Hustle

by Claire Chilton

  She plucked the map off the dashboard and rolled it up before putting it into her backpack and clipping a padlock around the zip. That should keep it safe.

  There were no instructions on the map about where to go next, so she could only assume that the answer was below her. Jimmy had told her it was a fool’s quest, but the Heart of Fortune was priceless. It had been lost long ago to pirates in this region, taken with a big haul of Spanish gold. The treasure had never been recovered, and the captain of the Henry Rose had never been seen again.

  She picked up her flippers and pulled them on. Her father had been a great historian when it came to pirates. Not many people had known that about him, but he loved tales of ancient hustlers. She felt a moment of sorrow over his loss. Life wasn’t the same without him around.

  She tried to imagine what he’d think of her now, chasing buried treasure. He’d agree with Jimmy and tell me to go to college. In the pit of her stomach, she knew they were both right, but what choice did she have? Meyer wasn’t going to magically disappear from her life without some leverage. A priceless diamond will buy me that.

  When her plane had landed in Costa Rica, she’d seen troops of treasure hunters bustling through the airport, each one looking like a sad tale of failure.

  But I have something they don’t. She pulled off her T-shirt and adjusted her bikini top to ensure it had stayed in place. I have a map. She tightened the strings around her back and neck to ensure the black swimsuit didn’t move an inch when she was in the water. Next, she pulled on her mask and checked she could see through the goggles.

  After the air check to make certain that the tank was working, she clipped a small torch to the top of her bikini. She took a seat on the port side of the small boat and slid the heavy harness attached to her air tank onto her back. There was only one way to find out if this really was a fool’s quest. She fastened the harness around her and fell backwards off the boat into the icy waters.

  After the initial shock of the cold water, she enjoyed the cooling effect it had on her burning skin. She checked her regulator as she began to descend, taking her first breath under the surface. For a moment, she expected to choke on water, but she breathed easily with the scuba tank. She was relieved to find that she had no problem with making her ears equalise. I knew it was like riding a bike.

  She peered up at the bottom of the boat as it drifted further away from her. All she could hear was her breathing as tiny bubbles popped around her. She checked her buoyancy. Everything looked good.

  Now the checks were done, she could enjoy the feeling of weightlessness in this alien landscape. Bright fish flitted past her as she floated downwards, and then colourful flora dotted the craggy rocks as her feet bounced on the seabed.

  She turned around, shining the torch in all directions. She’d expected a shipwreck or something here, but there were just craggy rocks and tunnels smattered across the region. She sighed. Was this all for nothing?

  She smiled when she saw a starfish do a backflip off the smooth wall of a cavern. Who knew they even did that? There was serenity under the surface, a quiet calm of nature that washed over her. All her worries and stress faded away as she watched underwater life live freely around her. She pushed herself up off the sea floor and glided over to the starfish to see if it would flip again, brushing her fingers over bright coral as she passed it.

  When she reached the cave, the starfish flitted inside it. She peered into the deep cavern, aiming her torch inside it. It looked like a tight fit, but she could get inside if she wanted to. She shook her head. If she got stuck in there, she’d never get back to the surface.

  She turned to leave, and froze. As her torch turned in the cave, she noticed markings scratched into the rock—words, to be exact.

  ‘If thou seek the heart, find it on the jewelled isle. But if thou hath this key, thou shalt not lose thy way.’

  Ellie shone the torch down below the engraving. There was a small mossy mound just below the words. Time and life had grown over whatever lay beneath. She stared at the lump of green mossy flora. That’s what I need.

  She tried to swim into the cave, but her air tank caught on the small opening, jolting her to a standstill. Dammit.

  The cavern wasn’t deep. She just needed to reach into it a bit further. She stretched out her fingers, trying to grasp at the moss and clawing a few clumps away to reveal the corner of a stone box. She tried to reach it, but it was just too far.

  She backed up and relaxed for a moment, trying to think of a solution. Maybe I can find a stick and poke it closer to me?

  The ground around her darkened as the starfish darted past her out of the cave. She glanced up, and saw a large black shape in the water beside the shadow of her boat.

  Another boat, you’ve gotta be kidding me!

  Determined not to lose her treasure, she unclipped her air tank and let it fall to the seabed. She inhaled deeply before releasing the regulator and boosting herself into the cave. She glided to the box and quickly brushed away the moss covering it, filling the cave with foggy weeds in the process.

  She tried to pick up the box, but it was welded to into the cave either by time or the person who had left it here. She pushed on the lid, trying to force it open, but it was held shut by hardened fossil. Come on, you son of a bitch!

  She wedged her feet against the cavern’s wall, pushing her hands against the lid. After straining her weight against it, the lid shifted sideways as rock crumbled around her legs. She reached inside and grabbed the round metal object contained within. I’ve got it.

  She didn’t have time to examine the key, only noting that it was a round disc and not an actual key, before the cavern wall crumbled and pinned her legs beneath a pile of heavy rock.

  She slipped the key into the tiny pocket on the hip of her bikini bottoms and zipped it shut.

  Trying to turn with rocks crushing her legs was an impossible task. She bent sideways in the water, wriggling like a fish caught on a hook. This can’t be happening. She tried to pull her legs out, but they were firmly stuck.

  Her lungs burned for air as her last breath bubbled from her mouth. No! She tried to move back, away from the cave fallout, but the space was too small and cramped.

  Her head swam as conscious thought began to fade away. Her struggles weakened while her body screamed for oxygen.

  I can’t believe I’m going to die like this. She fought to free her legs, her movements sluggish, and her vision blurring. At least I’ll see dad again. Her last thoughts were met by a bright light as she closed her eyes and fell into unconsciousness.

  Chapter Six

  Ellie winced as a bright light flashed in front of her closed eyelids. She felt something pressing against her chest, making her cough. She jerked and rolled onto her side, coughing out water onto the wooden deck of a boat. She gasped for air, and the world spun for a few seconds. I guess I didn’t die then.

  She groaned and rolled over onto her back, feeling very much like a fish as her weak muscles flopped onto the hot deck. A tall man in a diver’s mask bent over her and scooped her up into his arms. He carried her below decks of a small yacht, taking her into a wood panelled cabin and laying her on the bed inside it.

  She tried to sit up, but he gently pushed her back down.

  ‘You need to rest.’ His voice seemed familiar. She studied his back as he turned away from her and pulled the mask off. His dark hair was short and wet. Water dripped down his tanned back, sliding from the bulging muscles flexing around his shoulders down his back to the blue knee-length swimming trunks that were hanging off his slim hips before eventually dripping onto the floor.

  He didn’t look dangerous, more like a surfer than anything, so she flopped back on the bed, feeling exhausted. Her eyelids felt heavy. I’ll just close my eyes for a minute. She sank into the warm, comforting mattress beneath her, her hand resting on the small lump of the key zipped into her bikini shorts.

  She must have drifted off because she woke up to somethi
ng cold clamping around her wrist. She squinted and opened one eye, peering at her arm.

  The man was sitting on the bed beside her. His head was turned away as he held her arm. She frowned, unable to see what he was doing. ‘Wha—what’s going on?’ Her voice came out croakier than she intended. She sounded drunk.

  The man turned to face her with a grim smile on his face. She gasped when she recognised him. It was Jacob Hawkins.

  ‘You’re under house arrest until we reach the authorities,’ he said, moving aside to reveal handcuffs locking her right wrist to the wooden headboard.

  Ellie panicked. Did he steal the key? She patted her hip, relieved the find that the pocket still contained the metal object. She struggled to pull her wrist out of the cuffs, but it was locked firmly in place. ‘What are you doing? I need a hospital!’ She really didn’t, but what the hell. It might work.

  ‘The nearest one is in Costa Rica. We’ll be there by morning.’ When he stood up, she could see that his hair was dry now, and he wore a beige T-shirt and khaki combat shorts. She did a double take at his T-shirt, which was emblazoned with a picture of the Chewbacca and the words ‘I hug like a wookiee’.

  After blinking at the furry face for a moment, she shook her head and peered around the room. The lighting was dimmer, electric rather than daylight. ‘How long was I out for?’ The last time she remembered was midday.

  ‘Over seven hours.’ He nodded at her legs. ‘Long enough for me to bandage those and search your boat. It’s eight-thirty now.’

  He didn’t find the key, so he must have not searched her. She glanced down at her bikini. There wasn’t much to search, two triangles and a pair of bikini briefs. She frowned when she noticed her legs. There were patches of gauze taped to them with surgical tape.

  ‘Did a shark get me?’

  ‘I’m surprised one didn’t, given how you stupidly went diving in a region that you clearly know nothing about. But no, you got grazed when I pulled you out of that cave-in.’ He turned to stare at her with folded arms, his eyes burning with anger.

  ‘So you did this to me? That’s GBH. I’ll sue you for—’

  ‘Saving your life and grazing your knees?’ He interrupted in a dry tone, narrowing his eyes.

  ‘You can’t just cuff me to your flippin’ boat. I’m sure there are laws against holding people against their will.’ She shook her arm to rattle the handcuffs, but the motion appeared to draw his eyes to her chest, rather than her cuffed wrist.

  His eyes flicked over her body in a long slow stare that caused her to press her legs together. It was sexy and grossly inappropriate at the same time. She looked away from him before he made her blush again.

  Get a grip. This is the bad guy, remember? She glared at him. ‘Can I at least get some bloody clothes?’

  He turned on his heel without saying a word and left the cabin.

  ‘Hey, it’s getting cold in here!’ she shouted after him. It wasn’t, but keeping the lines of communication open with him was the best way to get out of the cuffs.

  She slumped on the bed. Fantastic, I’m going to end up in a cell in Costa Rica wearing a bikini. This day can’t get any worse.

  A few minutes later, he strolled back into the room, carrying a pile of clothes. He dropped them onto the bed beside her free hand. ‘Get dressed.’ He stepped away from the bed and folded his arms.

  She glanced down at the clothing, blushing when she spotted her underwear in the pile. He must have taken them from her bag. ‘What, with you watching? I don’t think so.’

  ‘It’s not anything I haven’t seen before.’ His expression was resolute and unnerving.

  ‘I’m pretty certain you haven’t seen me naked. You don’t even know who I am.’

  ‘Ellie Phillips, daughter of Stewart Phillips, the criminal. You’re a thief like your father, and you’ve stolen something from me.’ He held up the map, which he must have taken from her bag. ‘This is Henry Rose’s map to the Corazón de Fortuna. I recognise it because my father was looking for this when he went missing. Isn’t it odd that you steal something from my house, and then suddenly run off to the same place my father was last seen? I always knew Stewart Phillips killed my dad. I guess now I know why. It was for this.’ He waved the map at her. ‘Did I miss anything?’ he asked as he folded the map up and slipped it into the back pocket of his shorts.

  ‘My father never killed anyone.’ She narrowed her eyes at him. So what if her dad had been interested in the map? He was interested in lots of mysteries and missing treasures. He hadn’t been a killer. Did he work with Jacob’s father? Why didn’t he ever mention it? She frowned for a moment before shaking her head. It didn’t matter. Whatever her father had done, she was certain he’d never killed anyone.

  ‘Believe what you want if it helps a debased criminal like you sleep at night,’ he said with venom in his eyes.

  ‘I’m not a debased criminal.’ She scowled at him.

  ‘What are you then?’

  ‘A great criminal,’ she muttered.

  ‘Apparently not, since you’re cuffed to my boat.’ A satisfied smile wavered on his lips.

  He was enjoying her plight far too much, but it was an opening in the conversation. ‘Okay, I’m not great. I’m not even especially good. But everyone makes mistakes, right?’ She hung her head, peering up under her bangs.

  He rolled his eyes. ‘Get dressed before I toss you back in the sea.’

  Crap, he’s not falling for it this time. ‘Fine. And how exactly am I supposed to do that?’ She rattled the cuff again.

  ‘One-handed.’

  ‘Can I at least wash off the salt water first? It’s itchy.’

  He shook his head.

  She picked up her burgundy jumper and tried to lift it over her head, but her muscles were still weak and it was impossible with only one arm. ‘This is ridiculous,’ she said. ‘Uncuff me. It’s not like I’m going anywhere.’

  ‘What? So you can make me disappear, too?’

  ‘What?’

  He leaned over her, his face only inches away from hers. His dark eyes glared into hers. ‘Just like your father made mine disappear.’ His hot breath burned her skin.

  Like a powerful predator, he hovered over her. Her pulse quickened at his close proximity. Her body betrayed her by responding to him.

  ‘I told you. My father wouldn’t have—he couldn’t have—’ She gulped, glancing at his lips and then back to his dark eyes.

  The tension in the air shifted from dangerous to sexual. His expression was intense, but his hand stroked her face, lifting her chin. They were both breathing deeply, locked together in an attraction that must have been some kind of cosmic joke.

  ‘I only took a map,’ she whispered as desire flooded her body.

  He leaned over and kissed her lips, softly claiming them. Arching up against his firm, muscular body, she kissed him back, letting out an involuntary moan of approval as she did so.

  The sound seemed to excite him. He hauled her against him, lifting her up and crushing his lips onto hers, overpowering any urge she might have had to get away. The tension building up inside her snapped, and she writhed beneath him in wanton need. He excited parts of her that no other man ever had. His hands roamed over her body, stroking, touching, driving her insane with desire.

  She tugged his T-shirt up with her free hand and ran her fingers over his hard pecs. He quickly pulled his T-shirt off and threw it onto the floor before lying on the bed beside her. He kissed her neck and slowly trailed his fingers down her stomach to the waistband of her shorts.

  She wanted to pull him closer to her. It was insane, and her conscious mind was telling her to stay away from him, but his touch was driving away her doubts in a haze of desire. Reality faded into the background. Fantasy took control of her as his kisses travelled down her neck to her chest.

  ‘Uncuff me,’ she gasped, wanting to run her fingers over his tightly muscled body.

  His lips froze on her neck.

  It took a
moment for her to realise what she’d said.

  He raised his head, and she caught a flash of hurt in his big brown eyes before the light left them. He climbed back off the bed. ‘You’ll do anything to get what you want, won’t you?’ He shook his head, wearing an expression of disgust.

  ‘What? Hey, you kissed me, twice now!’ Anger burned through her veins, anger at him for wrongly accusing her, and anger at herself for being so stupid and…and horny. She wasn’t trying to escape. She just wanted to wrap her arms around him. Her stupid body kept betraying her when she was close to him. Thank God it’s like a bucket of ice water over the head when he’s a total asshole, or he’d be dangerous.

  She glared at him from the bed. ‘You’re not angry at me. You’re angry at yourself!’ she told him. Okay, that’s just me projecting my own emotions onto him, but it’s probably true.

  He snatched his T-shirt off the floor, and she found her eyes drawn to his muscular chest again as he tugged the beige cotton over it. Heat flared under her skin at the sight of his shifting abs, but she averted her gaze to keep from falling for his raw sexuality again.

  ‘Oh, that’s right. Hide your virgin eyes from my naked skin,’ he said in a mocking tone. ‘You’re unbelievable! Does the con ever end for you?’

  She narrowed her eyes. The virgin comment had hit a raw nerve. She was inexperienced, but it’s not like anyone ever noticed before. She turned to face him, glaring. ‘But baby, you’re so easy to play.’ She flashed him a seductive smile and arched her back, thrusting her chest out towards him.

  His eyes flicked to her chest, staring at her breasts with open desire. He growled and shook his head. ‘Not this time, sweetheart.’ He turned on his heel and stormed out of the cabin, slamming to door shut behind him.

  She flopped back onto the bed, shaking with anger at her own stupidity. Winding him up wasn’t going to get her out of here. What am I doing? Did my brain get damaged in that cave? But Jacob had gotten under her skin with his snide comments and assumptions about her. He didn’t even know her. Clearly, if he thinks I’m some kind of super-slut.