The Keepers of the Rose

by DJ Dalasta

  Despite his delicate movement, Rock managed to catch a sharp edge coming out of the cavern. It was his only blunder that broke the skin sending a thin river of blood to trickle down from an open gash just above his right eye. He braced himself on the wall and slipped his left heel into its flipper and then hoisted his air tank. Up on the surface, he could already picture a worried Brett pacing nervously on the boat. His friend knew full well that Rock’s tank would have run empty by this point had he not been able to find any sort of breathable air.

  He didn’t want to wait any longer and took the last step forward and dropped into the water. Rock immediately felt the coldness wrap around him. He slowly let himself sink to the bottom and when his feet found something solid he began feeling along the walls for which way to go. There was only one open direction, he recalled from the way in, so he should be able to eventually find his way back. It was just a question of how long he could stay down before his air ran out.

  Rock inched along the walls in tentative motions and started to become worried after a few tedious minutes without good progress. He decided to begin pulling himself at a faster pace but that would also increase his chance of severely raking his limbs or hitting his head on protruding sections of rock. He cringed but kept propelling himself forward. Without any visual acuity there wasn’t another option. Then his eyes caught a faint green glow amidst the darkness. He hurriedly swam towards it. After a few meters Rock found he was able to see the features of the jagged walls around him. Then he saw the origin. Three green light sticks were placed along the ground. He picked one up and smiled. Only Brett would think of the one thing to do to help him. With the lights in hand, he was able to move much faster and found himself staring at the hoisted boulder in under a minute. To his delight, it was still holding.

  He swam briskly back underneath the boulder and as he emerged, Brett was coming back down from the boat. When they saw each other, Brett shook his head and turned around swimming back towards the boat. Rock skimmed along the ocean floor, picked up a large ordinary rock and then ascended after him. When he surface he pushed the rock up above his head and Nate struggled to bring it in the boat.

  “What’s this,” the young man said heaving it over the side.

  “A hunch,” Rock replied as Brett helped him in. His friend looked pissed. He’d only seen this expression a few times before.

  “I’ve never done that to you.” Brett threw his mask on the deck.

  “I’m sorry,” Rock said.

  “That’s bullshit. First rule is you stay together. We didn’t do that, so the second rule is to come back in good time.” Brett walked away from him, fuming. Nate hovered quietly at the edge of the boat.

  “There were circumstances,” Rock said. “I needed the extra time.”

  “Then you should of come out and told me and then we’d come back later!”

  Rock spotted Delega’s security boat speeding towards them. It came along their port side and stopped just a few feet away. Jacob, brandishing a large stitching across his head, yelled over. “Stay where you are. We’re coming over to take what you just brought on board.”

  “The fuck you are, “ Rock called back and started for the controls.

  “Don’t start that boat or we’ll open fire.” Rock looked back to see three men pointing guns towards them, he focused on the closest one, a pudgy red-faced man sweating profusely. They were serious.

  “What are we going to do,” Nate stammered.

  “Let them come over,” he replied.

  Jacob and two members of Delega’s team stepped on board. “Give it to me,” Jacob said. The meathead looked larger than usual.

  “There it is,” Rock said pointing to the ordinary stone on the deck.

  Jacob bent down and picked it up, “this looks like a rock.”

  “Perceptive.”

  “Search the ship,” he told his men.

  “You know this could be considered an act of piracy,” Rock said into the tense situation. But nobody acknowledged the comment nor said anything as they rummaged through the few things on board. After ten long minutes they stopped.

  “Let’s go,” Jacob said, throwing Rock’s rock overboard. Then without warning he unleashed a punch that took Rock in the gut and knocked the wind from him. He doubled over as Brett and Nate came to his side.

  “What the fuck was that for,” Brett confronted Jacob, putting himself between the two men.

  “We’re watching you, don’t fuck with us again,” he said and jumped back across to the other boat. They sped off to resume their position on the outside.

  Rock sat down, wheezing. He looked up into two bizarre expressions. Nate looked confused and concerned whereas Brett appeared satisfied. “I’m ok,” Rock said. “In case you were wondering.”

  “You deserved that,” Brett said.

  “I know. And I am sorry Brett, I truly am. But it was all worth it.” He smiled. “We’ve found what we were looking for. So start your brains working, we need someway to get it up here without that piece of shit knowing.” They both immediately took on goofy childish grins. Brett’s anger and worry appeared quenched for the moment. Rock meandered back to the controls and started the engine. Reluctantly, he set course back towards the docks, leaving their find unguarded for the time being.

  In the few hours after they returned, Rock came up with one idea that held promise. He and Brett were going to dive in the middle of the night, retrieve the treasure and then, in the morning, they would play as if nothing had happened.

  He looked at the clock next to his bed. He was having dinner with Anna in under an hour. Quickly, he showered, changed clothes and tried his best to neatly dress his small wound before heading out alone.

  Anna was punctual as usual and already seated when he arrived. He slid down in a booth across from her and smiled. Mo’s Grill was casual dining and looked to be turning a good business. Most of the tables were occupied and the bar was busting with cheery patrons. “Good day my lady,” he said. She wore old blue jeans and a brown blouse with white spots. She looked good.

  “Hi Rock,” she returned without much enthusiasm. “How was diving today?”

  Rock immediately sensed something lingering besides Anna’s normal depression over the last month. She was pre-occupied. “Diving was good. We were followed by Delega’s security the whole time. What about you, anything exciting today?”

  “I don’t think you could call it exciting.”

  “What happened? Did Delega finally wrestle control of the island?”

  She hesitated a moment before speaking, “I have to get fired, we have to leave,” she said. Rock studied her a moment. Someone had gotten to her.

  “What’d they do,” he asked softly.

  “I was approached by a someone from the government accusing me of cooperating with terrorists and then I was snuck up on by Malcolm Cooper. Let’s just say they both threatened me. It wasn’t the best day.”

  Rock clenched his teeth. His muscles tensed but he tried to keep it all inside, his anger would do no good here. “What did Cooper want?”

  “He admitted to the bombing, and then said he wanted me to stall and go slow and flounder the entire excavation.”

  “Or what,” Rock said before she finished. “He’d kill you?”

  “Not only me, but you, and Nate and Sayla. He said if I didn’t tank the effort or get fired, we’d all be killed.”

  “But he did give you a way out, getting fired.”

  “Yes, and I’m going to do it tomorrow.”

  “Get fired?”

  “Yes.”

  “I agree with you, that’s the prudent choice. I’m sorry you had to go through that.” Rock knew what it felt like to have a gun pointed at him. The helpless feeling when you realize your life is no longer in your hands is disturbing and stays with a person.

  “But it’s probably for the best,” she said. “This was too mu
ch for me anyhow. I never signed on for life or death. And I never signed on to be accused of supporting terrorists.”

  “Who was this government guy, what did he want?”

  “His name was Sieb. I think he just wanted to shake me down. He told me things about both the Cooper’s and Delega. Nothing favorable. I think he wants cooperation or is setting me up for something. Can’t really be sure right now.”

  “Sieb, huh?”

  “Yeah. He was very full of himself.” She sighed. “I really don’t know what’s going on, do I?”

  Rock didn’t know how to respond to that so he sat silent for a moment. “We found the treasure.” He blurted out when the silence was becoming awkward.

  Anna leaned closer. “What did you say?”

  “We found it. Brett, Nate and I found the Oak Island treasure. It was hidden in an underwater cavern near Toudrey’s cove and it was actually simple to find. Nate came up with the winning clue.” Rock looked around making sure nobody was listening, when his gaze returned, she was almost clear across the table.

  “You fucker,” she said. “Why did you wait so long to tell me?”

  “You seemed to want to get some things off your chest. No pun intended.”

  “Well what is it?”

  “See that’s the funny part. I don’t know yet. We couldn’t bring it up with Jacob and that boat trailing us. Brett and I were going to try a night dive tomorrow.

  “That won’t work.”

  “Why not?”

  “There’s no way they won’t be watching you 24 hours and they do have night vision equipment. I’ve seen the goggles.”

  “Then I’m going to need some diversion or a different plan all together.”

  Anna smirked and looked him straight in the eye. “You know, I might have just the thing.”

  Chapter 13

  Nova Scotia, July 2012