I can get someone to take your place, if you’ll give me the key to your house.”

  Everything in her tightened. He was acting like he was in charge. It was her house, her life. “I don’t loan out my supplies. Whoever you find will have to use their own facilities.”

  “What’s got into you? I thought this was important to you.”

  “It is. But people are more important than even our heritage. Candace needs me.”

  “I really need to use your shop, Leia. You have the supplies, and there’s nowhere else to take the kids. Would you disappoint the children because you’re mad at me?

  Leia sighed. Maybe he had a point. The kids loved to come. She dug in her purse for her key. “Here. Just don’t let them mess up my stuff.” Lifting her hand, she walked away before he could say anything that made her regret giving him the key.

  She found her car in the lot and drove to her parents’ house. Her mother’s car, a Buick Park Avenue that had replaced the Lexus her mother loved, was parked in the driveway. Leia pulled her Neon behind her mother’s car and shut off the engine. Lights shone through the sweeping expanse of windows that looked out on the water. Though they’d had to downsize the house and move off the beach after Makua lost his job, her mother had insisted on still living where she could see the water. Ingrid would notice the lights of her car and wonder why she wasn’t coming in, but Leia couldn’t seem to force herself to move. The encounter would be about as pleasant as a meeting with a hungry tiger shark.

  A shadow moved, then lingered at the window. She’d been spotted. She had to go in now. The door was unlocked, as usual, so she opened it and stepped inside. Though the house was a step down from the mansion on the beach her parents had sold a year ago, this house still didn’t have the homey feel of the cottage in the jungle where Leia and her sister had grown up. She walked through the tiled hallway, past walls that matched the color of the floors. Her mother preferred the stark look of bare walls. Minimalist, she called it. Cold and unwelcoming, Leia dubbed it. She found her mother in the living room. Done in shades of gray, the room always made Leia shiver, even with all the lamps shining. The room’s furniture had no sloping, comfortable lines, just sharp, boxy edges that looked stiff and uninviting.

  Her mother put down the magazine she was reading, a crisp copy of Architectural Digest. She narrowed her eyes. “I was begin-ning to think you weren’t coming in.”

  Leia glanced around. “Where’s Eva?”

  “I sent her to bed early. She didn’t come right home from work today. Let me tell your father you’re here. He’s still in the shop.” Ingrid rose in a graceful motion and went to the intercom on the wall. “Akoni, Leia is here.”

  Leia’s father’s voice blared back through the speakers. “I’ll be right there.” Leia warmed at the pleasure in her father’s voice. She needed him here. He would be her support, even if he wasn’t sure what the right course of action should be.

  “Want some mango tea?”

  Leia shook her head. “Later. I haven’t eaten yet.” She heard her father’s heavy tread in the hall and tried not to show her relief. Sometimes when she looked at her mother, she felt the same way she did when she was praying—unworthy, and hopeless of making any-one proud. The difference was that she knew God loved her in spite of her failings. She wasn’t so sure about her mother. Malia said Ingrid wasn’t capable of love. Maybe she was right, though Ingrid showed love in other ways. The car parked outside was a gift from her mother, and the boat she used had been bought with her mother’s money. Leia had accepted it all, so what did that make her?

  “Makua.” Leia went to hug her father. At nearly six feet tall to his five feet nine, she towered over him just as her mother did. But he was bulky, and his massive arms squashed her to his barrel chest. She inhaled the scent of him: a mixture of wood dust, coconut, and spicy cologne. He made her feel safe and protected. He’d give his life for her, and she knew it.

  “Where have you been? You’ve been neglecting your old man.”

  She kissed his cheek, then wiped away the ‘ohi’a dust that had transferred from his whiskers to her nose. Since his dishonor, he’d taken up building sleds for the ancient Hawaiian sport of he’e holua, or lava sledding. The sport wasn’t popular yet, but he believed it would be. She’d watched a competition once, but the men racing down a hardened lava slope at breakneck speed on something that looked like a ladder lashed together with coconut fiber terrified her. She kept imagining what they’d look like if they fell onto the lava at that speed. Leia thought he buried himself in the woodshop to avoid facing the censure among the islanders.

  “I’ve been a bad daughter.” She released him and stepped back. “I spent the night with Candace last night. She had a little too much to drink.”

  “You’re a perfect daughter.” He started to sit on the pale gray damask armchair, then intercepted a pointed glance from his wife directed at his dirty clothing. Selecting a wooden rocker he’d built instead, he leaned back and propped one leg on the other.

  “Candace was drinking?” Her mother’s voice was stiff with dis-approval. “I thought she was pregnant.”

  “She is. I scolded her this morning and gave her some homeopathics to counteract the hangover. She promised not to do it again. She’s hurting.”

  “That’s no excuse. She increases her chances of giving birth to a child with a birth defect. I hope you, of all people, impressed on her the importance of abstaining.”

  “I did, yes.” Leia managed to keep her hand from wandering to the scar on her lip, but she felt her mother’s gaze touch it.

  “Where have you been all evening?” her father asked.

  “I took some time off to dive with Bane, but we’re held up by an injunction OHA has slapped on us. I went to see Pete to try to sort it out, but he wouldn’t budge. I finally gave up since I had something pressing to talk to you both about.”

  “Oh?” Her mother took a sip of her mango iced tea. “That sounds rather ominous.”

  Leia wet her lips. “It’s about Tûtû. She’s been very confused lately, as I’m sure you know.”

  “I know.” Her father moved his head in a weary wag. “I think she’s getting worse.”

  “I’m sure of it too.” Leia glanced at her mother, then back to her father’s face. “I think she shouldn’t be living alone any longer. Something has to be done.”

  Her father plucked a strip of coconut twine from his shorts. “I don’t want to move her into a home.”

  Leia kept her gaze on her father. “I had another idea. I’m going to move in with her.”

  “You will do no such thing!” Her mother stood and put her glass of tea on the glass-topped table. “I blame your grandmother for your ridiculous obsession with that paper cloth and for throwing away your career. Paper cloth! Is there anything less relevant to real life?”

  Leia wondered if her mother might be jealous of the closeness Leia shared with her grandmother. She rejected the idea. Her mother always seemed so self-sufficient, jealousy didn’t seem possible. “You’re consumed by your work as well.”

  “I’m not consumed, I’m merely interested. I can leave it at my office. You put in way too many hours at that little clinic for a pittance, and then spend your off time working on an outdated hobby. You’ll never have anything at this rate.” Ingrid’s voice softened. “I want only what’s best for you, Leia. You have your head so up in the clouds that you never seem to see the chasms yawning under your feet. As your mother, it’s my duty to protect you. I can’t let you do this. I’ll begin to look for a place for her.”

  Leia shook her head. “I’m going to try it for a few weeks and see how it goes. Malia said she would stay with Tûtû during the day when I’m gone. At some point, we likely will have no choice but to put he
r in a nursing home for her own safety, but she’s not bad enough yet.”

  “I don’t like it. Ipo will just require more and more of your time. You’ll never break free.” Ingrid clasped her hands together. Her gaze went past Leia, and she frowned. “Eva, you’re supposed to be in bed.”

  Leia turned to see her sister. She had her fingers in her mouth and was humming. “Aloha, keiki. I’ve missed you.”

  Eva took her fingers out of her mouth. Her eyes were huge in her face. “Don’t go in your shop, Leia. I dreamed it was broken.”

  “Broken?” Leia tried not to smile. “You mean the roof or what?”

  Eva’s forehead wrinkled. “I don’t remember. But it was scary. I don’t want you to go there.”

  “I’m sure it’s fine. Want me to read you a story before you go back to sleep?”

  Eva began to smile, and she nodded. “Will you read Green Eggs and Ham?”

  “Okay. You go on up, and I’ll be right there,” Leia told her. She ran from the room, and Leia turned back to her mother. She wet her lips. “There’s something else I need to talk to you about. This involves you, Mama.”

  Her mother sat back down slowly on the edge of the chair. “All right, I’m listening.”

  “Have the police been to see you about Tony’s death?”

  Her mother’s eyes widened. “Whatever for? I didn’t even know he’d died until Eva told me. Why would you think they’d be coming to see me?”

  “Yesterday after Koma was killed, Detective Ono asked me how well you knew Tony. They suspect he was injected with a narcotic that depressed his breathing. And some narcotics are missing from the hospital.”

  Her mother didn’t say anything at first. She took a sip of her tea. “So that explains why there was an inventory of the controlled substances.”

  Her mother was handling it better than Leia had thought she would. “Ono asked if I’d ever heard you and Tony fighting.”

  “I suppose you told him about the disagreement we had over the lease on the building.” Her mother gave a heavy sigh. “Really, Leia, you should learn to hold your tongue. I’m sure he’ll be around to see me.”