Treasure

by Helen Brenna

  “Annie, you okay?” he asked, a pitifully inadequate token of his thoughts.

  She nodded, giving him a tired half smile.

  “I told you to move!” Carrera punched him in the gut.

  He doubled over, the air knocked from his body. He used his position to lever his hands all the more against the leather.

  “Stop that!” Annie yelled and drew her foot back to kick the loan shark.

  The big hulk, Enrique, yanked her around as easily as an adult tosses a child’s doll into a toy box.

  “Leave her alone,” Jake grunted.

  “You hit me, woman,” Carrera turned on her, “and you won’t like the consequences. Not from me.” He laid his hands on his chest. “I’m not much into hurting women. But Enrique, here? He’s another story. Right, Enrique?”

  The big man only laughed a revolting, sick sound.

  Jake struggled fiercely against the belt at his wrists. His crude plan to get to the cave and ditch Carrera at the first opportunity might work in the long run. Once they had the treasure, Carrera would be less likely to chase them through the thick woods. The only problem was the way Enrique was looking at Annie right now. Jake needed to do something fast.

  That’s when he saw them, Claire and D.W., twenty yards away in the bush. He had no clue how they’d found him and Annie, but he’d never been happier to see two people. If their luck held out, they’d stay back and wait for an opportunity to make a move.

  What opportunity? These guys had guns.

  “Why don’t you guys put your guns away?” Jake yelled out loud enough for Claire and D.W. to hear him.

  Carrera spun around. “Now why would we want to do that?”

  “Because they’re making me nervous. Now we’re lost.”

  “What did you say?”

  “The storm wiped out the path. I’m going to need the map to make it back to the cave.” He spoke as loudly as he dared without raising suspicions.

  Carrera’s dark eyes squinted. “What map?”

  “We found it yesterday diving. How do you think we found the treasure?” He cocked his head. “It’s in my back pocket. Free my hands, and I’ll be able to figure out where we are. Then we can find the cave.”

  “I’ll get it.” Carrera moved toward him. “You try anything funny, and your woman’s in trouble. Right, Enrique?”

  “Right, boss.” The hulk jerked Annie closer.

  He had to get them to untie her hands. She needed to be able to run when the time came. “You won’t be able to read the map.”

  Carrera pulled the old fabric from the back of Jake’s shorts. “We’ll see.” He turned it around and around.

  “Look, you’ve got Annie, and it’ll be dark out in another couple of hours. Untie my hands. I’ll get you to the cave faster.”

  Carrera laughed. “You think I’m stupid, eh? Here. Look at it.”

  Jake made a pretense of studying the fabric and nodded. “At least let Annie loose. The branches are tearing at her face.”

  “Her hands stay tied. As long as we got her, you’ll stay under control, right, Treasure Hunter?”

  “Let her walk behind me, so I can protect her from the branches.”

  “You like her.” Carrera smiled and stuffed the map into his back pocket. “Good. Let her go, Enrique.”

  She edged around Carrera. Jake leaned toward her and whispered in her ear, “Claire and D.W. are behind us.”

  “Enough!” Carrera yanked her back.

  The corner of that Victoria’s Secret mouth of hers turned up in a slight smile, showing she’d understood him, and he took off in search of a blue hole. It was their only chance. If he could somehow lead one of them into a hole, maybe Claire and D.W. could take the other one. He only hoped Annie, with her hands tied, could get out of the way in time.

  He turned and trudged off in the direction they’d been traveling and continued to work at stretching the leather. After another agonizing five or so minutes, he saw a large blue hole off to the left and stopped to gather his thoughts. He could almost drag one hand through the belt.

  “You’d better not be leading us around in circles,” Carrera said.

  “I think this is it,” he yelled, loud enough for Claire and D.W. to hear. “It should be around here somewhere. Annie, do you remember?” He leaned in close to her and whispered quickly, “There’s a blue hole. Left. When I tell you, run. Go right. Fast as you can, then hit the deck.”

  “Split up.” Carrera took two steps toward them.

  “Run!” Jake wrenched a hand free of the leather belt.

  She took off. Carrera raised his gun and aimed. Jake dove, hitting the loan shark square in the chest. A gunshot rang through the air. Annie landed in the dirt, and he prayed she hadn’t been shot.

  He struggled with Carrera over control of the gun, pushing him ever nearer the blue hole. Another shot ripped through the air as Enrique opened fire. Pain tore through Jake’s shoulder. His arm gave way. He’d been hit. Carrera shoved the gun into Jake’s gut.

  “We got him, Jake!” Claire yelled from Enrique’s direction. She and D.W. climbed on top of the huge man and wrestled him to the ground. D.W. had the gun.

  “Tell them to get off him,” Carrera said, calmly. “Or you’re a dead man.”

  Jake glared at him. “D.W.! Shoot!”

  Annie lunged from the bush and rammed into Carrera’s side. He flew to the ground, his legs slipping precariously over the mouth of the blue hole. Jake reached for the gun. Carrera lunged for Annie’s legs. With her arms tied behind her back, she couldn’t grab hold of anything. She slid across the rain-drenched earth. Right toward the blue hole with Carrera.

  “Jake!” she screamed.

  “Let her go!” Jake yelled, reaching for her.

  “Pull me up,” Carrera countered, slipping farther into the hole.

  Jake locked his good arm through Annie’s, holding tight, and braced his left foot on the stump of a tree. Pain shot up his leg, but he willed it away. His foot couldn’t give out on him now. He wouldn’t let it. “As soon as you let her go,” Jake said, “I’ll help you out.”

  “I’ve got the map,” Carrera warned. He pulled the cross from the back waistband of Annie’s shorts and slipped it around his neck. “Cursed or not. I go and the cross goes.”

  Annie slipped closer and closer toward the hole.

  “Last warning, asshole!” Jake yelled, his bad foot cramping from the weight of three people. “Let her go, or you’re history.”

  “I go down, and you lose both the cross and the map. You’ll never find the treasure again.”

  “You think I give a damn?” Jake whacked the other man’s arms, attempting to dislodge his grip. Her legs dipped dangerously into the hole. “Hold on, Annie! Let go, you son of a bitch!” Still bracing with his left foot, he kicked Carrera square in the head with his right.

  The man’s hold gave way. He disappeared into the blue hole. His screams echoed from the depths of the pit, fading and fading until finally falling silent. Lying on the ground, Jake pulled Annie into his arms and squeezed her tight. She was okay.

  Claire ran to them, and D.W. kept the gun on Enrique.

  Jake looked up at his sister-in-law. “How did you find us?”

  “Westburne and Ronny showed up at Red Bays.” Claire helped them both to their feet.

  “It took a little convincing,” D.W. said, holding up his gun. “But they finally gave us your general location.”

  “In this weather, they won’t get off this island.” Jake stood, but his foot nearly gave out from under him.

  “Jake?” Annie reached out.

  “I’ll be fine.” He unbuckled the belt from her wrists, and she flew into his arms. She barely cared that her wrists burned like a wildfire from where the belt dug into her arms. That her shins stung where Carrera’s hands had clawed at her legs. That the side of her face had scraped the jungle floor. It was over. Jake was safe. They all were safe.

  “I saw him point the gun into your
stomach, and I thought he was going to kill you,” she cried. She pulled back at the feeling of something sticky and warm under her hand. “You’re bleeding!” Gingerly, she rolled the T-shirt back from his shoulder where a bullet had grazed his skin.

  “I’m okay. It’s not serious.” He took her face in his hands and made her look into his eyes. “Annie, I love you. Can you ever forgive me for being such a jerk?”

  “Forgive you?” She kissed him, thoroughly, completely, never wanting to come up for air. Finally, she sat back on her heels. “I love you, too. How could I not forgive you?” It hit her, and she stared at him in alarm. “The map is gone!”

  He smiled. Actually smiled! “So is the Santidad Cross. Gone forever. No one’s ever getting it out of that hole.” A grin of pure gratification spread across his face.

  “What map?” Claire asked. “Who had the Santidad Cross? Will someone please tell me what’s going on?”

  Annie explained everything to an astonished Claire while Jake and D.W. tied Enrique’s arms, ending with, “We found the entire treasure in a cave.”

  “That Carrera creep was bluffing,” D.W. said. “You can find the cave again, right?”

  “Not likely.” Jake laughed. “That’s the beauty of it.”

  “This isn’t that big of an island,” Claire said, clearly taken aback by her brother-in-law’s reaction. “It might take us some time, but we could canvass the entire northwest corner. Jake, we’re talking the Concha treasure. We gotta find it again.”

  “You do whatever you want, Claire.” He strode back to Annie. “I have something more important to do.”

  “More important…” Claire faltered, and then smiled.

  D.W. set his hands on his hips. “What the Sam Hill’s the matter with him—”

  Claire grasped his arms. “Jake and Annie need a little privacy.”

  D.W. shook his head. “Whatever. Come on, King Kong.” He hoisted Enrique to his feet. “There’s gotta be a Bahamian jail cell around here somewhere.” D.W. pushed Enrique back toward the road, and Claire followed.

  They were alone. Jake stood in front of her, and a thought occurred to her. He’d held the Santidad Cross, carried it in his pack. If greed had been driving him the curse would have killed him. “You really only wanted the cross for OEI’s sake, didn’t you?” she asked.

  He nodded.

  “And the cave?”

  “I’ll leave that to Claire and D.W.”

  “What about the promise you made to your dad? What about Sam?”

  “They’d understand. Be happy for me. I’m happy for me.” He looked into the sky, let the rain pour onto his face and laughed again. “You know, I was all prepared to drop the Santidad Cross in the ocean, to prove to you what you meant to me. It wouldn’t have been enough. Would it?”

  “I think it would have worked,” she said, tears springing forth.

  “I don’t want you to ever, ever, doubt how important you are to me.”

  “I’m getting the idea.”

  He bent his head toward her. “Come back to Miami with me. And stay. Forever.”

  Her throat closed. Moisture welled in her eyes, mixing with the rain drenching her face.

  “We’ll have a regular life,” he said. “I promise.”

  “I want gardens.”

  “Flowers. Vegetables. Whatever you want.”

  “The Super Bowl?”

  “We’re going. Wherever it is, whoever is playing. I love you, Annie.” He gently rubbed his thumb across her cheek. “Will you stay with me and give it a try?”

  Annie laughed around her tears. “I want bicycles.”

  “Two of ’em. A tandem if you want it.”

  “And I want a new Mañana. One with a double bed in the captain’s quarters.”

  “You coming with me?”

  “Wherever you go. You’re stuck with me.”

  She kissed him with everything in her. Mud, blood and dirt combined with sweat, rain and tears. “I have something I need to tell you.” She leaned back in the circle of his arms. “I didn’t realize it until we were in the cave and found the treasure, but I have a copy of Molinero’s map in my research back in Miami. You’ll be able to find the cave again.”

  He chuckled, touched a finger to her lips. “Honey, I’m telling you, I don’t care about the Concha treasure anymore.”

  “Really?”

  “I’ve got a woman and a honeymoon waiting for me.” He bent his head and kissed her. His touch started soft, almost reverent in feel, before building in heat and force. When he finally drew back, he was breathing hard. “Life’s taking on a whole new luster for me,” he whispered. “And it has nothing to do with gold.”

  She wrapped her arms around him, laid her head against his chest. His heartbeat echoed through her, the strains of an ancient call to the sea. She’d finally found her man. Her life. While they didn’t seem so normal at first blush, that didn’t matter any longer. Maybe her parents hadn’t gotten everything wrong.

  To hell with white picket fences.

  EPILOGUE

  LIFE DIDN’T GET ANY better than this.

  Jake stepped from the galley of his new ship, the Annie Hall, holding two glasses of chilled orange juice. He stopped for a moment and stood at the stern. His leg ached a bit, but these days it didn’t matter. Lately, the scars felt more like a badge of honor than a curse. He still missed Sam, always would. At least he could think of him with a smile on his face and warmth in his heart.

  Lot of things were different, Jake realized, as he took in the picturesque contrast of aqua blue waters, white sloping sand and spiky green palms. Like the fact that he’d lived his whole life around such beauty and was only now beginning to really see it.

  Though he’d occasionally missed the Mañana, the Annie Hall was much like her, only better. The helm boasted every new gadget imaginable. She had a bigger head with a double shower. And, as Annie ordered, expanded captain’s quarters sported a luxuriously wide bunk, cozy enough for two.

  A southerly breeze blew in his face. The morning sun warmed his bare shoulders. He’d barely worn a stitch of clothing since they’d anchored in this tiny bay off a deserted Caribbean island three days ago. If their food held out, he could easily stay here for months. If it didn’t, he’d more than likely not notice. Yep. Life was perfect.

  “Jake, are you coming?” The sound of an equally contented female voice came from behind him.

  Smiling to himself, he padded barefoot toward the bow and stopped again, taking in this new sight. A sight so much more beautiful than the one he’d just left. Annie. The way he’d dreamed of having her. All but naked at the bow of his boat. Sporting only a thong bikini, she lay on her stomach on a set of cushions they’d thrown on deck. That gorgeous bare butt of hers winked at the morning sun.

  “Have you ever been to the Mediterranean?” she asked. Perched on her elbows, she studied a stack of maps and charts.

  “Never.” He set the orange juices onto the deck.

  “There was this wreck off the coast of Crete. My parents never did find it.”

  “Too bad.” He stretched out alongside her and absently brushed his fingertips along her spine.

  “Maybe we should try. It’d be fun.”

  “Okay,” he murmured, caring much more about the graceful curves of her backside than any ancient wreck anywhere in the world.

  She smiled and turned toward him. “I’m serious.”

  “So am I. About your body. Have I ever told you how beautiful you are?”

  “About twenty times a day for the last six months.” Those decadent lips of hers curved into a slow smile.

  “In that case, maybe I need to start showing instead of telling.” He flipped back her strands of sun-streaked hair to bare a tantalizing length of neck, threw his arm around her waist and nuzzled her warm skin with his lips.

  She closed her eyes and groaned. “I want to get some work done here.”

  “We’re still on our honeymoon. Work can wait,” he
whispered in her ear.

  He’d made it to his mother and Harold’s wedding all right. In fact, he and Annie had said their own vows the same day. Claire and D.W. joining in had made it a triple ceremony.

  While Harold and his mother had taken off to Europe for two months, Claire and D.W. had chosen to spend their honeymoon on Andros trudging through the jungle, sleeping in caves and looking for the Concha treasure. Though it had taken them just under a week to finally find it, even with the help of Annie’s map, they’d already finished with recovery operations. After all those years of underwater salvaging, it’d been the most lucrative and easily retrieved find in OEI’s history.

  Jake didn’t give a hoot that he’d missed it. He and Annie were cruising the Caribbean in a way he’d never before seen it. Without benefit of a scuba diving mask covering his face.

  “Whoever heard of a five-month honeymoon?” She chuckled. “We should get back to Miami. Your mother has been back for ages, and Claire has been working this whole time.”

  “Another few weeks we’ll head home. I was due for this. They all know it.” He ran the palm of his hand across her beautiful bottom and dipped his fingers along the insides of her thighs. Her answering moan made him grin.

  She turned on her side and slid her hands across his chest. “Don’t get me wrong. I couldn’t do this for the rest of my life, but I’m beginning to understand what my parents found so enjoyable about this lifestyle.”

  He raised his eyebrows and ran a finger down her side. “Did they lay naked in the sun, too?”

  “No. In the moonlight, silly. They had a child on board.” She laughed. “I interrupted them once when I was eight.”

  “Moonlight. Hmmm. We haven’t tried that.”

  “Let’s save it for when we have kids.”

  “Don’t know if I can wait that long.”

  “It won’t be as long as you think.” Annie smiled shyly.

  “You’re pregnant?” He held his breath.