by Matt Lincoln
Alice grabbed the bag and took it out to the balcony that overlooked the artificial reef. Mr. Zhu and his team had thought of everything a guest might desire, including a view of the reef. The Seascape Tunnel and suites were no more than shadows beneath the water, but the designers had added elements that breached the surface, depending on the time of the tides. It was halfway between tides, and she easily made out the shimmering fish school illusion. Several artists had collaborated to bring it all together, and Alice had to give them props for a compelling visual.
Pete joined her out on the balcony. She handed him the gift bag and went back to the half wall to stare down at the sight while he opened it. She imagined her family somewhere under that water, looking up as she looked down.
“This is beautiful, Alice,” he gushed. “Maria will love that there’s no pink or lavender in it.”
Alice laughed. “You have no idea how hard it was to find baby-soft yarns in non-pastel colors.”
Pete set the blanket between them on the half wall’s ledge. “Spectacular, isn’t it?” He sounded a little sad, and she glanced at him.
“Yeah. Is everything okay?”
Pete shrugged. “The peanut has a bit of a cough today.” He stared out across Biscayne Bay. “She’s probably fine, but every little thing could turn into a big thing with her. I don’t like being away from home anymore.”
Alice nodded. “I can understand—”
A massive boom rocked the building. Alice dropped to her knees and held onto the half wall until the floor stopped shaking. She jumped up and looked down. A cloud of dust had formed and was dissipating in the stiff breeze. When it cleared, Alice screamed.
Where the Seascape Tunnel and Suites had been moments earlier were now a series of whirlpools.
“Yéyé! Bàba! Mā!”
She flung her arms out as if to hug the very family she’d longed to escape. The baby afghan got caught by her little finger and flew off the ledge. Through her tears, Alice watched the precious gift flutter into the maelstrom below.
CHAPTER 2
I banked the Cessna floatplane over Biscayne Bay and grinned at my best friend and work partner, Robbie Holm. It was his first time up in my new-to-me plane, and we were celebrating the close of our first case together since near-fatal injuries took him out of commission for the better part of a year. This would also be his first dive since then, and he was way past ready to get his fins wet.
“This is beyond cool.” Holm’s voice crackled over the headset. “You know, I can’t believe that your monthly docking fee costs you twice as much as keeping your houseboat at the marina.”
“Wait until we fly out to great dive spots,” I told him. “This little jaunt is just the beginning. It’ll be worth the extra dough.”
Holm leaned his head back. “Sure, but if we had a boat, we could leave right away. I don’t know if I can handle twelve hours of lounging on one of the floats after the deeper dives.” He glanced over with a grin. “If we could string up some hammocks, it wouldn’t be so bad.” A mischievous glint lit his eyes. “You know, this gal isn’t as pretty as some of the other planes you looked at.”
“The flying boats were cool,” I conceded, “but they weren’t up to the job.”
The “job” was my search for the resting place of the pirate ship Dragon’s Rogue, and I was getting close. A year earlier, I found a pouch full of twenty rare gold coins. I gave two away to special friends and kept one for myself. The rest went to auction. Holm and the coin dealer were the only two people who knew how much those auctions had brought in.
“We could buzz the office,” Holm said with a laugh.
“I could go to jail,” I told him with a laugh of my own. “I don’t think Diane wants her top two special agents cooling their heels for violating FAA rules.”
“Are you still planning to go out to Grand Bahama on Saturday?” Holm asked with a glance toward the back of the cabin. “You got enough dive gear crammed in here.”
“Only if you’re game, partner,” I answered as I banked to the right. “I know your folks—”
“Holy shit,” Holm exclaimed. He pointed out the window on his side. “Something’s happening at that new hotel.”
I looked over in time to see a dust cloud form on the side of the hotel facing the water. We flew over too fast for me to get a good look, so I looked for other aircraft and then circled the site while banking on my side for a better look.
“That’s the one with the underwater rooms, right?” Holm leaned forward to see past me. “Oh, my God.”
I’d seen whirlpools before, but not where people were supposed to be having fun underwater. Whatever caused the dust cloud had also compromised the brand new Seascape attraction. If people were down there, they were going to drown in the flooding.
My stomach bottomed out. “We’re landing right now. Hold on.”
“What the hell?”
I checked the water and air and only saw a distant helicopter and a couple of boats on the water. The way was clear, and I lined up for an approach and hoped for the best. That swirling water could do a number on my new baby, but we were the closest possible responders.
“Get the dive tanks out as soon as I start anchoring her,” I told Holm. “If anyone’s down there, they don’t have time for us to piss around.”
My floats hit the water harder than I meant to, but I was able to play the throttle and flaps just right to ease the impact. I turned the nose toward the hotel and opened the throttle to get over to the scene. The water was turbulent but settling, and the whirlpools were barely discernible.
Several people appeared at the back of the hotel and waved their arms. I couldn’t hear their shouts over the noise of the engine, but the panic on their faces was unmistakable.
“It’s gonna be a rough stop,” I warned Holm as I scrambled out to set the anchor.
It wasn’t a perfect set, but there wasn’t time. I couldn’t make out most of the words, but going on the growing crowd’s reactions, there were people down there. I tossed my shoes and phone into the cabin and got my gear from Holm.
“I texted dispatch that we’re going in,” Holm told me as I strapped my tank on. He handed me a flashlight.
“Got it. Be careful down there.” I popped the regulator into my mouth and stepped off the float.
Air bubbles of all sizes floated up with lightweight debris, which obscured a lot of the view. I prayed that whoever was down there had found air pockets. If not, there’d be nothing I could do for them. At least five minutes must have passed since the water flooded into the space.
I tried to remember the layout of the Seascape Tunnel attraction and adjoining hotel suites. We’d been given brochures and a tour a few weeks earlier in preparation for the grand opening that was coming up in case anything happened. This damn sure counted as something.
A shaft of sunlight broke through, and I saw a section of the tunnel. It was intact but completely waterlogged. I kicked the short distance to the foundation of the building while playing my light back and forth over the glass tunnel. All I saw was cloudy water that was beginning to settle.
I turned and followed the tunnel back to find the source of the breach. Another light ahead of me swung back and forth. I flicked mine on and off in a short pattern, and that light responded in kind. It was Holm, and he was telling me to get over to where he hovered.
The breach was at the join between the tunnel and the private suites. It looked like the suite doors themselves were reinforced, because they were holding back a shit-ton of water. The door on the right also held back a pair of suited bodies. I held my finger to each one’s jugular, but they were both gone.
I signed to Holm that the men were dead, and then I pointed toward the suite on the left. Holm went out to the open water and kicked in the direction of that suite. I left the tube and swam to the suite on the right.
The structure was remarkably intact. Water sprayed in from around the door’s seams, and there was already a few fee
t of water. I played the light over what was supposed to be the private viewing area and almost moved on when someone emerged from the bedroom area and waved with both hands. He pointed to an elderly man who stood glowering in the doorway.
I swam as close as I could get from the outside and pantomimed checking for injuries. The younger man gestured with an open hand toward his companion and said something. They showed me a shallow cut on the older man’s arm. If that was the worst that happened, they’d be lucky.
The older man spat a flurry of words at the younger. I guessed that the younger man was an assistant or employee, as he scurried back into the bedroom area and then returned within seconds. He had an armful of canisters in his arms, and the older man held one up to show me. It was a handheld oxygen tank for the unlikely event of flooding. Good thing they planned for “unlikely” events.
Using hand signals, I let them know I’d return. As long as that door held, they’d be okay. Even if the door failed, they had air.
Holm met me at the branch between the two suites. He signaled that there was no one in the other suite, and I gave him the thumbs up to surface. We needed a plan to get the men out of the other suite. I started upward, but Holm grabbed my arm and pointed.
A crack had developed in the five minutes since I checked the private entrance. It ran over where the reinforced door now bulged, and it visibly raced to the join with the suite’s viewing area. Tiny cracks spread like spiderwebs before our eyes.
Holm and I kicked away as hard and fast as we could. There was a lot of air to displace in the suites, and that was going to create a hell’s mouth of suction. The artificial reef surrounding the attraction was as solid as it got, so we aimed for that. I slid behind it as the glass gave way in first one suite, and then the other. Holm was halfway over the reef section, and we locked arms to keep him from being pulled back.
Once the pressure between open water and the man-made construction equalized, we hustled back to the scene. The crack had split the viewing area where I’d found the two men, and the cascade had opened it to the sea. Visibility was almost nil. I glanced at Holm, and he nodded. He tucked in close and followed me to the room’s floor. We inched along like firefighters in a smoky building.
There was no sign of the men in the viewing room, but the door where they’d been standing was shut. I shined my light across it. One of the oxygen canisters lay at the foot of the door. I swept my light up and to the right as the door’s latch gave way. It burst inward, and I was pulled through a hall where the water was only waist-high but rising fast.
I popped my regulator out of my mouth. “Hello?” I shouted.
The old man appeared in my light. He sagged against the wall as the water reached chest high.
“Help David,” he ordered in a slight Chinese accent. “He is injured. I have air.”
He held up his canister and put it into his mouth as the water rose over our faces. When I could see again, I saw him gesture toward the crumpled body of the younger man. Blood pulsed into a scarlet, throbbing cloud around Zhu’s neck, and his eyes had rolled back. I felt motion behind me and found Holm trying to help the old man, but the man kept pushing him toward me.
I waved Holm over. With our backs to the man and blocking his view, I showed Holm where a chunk of glass had torn through Zhu’s neck. There was no salvaging the wound. I looked back toward the door and the older man and felt a measure of awe. The glass must have given way before they made it through the door. Our elderly friend appeared to have not only got Zhu through the door but closed it against almost impossible pressure. Damn.
I made an executive decision and handed Holm a canister to hold against the dead man’s lips. He nodded in understanding and covered the gaping hole with his other hand.
Once the older man saw Holm with Zhu, he nodded and allowed me to guide him through the debris. I gave him my emergency respirator and tucked him into a rescue hold. As we ascended, I looked down and saw the hollow remains of the Dragon Tide hotel’s dream. It was a shame. The tour of the unfinished room had still been impressive, and now its demise had cost at least three lives.
A few feet from the surface, the old man stiffened and then went limp. The respirator dropped from his mouth in a flurry of bubbles. I kicked harder and broke the surface within seconds. A Coast Guard boat was just arriving with rescue divers. They didn’t hear me yell over the roar of at least two helicopters overhead. I activated the strobe I kept attached to my tank harness, and two divers entered the water to assist.
“What do we have?” one of the rescuers asked.
“He was alert and appeared uninjured a few minutes ago,” I reported as we moved him onto the boat. “It’s gotta be his heart. He held back a wall of freakin’ water to save the other guy.”
“What other guy?” one of the Coasties asked as medics worked on the old man.
I shook my head. “That’s a recovery. My partner’s down there with him. I’ll take one of—”
One of the Coasties pointed out to the water where a blond head surfaced. The other victim’s head lolled against Holm’s shoulder as the same two rescue divers went over to them.
“Did you get eyes on the entire tunnel?” one of the crew asked.
I shook my head. “Only from the entrance to the suites. I don’t think Holm got a look at the rest of the tunnel.”
At that word, another pair of rescue divers went in. Holm climbed onto the boat while the first team held Zhu’s body out of sight. He came to a halt when he saw medics bring out defib paddles.
“What happened?” Holm looked at me in dismay. “He was a stud down there.”
“Did you see what he did, Robbie?” I rubbed the back of my head and then removed my gear. “He tried to save that other guy by fighting the water.”
The boat started in toward a dock where an ambulance had arrived. As the older man was transferred to the paramedics, a woman with short, dark hair ran up from the direction of the hotel.
“Yéyé!” Tears streamed down her cheeks. “Oh my God, that’s my grandfather. I have to go with him.”
I jumped out of the boat and ran up to her. She shrieked when they shocked him, and his arm went stiff and then limp. I put myself between her and the scene.
“That’s your grandfather, miss?” I asked.
She shoved me out of the way. “He is, and I am not going to let him die alone.”
I swallowed. Those were the same words I thought months ago when we almost lost Holm. The difference was that I knew the old man wasn’t coming back. After the amount and kinds of death I’d witnessed in my life, there were some situations where I just knew.
“Do you have any other family here?” I asked the woman.
She narrowed her eyes. “My parents made it out before the implosion. All they can talk about it the disgrace Mr. Zhu will face because of this failure.” She blinked several times. “They don’t care about Yéyé the way they should.”
One of the paramedics leaned out the back of the ambulance.
“We’re taking him to Miami-Dade General,” he told us. “Someone will give you a ride to the hospital.”
A Coastie slammed the door shut and pounded on it before the woman could argue, and the ambulance pulled away. She ran after the rig, but I caught up to her and got in her way.
“They can’t take family when it’s a critical case,” I told her in as soft a tone as I could manage.
A car honked from near the dock, and I looked over to find my boss, Diane Ramsey, getting out of her car. She sported shorts and a tank-top, as she’d taken the day off as well.
“Just in time,” I called out to her. I turned to the victim’s granddaughter. “I’m a federal agent, and that’s my boss. We’ll get you to the hospital.”
The woman backed away. “How do I know you’re telling the truth?”
“She has a valid point, Ethan,” Diane said. She showed the woman her badge as I fumbled with the button on my soaked back pocket before looking to Holm. “Robbie, Eth
an and this young woman are coming with me. Bring us his phone after you secure his plane for the night, would you?”
I spun to look for the Cessna and then groaned. The anchor had caught, but not until it was a couple of hundred yards into the bay. I couldn’t fly for a few hours anyway because of the dive, but I sure didn’t need it to be that far out when I came back.
“Can we please go now?” the woman asked. She shot a venomous look toward the hotel. “At least someone from his family should be there. My parents apparently have a dinner party to attend and were on the way out when the accident happened.”
We set off for the hospital with Diane’s siren and dash lights going. From the back seat, I tried to study our passenger in the rearview mirror. She had the old man’s kind yet shrewd dark eyes and a firm set of the lips, although her face was rounder, almost heart-shaped.
“What’s your name?” Diane asked in a comforting tone.
“Liu Alice,” the woman muttered. She shook her head and lifted her chin. “I mean, Alice Liu. Dammit.” She sniffed. “I live here in Miami. Grandfather and my parents are visiting.” Alice turned her head toward Diane. “You have probably heard of my grandfather. He is John Liu of the Bamboo Dragon tong.”
By Diane’s gasp, it was a sure bet that she knew exactly what I did. Liu was one of the most notorious international syndicate bosses around. I prayed that my death sense was wrong because if John Liu died, we wouldn’t have an accident on our hands.
It would be a murder investigation.
CHAPTER 3
“It’s your case, Ethan.” Diane spoke only for my ears as she handed me a coffee and a pair of slippers from the hospital gift shop. My shoes and phone were on their way with Holm. He’d retrieved them before our friends moved my plane for me. “Right now, the scope of the investigation will depend on whether he survives.”
We’d chosen to stay with Alice, as she had little support in the family waiting area while her grandfather was in the emergency room. Word was that Liu’s associates were on the way from Hong Kong and New York City. His son and daughter-in-law couldn’t be bothered to join Alice. Liu’s secretary, however, had.