In Too Deep (16 page)

“Great, because I’m not going to be in attendance.”

Kennedy was silent for several seconds before saying, “Okay,” drawing out the word into multiple syllables.

“Don’t ask.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

“Just...figure out what we’re up against so we can formulate a plan of action.”

“Will do. What are you going to do?”

There was really only one option that appealed to him at the moment.

“I’m hitting the hotel bar.”

It had been a long time since he’d drowned his sorrows in alcohol. Tonight he needed something to numb the pain. Tomorrow would be soon enough to deal with the fallout of this mess.

* * *

A
VERY
COULD
FEEL
the cut of Knox’s gaze as she walked away with McNair, but there was nothing she could do about it.

There’d been no way to warn Knox, not without explaining what was going on. And she’d been afraid. She was going to lose him anyway since she’d been lying to him—by omission if nothing else—since the moment they met.

And if that wasn’t enough to cause him to turn his back on her, learning her secret would no doubt seal her fate. He’d condemn her for her choices, as would everyone else.

Until that moment, she hadn’t realized just how much she wanted Knox to stay in her life.

The way he’d looked at her, his eyes hard and unforgiving, the pain of betrayal radiating back at her...

It hurt so much.

But she deserved the contempt. She had betrayed Knox and was about to make it worse.

McNair put his hand on the small of her back. She fought the instinct to move away from his touch.

He led her into the room he’d had the yacht club prepare. A dais stretched out in front of her with a podium and several microphones. Chairs were arranged on the floor, quite a few of them already filled with eager media personnel.

“I’m so glad you decided to do the right thing, my dear,” McNair whispered into her ear as he handed her up the low flight of stairs.

He stopped several feet behind her and she turned to look at him. There was a part of her that had to appreciate the picture McNair made. He was tall and radiated power in an effortless way. But she knew he wasn’t the dedicated businessman he pretended to be.

Her stomach churned sickly as she stepped up to the podium. Avery let her eyes sweep across the back of the room, hoping to see Knox, head and shoulders above everyone else. But he wasn’t there.

Her mouth went dry. Reaching for the small glass of water on the edge of the podium, she took a quick sip.

Someone, apparently impatient with her stalling tactics, shouted out into the quiet room, “Dr. Walsh, can you elaborate on your findings and exactly how you determined the ship was not the
Chimera
?”

Avery opened her mouth to force out the words that would forever haunt her, but they wouldn’t come. This was a line she couldn’t cross. She might have misrepresented her qualifications, but no one had gotten hurt from that choice. She’d been qualified and simply lacked a piece of paper to prove it. This decision would damage Knox and his business. She couldn’t do it, not even for Melody or her own career.

Knox might not ever understand or forgive her, but she needed to do the right thing.

She pulled in a deep breath and held it before slowly releasing, trying to find the strength she needed.

“I’m sorry, you were misinformed. The wreckage Trident Diving and Salvage discovered several months ago off the coast of Rum Cay is, in my opinion, the
Chimera
.”

A cacophony erupted in the room. Behind her, she felt McNair step forward. She only had a few seconds before he shut the entire thing down.

Leaning toward the mics, Avery raised her voice to be heard above the din.

“Two days ago I recovered a medal from the wreck. Only a handful of men were awarded the honor by the US Congress before the Civil War. John William Ballinger, captain of the
Chimera
, was one of them. I have no doubt that this evidence, paired with the research Jackson Duchane and Loralei Lancaster used to find her, proves the ship is the
Chimera
.”

A strong hand wrapped around her arm and yanked. Avery let McNair pull her away from the podium. There wasn’t much left to say.

He shoved her into the arms of a hulking man standing behind her. “Get her off the stage,” he growled, his eyes cold chips that promised swift retribution for what she’d just done.

The man, obviously McNair’s muscle, wrapped his fingers around her arms and dragged her through a doorway behind the dais she hadn’t noticed before.

He shoved her against the wall and growled, “Stay,” before instructing two more guys to watch her.

Avery rubbed at her arm, certain she’d have bruises tomorrow. Her body slumped against the wall, and she fought the urge to collapse.

Through the open doorway, she listened to McNair ruin her career.

“It has recently come to my attention that Ms. Walsh has been committing fraud for several years. She’s been representing herself as a doctor of nautical archaeology when she in fact never completed the doctorate program.”

She heard the murmurs and rumblings from the other room.

“Obviously, I didn’t learn this information until after she’d been attached to the project. In addition, it’s come to my attention that Ms. Walsh has recently become intimately involved with one of the owners of Trident Diving and Salvage.”

Her knees trembled, threatening to collapse. How the hell did he know that? The only people who could possibly know that were supposedly loyal to Trident.

Although McNair had gotten to her using her weaknesses against her. Perhaps he’d done the same thing to someone else.

At first she felt sick. She could just imagine how Knox was feeling right now. He’d be pissed that his personal information was being splashed all over the international media.

And that fired up her own anger.

“Given this information, I’ll be disputing any findings Ms. Walsh attempts to publish concerning the wreck. Her impartiality and integrity have been called into question.”

She was going to give him integrity, right in his face the next time he got close to her. Avery clenched her hands into tight fists.

An unexpected sense of calm settled across her shoulders.

Pushing away from the wall, Avery took several steps back toward the stage, but a heavy hand gripped her arm. Righteous anger had her continuing another couple of steps, pulling against the hold. But that didn’t get her far.

She was yanked off-kilter, her body spinning until she was staring straight into a familiar face, one she’d never expected to see again.

“Hello, Ms. Walsh. We meet again.”

The leader of the drug runners stared down at her, a cocky smile twisting his lips and an unnatural gleam shining in his eyes.

What the hell was he doing here? How did he fit into this game?

She didn’t have much time to wonder before McNair came striding through the door. He raked her with a hard gaze, then dismissed her.

“Come on,” he pointed at one of the other men, indicating the drug runner should follow him.

“What should we do with her, boss?”

McNair paused, his lips pulling into a tight line. “Let her go. She’s served her purpose and I don’t need her anymore.”

With a shrug, a hulking brute with a scar running straight through his top lip, gripped her arm.

She was really getting tired of being yanked and pushed. And if she wasn’t outnumbered six to one she might have done something about it, but right now she wanted information.

“Wait,” she said when he started pulling her in the opposite direction. “McNair, I don’t understand. What is he doing here?”

The drug runner tossed her another grin that didn’t hold a speck of humor.

For a minute she thought McNair was going to ignore her. But after a few charged moments of silence, he turned. Walking close, he seized her chin in a grip that would leave marks.

She could smell his expensive cologne, but it couldn’t quite cover up the stench of corruption and malevolence.

“You’re intelligent enough, Ms. Walsh, I’m certain if you think hard enough you’ll figure it out.”

“You don’t care about the gold, do you?”

The man laughed, the sound chilling her. “No, although I would have taken it. What I need is access to international waters, specifically where I’ve spent years and countless millions bribing the necessary officials.”

“Your diving business is a front.”

“And a very convenient one. No one questions a salvage company hauling in unusual cargo.”

With that, he turned away, dismissing her.

Frustration, resentment and blinding anger welled up inside her. She couldn’t let him get away with this. There had to be some way to stop him.

The two men walked out, leaving her with four more. She didn’t doubt the bulges beneath their suit coats were guns. And she really didn’t want to have another one pointed at her face.

What now?

“Come on. Mr. McNair said it’s time for you to leave.”

One of the men grabbed her arm, propelling her forward. Avery stared at the drug runner speaking to one of the other men in the corner. Her mind raced. Maybe with more information she’d hit on something that would help.

The drop zone they’d stumbled on had been very close to the wreck site. Salvaging the
Chimera
could take years. It was a painstaking process where each room would be systematically searched and cataloged. The sea floor close by would even be dredged for artifacts.

McNair had known they were showing up at the site—why the hell had he continued with the drop that day? Was it greed? Audacity? Maybe he’d just wanted to get one more run in before their presence shut him down for a few weeks.

Or maybe...

“Hey,” Avery called out, trying to get the drug runner’s attention. “McNair set you up.”

“What are you talking about?”

“That’s the only explanation. Why would he have you retrieve a drug shipment when he knew the Trident team would be arriving?”

The sneer that crossed the man’s face had her insides quivering. He took several menacing steps toward her, his expression full of dangerous loathing.

Fear shot through her, but she pressed on. Now was not the time to lose her courage.

“We sent a message changing the drop location, but the idiot pilot didn’t receive it in time.”

That had been bad luck for all of them, especially since the mistake had resulted in her and Knox being abandoned on that island. Even if everything between them had changed in those few hours.

“Why didn’t you just kill us?”

His smile was silky smooth and somehow more dangerous than the sneer. “Because McNair wanted you alive. He needed you on that ship doing your job. We were under strict orders to stay out of your way.”

“You call leaving us stranded staying out of my way?”

He shrugged. “You’re alive, aren’t you?”

Yeah, but she didn’t know for how long.

“Javier, hurry up. McNair wants us back at the ship in fifteen. We have to get out to the site before the storm hits.” One of the others hollered.

Javier, who still gripped her arm, yelled back, “I’m hurrying, Chris.”

“The charges are loaded.” One of the other guys threw back his head and laughed. “A couple hours and there’ll be a huge kaboom.”

Chris smacked the guy in the back of the head. “Shut it, idiot.” He tossed a pointed look in her direction.

“Please. Like anyone will believe her if she says something. McNair just told the entire world that she’s a fraud.”

A sense of dread filled her belly. Because the guy was right.

* * *

K
NOX
’
S
CELL
PHONE
rang for the third time in three minutes. He really didn’t feel like dealing with whatever Kennedy wanted to tell him, but realized if he didn’t answer she was simply going to keep calling. Better to deal with it now.

Besides, drinking wasn’t exactly working for him. He’d ordered a Scotch on the rocks fifteen minutes earlier and had barely taken a sip.

He’d welcomed the smooth fire as it had slipped down his throat and spread through his belly.

But he wanted Avery more.

Too bad he couldn’t have her.

“What?” he growled.

“Turn on a TV. Now,” was Kennedy’s only response.

Reaching for the remote to the TV behind the bar, Knox flipped it on. “What am I supposed to be looking for?”

The words weren’t out of his mouth two seconds before they became unnecessary. Scrolling to one of the major news channels, he saw Avery filling the screen.

A voice spoke over the picture for a few seconds. “This is the press conference Anderson McNair called several minutes ago,” the anchor said.

“I told you I didn’t want to see this,” Knox growled into the phone, his thumb on the off button.

Before he could push Kennedy said, “Watch. Trust me.”

He didn’t remember hanging up, but he must have. His eyes were glued to the screen. Avery was beautiful, calm and perfectly in control on the surface.

Although, he saw beneath that. Noticed her lips part as if she was breathing quickly. The heavy way she swallowed. The fear and pain and guilt she couldn’t quite banish from her eyes.

He didn’t want it to matter, but it did.

Even more when he finally heard her say the wreck was the
Chimera
.

He was standing, the remote biting into his hand beneath the force of his grip as he watched a guy who was clearly hired muscle lead her off the stage. But what McNair said next sent a cascade of unpleasant emotions through his chest.

Avery hadn’t earned her doctorate.

Knox shook his head, unsure how to even process that information. It wasn’t good, if it was true. And, considering he’d known all along that Avery was hiding something, it made perfect sense.

What the hell happened now?

Not just with the
Chimera
, but with Avery?

She’d still betrayed him and Trident, even if it hadn’t been the way he’d thought. She’d lied to them. To everyone.