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CHAPTER
50
THE CALYPSO DEEP IN THE HELLENIC TRENCH
SATURDAY, JULY 27
THE MOIST, SALTY AIR WAS invigorating after the month he’d spent in the desert. Matthew was at the stern of a chartered yacht, leaning against a side railing with the bags containing the Tablets at his feet. He inhaled deeply and closed his eyes.
His right arm was wrapped around Alex, Robyn stood to his left, and Cal was on her other side. The only other people on the ship were the captain they’d hired and a deckhand. They were nonnegotiable with the charter company, but Matthew had insisted that they sign confidentiality agreements. But the plan was to do what they’d come to do as discreetly as possible.
“Sir?” Matthew turned and saw that it was the deckhand who had addressed him. “You asked to be notified once we were over the Calypso Deep. We’re here now.”
Matthew looked out at the water. To think that the bottom was estimated to be 17,280 feet down and they were just floating over it, was somewhat humbling. “Thank you.”
The deckhand gave a little dip of his head, folded his hands in front of him, and stayed put to see if Matthew had further instructions.
“We’ll need complete privacy for the next fifteen minutes, please,” Matthew said.
“Absolutely, sir. Will that be all?”
“When I say complete privacy, I would prefer that you and the captain spend that time at the front of the ship,” Matthew clarified.
“No eyes on you.” The deckhand nodded. “I understand.”
“Exactly. Thank you.”
“Very well. I will tell the captain. Will that be all, sir?”
“Actually—” Matthew glanced at his friends “—after the fifteen minutes, please bring out what we talked about earlier.”
“Will do.” With another nod, the deckhand left.
Matthew looked over the side of the boat. The Tablets would be buried forever in these depths. They would be safe. Humankind would be safe.
Alex nuzzled up against him again. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
He wrapped an arm around her. “It’s not a matter of want. It’s the right thing to do.”
He didn’t need to share that he had been having some reservations about pitching the Tablets into the sea. They were thousands of years old and priceless. And their continued existence would prove that he wasn’t crazy for believing in the Tablets. But they contained vast, otherworldly knowledge that could destroy the world. By getting rid of the “evidence,” he and his family—and the world—would certainly be safer. Still, it was a bittersweet position to be in. He’d longed to find them for years, and now, only a brief few would even know they’d existed.
Alex gave him a relaxed smile and leaned her head on his shoulder.
“All right, let’s do this.” Cal clapped his hands like an excited child.
Apparently, he doesn’t have any reservations.
Regardless, it had to be done. Matthew reached into the bag closest to him, his stomach a knotted mess. He didn’t typically uncover legends only to bury them again. He let out a deep breath as he slipped the first Tablet out. As much as part of him didn’t want to toss them overboard, he didn’t want to put that onus on anyone else.
He lifted the Tablet, mentally estimating its weight at about twenty-five pounds. He made sure to keep it in front of his body to protect it from any prying eyes—just in case. Then he looked at his friends one more time for the strength to do this.
Alex and Cal were watching him. Her eyes were encouraging and compassionate, as if she understood his secret turmoil, while Cal was grinning and gesturing to the water. Matthew glanced at Robyn. She pressed her lips together and nodded. He took that as silent reassurance that he was doing the right thing.
He turned back to the water and tossed the first Tablet overboard. As it left his hands, it was as if a heavy emotional weight had also been lifted from his chest. It only confirmed that he was doing the right thing.
He did the same with the other two Tablets and the shards from the Tablets he’d destroyed. They still didn’t know if they were duplicates, decoys, or additional Tablets, but it wasn’t worth the risk of investigating further. None of them had the expertise to decipher them, and bringing in outside help was certainly not an option. When every piece was overboard, they stood silently for a few moments.
“I couldn’t have done any of this without you,” Alex said, eventually breaking the quiet and leaning in to kiss Matthew’s cheek. She pulled back. “By that, I mean all of you.”
Cal groaned. “Uh-huh.” But he was grinning, obviously just giving Alex a hard time.
“I mean it,” she insisted. “Cal, you took amazing pictures, but if you didn’t stay up with the radio that night, we might still be down in that tomb. And Robyn, your knowledge of Egyptian history was invaluable. Your help with cataloging was greatly appreciated.”
“Thank you,” Robyn replied.
“You’re very welcome. And you, Matt—”
“Oh no. It’s about to get mushy in here, I can feel it.” Cal shook his head and laughed.
Alex raised a fist to Cal. “You’re going to feel this.” Her feigned seriousness crumbled quickly, and she chuckled. She looked at Matthew. “You’ve been a friend to me through this entire journey—when we thought Jeff had died and even before that. And if it wasn’t for you, we never would have found the Tablets. You thought of the mummy’s coffin. You were insistent that something was there. And you were right.” Her tone turned somber. “Robyn and Cal, would you mind if—”
Robyn held up a hand. “We’ll give you some time alone.”
She and Cal went to the other side of the boat, far enough that they would be out of earshot.
Matthew faced Alex. “What is it?”
“I just wanted to apologize for…” Her gaze drifted away from him briefly. “For using you. God, that sounds so horrible out loud.”
“Did you intend to hurt me by doing so?” he asked.
“No,” she was quick to reply. “Not at all. Gosh, you’re a great guy. I just thought…”
“That my reputation would help build yours,” he finished for her.
Her cheeks flushed, and she tucked a strand of hair behind an ear. “Yeah.”
“I would have come, even if you had been upfront about it.”
“Even now?” Her eyes flicked to the water, no doubt alluding to the Tablets.
“Even now.” He paused. “We found them. And we’ve confirmed Baufra’s existence and that he was a pharaoh, in addition to finding his tomb. The history books will need to be rewritten. It’s incredible.” He smiled at her. “Congratulations to you on leading this expedition.”
“You’re so amazing.” She threw her arms around him and pecked countless kisses on his cheeks. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
He couldn’t help but laugh.
A few minutes later, they were still facing each other but had fallen quiet.
“What are you going to do now?” he asked. “Reda was funding the dig?”
“I’ll be appealing to the Egyptian government to let me continue the work I started. There’s a lot still to be done there.”
“There definitely is.” His gaze drifted out to the water.
“Matt?”
He looked back at Alex. “Yeah?”
“Don’t take this the wrong way, but I hope you get on your plane this time.” She smirked.
“That makes two of us.” He touched her cheek and tenderly kissed her. He pulled back. “It’s been quite the adventure, hasn’t it?”
Her eyes were glistening with tears. “Oh yeah. Especially since you arrived.”
He drew her to him, swept her hair back, and kissed her forehead. “You stay safe out here.”
She gave him a lopsided smile, but she sniffled. “You know, it was a much safer place before you got here. Really, it was only after you arrived that all hell broke loose.”
He held up his hands. “You’re blaming me for the tunnel collapsing?” He was teasing her, just as she was teasing him. He felt his breath hitch and a small splinter in his chest. “I’ll never forget you.”
“Me neither.” She kissed him softly on the lips. “I hope you’ll come back and visit.”
“I just might do that,” he said vaguely. He had to play it a little nonchalant; he had to protect his heart somehow.
“Sir?” The deckhand had returned and was holding a tray of four full champagne flutes.
“Ooh, champagne.” Robyn came over, Cal trailing behind her.
Each of them took a glass, and the deckhand excused himself.
Matthew lifted his glass. “To saving the world.”
The toast rang back to his ears from each of his friends, and they clicked glasses.
The champagne was dry and delicious, and today—what they had done—was certainly worth celebrating. Alex’s and Robyn’s smiles touched their eyes, but Cal’s were flat, even as his lips curved upward.
Something was definitely wrong. “Can you ladies excuse us?” Matthew asked, getting Cal to look at him.
“For a little while.” Alex winked at Matthew.
“We’ll be fine.” Robyn chortled and clinked her glass against Alex’s again.
Matthew was happy to see they were getting along. They had so much in common.
On second thought, maybe they had too much in common…
Cal was standing at the railing on the other side of the ship. Matthew joined him. He didn’t say anything, just stood there, gazing at the water, sipping his drink.
“Sophie and I…” Cal cleared his throat. “We broke up.”
Matthew looked over at his friend, his heart aching for him. “I’m sorry, Cal.”
“She just couldn’t accept that I love going on these treasure-hunting expeditions with you. Or adventures as she calls them.”
“I don’t know what to say.” And the truth was, Matthew didn’t.
“Well, there’s really nothing to say.” Cal’s eyes were riddled with pain. “She can’t accept that part of my life, and I’m not ready to give it up.”
Matthew was watching his friend, wishing there was something he could say or do to ease his pain. “Maybe once you get home, talk things out…” Matthew’s voice trailed off.
“Well, I guess we’ll find out soon enough.” Cal downed the rest of his champagne. “I love her with all my heart, Matt.”
“I know you do.”
“But I need her to support me. I don’t want to feel guilty every time I leave on an adventure with you. It’s not fair to force me to give them up.” Cal peered down into his glass, his eyes full of tears.
Matthew put a hand on his friend’s shoulder.
“Why do you guys look so serious?” Alex called from the other side of the ship, doing so in a voice that mimicked a line from The Dark Knight.
Matthew winced, but Cal laughed.
All right, maybe his friend would be fine.
“I’m just really ready to be back home.” Cal scratched furiously behind one of his ears.
Matthew quirked his eyebrows.
“Sand,” Cal explained. “It doesn’t matter how many times I shower.”
“Let me guess,” Matthew said, “it gets everywhere.”
Cal pointed a finger at him. “You got it, my friend.”
“You guys are crazy,” Robyn shouted.
“If we’re crazy, you’re crazy,” Cal shot back in a singsong voice.
The women were laughing and heading toward him and Cal.
“I hope you’re not having regrets about what we’ve done,” Alex said to Matthew.
He held up his glass. “Let’s put it this way… No one’s going to find them.”
“Yeah, I think we can be pretty certain of that.” Robyn smiled, but Matthew watched her gaze drift to Cal and turn serious. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” Cal mumbled.
Matthew shook his head. The word fine must be such a trigger word for shrinks.
Robyn’s eyes flicked to Matthew, who then looked at Cal.
“I was just telling Matthew that Sophie and I are over,” Cal said.
Robyn’s mouth gaped open, and she didn’t say anything for a few seconds. “I’m sorry, Cal. What happened?”
“I was just telling Matt.”
Matthew noticed Alex’s cheeks turn bright red, but he shook his head softly to let her know not to worry about her earlier joke. There was no way she could have known they actually were having a serious conversation.
“Well, we can talk about it later,” Robyn said, “or not at all, if that’s what you want.”
“Maybe we’ll be able to patch things up.” Cal sounded hopeful but not as if he bought into it quite yet. “It’s just that I love exploring the world with you guys and going on our adventures. But it’s too much for her. Neither of us should have to change who we are to be together.”
Robyn licked her lips. “Everyone deserves to do whatever it is that makes them happy.” The corners of her mouth twitched, and then she smiled. “Unless, of course, that’s destroying the world as we know it.” She winked at Cal.
“Yeah, that’s a big unless.” He smiled back at her and then at Matthew.
In that moment, Matthew was certain his friend would, in fact, be fine, no matter what ended up happening with Sophie. He locked eyes with Alex, thankful to have gotten to know her better over these past few weeks. But when he looked at Robyn and Cal, his two closest friends in the world, he was overwhelmed with gratitude for having them in his life. He couldn’t imagine not having them with him on future “adventures.”
He lifted his empty glass. “I think we need more champagne.”
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