Unfathomed

by Anna Hackett

  “Well, we finally had a cordial conversation,” he said. “And coffee together.”

  He made it sound like they’d been on a date. “Guess it’s feeling rather chilly in Hell today.”

  That faint smile again. “Back off on the Silk Road research, Darcy.”

  And Hell was back to a blazing inferno. “I’m not doing anything illegal, Agent Burke.” She stood now, grabbing her bag and slinging it over her shoulder.

  She circled the table, but he stepped in front of her, blocking her way. His hand circled her arm and people leaving the next table jostled them, pushing them close together.

  “Listen to me—” he growled.

  She looked into that intense face and saw something hot in his eyes.

  “You will stay away from Silk Road.”

  “Giving orders probably works for your subordinates. My brothers have tried the orders and demands thing, too.” She shot him a sweet smile. “Doesn’t work for them, either.”

  Burke leaned down close, his warm breath brushing over her cheek. “I don’t want that pretty ass of yours getting hurt.”

  He’d noticed her ass? She didn’t let herself dwell on that, and, instead, drew herself up. It was a shame he was bossy, overbearing, and arrogant. “I can take care of my own ass.” She patted her hand against his chest. “Have a safe trip back to DC, Agent Burke.”

  ***

  Zach and his team were diving, but Morgan had stayed on deck to keep an eye on things. Dec and Coop had gone down with the archeologists. She spotted Hale walking on the balcony surrounding the bridge and gave him a nod.

  She eyed the clouds gathering in the sky, and then glanced down at the choppy waves. It was nothing to be worried about yet, but she planned to keep an eye on it. Then, her gaze snagged on a boat hanging around in the distance, back toward Tolagnaro. It had been there for the last hour. She frowned, then turned and climbed up the steps to the bridge.

  She caught Hale’s gaze. “You see that boat?”

  “Yep. Definitely watching us.”

  She walked onto the bridge. Diego was looking out the window with a set of binoculars. “You’ve noticed the boat.”

  “I see them,” the man answered. “Local fishing boat, but there are also a few foreigners on board.”

  Morgan paused beside him, looking out the window. “Treasure hunters?”

  Diego nodded. “Be my guess. People in town are bound to talk. They saw us come in, gather supplies, and leave port.”

  She considered the boat. “If it was Silk Road, we wouldn’t see them. Keep an eye on the vessel, and if they come any closer or put anyone in the water, let me know.”

  “You got it. I’m more worried about the storm coming in. It’s looking like it will pass to the west of us, though.”

  She looked at the sullen clouds. “Keep me posted on that, as well.”

  Morgan headed back out onto the deck and her watch beeped. The divers should be back now. A few seconds later, she saw heads popping out of the water beside the Nymph.

  Blondie and her friend were talking a mile a minute. Morgan reached down and gripped Charity’s hand, pulling her up, then Jasmin. Morgan helped them out of their tanks. “What did you guys find?”

  Charity wrung out her ponytail. “It was so amazing—”

  Zach’s head broke the surface and he shoved his mask up. “We need the ROV with the salvage arm.” He was grinning at her.

  Damn him for having those sexy dimples. “What did you find?”

  “Some chests.”

  She remembered the manifest. Chest of diamonds. Zach pulled himself out, water streaming down his body.

  She turned and saw Marc nearby. “We need the ROV. The big one.”

  The man nodded. “I’ll get her ready.”

  As the divers all got their gear off, Marc and Turner got the ROV prepped. Soon, Oceanid was loaded onto the crane arm.

  Morgan stacked empty tanks, and then set new ones out. A small team of divers was planning to accompany the ROV. The next batch of divers suited up, ready to go in with Oceanid. This time Taye, Max, Coop and Hale were going down.

  The crane arm slowly swung out over the side of the ship, and then the ROV was lowered into the water. The divers entered, and soon, they all disappeared beneath the choppy waves.

  Oceanid had to be controlled from the computer room, and Morgan found Diego in a big, battered chair, in front of a large screen displaying a live feed from under the water. His hands rested on two control joysticks.

  Morgan leaned against the wall to watch. Moments later, Zach appeared. He was in khaki shorts and a tight, black T-shirt, and his hair was damp. He was vibrating with energy.

  She shook her head. The man really loved his adventures.

  On the screen, she saw the divers moving ahead. She frowned. Visibility had really dropped, thanks to the weather.

  “The location of the chests is on the port side of the wreck,” Zach said. “You’ll want to move a little to the left.”

  Diego nodded, and the ROV turned smoothly. Then the divers paused, clustered around a point. One of them was pointing.

  The ROV’s camera moved, and Morgan leaned forward, staring at the screen.

  “There it is,” Zach said.

  She tried to pick anything out of the murky image, but it all looked like dark shadows to her. Zach pointed over her shoulder.

  “Look.” His lips brushed her ear.

  She shivered briefly, and then she spotted them. The distinct, rectangular shapes of two chests.

  “Okay, we’ll use the arm and get these loaded up. Marc knows what to do.” Diego’s gaze never left the screen. He concentrated on the controls, moving the arms, and working with Marc below. Soon, they got the first chest loaded. They were working on the second one, when one of the divers held up a hand for them to pause.

  The divers were all looking at something.

  “What do you think they spotted?” Morgan asked.

  Zach shrugged and winked. “No idea. All part of the adventure.”

  A second later, the divers moved back and one of them—Marc—pointed downward.

  “Can you get a better view?” Zach asked.

  “Hang on.” Diego’s brow was furrowed. “There.”

  Morgan squinted at the image. “Another smaller chest.”

  “More of a box,” Zach murmured.

  They watched as the divers got the smaller chest loaded. Soon, the divers and the ROV were making their way back up to the ship.

  Morgan and Zach headed back out on deck, waiting by the railing for them to appear.

  “You look like a kid at Christmas,” she said.

  Zach glanced at her. “I doubt it. I never got any Christmas gifts as a kid. I bet this is way better than something wrapped in gaudy paper.”

  Those simple words were a punch to her chest. He’d never gotten a Christmas gift? Her father had always made a big effort to get her what she wanted. It made her smile even now to think of the hard Marine going doll shopping. Sure, once she was older, it had morphed into knife shopping. But in the early years, he’d bought her dresses and dolls.

  She’d been lucky. Luckier than she’d realized. After her father was killed, she’d spent so long being angry. Hell, some days she was still angry. She’d lost the one person who’d loved her unconditionally, for all her sharp edges. Maybe it was finally time to come to terms with that.

  She glanced at Zach, with his lust for life and passion for his work. He’d made something of himself from nothing, with no one to support him.

  Suddenly, Oceanid broke the water’s surface, bobbing in the swell. Marc appeared beside it, hooking it onto the crane arm. Morgan waved to Turner, and the young man activated the crane controls. The ROV lifted out of the water, and was swung over onto the deck. By the time they had it disconnected, the divers were out of the water and peeling off their wet suits.

  Zach directed his team, and they carefu
lly unloaded the chests from the ROV, and whisked them away to the wet lab.

  “Be careful.” Zach hovered beside them, as they moved the chests up the stairs.

  Morgan followed the archeologists into the wet lab. Everyone packed into the room, watching eagerly as each chest was set in a tray. Zach went to work on one chest, taking photos of it before he snapped on gloves and started to touch it. Alice was working on the other chest.

  They all waited with bated breath. Dec arrived, leaning against the wall with Morgan. “This is the exciting bit.”

  She nodded, but actually, she thought the exciting bit was watching Zach’s face as he carefully opened the lid of his chest.

  He sucked in a sharp breath, and beside him, Charity’s mouth dropped open.

  “Oh, my sweet Lord—” the young woman murmured.

  Someone let out a whistle.

  Morgan and Dec moved forward, craning their necks to look into the chest.

  Jesus. It was filled with uncut diamonds.

  Everyone started cheering.

  Zach lifted his head, grinning. “This is a piece of history, people. Have some respect.” His gaze met Morgan’s and he winked.

  “Those are some big-ass diamonds!” Hale said.

  Alice opened the second chest. The archeologist broke into a smile. “Gold coins.”

  The coins had been dulled by the hundreds of years spent lost in the ocean, but Morgan saw the muted glint of gold inside the box.

  “Okay, I need you guys to get to work.” Zach’s tone turned serious. “I need all this documented, and the coins need to be cleaned.”

  As his team moved into action, full of cheerful chatter, Zach lifted the smaller box that had been brought up into another tray. It was nowhere as large as the chests, and only a few inches high.

  Morgan moved closer, peering over his shoulder. “I don’t think there are any diamonds in there.”

  “I don’t care. It will still be something interesting, and another piece of the puzzle of the Soleil d’Orient’s story.” Zach looked at the box exactly the same way he’d looked at the other chests. It didn’t matter to him if it was diamonds or gold, or shards of pots or plates. Everything was equally as important.

  He wiped a soft cloth over the box, uncovering a metal binding that was inlaid into the wood. Leaning forward, focused, he kept cleaning. “I think there’s writing on this.”

  He wiped again and stiffened.

  “What?” She looked at the faint etchings on the metal, and her breath caught. “Is that Greek?”

  Zach nodded, moving his gloved finger reverently over the text. “It’s a name. Constantine Phaulkon.”

  From beside her, Morgan sensed Declan straighten. Zach’s gaze met Morgan’s.

  She nodded. “Open it.”

  He lifted the lid.

  Morgan frowned, the air rushing out of her in a disappointed whoosh. The box was empty.

  Chapter Twelve

  Zach sat at a table in the galley with the THS team. Outside, the sun was setting, the western horizon awash in orange. The storm that had been threatening had passed.

  The Phaulkon case had been empty, but he’d spent several hours studying it. The bottom had a carved hollow in the center of it, which looked like a place for a pendant on a chain to rest.

  “Maybe someone was wearing the pendant when the ship went down?” Morgan suggested. “We could still find it down there.”

  He nodded. He knew he should be excited. He’d proved that there was a pendant—whether it was a powerful amulet was still up for discussion.

  “I suggest you make the find public,” Dec said.

  Zach’s head snapped up. “What? And have every treasure hunter in the southern hemisphere all over us? There are still more artifacts down there.”

  “But none of them are worth anyone’s life. If we announce that we found some artifacts belonging to Phaulkon and we’ve sent them away for safekeeping, it might stop Silk Road from sniffing around here. Sure, we’ll have to deal with amateur treasure hunters, but at least they won’t kill anyone.”

  “You want to lie,” Zach said.

  Declan raised a brow. “Well, this box belonged to Phaulkon, so technically we aren’t lying. We’ll leave it up to Silk Road to assume we found the Phaulkon amulet.”

  Morgan nodded, resting her clasped hands on the table. “Take away the one thing Silk Road wants, and they go away.”

  Cooper shifted. “Is Darcy having any luck tracking Silk Road?”

  “Some,” Declan said. “She met with Burke from the FBI. They’re following some angles, and she’s identified one possible high-ranking member. Apparently, an obsessive artifact hunter named Dr. Paris Wirth, who has a thing for artifacts that are reputed to have power. Oh, and she’s also a ruthless killer.”

  Morgan grimaced. “Nice.”

  The last thing Zach wanted was ruthless killers on board.

  “Zach,” Declan said. “I need to ask if any of your team are acting out of character.”

  Zach frowned. “What? Why?”

  The man’s gray eyes were steady and serious. “We believe the person who attacked you was a member of your team.”

  Heat shot through Zach and he shook his head. “No. I’ve worked with Alice and Taye for years. They’re my friends. The students I don’t know as well, but none of them strike me as being capable of murder.”

  Declan sighed. “You’d be surprised what people are capable of, given the right motivation.”

  Dammit. Zach released a long breath. The last thing he wanted was to suspect his team.

  “I have my sister digging into everyone’s background. Nothing’s popped as yet.”

  “And we have another problem,” Morgan said. “If we have a Silk Road informant on board, then they know we haven’t found the amulet.”

  Zach ran a hand through his hair. “Well, I can tell my team that I did some more work on the Phaulkon box…and discovered the amulet. They’ll believe me.” He hated the thought of lying to them, but if it kept them alive, he’d do it. He glanced at Morgan. “Okay. If you all think it’s the safest thing to do, we’ll announce the discovery and send some artifacts back to Denver.”

  Declan nodded and stood. “I’ll talk to Darcy to arrange secure transport.” He looked at Hale and Coop. “You two are on watch.”

  Morgan stayed behind, and Zach turned to watch the last of the beautiful sunset. Africa was somewhere that way, beyond the horizon. He imagined what it must have been like to be the captain of an East Indiaman like the Soleil d’Orient. Sailing through uncharted waters, circling the dark continent back before it had been fully explored.

  Zach sighed. He’d wanted to find the amulet. He didn’t believe it had special powers, but to hold something that had sat around the neck of an adventurer like Phaulkon would have been amazing.

  Whatever happened, whatever else they found on the wreck, he wasn’t letting Silk Road hurt anyone else.

  “You should be thrilled,” Morgan said. “Chests of diamonds and gold are a pretty amazing find.”

  “I am happy.”

  “You’re just not happy that the Phaulkon box was empty.”

  Damn, she could obviously read him like an open book. “I wanted the amulet to be there.”

  “We’ll keep looking. It’s not over yet, Dr. James.”

  “And if one of my team is a traitor? If Silk Road comes back?”

  Her mouth hardened. “Then they’ll wish they hadn’t.”

  Because she’d fight them. She’d put herself between him and his team to protect them. What if she got hurt? What if Declan and the others got hurt?

  Morgan wasn’t watching the dying sun. Instead, she was staring toward the dark shore. She frowned. “There’s no record of any survivors from the Soleil d’Orient?”

  “No.”

  “But she went down quite close to the shore, and quite close to Fort Dauphin. If someone had made it to shore
, they could’ve easily gotten back to the settlement.”

  “No survivors were found. It was apparently a violent storm.”

  She looked over at him. “What if a few people did make it to shore? Perhaps carrying important things?”

  Zach stared at the silhouetted shoreline. “I guess they could’ve made it, but didn’t survive long enough to make it to Fort Dauphin. It’s not likely, but it’s possible.”

  “It’s worth a look,” she said.

  “Yeah. It’s worth a look. I’m going to head back to the lab and take another look at the Phaulkon box.”

  “I’ll give you a hand.”

  In the lab, Zach soon found himself absorbed in his work. This box had been Phaulkon’s, held in the man’s hands. Zach leaned over, making some notations in his notebook. A noise made him look up. He blinked at Morgan.

  He’d forgotten she was there. She leaned against the bench, watching him with a smile.

  Shit, he’d lost track of time. He knew it was late. “Sorry.” His tone was sheepish. “I zoned out, didn’t I?”

  “You’re kind of cute when you’re all nerdy.”

  “I’m not nerdy.” He remembered the name-calling at school. He’d vowed that no one would ever call him a nerd again.

  She smiled, circling the bench and grabbing the front of his shirt. “It’s sexy. I never thought the sexy professor thing worked for me.”

  His blood heated and went straight to his cock. She smelled like woman and Morgan. “And now?”

  She pressed up against him. “Now, I find it a little appealing.”

  He gripped her waist and lifted her up onto the bench. He nudged her legs apart and stepped between them. “Only a little?”

  She tipped her head back. “Maybe more than that. But I might still need some convincing.”

  He kissed her, a tangling of tongues and teeth. Her hands slid into his hair, tugging hard. He thrust his tongue inside her mouth and her tongue met his. He drank in the taste of her.

  When he pulled back, he was panting. “Jesus, Morgan, you fry my brain cells.”

  She slid her hands across his shoulders, licking her lips. “Lucky you have so many of them, then. That’s what got me all hot and bothered, watching you work. You looked so serious and dedicated.”