Cold Evidence (Evidence Series Book 6)

by Rachel Grant

  He gave a sharp nod.

  “What did you think of it?”

  He shrugged. “It was the best they could do with limited information.”

  She’d have to take his word for it. For herself, she hadn’t been able to read the report. Every time she tried, she’d gone back to that moment when the anchor line snapped and she’d looked up to see a flash of light at the surface. She couldn’t remember without holding her breath. Without feeling suffocated. Without trembling. Without losing her shit.

  She’d asked Erica to read it and share the pertinent details. As a result, Undine knew the basic facts: There’d been a problem with the oxygen tank, the one that was attached to the hose that had fed her pure oxygen during her decompression stop. She’d breathed from that tank until she’d donned the full-face scuba mask again so she could radio Yuri.

  Pieces of the tank had been recovered, enough for investigators to determine the first explosion—the investigation also revealed there had been three explosions in rapid succession—started at the cylinder valve. Investigators believed the explosion was caused by the use of an O-ring and gasket that weren’t compatible with pure oxygen and a pressure-adjusting screw that wasn’t completely unwound.

  Three tiny pieces—they would fit in one hand with plenty of room to spare—had destroyed a forty-foot boat and killed five people.

  Jared had changed the cylinder that last morning. The first time a new cylinder valve was opened, it was always vital to make sure the regulator outlet valve was closed. For whatever reason, Jared didn’t fully unwind that one screw when he turned on the oxygen for her decompression stop. That the explosion didn’t occur immediately was lucky for Undine. But when he closed the valve after she switched back to her scuba tank, the uneven pressure likely leaked oxygen, which reacted to the gasket and O-ring made of an incompatible elastomer, triggering the first explosion. The blast set off a second, adjacent oxygen tank, which, from the boat fragments collected, appeared to have shot through the deck and ignited the boat’s fuel tank, triggering the third explosion.

  The anchor line Undine had been holding ran next to the oxygen hose. The line snapped with the first explosion. Jared had probably been closing the valve as he responded to her on the radio. Investigators believed he died instantly.

  The others had died when the fuel tank blew.

  Only Yuri remained unaccounted for, but given that he was diving at the time, he could have been rocked by the wave and washed out to sea. His weight belt and tank could have kept him from surfacing. Or he could have run into some other problem—whatever it was that had prevented him from responding to her on the radio—and already been unconscious, or even dead, at the time of the blast.

  Jared was a professional. He knew how to manage both technical and scuba dives. It was his boat, his equipment, which the Navy was leasing for the excavation. But even experts made mistakes, and the incorrect gasket was identical in appearance to the correct one. It was plausible that he’d gotten them confused.

  But what if he hadn’t? What if the gaskets had been switched deliberately?

  Everything about the explosion was a fluke, a horrific alignment of errors with tragic results.

  She should have been at the bottom, with Yuri, but trouble with her tank had sent her up. Jared turned on the oxygen for her, and the world came apart.

  “I’ve had a lot of time to think in the last two days,” she said to Luke. “And one thought won’t let me go. What if Yuri set up the explosion? What if he planned it all and swam away? What if Yuri is still alive?”

  The rain was coming down sideways, making the porch little protection. Luke didn’t want to step inside the cabin where he’d made love to her, so he nodded to his truck. This wasn’t a conversation they could have at the restaurant across the street. “Grab your purse. We’re driving to Forks while we talk.”

  “Why are we going to Forks?”

  “You need a cell phone that works in Neah Bay and a better wetsuit.”

  “There’s no dive shop in Forks. I looked.”

  “There’s a whitewater rafting group that’s closed this time of year. The owner is about your size, and she’s got a European wetsuit like mine she’s willing to sell.”

  Undine cocked her head in interest. “She has a C-Skin?”

  “Yep.”

  “I’ve always wanted one,” she frowned. “But my budget is shot right now. I was on paid leave including per diem until my ears healed. Once the doctor cleared me to fly, I was on my own for my hotel in Port Angeles. I’m pretty much living on credit now.”

  “The suit is used, so it’ll be cheaper. And I assumed, given that you lost all your gear in a work-related accident, the Navy would pay for a replacement.”

  “I’m sure they will, but it’ll take weeks to process the paperwork. You know the US government.” She crossed her arms. “I’m nearly maxed out. I can’t afford it, not right now.”

  He’d always assumed her father was wealthy, given his state of the art research boat and his high-tech institute, but she mentioned that he’d done the reality show for the money, and she really did seem concerned about finances. This shouldn’t surprise him, but it did. “If the suit fits, I’ll front you the money. It’s a good deal, and I don’t want to listen to you whine when we dive.”

  She shook her head. “Borrowing money from friends, enemies, and payday loan places tops my list of things to never do.”

  “Seems like screwing grade-A assholes should rank higher than that, but to each their own.” He didn’t know why her resistance irritated him. Maybe it was because he’d looked forward to seeing her rush of excitement when he told her he’d lined up a C-Skin for her. He was so fucking pathetic, the way he wanted to walk away from her and please her at the same time. “We’ll go to Forks, and you’ll try on the damn suit. If it fits, we’ll figure out how you can pay me back.” He crossed his arms and scanned her from head to toe. “I’m sure we can think of something.”

  She stiffened. “You’re despicable.”

  “No argument there.” He turned toward his SUV. “Let’s roll.”

  She retreated inside her cabin just long enough to make him wonder if he’d baited her too much and she wouldn’t join him, but then she stepped outside, and he noted that she’d changed out of her sweatpants into worn, hip-hugging jeans and brushed her hair.

  Goddamn, she was sexy. He continually failed to understand this attraction; he’d just have to learn to live with it. He shifted in his seat and adjusted his erection in his constricting jeans.

  He’d have thought sex would have gotten her out of his system, but it appeared to only have made his situation worse. He’d been told to expect to dive with her four or five times but was authorized for as many dives as it took to get the information they needed. Given that they could dive a maximum of twice per day—with at least six hours of off-gassing in between—they’d need a run of good weather to complete this nightmare in a reasonable amount of time.

  All he could do was pray the sun god would take pity on him.

  She tossed her coat into the backseat and slid into the front. He pulled out into the road before she even had her seat belt buckled. “Have you ever been to Forks?” he asked.

  “No. But I hear the vampire infestation is way down.”

  “The boom is past. They only have one dedicated Twilight store now. I hear there were four at the peak.”

  They drove past the Makah Museum. “I don’t suppose there are any car-rental places in Forks?” she said. “I’d like to get one so I can go out to Ozette when it’s too rainy to dive.”

  “I have no idea.” He frowned. He knew she’d been stranded—thanks to him—and debated whether or not he should make a grudging offer. “There’s not a lot to see—I mean, the beach is beautiful, but the village, the archaeological site, is gone. They removed it all with the excavation.”

  “I know. But I’d still like to see it. I’ve mostly done underwater archaeology, but Erica and Mara
have convinced me that terrestrial sites are interesting too.”

  That brought to mind the question he’d wondered since he sat by her bed in the hospital. “What got you into archaeology? You seemed to love marine biology and were in a prime position to follow in your dad’s shoes. I’d have expected you to be well on your way to being one of the most respected names in the field by now.”

  The crash of rain on the hood and the swipe of wiper blades across the windshield was her only answer. Finally she sighed softly. “It’s complicated. I never planned to return to marine biology, but now it might be a possibility.” She shrugged. “I love my job, though—for the most part. When my boss doesn’t completely ignore the one thing I told him absolutely not to do.”

  He needed to come clean with her. “I had a long talk with my NOAA commander, and the truth is, they wouldn’t have assigned me to this without my agreement.”

  She raised a pretty, arched brow. “That sort of kills your argument for being pissed at me.”

  He shook his head. “Oh no, sweetheart. I can always come up with reasons to be angry with you.”

  “So why did you agree?”

  “Because I also believe the explosion was deliberate. Why else would someone be digging on the Wrasse wreck? And, like you, Yuri was my first suspect.”

  “It’s too convenient, the fact that he disappeared before the explosion. If I had died, no one would know that. They’d think his disappearance was due to the explosion.”

  “Did the Navy ever run a check on Yuri Kravchenko?” he asked.

  “I doubt they would have bothered. They ran one on Jared, certainly. It was his boat, and the Navy was leasing Petrel for the excavation, but Yuri, Loren, and Scotty were Jared’s crew and were only scheduled to be on board for the setup phase. Five days at most. After we completed the prep, Navy divers were supposed to arrive and take over. They were the ones who would excavate. I was supposed to remain in a supervisory capacity, the representative from UAB.” She shook her head. “Nothing about the USS Wrasse was top secret. It was an old sub that had been stripped for SINKEX. The only thing remarkable about it was the retired submariners who died unnecessarily. I doubt the Navy saw any reason to run a check on Jared’s crew, because they wouldn’t be on board when the Navy’s elite divers were present.”

  “I called one of the investigators with the Coast Guard to confirm that no one used a cable trencher during the investigation.”

  Undine hugged her knees to her chest, a sure sign she was feeling vulnerable. He hated that he wanted to pull her into his arms even now, but there it was. “Greg asked that question too.”

  “Then you already know no cable trenchers were used.”

  She nodded. “They would have tossed boat fragments instead of finding them. I’ve only used one once, when the wreck was under several feet of sediment.”

  “So if there was nothing to be gained from excavating the sub, why is someone doing it?”

  She shrugged her sleek, swimmer’s shoulders. “I’m baffled. I considered that maybe there was something on Petrel they were looking for, except…Petrel fragments wouldn’t be under that much sediment.”

  “Not to mention they were collected or at least picked through.” Luke veered around a rock in the roadway. The rains had caused rocks to fall from the hillsides that lined the coastal road. Normal for this time of year, but if the storm didn’t abate as predicted, they could face a road closure that would cut off the town from the rest of the state. “The storm is supposed to break this afternoon. If the weather is okay tomorrow, Ray will take us out.”

  “The Coast Guard is going to lend us Parker Reeves as a backup diver to help Ray with the boat. We’ll need to make sure Parker is available tomorrow.”

  Luke was well aware of all the details that had been hammered out without his input. “I already spoke with him. He’s good to go whenever we are. His orders are to be on call. He’s good, but not master diver certified.”

  “That’s why we couldn’t use him for my primary partner. The SecNav waiver requires master divers.” She unfurled her legs and planted them on the floor. “Thank you for agreeing to dive with me again, Luke. I need to know what happened to Petrel.”

  “I want to know too.”

  “You might even be a decent human being.” She spoke softly, making him wonder if she’d intended to say the words aloud.

  “Only decent? I was thinking more along the lines of remarkable. Or wonderful. Even heroic comes to mind.”

  She shook her head. He’d bet she rolled her eyes, but he needed to keep his gaze on the road. “I figure anything above asshole is compliment enough,” she said.

  He laughed. “True.” He turned down the wiper speed as the rain decreased to a drizzle. “Tell me everything you know about Yuri.”

  Yuri Kravchenko watched the couple drive out of town. She was with the former SEAL, the scientist who worked for NOAA. But if what he’d witnessed on the beach the other night was any indication, they were less concerned about the Wrasse than they were with getting it on, which worked for him. But still, Gray was a problem. The fact that she was still in town was a problem.

  What were the odds she’d be thrown clear of the wreck? He’d needed her to make her decompression stop to trigger the explosion, but by his calculations, she should have been taken out by the oxygen line.

  Yet here she was with the man who’d plucked her from the water. That a NOAA vessel had been nearby was a factor outside his control. Sometimes you have to roll the dice.

  If only the Coast Guard helicopter hadn’t been available for fast airlift. If only she’d suffered a stroke. With the excavation delayed indefinitely, no one else who cared would have dived on the Wrasse wreckage for months. Sea currents would have long since cloaked the evidence of his digging.

  He’d considered disposing of her that first night she’d returned to Neah Bay, but another accident so soon after her dive would’ve raised too many questions. And odds were, if she saw evidence of his digging, at that point, she’d already told her boss. Killing her wouldn’t serve a purpose; it would only raise suspicion.

  But another dive would be a problem. He couldn’t stop now, not when they’d finally located the hull. One, two more dives and they’d have it.

  Now that she’d left town, he finally had an opportunity to check out her cabin, to see if she was still in Neah Bay because she planned to dive on the wreck again.

  It was risky. The couple might just be taking a short trip to Seiku, and anyone could see him enter the cabin, but last night, he’d managed to swipe the extra key from the office, and he might not get another chance.

  There was no other option. Early on a weekday, no one was around. Only two other cabins were even rented, and no vehicles were parked out front. He climbed out of his truck, which he’d parked in front of the post office, and strode with purpose toward her unit. In moments, he was inside, fairly certain no one had seen him.

  He went for her laptop first. Thankfully, she didn’t use password protection to access her desktop. He wasn’t computer illiterate, but he was no hacker either. Her mail program was built-in and her password was preloaded.

  Sweat broke out on his brow when new emails loaded. Hopefully she wouldn’t notice the download had occurred while she was out. He ignored the new messages and focused on her sent emails.

  His bowels loosened when he read the email she’d sent to her boss with the subject: Re: Yuri Kravchenko. A quick read of the contents confirmed his worst fears. She’d seen the signs of digging and suspected him.

  Worse, NOAA and the Navy wanted her to dive with the former SEAL—Sevick—to collect evidence of their digging. He’d seen enough and closed the program, being careful to leave the desktop exactly as he’d found it except for the additional emails.

  He had no choice. He had to collect the weapon immediately. Fortunately, the weather was supposed to clear. Tonight it should be safe to dive.

  But Gray and Sevick would undoubtedly see sig
ns of his digging when next they dove. They might see M-357. Would Gray recognize it? Or would she believe it was the Wrasse?

  If he couldn’t find the torpedo tube, if he couldn’t remove the weapon before Gray and Sevick dove again, then the only way to delay the Navy from catching on and finding the device before he did was to take out the couple either before or during their dive.

  As usual, the trick was making it look like an accident.

  Or, even better, make sure the blame fell on someone else.

  Chapter Eleven

  “Yuri worked for Jared off and on for the last three years,” Undine said. “He was born and raised in the former Soviet Union and left Ukraine about five years ago. I gathered Yuri was something of a local character here on the peninsula, a fisherman by trade. He didn’t learn to dive until he moved here, but three years ago, he was experienced enough to start working with Jared, who has the best commercial diving vessel on the north coast.” Undine paused and cleared her throat. “Had the best boat.”

  Luke dropped a hand onto her knee and squeezed. “Go on.”

  She closed her eyes. She could see Yuri so clearly in her mind. It was odd to feel betrayed—if, indeed, Yuri was behind the explosion—by a man she’d known for only a few days.

  Grief was so strange. For a brief moment, when it first flashed in her mind that Yuri might be alive, she’d felt joy at the idea she wasn’t the sole survivor of the accident. But that thought was quickly followed by the acknowledgment that if Yuri was alive, it hadn’t been an accident.

  “He grew up near Chernobyl,” she continued. “Most of his family was killed in the meltdown. Only he and his younger sister survived. He made no bones about expressing his hatred for Russia and Russians. I only knew him for a few days, and in that time, he’d made sure I—and anyone who’d listen—knew exactly how he felt about the Crimean annexation. He was obsessed with the desire for Russia to be punished for sinking that passenger ferry last spring.” She opened her eyes and took in the road ahead. “He was so vehement, more than once I wondered if he lost someone in the ferry incident. So much so that yesterday I asked my friend who runs Raptor to look into his background.”