Robert redirected his attention forward. “If it stops.”
“It will.” Jack joined him at the helm. “You planning on following the coastline the way you did earlier?”
“That’s my plan.”
“I’m sure it’ll help.”
Minutes later, he noticed the gusts buffeting the boat weren’t nearly what they were a mile or so behind them. He took that as a good sign.
By the time they reached Manele Bay, Kazuko had used her cell phone to reserve her and Robert a room for the night. Robert pulled up to the small pier and turned the boat over to Jack.
“You sure you don’t want to join us,” Kazuko asked. “The front desk clerk assured me they had a vacancy.”
He looked at Dana, “You’re welcome to go with them if you want. My treat.”
She laced her arm around his. “I’ll stay with you.”
“You realize you’re passing up a hot shower and a fantastic meal.”
“We’ll make this fun.” She looked at Kazuko. “You and Robert enjoy yourselves. We’ll see you in the morning.”
CHAPTER 55
By midnight, the storm had pretty much exhausted itself. Jack lay with one arm tucked under his head in bed next to Dana in the main cabin. For the past fifteen minutes, he’d stared through the small portside window at the moon showing through a break in the clouds like God in heaven peeking down on the islands to see what damage the tempest had caused.
“You’re awake,” Dana asked in a voice soft and dreamy with sleep.
He snaked his arm under her side and pulled her close, consumed by the feel of her warmth against him. “I thought you were snoozing.”
She raked her fingers through the hair on his chest and yawned. “I was, but not anymore.”
“Sorry if I woke you.” He faced the window and watched the clouds drift by. “I can’t stop thinking about the necklace and something Robert said.”
“What did he say that’s keeping you awake?”
“That we’d dive down and take a look as soon as the storm abated.”
“I’m sure you will. What’s the problem?”
“Maybe a lot if we wait till morning.” He scooted onto his side and peered into her eyes. The darkness hid their color, but he knew they were green and seductive, and in the right light, flecked with gold. “The way I see it, if Takahashi’s men didn’t bring that safe up earlier today, they’ll be back at first light. And all we’ll be able to do is sit a safe distance away and watch.”
Dana sat upright, her breasts spilling out from under the sheet covering them. The moonlight shining in through the tiny window lit up her pale skin and illuminated the look of concern etched in her expression.
“You’re not thinking of diving down there tonight?”
“It’s not as bad an idea as you make it sound. The storm has died down to little more than a breeze and a few clouds. We can make a quick run up the coast. Dive down and take a look. If the safe’s not there we’ll know they got it.”
“You talked all day long as though you were sure there was a safe on the Orochimaru. We don’t even know that to be the case.”
“There had to be one,” he said. “A man with that much money in possession of a near priceless diamond—it only makes sense.”
“Okay, let’s say there is, or was. Maybe they didn’t need to raise the safe. Just burn through the door and take the necklace and any other valuables they find.”
“We’ll know that, too, once we take a look.”
“Do you honestly hear yourself talk? That channel is dangerous enough during the day under perfect water conditions. A night dive is insanity.”
He sat up, his back against the bulkhead, and took her hand in his and held it. There was a side to her that he wasn’t giving her credit for. To try and downplay what he intended to do was a waste of effort. She was a professional with both the job and the experience to know what she was talking about.
But his mind was made up.
“They haven’t made a run at us here . . . yet,” he said. “I’m not so sure they aren’t sitting on shore as we speak, planning their attack. They want us dead, and that hasn’t changed. They’ve probably already recovered the necklace, but I’m not convinced they did. I’ve made a lot of night dives. Once you get over the unwarranted fear of being eaten by a large predator materializing out of the gloom, it’s not all that different from making one during the daytime. Down for a quick look around and be back here before breakfast time. That’s what I want to do. It’s the only way we’ll know for sure. And we can’t let the Ichiban beat us back there.”
“And if the safe is still aboard and intact, what do you propose we do? You don’t have the equipment to raise it.”
“I’ve given that thought, too,” he said. “I’ll blow the door off with the plastic explosive I removed from the fuel tanks here on Robert’s boat. I’m sure there’s enough C-4 to do the job.”
She fell silent.
He didn’t press. She needed to give plenty of thought to the idea and be good with it. Her undivided support and help was paramount if there was any chance at all his plan would work.
Her gaze met his. “I won’t let you dive alone.”
“No reason we should both risk being eaten.”
“Joking won’t change my mind,” she said. “I’ve done my share of wreck diving—at night and during the day—and know how dangerous it is. And it’s not the fish you need to watch out for.”
“Then we do it together?”
“Or not at all.”
“Let’s weigh anchor,” he said. “We have a dive to make.”
CHAPTER 56
Jack set a direct course for the waypoint marking the location of Orochimaru’s watery grave. With only a mild breeze driving the waves, the white-capped swells flattened into little more than a moderate roll.
They’d make good time.
And he was glad for that.
Dressed in his faded trunks, a t-shirt, and an old pair of canvas shoes, he settled in for the cruise up the coast.
Now that the raucous storm had dissipated into what seemed like an anomalous tranquility, the night was strangely quiet, with only the drone of the engines and the hiss of the hull slicing through the water breaking the silence.
Dana joined him, wearing an oversized, thin, white-cotton sleepshirt that showed her yellow two-piece swimsuit underneath. She handed him a steaming mug of coffee, took a sip from a cup of her own, and faced the windshield; silent, deep in thought.
And he could imagine what she was thinking.
She struggled to make sense out of what she was doing on the ocean in the middle of the night with the intention of diving on a sunken shipwreck they knew absolutely nothing about. Knowing he was responsible for her abandoning the security of her rigidly structured, quasi-military life to join him on a treasure hunt with an uncertain and potentially dangerous outcome, left him feeling ashamed.
But he was happy she was with him.
“A penny for your thoughts.”
She shot him a sheepish look. “I feel guilty taking Robert’s boat without him knowing it.”
Not what he imagined or anything close. He grinned. “Kind of like when you were a kid and took your parent’s car for a joy ride.”
“Yeah, only I never did.”
“I thought that was part of adolescence?”
“For some, maybe. I spent most of my impressionable years reading books about wild and wondrous adventures.”
“Like the one you’re on now?”
She faced the windshield and held her gaze there a moment before turning it back on him. “To tell you the truth, I’ve never felt so good . . . so alive. It’s like living out one of a number of dreams I had growing up.”
“If that’s the case, I’m glad I’m sharing it with you.”
He left her to her thoughts and quietly sipped his coffee. The ocean stretched out wide and glossy in front of them. The moon that shined between breaks in the clouds lit
up a silvery path. It was easy for his mind to wander to other adventures he’d been on and those that might come. To contemplate the excitement, the dangers . . . and appreciate the rewards.
At that moment, he couldn’t conceive being anywhere else or with anyone else but Dana.
The time they were sharing together was special. And for that, he was pleased Robert and Kazuko weren’t along.
Though she had a point about taking Robert’s boat without asking permission.
But it was a minor point considering their friendship.
And he did plan to be back in time for a late breakfast.
He’d buy.
When they neared the waypoint, he directed his focus solely on the Garmin. They were practically on top of the Orochimaru. He turned the bow into the current on a direct line with the wreck and slid from behind the wheel.
“Take the helm and keep an eye on the screen. I’m going up on the bow. When we pass over her, call out to me. I’ll toss the anchor overboard. When I do that, cut power and drift back with the current until the flukes are set good and secure.”
She took over the helm without questioning anything he’d said.
There was no doubt she knew what she was doing.
“Nervous?”
A thin smile curled her lips. “Some. But more excited than anything.”
He grinned at her enthusiasm. “Keep the rear deck light off for now. I’ll be back in a minute.”
CHAPTER 57
When Jack stepped from the cabin, he noticed the chill that came with the storm was gone from the night air. He jumped onto the gunwale and quickly made his way to the bow. Taking hold of the anchor, he waited.
“Get ready,” she yelled from inside.
He braced himself.
“Now,” she said.
He made one last quick check to make certain his feet wouldn’t become fowled in the coil of nylon rope on the deck and tossed the heavy Danforth overboard. In the dark he couldn’t see the splash, but heard it. He let the line slip through his hands until it fell slack, then gave it a couple of firm tugs, and tied it off to a forward cleat. Immediately, the current pulled it taut.
The anchor held.
He hurried aft and jumped onto the rear deck, anxious to get under water. And apprehensive at what they were going to find.
“We’re set,” he said, loud enough for her to hear.
The drone of engines stopped and a moment later she joined him. She’d removed her loose-fitting sleepshirt and looked wonderful in the moonlight.
The vision brought back memories of other nights they had spent admiring each other in the cool light of the moon. And for the next few seconds, he enjoyed the exquisite contours of her body.
He could have kissed her.
“The Orochimaru is right underneath us,” she said. “In about fifty feet of water. Looks like she’s rolled onto her upper deck.”
“So it’s sitting upside down?”
“Basically, yes.”
“Probably in the storm.”
“That’d be my guess. The current down there must have been fierce.”
“Might be a good thing if it was.”
“Why is that?”
“Means the divers had trouble working in it.”
She nodded. “So you still believe there’s a chance the necklace is there waiting for us?”
“And with luck the current has slacked off. Let’s get dressed.”
They dug into the dry baitwell where the borrowed dive equipment was stowed, and lifted out the buoyancy compensator vests they’d be using, the primary breathing regulators with an octopus setup and depth and air gauges, weight belts, and the low-volume masks and fins they’d need. He was glad to see the back-up regulators. The tanks were still lashed to the starboard gunwale ready to go. With it all laid out neatly on the deck, he left her to ready the dive gear and stepped into the cabin.
It only took him a couple of minutes to retrieve two powerful Kinetics dive lights and two neoprene wetsuits Robert kept aboard for impromptu dips in the ocean. It was unfortunate Kazuko’s was at the dive shop being repaired. He carried the items aft to Dana and offered her Robert’s wetsuit.
“You had one that will fit me?” she asked in a tone of disbelief.
“Be a little big, but I’ll cut the legs off a few inches so they fit better.”
“Be good if you could take it in a little here and there as well.”
He studied her curves. “I’m afraid you have to make do with only the one minor alteration.”
“I’ll be fine,” she said. “Hopefully we won’t be under water long enough for me to get cold.”
“I won’t mind if you stay topside.”
She frowned. “And miss all the fun? No way.”
“At least it will help keep you from being fileted on something sharp.”
He slid a dive knife from its sheath and sliced off about four inches. That done, he handed her the wetsuit, and said, “Baggy is better than nothing.”
She held it up in front of her in the moonlight. “Looks like you’re going to owe someone a new suit.”
“Robert,” he said. “And gladly.”
Relying on each other’s assistance to strap on the awkward SCUBA gear, it only took a few minutes. He checked his airflow by pressing the purge valve on the regulator and watched Dana check hers. Satisfied, he looked her over one more time to make sure everything was in place.
“You’re good to go,” he said. “I’ll take the lead.”
“Just don’t scare the fish.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.”
He slipped his mask down over his face, inserted the mouthpiece, and took a couple of test breaths. Seeing her do the same, he flashed a thumbs-up sign and got one in return.
Without further delay, he handed her a light, pressed his fingertips against the glass faceplate on his mask, and rolled over the side.
CHAPTER 58
The tepid water of the channel closed over Jack. Beneath the surface, the abyss was total darkness. Had it not been for the powerful dive light and the bubbles rising from the exhaust ports on his regulator, he would not have known up from down. He let his body go limp in the weightlessness of the sea and waited for Dana to appear.
A few seconds later, the spot from her circular beam pierced the water fifteen feet away. He’d drifted that far.
He kicked to her with powerful strokes of his fins and shined his cone of light at the white paint on Fast Time’s underside to orient himself. A shimmer of moonlight reflected off the surface next to the boat. The rise and fall of the hull was the only indication of where the suffocating black void of the Pacific stopped and the tranquil darkness of night began.
The water inside his wetsuit, that started out chilly, had already begun to warm. He regretted not being able to equip Dana with a proper-fitting neoprene suit and hoped she was okay. There was little he could do about it now except find the safe and hope the necklace was still there. Then get her topside to warm up.
The job of setting the explosive was his alone.
He pointed his light toward the bow and got a nod of understanding from her. They’d follow the anchor line to the bottom.
He descended the braided nylon rope hand over hand, pulling himself deeper into the gloom. Ten feet down, he glanced over his shoulder to make sure she followed him into the depths. The shipwreck that had been nothing more than a sonar image on a screen began to take shape twenty feet below. Surge swirled a constant cloud of silt and organic matter making it difficult for him to truly appreciate the once fine lines of the sunken vessel. But at last the stab of his circular beam provided him a full appreciation of the ship’s former grandeur.
The hundred-foot-long craft—unquestioningly a luxury yacht—had three decks and rested upside down on its forward rakish white superstructure. The bow pointed toward Shipwreck Beach, held in place by the coral encrusted reef that left the vessel sitting with the stern slightly raised above the seafloor. There we
re no remnants of drift net swaying like ghostly apparitions in the current, no fishing line, or any other debris like what he’d found clinging to the WWII Japanese mini-sub I-16 he’d discovered off the coast of Kauai a few years earlier. The boat hadn’t been underwater long enough for that.
But it was only a matter of time.
He finned to the closer of two massive propellers now idle, and with his gloved left hand, grabbed hold of one of the brass blades. The current that showed no sign of slaking off continued to tug at his body. Dana kicked over to him, flashed the universal thumb-and-middle-finger okay sign, and grasped the propeller shaft.
So far everything was going according to plan.
He checked his watch. Thirty minutes—that’s how much bottom time they’d agreed on for the dive. A quick onceover of the wreck to locate the safe and get out, leaving them a more-than-adequate safety margin.
He was anxious to get started.
He jabbed his index finger starboard and received an affirming nod from Dana. No further communication between them was needed before they continued on. They dropped over the side and approached the yacht from underneath the inverted rear deck. Here, a different scene awaited them.
Richly varnished teak appeared overhead. Cushions, chairs, tables, anything that wasn’t bolted down had been swept away. The davit for launching a small boat was there, but no inflatable. In front of him was the sliding glass hatchway leading into a void of complete darkness. The door had either been shattered when the Orochimaru settled on the ocean floor, or by the salvage divers who probed her eerie passages the day before.
It was like staring into a great yawning mouth ready to clamp down on them.
And in a way it was.
The current had already rolled her upside down. It could just as easily rip the dying ship loose from the rocks and coral at any moment and carry it into the dark abyss of deep water.
Or smash it to pieces.
He was well aware of the multitude of dangers a wreck dive posed. Any one of them could cost them their lives.
Suddenly, a brownish shark nearly as long as a man, with white-tipped fins and rows of razor-sharp teeth exposed in an open mouth, appeared in his circle of light.
Shipwreck Page 17
