Treasure of Love (25 page)

Vladimir, now in a very good mood, took a deep breath.

“The
Anna Wyoming
was owned and operated by one of Russia’s strongest and most notorious drug cartels. The ship’s captain, Viktor Kozlov, was my grandfather and also a drug lord for the cartel. His responsibility, along with the chief purser and ship’s purser—also in the cartel—was to make the Lynn Canal run to Skagway once a month, smuggling Chinese opium into the United States through Russia.”

“So that’s three thousand pounds of opium down there,” Mac said. “How much is that worth?”

“About forty million dollars in today’s market,” Vladimir responded.

Dax started to moan and opened his eyes. Jack could see the pain in Dax’s face, but much to his surprise, Dax inched himself in Jack’s direction and propped himself up on his chest.

“Do you want the story or not?” Vladimir asked.

Mac looked at the guys. Anything to stall. “Yes, sorry!”

“Where was I?” Vladimir said to himself. “Oh, yes. This was the biggest run the cartel had ever attempted,” he explained. “As a matter of fact, it was so big, and the cartel was so worried about its cargo, that the ship’s purser and the chief purser were ordered to remain in the cargo hold to guard the opium and were not allowed to leave their post for the entire journey.”

“That explains the remains we found,” Mac said.

“Remains?” Vladimir asked.

Mac attempted to walk over to Dax, but the guard stopped him. Mac looked at Vladimir and asked, “Can I show you something?”

“Don’t try anything foolish,” he replied.

Mac reached down into Dax’s dive belt and removed the nametags and the epaulets he’d brought to the surface. He stood and brought them to Vladimir.

Vladimir looked at the gold items closely and held them tightly in his hands against his chest. “They were my great uncle’s,” he said. He bowed his head and made the sign of the cross. He laid the items on the table next to the opium and continued his story.

“Because of the Klondike Gold Rush,” Vladimir said, “the cartel also started smuggling gold out of the country, for wealthy drug customers who wanted to avoid the high export taxes affiliated with shipping the gold out through normal channels. The fact that there was so much gold on board this ship was just an added bonus,” he explained. “There were rumors, of course, that the ship was carrying gold, but the cartel had no documented record of such cargo on board, so we did not believe that the rumors held any merit.

“My grandfather had dedicated his entire life to the success of the cartel, and when his own ship went down with so much opium on board, he feared that the cartel, as well as his reputation and his family name, would be ruined. The night of the tragedy, the cartel ordered that he leave the ship immediately and take with him exact coordinates and the purser’s journal and lay low until the wreck was a distant memory. Someday they would find the wreck and retrieve our bounty. But before my grandfather could deliver the journal and coordinates to the cartel, he was killed. Some say it was an internal job for threatening the existence of the cartel, but I do not believe that theory. The cartel wanted the information he had—why would they kill him? Either way, the journal or coordinates were never found until you stumbled upon them.”

So someone
did
survive, and that’s how we got the information
, Dona thought, wishing she could speak.

“Eventually, my father, Aleksandr Kozlov, was appointed to head the cartel, and he dedicated his entire life to finding those documents in an attempt to recover the opium, and in the process, restore his father’s good name. But, unfortunately, he never succeeded. When my father’s health started to deteriorate, I became head of the cartel, which is alive and well and now controlling most of the world’s international drug trade. But on his deathbed, I promised to continue his efforts, and I, too, have dedicated my life to doing just that.”

Silence overtook the deck of the boat, and then Vladimir clapped his hands and stood.

“Up until now, I had pretty much resigned myself to the fact that I would never find the documents or the wreck in my lifetime. That is, until I received a call from a cartel insider at the State Office, who told me you had turned up with coordinates and pretty good proof that you had found the wreck. We have been closely monitoring your comings and goings and your progress almost the entire expedition.”

“So you broke into our boat to look for the documents while we were away?” Mac asked.

“Now why would we do that, when all we had to do was sit back and let you do the work and we then could reap the rewards?” Vladimir responded. “We stayed as far away from you as we could, to not alert you to the fact that we were onto you.”

Mac looked at Jack. “Then who broke into our boat?” Mac asked.

“Who cares?” Vladimir said. “Enough of this small talk. Take them down below, and kill them.”

“Wait!” Mac said. “Do you think they won’t find us murdered in our boat? The State Office knows we’re here,” he continued.

“By the time they find your bodies,” Vladimir said. “We will be safely out of the country and nearing our homeland. Now kill them, and get back up here and start salvaging my opium and gold.”

The guards unlocked the handcuffs and brought Dona and Brad down first. Dax couldn’t walk, but they allowed Jack and Mac to carry him, with Vladimir on his heels.

“Can we at least say our good-byes?” Mac asked Vladimir.

Vladimir nodded, and the guards removed the tape from their mouths. They all hung on to one another and huddled around Dax lying on the floor, his shoulder still bleeding pretty badly. Jack kissed Dax on the lips and whispered, “I love you.”

“I love you too, Captain,” Dax said, his voice very weak. “More than you will ever know.”

Dax smiled up at Dona. “It’s been a good run, baby sis,” he said. “I wouldn’t have wanted to do it with anyone but you. I love you.” She only nodded as tears streamed down her face. Mac and Brad didn’t say anything. They simply stared into each other’s eyes, their looks saying everything they couldn’t bring their lips to say.

Dax held up his good arm and smiled. He slipped his hand into Jack’s and held on tight. In reaction, Dona took Jack’s, Mac hers, and Brad his. In one deliberate last show of unity, Brad reached down to Dax’s right arm, lying still at his side, and joined their hands. They all kneeled directly behind Dax and faced their executioner.

The act didn’t go unnoticed, and Vladimir yelled, “Enough! Kill them.”

The two guards raised their arms and aimed at Jack and Dona first. But before they could pull the trigger, the companionway door flew open, and they all heard, “DEA, drop your weapons and put your hands where we can see them!”

They all watched as six heavily armed agents of the United States Drug Enforcement Agency rushed into the salon and overpowered their captors.

“We need medical assistance right away!” Jack yelled. “Dax, just hold on, baby. We’re gonna make it.”

Chapter 17

A
S
J
ACK
cradled Dax’s head in his arms, he vaguely heard one of the agents radio for medical backup. Within minutes, two Coast Guard paramedics were examining Dax, while two others were sliding a backboard underneath him.

“Where are you taking him?” Dona asked.

“We’re transporting him to the
Jolly Roger
, idling just off of your stern,” the paramedic responded. “A Coast Guard cutter will be here in less than ten minutes.”

“I’m going with him,” Jack demanded.

“Me too,” Dona said.

“We’re all going,” Mac said, still holding Brad’s hand.

Another agent stepped into the salon and said, “I’m Agent Brett Wilder. Please give them a few minutes to stabilize him, and then I’ll personally take you to be with him.”

“You’re the guy from the State Office,” Dona said.

“State Office, thank God,” Vladimir said. “I am a Russian citizen being held against my will, and I demand to be returned to my country.”

“I’m sorry, sir, but I’m afraid it will be a long time before you see Russia,” Agent Wilder said.

“You can’t hold me against my will,” Vladimir protested.

“We can, sir, and we will,” Agent Wilder said. “For starters, you are being arrested for drug trafficking, drug possession, kidnapping, and attempted murder.” He instructed another agent, “Read him his rights.”

The agent started reading Vladimir his rights.

“I need air,” Jack said as he climbed the stairs to the deck. Dona, Mac, and Brad followed, and when they reached the deck, they were greeted by the sight of Vladimir’s guards, the captain and crew of his boat, and all the divers handcuffed to the same guardrail that had held them a little over an hour ago.

When the agent was finished reading him his rights, Vladimir was also escorted topside and was greeted by the same sight. Dona walked up to Vladimir and kicked him in the balls as hard as she could. “That’s for my brother,” she said as she turned and walked back to join her friends.

They all watched the blood drain from his face as he bent over and fell to his knees. Agent Wilder flinched and said, “You shouldn’t have done that, ma’am.”

“I’m sorry, Agent Wilder,” she responded.

“Okay, just don’t let it happen again,” he said with a chuckle.

Chapter 18

S
O
MUCH
had happened in a very short time that everyone’s head was spinning.

“How did you find us?” Jack asked.

“We’ve been involved from the beginning, although quite by accident,” Agent Wilder explained. “We’ve been secretly monitoring the comings and goings of Mr. Kozlov for over two years, and working to gather enough information to make our move.”

They listened intently as Wilder continued to explain.

“I know that you’re aware that our Mr. Kozlov is the head of one of Russia’s largest and most powerful drug cartels.”

Jack nodded but asked, “How did you know that
we
knew that?”

“Every cabin of your vessel has been bugged since you left the State Office,” Wilder explained. “We had to know what your plans were so we could protect you, but we knew that Kozlov wouldn’t go anywhere near you if he got wind of our involvement, so we stayed out of sight.”

“So you’re the ones who broke into the boat while we were away,” Brad said.

“Yes, sir,” Wilder confessed. “Sorry for the mess, but we tried to figure out a way to alert you to the fact that you were being monitored without compromising our mission.”

“Well, it worked,” Mac and Jack said simultaneously.

“And you owe us for new underwear,” Brad said as he looked at Dona. “But we’ll talk about that later, go on.”

“I’m not really sure where to start, so I guess I’ll start at the beginning,” Wilder said. “The wreck of the
Anna Wyoming
is very well known around these parts, and the rumors have run rampant for over one hundred years about what she was carrying, but no one could prove anything until recently. We’ve had an agent that poses as a clerk at the State Office and has been working for the last ten years to infiltrate the cartel and act as our informant, and just recently he verified that the ship was carrying at least three thousand pounds of opium. Anyway, it was pure coincidence that I happened to be in the State Office the day you came to apply for your Rights of Salvage. When the desk clerk heard which wreck you were after, she immediately brought it to my attention, and we thought we had finally gotten the break we needed. So we fast-tracked your certificate and bugged your boat before you could get back to it.”

“So you heard everything that Vladimir said about his father, the cartel, and the night of the wreck?” Jack asked.

“Thanks to Mr. Cleary, we have enough on tape to put Mr. Kozlov away for a very long time,” Wilder explained. “And once he sees what he’s facing, I’m sure he’ll start singing like a bird.”

“I hope that bastard rots in prison for his part in what happened to Dax,” Dona said.

“I promise you that we will do our very best to make sure that happens,” Wilder said. “I know you don’t believe me, but there was very little danger of any of you getting hurt. We were on the
Jolly Roger
and very close to you the entire time, but knew that if we brought in a cutter, Mr. Kozlov would have run, and we would have lost him.”