The Erotic Expeditions - Complete Collection (58 page)

“
Look
at this,” he muttered. “A
date
.”

The silver ingots didn’t always include a date.

“One six,” Kirk said slowly, his face nearly touching the magnifying glass. “I think that’s a zero and then a Z.” He looked up at Mel. “
1602
.”

That was a good sign. It could come from one of the 1605 wrecks.

“Is there a serial number?” Mel asked as she spread out the xeroxes into four piles, one for each ship.

“CCCCXXXVI,” Kirk read. He set the bar down. “436.”

“Here,” Mel said, putting two of the paper stacks in front of him, “the manifests for the San Roque and the San Ambrosio.”

Neither of them bothered to sit.

“It’s been a while,” said Kirk, running his finger down the left column of numbers and ignoring the florid handwriting that described each entry.

Each ship’s silver master created and maintained the manifest in triplicate: one that remained with the cargo, one placed on another ship, and the one they were looking at now, which had remained ashore. Although the serial numbers might be duplicated between ships, it’d be highly unlikely that the serial number, the fineness number of the silver content, and the mark of the assayer would all match.

Mel began flipping pages at a quick rate. Only three or four entries were listed on each page, since the handwritten description of the treasure and who it belonged to took up most of the space.
 

“436,” Mel said, her index finger just below the number. “On the Santa Domingo.”

The Santa Domingo was, by far, the largest of the four galleons.

“There should be a shipper’s mark,” Mel said looking at it, drawn in the left margin.

Kirk picked up the magnifier again and bent over the bar.

“It’s a combination of a capital T and a capital R,” she said. “With–”

“With a diamond on top,” Kirk said. He set the magnifier down with a thud. “That’s it,” he whispered staring down at the silver. “That’s it, Mel. It’s the Santa Domingo.” He looked up at her. “You did it. You and the old man.”

She knew she had to be grinning like a fool.

“
We
did it,” she crowed as she jumped into his arms, almost knocking him over.

Life would never be the same. Once word of the find got out, they would be in the middle of a media storm. They’d need a corporation, security, more divers, and at least one more boat to start. Then they’d need a warehouse–

Kirk’s arms circled around her and his eyes seemed lit from within. She ran her fingers through his damp hair.

“Treasure fever,” she said, smiling. “The old ways die hard.”

“The old ways
are
dead,” he said, his smile turning into a mischievous grin. His hands slid down to her lower back and pulled her close. “It’s not the fleet I’m thinking about,” he murmured, staring at her lips.

A little shiver of anticipation tingled up her spine.

“Say it,” he whispered, as his hands moved lower and he squeezed.

“Say it?” she whispered as she shook her head.

Suddenly, he stooped, picked her up, and headed into the corridor.

“Today’s the day,” he said as he carried her into his room.

As tension suddenly coiled inside her, Mel knew Kirk didn’t mean the treasure.

“Today
is
the day,” she said.

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Copyright © 2013 Hazel Hunter

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