‘We missed out on the treasure ship gold, ‘Len said. ‘But this stuff of Braxton’s will be easier to shift.’
‘We might have to hang onto it for a few months. There’ll be a lot of publicity.’
‘How many sacks we got?’ Joe asked.
‘Four.’
‘Perfect. Make sure the ties are long and help me drag ‘em to the sea edge.’
‘What you gonna do… If you gotta plan then tell me.’
Joe explained that the sacks of gold and silver would be loaded into one boat while the other would be used to get him back to shore.
‘Once I get to the navigation buoy I’ll tie the boat with the stolen goodies to it and return in the empty craft.’
Len was sent into the sea to drag the red boat closer to the shore. The sea lapped over his wading boots and nearly reached his waist. He swore as he reached Joe and the sacks.
‘Right load up this boat,’ Joe instructed.
Len heaved the four sacks into the craft as Joe climbed in and yanked the start cord on the small engine. It fired and briefly covered Joe in a cloud of smoke.
Joe coughed and immediately pulled the drill from his jacket. He began fixing two strong rings to each side of the red boat.
‘This seems complicated,’ Len grumbled, ‘Why can’t we just hide the gold and silver in the workshop?’
‘Because it’s the first place the cops would look.’
Joe grabbed the other boat and attached a tow rope. He had to rev the small engine hard because of the weight of the two vessels.
He eased off on the power as he cruised up to the buoy. It was a navigation marker to warn sailors of deep water and ideal for the hideaway that Joe needed. He attached each sack to a ring and knotted them tightly. Satisfied that the balance was more or less equal he lowered the sacks into the sea. Each one dangled down before sloshing into the water and disappearing from view.
‘Perfect,’ he grunted to himself. ‘No-one will see or find the stolen gear.’
Joe’s breath came in gasps as he reached across to the buoy and fastened the boat’s tow rope to it. He switched off the outboard engine then swung his long legs across to the spare craft. He dragged himself into it, started the small engine, and headed for his brother standing a long way off on the shoreline.
‘I need a whiskey,’ he said, as Len pulled and slid the blue boat onto the wet sand.
‘You deserve one, brother. Braxton’s gold and silver has vanished. It’s soaking in the sea.’
Joe nodded, cleared his throat and spat hard. ‘Braxton might be the one with all the money… But it’s the Riddles with all the brains.’
*
It was early the following morning and Troy had taken Jacob’s van for the trip to Milford Marina. The sun was beginning to break through the clouds and Troy was looking forward to the task of repairing Lord Braxton’s speedboat.
The twins had finished breakfast and were anxious for Troy to leave. They had hatched a plan to secretly take Kristo for a sea swim and they knew that their brother wouldn’t be keen on allowing it unless the transceiver was in use.
‘Freedom,’ Archie said, as Kristo slid along the transporting rails, left the cradle, and swept smoothly into the sea.
‘Oxygen on,’ Archie had an eye on the dash panel. ‘Turbine engines activated.’
‘All cameras working.’ Lucy announced.
The safety harnesses dropped down and the body-straps unrolled ready to be clipped over the twins’ laps.
‘When we get into deeper water I’ll drop Kristo down to two-hundred meters.’
‘I hope you realise that Troy is going to be very crabby with us.’
‘We can handle it. I’m pretty bored with all the sweeping and clearing up around here.’
‘Well Troy isn’t being lazy,’ Lucy countered. ‘He has to sort out Lord Braxton’s speedboat.’
‘And I reckon Scarlett will be helping.’
Lucy thought about that, and then said, ‘Are you saying she fancies Troy?’
‘Not sure really… but she is very peachy and she does give him cute looks.’
‘She’s a friendly girl, that’s all.’
Archie laughed and decided to continue with his fantasy story. ‘Perhaps they’ll get married… that would solve a lot of problems. Lord Braxton could buy Gull Cottage as a wedding present, do all the repairs, give them a chunk of money and build an annex for Uncle.’
‘What’s an annex?’
‘It’s a separate building that’s attached to the cottage.’
‘Better than a retirement home?’
‘Yes, of course. He wouldn’t have to move anywhere.’
‘And we could stay at Gull Cottage every holiday.’
Archie had a glint of humour in his eyes. ‘I could help around the house and you could be the babysitter.’
‘Oh, you’ve given them a child now, have you?’ Lucy held back a grin.
‘Or children… Remember twins run in the family.’
‘You’re talking rubbish, Archie Scott. You’re always playing mind-games with me.’
Archie chuckled as he glanced at the plasma screens. He took Kristo down to two-hundred meters and increased speed. He tapped the icon that operated the spotlights and he could see the glistening sea bed beneath them.
‘We’re a heck of a way out,’ he said. ‘Would you like to spend the day in France?’
‘Ha, ha, very funny,’ Lucy huffed. ‘Now turn Kristo around and let’s explore the Cornish coves as we agreed last night.’
‘Spoilsport,’ Archie eased off on the speed and used the rudder pedals to swing Kristo round.
‘Let’s see if the Riddles are messing about with the Stinger at Valentine Cove,’ Lucy suggested.
Archie turned off the spotlights and kept an eye on the plasma screens as he brought Kristo to the surface. They were a long way out from Valentine Cove so he increased power to twenty miles-an-hour and navigated a course with the rudder pedals.
Lucy was watching images from the dorsal fin camera. She could see two cars and several people at the beach workshop.
‘Keep Kristo as low as you can so he won’t be seen from the shore,’ She told Archie. ‘There’s something strange going on at the Riddles.’
Archie kept Kristo level, so only his dorsal fin with the camera would be visible.
‘Two cop cars,’ he said, pointing at the plasma screen, and the people are wearing hi-viz jackets… probably police.’
‘It looks like Lord Braxton has told them you reckoned it was the Riddles,’ Lucy suggested. ‘They’ll want to talk to you about the robbery.’
‘Holy Moly, I hope not.’
‘You’ll have to go to court and give evidence.’
Archie remained silent.
‘And when the Riddles get out of prison they’ll come looking for you,’ Lucy added. ‘You’ll need eyes in the back of your head.’
‘Now you’re playing mind-games with me… Dumb sister!’
Lucy wanted to laugh, but didn’t. She was still watching the dorsal fin screen and could now see the Riddle brothers jumping about and shouting at the police.
Kristo’s gill slits were picking up odd pieces of the Riddles’ chatter:
‘You have no damn proof that we were involved,’ Len was shouting. ‘So if you want to rummage around the workshop you’ll need a Search Warrant.’
Archie was keeping Kristo steady but he spotted the buoy and the rowboat bobbing about at the corner of a plasma screen.
Archie turned to Lucy. ‘I’ve never seen a boat moored to that deep-water buoy before.’
She frowned. ‘It doesn’t make sense. I’ve seen two rowboats with outboard motors moored near the shore at Valentine Cove… but this one moored to the buoy is a puzzle.’
Archie increase
d Kristo’s power a fraction and circled the buoy and boat. He could see that the dorsal fin camera was beaming pictures of the police cars leaving the bay. The Riddles had crossed to the workshop, entered, and closed both doors.
Archie spun Kristo so the shark was so close it was nudging the red rowboat. ‘Is there anything inside the boat?’ He asked Lucy.
‘Empty,’ she said, adjusting the dorsal fin.
Archie decided to drop Kristo down a couple of meters so he would be underneath the rowboat and out of view of the shore.
Everything suddenly became clear to Archie. Each plasma screen showed a different angle of the four suspended sacks.
‘Very clever,’ he murmured mostly to himself.
Lucy’s eyes scanned the screens. ‘Do you know what those sacks are for?’ She queried.
Archie told her that he’d seen one sack being tossed out of the trophy room window by one of the disguised Riddles. ‘He had a scorpion tattoo on his forearm. There must have been three previous sacks and the one I saw made up the four. My guess is they’re full of Lord Braxton’s gold and silver.’
‘So one of the Riddles was in a boat catching the sacks?’
‘It was the Stinger, I saw it dive.’
Lucy tut-tutted. ‘You’ll have to tell all this to the police.’
‘Oh, thanks… I’ll end up in court giving evidence.’
‘Unless…’
‘Unless what?’
‘Unless Lord Braxton gets all his stuff back and he doesn’t press charges. He’s a very busy man. He’s not going to want daily trips to court.’
Archie hesitated. ‘So we get his gold and silver back to him?’
She nodded. ‘With Kristo on our side we can do it. We don’t touch the sacks; we simply tow the rowboat back to the Marina and leave it tied to Cornish Destiny.’
‘It sounds easy, Lucy, but there’s not much room in that Marina. Being holiday time it’s chock-a-block with vessels and Kristo might be seen.’
‘Do you want to risk it?’
‘Okay, we’ll give it a go. First we’ve got to cut the rowboat clear of the buoy.’
Archie expertly used the rudder pedals to guide Kristo’s head level with the mooring rope which dangled across to the buoy.
‘Fake “roar” off,’ he said, tapping the icon.
‘Moring rope is in a perfect position,’ Lucy announced, eyes glued to the screens. ‘Go…go…go…now!’
Archie tapped the “bite” icon. Kristo dipped his tail as his head came up and the dorsal fin screen showed pictures of the rowboat’s mooring rope lying across the shark’s teeth.
There was only a millisecond before Kristo’s jaws snapped shut on the rope. The cockpit shook slightly under the power of the bite and Lucy’s breath fanned against Archie’s neck.
‘Wow, it’s sliced apart. Those teeth are razor sharp,’ she said with relief. ‘The cut isn’t central so that’s perfect. Now hold the grip on the longer rowboat-half and let the buoy-half drift free.’
‘Got it,’ he replied, using both rudder pedals to cause a shaking movement in Kristo.
The shuddering force had the desired effect on the cut rope. The piece belonging to the buoy hung limply in the sea while Kristo kept the pressure on the rowboat section.
Archie praised Lucy on the way she had handled the cutting of the rope. ‘We make a good team,’ he added, levelling Kristo up and turning the shark towards the Marina.
The red rowboat was in tow and the dorsal fin screen showed it skimming alongside Kristo.
‘I can feel the extra towing weight,’ Archie said. ‘Those sacks must contain some heavy gold and silver trophies.’
‘The boats at the Marina all have special bays, so where do you plan to leave the rowboat?’
Archie had puzzled on this question and wasn’t sure he had an answer. He kept Kristo low as he circled the Marina looking for a gap in the bay that was used by Cornish Destiny. He reasoned, Lord Braxton or the crew would get curious about a rowboat floating in the space and they would soon discover the sacks.
‘There’s Troy!’ Lucy tapped the dorsal fin screen. ‘He’s in the restore and repair bay, fixing up Lord Braxton’s speedboat.’
‘If he sees us we’ll be in trouble,’ Archie cautioned. ‘Best if we avoid him, I reckon.’
‘We can’t do that. If we explain about the rowboat and the sacks he can’t moan too much. We’re returning the stolen goods to Lord Braxton.’
‘Hardly anyone about,’ Archie checked the plasma screens. ‘Most of these yacht’s have a crew so where are they?’
‘It’s lunchtime. They’ll all be in the Marina canteen.’
‘So you reckon this is a good time to remain hidden and release the rowboat?’
‘It could be the best chance we get.’
‘Okay,’ Archie agreed, just nudging the power up a fraction as he guided Kristo towards the repair bay.
Troy had his back to them and was carefully stroking a paintbrush over the burned section of the speedboat’s metal hull. All that was visible above the waterline was Kristo’s dorsal fin.
The sun glinted off the lens of the tiny camera and caught Troy’s eye. He jumped, spilling some of the paint as Archie let Kristo’s entire body float up to the surface.
There was a hiss as the rear hatch opened and Lucy’s head appeared. She was smiling, but Troy wasn’t.
‘What the heck…?’
Lucy told him how they had found the stolen goods hooked under the Riddles’ rowboat and how they were attached out of sight.
‘Kristo is holding the boat’s mooring rope,’ she added, ‘Can you take it and make sure Lord Braxton gets his stuff back?’
Troy looked stunned. He dropped to his knees by the shark’s head and grabbed the rope. He could feel that the loose-end was gripped by Kristo’s teeth.
‘Ready… NOW!’ Archie shouted, tapping the “release bite” icon.
Kristo’s huge jaws opened then closed as Troy jerked the rope free. He stood up and immediately pulled on the rowboat and moored it to the repair bay railing.
‘Okay, Lucy,’ Archie urged. ‘Slide back into your seat and close the hatch. We’re losing oxygen pressure.’
Lucy dropped back into the cockpit and instantly saw Lord Braxton and Scarlett on the dorsal fin screen. They were walking from the Marina canteen and heading towards Troy and the speedboat.
‘It’s time for us to leave,’ Archie smirked, catching a glimpse of the Braxton’s. He accelerated and dropped Kristo into a deep dive.
‘Let’s hope Troy’s got a good story about the rowboat,’ Lucy reasoned. ‘Whatever he says, it’s got to sound believable.’
Archie nodded. He tapped the “shore” icon and then the “artificial intelligence” icon. The twins were on their way back to Gull Cottage.
Lord Braxton and Scarlett had nearly reached the speedboat. The soles of their flip-flops slapped across the little wooden gangways which crisscrossed the entrance to the repair bay.
Scarlett was waving enthusiastically at Troy but as she got nearer he could see her smile change into a frown.
‘Where’s Lucy?’ she asked.
‘Lucy?’
‘She was swimming and you were talking to her.’
Troy realised that Lucy’s head poking out of Kristo’s hatch must have looked like she was bobbing about in the sea.
‘No,’ he said, trying to sound convincing, ‘she hasn’t been swimming around here.’
‘But I saw her streaky blonde hair,’ Scarlett continued, looking at her father. ‘Did you see her, Daddy?’
‘I’m not sure, darling,’ Lord Braxton replied. ‘I thought I saw something in the water.’
Troy crossed to the corner of the repair bay that was used for cleaning materials. He pulled a mop out of a bucket and held it up. The head
of the mop was made of hundreds of pieces of twine and they were yellow.
‘I was using this to get the dried smoke off the speedboat,’ he told them.
Lord Braxton laughed. ‘Well don’t tell your sister that Scarlett compared her hair to a mop-head!’
Troy was glad to turn the conversation away from Lucy and back to things that mattered. He dangled over the edge of the repair bay, hooked his heels over the red rowboat and pulled it nearer.
Jumping into the vessel he heaved one of the sacks from the water and onto the repair bay ledge. He unclipped a Swiss-Army knife from his belt, cut the twine tie on the sack and put a huge slit down the length of the canvas.
Lord Braxton looked stunned as the trophies and antiques clattered onto the repair bay floor. This was the first time Troy had seen any of them and the glint of diamonds set in precious metals made him suck in his breath. He climbed out of the rowboat and just stared at the valuable collection.
‘A lot of the trophies were won when I was a young man,’ Braxton pointed out. ‘The antiques have been in our family for many years.’
‘There are three more sacks crammed full of stuff,’ Troy told him. ‘Judging by the weight they must be worth a fortune.’
‘Several hundred thousand,’ Braxton agreed. ‘I’ve never had them valued. All of my businesses are doing well, so their worth is of no real interest to me.’
‘How did that rowboat get here?’ Scarlett asked Troy. She took a tissue from her clutch bag and wiped a smudge of paint from his face.
‘Bit of a mystery,’ Troy said, thinking quickly. ‘If, as Archie told us, the Riddles were the thieves then they must have got rattled that they’d be caught with the goods.’
‘I did phone the police to tell them of Archie’s suspicions,’ Braxton told Troy. ‘But with such little evidence and everything being recovered I expect they’ll ease off or drop the investigation.’
‘You must take it all to the bank, Daddy,’ Scarlett instructed. ‘It’s not safe on the yacht; it should be locked in a vault.’
Lord Braxton agreed and clamped a hand on Troy’s shoulder. ‘Thank you for taking care of my daughter when you went for the evening meal in Milford.’ He paused, adding, ‘I’m very grateful to you and your family. I have the coastal engineer coming tomorrow to give me a report on Gull Cottage. I’d like you and Jacob to be there to hear what he says.’
Deep Wild Blue Page 9
