Severed Threads (23 page)

"What the hell were you doing down there?" he bellowed.

Rachel reached the ladder. "Saving your ass," she replied. She handed her gear and the calcified artifact she'd found up to Ian.

Chase stole in behind her and passed off his load. Before she cleared the second rung, however, he caught her elbow and pulled her back down. His body pressed into hers, crushing her resistance.
Every breath was on her face now, and his bright eyes were inescapable. “No
matter how you feel about me, I'm still the captain of this ship. When I give you an order, follow it!”

She jerked her arm free, completely baffled by his behavior.

"I'm not a complete idiot. I knew what I was doing."

"Oh, really? You knew that shark was going attack."

"No, but I – "

"We could have been killed. Do you understand the danger you put us in?"

His argument was completely illogical. As far as she could tell, he hadn't been hurt. And any experienced diver knew a good thump on the nose was the best line of defense. So what was he so worked up about? A bruised ego?

"Where's your green goody bag, Rachel?"

Her hand brushed the empty metal clip on the back of her buoyancy compensator.

"That's right. You lost a fortune in gold. And here you were worrying about
me
delivering the goods."

Rachel felt like a child being admonished – scolded by the same man who had wrecked her life. She dropped back into the water, distancing herself.

"I should have left you down there to fight it out like the Neanderthal you are,” she yelled as he climbed the ladder to the ship.

He unhitched his weight belt and dropped his gear on the deck before handing off his netted plate to Wade. Then he leaned back against the rail, unzipping his wetsuit. Watching her out of the corner of his eyes.

Rachel’s irritability escalated.
Bastard.
She climbed the ladder, rejecting the helmsman's assistance. With her back turned to everyone on board, she removed her tanks and unhooked her belt, letting it fall. She scooped up a towel from the bench and wrapped it around herself without bothering to remove her vest.

She eyed Chase from the edge of the nubby cloth – anticipating his self-promoting announcement.

Ian’s brushy brows quirked. "That's all you found, Cap'n?"

"Afraid so." He glanced at Rachel before stepping up to the glass tank and upending his goody bag. Gold coins rained down, raising the water level. He pulled half a dozen more out of his sleeves and added them to the glowing collection.

"What the…" Ian grabbed the handrail. “Is that fuckin' real?"

Chase held up a single coin. Minted on the front of the doubloon was the Hapsburg Shield. "The
Wanli
treasure,” Chase announced. “And there's a lot more where this came from."

Ian rushed over and snatched the doubloon from Chase's fingertips. He weighed it in his palm before flipping it over and eyeing the crusader’s cross and lion stamped on the coin's reverse. He was still biting down on its edge when Blaine and A.J. suddenly appeared out of nowhere. They joined in the merriment, gathering coins, examining them. Laughing and punching each other.

"Wait a minute," Ian sparked. “Why aren't the two of you screaming? Cap'n, you jest found a fortune in gold. What's more, you get first crack at that twenty-year-old."

Chase nodded in Rachel's direction. "That honor goes to Miss Lyons.
She
found the chest, not me."

"No kiddin'?" The helmsman’s lips curled into an easy smile. "Well done, darlin'. Yer da would be right proud of you."

"Thanks." She brushed her chin with the back of her hand, feeling cheated by her inability to share in the excitement – to fully appreciate the historical significance of their find. She looked to Chase, who was now leaning over a lounge chair, fishing something out of his hanging shirt.

"That's not all." He pulled out a cigar, bit off the end and spat it to the side. "Her quick thinking saved my skin too."

Ian’s gaze swam between them. "Ya don’t say."

Under the protection of her towel, Rachel dropped her yellow BC vest. "It was no big deal," she murmured.

"I beg to differ." Chase lit up and tipped his head back. He sent a gray cloud into the air. "Ran into a real monster down there."

"A seven gill," she corrected. "But more important than that, the
Wanli's
been found. Ian, it's unbelievable! It's as if she's been sitting there hundreds of years…just waiting for us to find her."

The Irishman patted Chase on the back. "Long time comin'. Aye, mate?"

"
Too
long." He drew another pull on his cigar.

"Jaysus...Allie's gonna go freakin’ nuts!"

Chase coughed and choked. He practically doubled over, piquing Rachel’s interest.

"Who's Allie?" she asked both of them.

"Ah…" Ian raked his grizzly chin. "Jest a gal I know."

"A girlfriend?" Rachel persisted.

"Somethin' like that."

“
Does she live in San Palo?”

Chase’s blue eyes flashed an unspoken warning, instantly silencing Ian.

Odd.
Maybe this Allie wasn’t Ian’s true love at all. Maybe she was involved with Chase.

Before Rachel could delve further, Chase moved to the platform and picked up Ian's tanks. "Let's get going,” he ordered. “We're losing daylight."

Beside them, Wade finished suiting up, apprehension clearly registering on his face. As his last straps were fastened, a thought registered in Rachel’s mind. She realized she couldn't let the divers go without issuing a fair warning. No matter how silly it might sound.

"There's something you both need to know," she announced. Mika appeared on the afterdeck and stood by quietly watching. "While Chase and I were down, I got the distinct feeling I was being watched and – ”

"Pirates?” Wade erupted. He looked to Ian. “What are we waiting for? They could be stealing our claim right now."

“
Before ya shit yer pants, let's hear what she has to say."

Rachel glanced around. Everyone’s attention was now on her. "I only saw it for a minute,” she explained. “But I’m telling you there’s a ghost on that ship and it knows we’re all here."

A.J. exploded in laughter. “I suppose you saw aliens too?”

"No, a ghost," she insisted. She looked to Chase for support but was met with his annoying crooked smile instead.

Mika stepped forward. “Listen to her. She’s trying to warn you.”

“
Really?” A.J. taunted. “And we should believe her because…”

“
I’ve heard stories like this before. My grandfather owned a photography shop in Kyoto, Japan. One night while he was working late in his darkroom, his shop door opened and closed. He heard footsteps and called out that he’d be right with them. But when he stepped into the room, no one was there and the hands on the wall clock were running backwards.”

“
Okay… I admit that’s a little spooky,” A.J. conceded. “But what does that have to do with us and the ship we’re after?”

Blaine stood next to A.J. “An earthquake opened the crack in the ocean floor, right? Who knows what that means? You yourself said that finding the ship in its location and condition was an anomaly. By diving down there, bringing up treasure, we could end up with more than we bargained for.”

"All right, this has gone on long enough," Chase said. “We have a job to do.”

Once stirred, there was no detouring Ian’s imagination. “Jest think about it, mate. Don’t ya think the gold was too easy to find? Someone could be temptin’ us, I tell ya. They want us to come back. Maybe they’re lonely and longing for company. Wantin’ to add souls to their hell and back ship.”

A.J. snorted. “What kind of crazy shit is this? You’re reacting to the word of a woman who up until yesterday wouldn’t put her damn face in the water.”

Rachel stared at the insolent bug, wishing someone would squash him into oblivion.

"Enough!” Chase yelled. “Everyone get back to work. It was just a particle cloud…nothing more.”

Rachel gritted her teeth, blocking her retort. As soon as his back was turned, she bolted for her quarters, still clutching her towel. She reached for the doorknob just as A.J.'s voice rang out.

“
Rachel, wait up."

Are you kidding?
She watched his rapid approach – white polo shirt, tan Bermuda shorts and matching deck shoes, as bland and unimpressive as the man himself.

"I’m sorry. I don't usually go out of my way to be rude," he said. "It's just that after a history of bad luck, no one's been able to dive this site until now. We need to stay on target if we want to get done any time soon."

"
Bad
luck?" she quizzed.

"The regular stuff: equipment failures, shark attacks, missing divers. It sounds worse than it really is.” He angled his head in a condescending manner. “You know as well as I do there’s always risk involved."

Her mind snagged on his words. “Just how many deaths are we talking about here?"

He hesitated before answering. "Four in three years."

"And you don't find that excessive?"

"Not with strong currents and unstable conditions. I suppose you read about the Attorney General's son drowning in this area eight months ago. Anyway, the Coast Guard conducted a thorough investigation and foul play was completely ruled out. There's always a logical explanation."

"Really? What about my father? According to Chase and my dad’s crew, his dive gear was in complete working order."

A.J. cleared his throat. "Look, I know this must be difficult for you, but from what I understand, he had a heart condition. He shouldn't have been down in the first place.”

Rachel shook her head. "You have
no
idea what you're talking about."

He looked down for a moment. When he spoke again, his voice softened. “You’re right. I was totally out of line. I wasn’t here when it happened.” His blinking increased. “All the same, I’ve done my homework. I understand you’ve been put in charge of all our discoveries. It’s not my place to question the captain, but I honestly – "

"You're right. It's not." She surprised herself with how much she sounded like her father. How strong she’d suddenly become.

A nerve jumped in his temple. "Wait a minute…I was prepared to broker this deal. But Cohen didn’t want a partner. At least not until
you
came along. Now he’s got a foundation board and museum to answer to. Talk about getting screwed…”

“
We’re done here.”

A.J. moved to grasp her arm but she pulled away, shaking her head.

“
Come on,” he said. “Try to see this from my point of view. I spent months researching that ship. There’s nothing I don't know about the
Wanli II…
where she was built, what she was carrying. What brought her down. Let me be your right hand…your assistant, if you will.”

Years ago, her brother had expressed his philosophy on life.
Keep your friends close but your enemies closer.
It had backfired on him. She’d have to be extra careful to make sure the same thing didn’t happen to her.

"Fine," she finally said. "Blaine’s been assigned to help investigate whatever turns up. I’ll let him know you’ve offered your assistance."

A.J. took a few steps back, enthusiastically nodding his head. His lips stretched into a pencil thin smile. "You won't regret this.”