Deep Blue (22 page)

They worked until dark, all four divers in the water, picking up as much as they could off the top of the ballast pile. But underwater salvage took time. Movements were slow and the pile of stones extended eighty feet along the sandy ocean floor.

Pete lowered a metal net attached to the heavy cable on the crane, which they loaded with silver bars. They found two more gold disks, blew a lot of sand around with the mailbox, and caught glimpses of enormous stacks of silver coins wedged beneath the stones. Lifting the ballast away was going to take time, and the day was rapidly waning.

They would start again in the morning. All of them were excited to see what the next day would bring.

A tub of ice filled with bottles of French champagne sat on the deck when Conn and Joe, Tom and Wally finished their last dive and returned to the boat. Captain Bob greeted them as they removed their gear and climbed the ladder to the deck.

The captain reached into the tub and grabbed the neck of an icy bottle. “We bought a case of this the last time we were in Jamaica. We’ve been keeping it chilled down in the fish tank. All of us were optimistic.” The captain popped the cork and began filling red plastic beer cups, handing them out to members of the crew.

Conn reached into the tub, snagged a bottle by the neck, and hauled it out. Ignoring the cup Andy held out to him, he popped the cork and took a long, thirst-quenching drink straight from the bottle. Joe popped open a bottle of his own and they held them up and clinked them together in a silent salute. The professor was drinking from a beer cup, talking a mile a minute to Captain Bob. A few feet away, Hope drank from a cup the captain had filled.

Conn walked over and refilled her glass. “Looks like you got a great ending for your series.”

“The best,” she said. Turning to the others, she held up her cup of champagne. “To Conn, Joe, and the professor—and the terrific crew of the
Conquest.
Congratulations on a job well done!”

Everyone cheered. “Hear, hear!” Andy Glass shouted, and all of them took a hefty drink.

“What about your partners?” Hope said to Conn. “I suppose you’ll have to call them.”

“I don’t have any choice. Unfortunately, as soon as I do, they’ll have the news media swarming all over us.”

“That’ll mean more boats and more people, which could mean more trouble.”

“Yeah, but a deal’s a deal. They deserve to know what we’ve found.”

“My article’s not due for a while. I can hold back on the announcement I’ll be doing for the Internet site if you think it will help.”

Conn shook his head. “Won’t matter. Talbot and Markham will break the news the minute they hear it. You might as well get the glory.”

Hope smiled. “Thanks.”

Conn glanced toward the chart room. “I better make those calls. Talbot and Markham find out I waited, they’ll be pissed and I can’t really blame them.” Conn left Hope on the deck and went down to use the satellite phone. The first call went to Brad Talbot.

“I can’t believe you actually found it! What have you brought up so far?”

“We only discovered the ballast pile a few hours ago. We worked till it got too dark. So far we’ve found a number of silver bars and coins, and three heavy gold disks the size of my hand. We’ll be setting up a permanent dive site in the morning. Mostly we’re celebrating, right now.”

“I don’t blame you. As a matter of fact, I think I’ll join you. I’ll come out to the island as soon as I can rearrange my schedule.”

“I think you’ll be impressed.”

“I’m already impressed. Good work, Reese. You and old man Marlin did well.” Talbot signed off and Conn phoned Eddie Markham.

“You’re not kidding, right? You found the actual treasure? The thing they call the mother lode?”

“Looks that way. It’s going to take plenty of work to bring all of it up, but it looks like we’re the first ones who’ve ever been on the site. We brought up a load of stuff this afternoon that was lying right on top. We figure the rest is buried among the ballast stones.”

In fact, he was planning to hire another salvage boat. If there was as much down there as it looked like, bringing it up would take another dive team or two.

“Hey, I’ve got an idea,” Markham said into the phone. “We’re having an off-night here. Why don’t you and your crew come to the restaurant? We’ll celebrate together. The whole thing’s on me.”

Conn knew he probably shouldn’t. They had a shitload of work to do tomorrow. Then again, how many times in your life did you find a Spanish galleon loaded with sunken treasure?

“Sounds great.” He’d have to leave a couple of men aboard, but maybe the guys could take shifts so everyone could go to the party, at least for a while.

“I’ll send Chalko out to pick all of you up,” Eddie said. “Toss in your overnight bag and you can spend the night in one of the villas. Tell the professor that invitation includes him, too.”

Conn thought of Hope. “I’ll tell him. We may just take you up on that.”

“When will you be ready?”

He looked out the window at his laughing, half-drunk crew. No one deserved to celebrate more. “Hell—we’re ready right now.”

Markham laughed. “Chalko’s on his way.”

Conn hung up the phone and made his way back up on deck. He spotted Hope in her navy blue shorts and a crisp white blouse with the tails tied up around her waist. His gaze ran over her pretty legs, lightly tanned now, and he remembered them wrapped around his waist on the kitchen table. The wind whipped her glorious dark red hair and he remembered its exact silky texture as it slipped through his fingers. Desire slammed into him with the force of a blow.

He wasn’t finished with Hope Sinclair, not by a long shot. He had a strong suspicion this was the woman he had been looking for all his life and he wasn’t about to let her get away, no matter how skittish she was.

She turned at his approach and Conn smiled. “Better put on your party clothes, baby. Eddie Markham’s throwing us a celebration bash.”

Hope laughed and the warm, feminine sound made him go rock-hard. “I’m so happy for you, Conn.”

He reached down and cupped her chin, tilted her head back, and lightly kissed her lips. “Maybe the two of us can celebrate later.”

She started to shake her head so he let her go. “Just think about it.”

She didn’t say more. Conn figured she wouldn’t be able to think about anything else. He knew her secret now, knew that she wanted him nearly as much as he wanted her. Once he’d figured it out, he’d been relentless, subtly seducing her, using their mutual attraction to lure her back to his bed. Exactly where she belonged.

The sun was well down by the time Chalko and the boat arrived to take them to the island. Captain Bob and Andy were staying aboard, but King, Michael, and Pete would be coming back early so the captain and engineer could have dinner and join the party for a while. The professor declined the invitation to spend the night on the island, preferring to stay on the boat, so he would be returning as well.

It made Conn vaguely uneasy to leave the boat so thinly manned with so much gold and silver aboard, even for a very short time. The smaller gold artifacts like the rings, belts, necklaces, and chains that had been brought up were kept in the ship’s safe, but the larger silver bars, gold disks, and oxidized coins had been loaded into the hold.

It was almost time to go in and resupply, but Conn figured he could stretch their provisions a couple more days. And they would be anchored over the site, instead of having to run the fuel-guzzling diesel engines while they searched.

They all wanted to stay as long as they could, except maybe Joe, who was torn between finding treasure and getting back to his bride. Conn had already made arrangements to deposit whatever treasure they found with the Bank of Nova Scotia—Scotia Bank—in Port Antonio. An armored vehicle would be waiting when they pulled up to the dock.

The roar of an engine drew Conn’s attention to the port side of the boat. The Sea Ray began to slow, sending low, rolling waves toward the hull.

Doc Marlin walked up as the speedboat eased up to the loading platform. “Been quite a day, hasn’t it?”

“It sure has, Professor. Tomorrow might prove even more interesting.”

“You’ve done a fine job, my boy.”

“Couldn’t have done it without you, Doc. You’re the brains of this operation. You figured out where to look.”

The professor seemed pleased. Making his way toward the boarding platform, Doc Marlin joined the crew climbing onto the Pleasure Island yacht. Conn helped Hope aboard, then sat down beside her on one of the padded white vinyl seats.

She was wearing a jazzy little sundress she must have brought back with her on her last trip to The Villas, white with splashy dark-pink flowers. Except for two thin straps, the dress left her shoulders bare, the bodice just low enough to show the soft swells of her breasts. Just low enough to drive him crazy.

The boat pulled away from the
Conquest,
drawing his mind in a safer direction. They had to travel farther now to reach the reef, find the entrance leading into the harbor, and cross the lagoon to the dock. The ride was great this time of evening, with the sea dark and calm and a salt spray cooling the warm, humid air.

A pair of island Jeeps waited at the dock to carry the group to the restaurant, which was in the main building next to the lobby. Like each of the villas, the restaurant, Trade Winds, was done in a sophisticated tropical motif with heavy carved furniture, candles on white linen cloths, and clusters of exotic flowers on each of the intimate tables.

In a private, equally lovely chamber off the main dining room, orchids and hibiscus decorated a long row of banquet tables overflowing with an array of fruits and cheeses, cooked and marinated vegetables, homemade breads, fresh fish, lobster, prime rib, and every kind of pastry and dessert you could name.

Conn walked into the room behind Hope. He had plans for her this evening, plans she would enjoy as much as he did, if she would just let herself. Eddie stood next to the door, personally greeting each of his guests.

“This is incredible,” Hope said to him, her sea-green eyes scanning the feast the emperor had laid out for them. “I wasn’t even hungry till I walked through the door and smelled all this fabulous food.”

Eddie smiled, obviously pleased. He was wearing his trademark light suit, along with a blue silk shirt and flowered blue tie. His skin was even more tanned than before, giving him a George Hamilton look.

“The bar’s open,” he said. “There’s more champagne, beer and wine, and all the fancy rum drinks you can name.”

“This is great, Eddie,” Conn agreed. “The guys really deserve it.”

“No one deserves it more than you, Conn. If there’s as much treasure down there as Professor Marlin believes, the two of you have made all of us a lot of money.”

Conn had refused to let himself think that far ahead but he couldn’t help hoping Eddie was right. He had plans for the future, and with enough money he could make those plans happen. “We’ll know more tomorrow.”

Eddie nodded. “I got a call from Brad Talbot after he heard the news. He’ll be here the end of the week. He’s bringing a few people with him.”

A muscle tightened along Conn’s jaw. “A few more people. Just what we need.”

Eddie clapped him on the shoulder. “Hey, a little publicity won’t hurt. The
Rosa
’s been missing for four hundred years. Finding her is a very big deal.”

“Finding her loaded with treasure—
that’s
the big deal.”

“But you’re pretty sure she is.”

“Yeah. Pretty sure. Like I said, we’ll know more tomorrow.”

Markham turned to speak to the professor, and Conn led Hope over to the bar. She ordered a piña colada and he ordered a Scotch, which he sipped slowly.

As the evening progressed, he was pleased to see that neither Joe nor the other two divers were drinking all that much. They were looking forward to the search tomorrow every bit as much as he was.

“Are you hungry?” Hope asked, her gaze once more on the sumptuous display of food.

“Yeah,” Conn said. “I’m definitely hungry.” But his eyes were fixed on Hope and he wasn’t thinking of food.

It was a memorable evening, one she would never forget. Hope felt an odd sort of camaraderie with the crew that she hadn’t expected. The men were all so excited, so eager to see what they would find the next day. Everyone ate too much, but no one drank more than he should have. There was too much at stake. These men were on a mission and they intended to accomplish it.

All evening, Conn stayed close by, his familiar presence reassuring but at the same time disturbing. One look from those intense blue eyes and she knew she was playing with fire. Her heart raced every time he touched her. He flashed one of his sexy smiles and her breath snagged somewhere in her chest.

They sat next to the professor during dinner and Hope enjoyed the older man’s sophisticated banter. He mentioned his wife, speaking somewhat wistfully. Conn had told her Mary Marlin suffered from Alzheimer’s disease.

“If we find as much as we’re hoping to,” the professor said, “the money will certainly come in handy. I’ll have enough to make certain Mary has the very best of care.”

Hope reached over and squeezed the professor’s thin hand. “You’re going to find so much you won’t be able to count it.”

He laughed. “I hope so, dear girl, I truly do.”

They finished the meal and Hope pushed back from the table, feeling pleasantly full.

“How about a walk on the beach?” Conn suggested, and though she knew she shouldn’t, she ached to go with him.

“What about the boat? I thought you’d want to go back.”

“Joe will see that the men get back to the
Conquest.
Eddie invited us to stay in one of the villas. We can go back in the morning.”

Her stomach curled. So did her toes. Stay on the island. Spend the night with Conn in one of the villas. In one of those big king-size beds, naked, skin to skin, beneath a fluffy feather comforter. If she closed her eyes, she could imagine his hard body pressing her down in the mattress, feel him deep inside her.