As Zoe said it would, the eel took a nosedive downward and seemed to disappear into the sea wall. There. Liam saw it. He knew right where to go and assumed Zoe and Dane saw the same thing.
He was no treasure hunter, but the bug bit him. He didn’t signal Dane or check what Zoe was doing. He wasn’t even scared of what the eel might do from another invasion on its privacy this close to the first one.
With the two scooters dragging to his sides, Liam dove for the spot he refused to take eyes from. He anchored the tanks between rocks and watched.
It was as if the spot might disappear if he took his eyes from it. He saw nothing but wall. No opening, no shadow where a crevasse might be, but that eel went somewhere.
Rows of teeth and dead, yellow eyes be damned, he ran his fingers over the spot and found a void, an opening. His adrenaline pumped, causing him to consciously and forcibly regulate his breathing.
He had to lie sideways to get a look inside. It was pitch black. Of course, it was. He had to keep his head. He was smarter than this. Releasing the flashlight from his belt, he noted movement from his side. Zoe and Dane held hands as they treaded water.
Smart. Flipping on the flashlight, he first pointed it next to the opening. The eyes and teeth seemed twice as large this close. He clasped his fingers around the flashlight, expecting the eel to rush him, but it didn’t. It tucked back in the crevasse like a rock in a slingshot, waiting to spring.
Around the enormous slithering body, he saw green and red. Giant eel be damned. As if the colors might get away, Liam stuck his head in the opening. It was as if time slowed. He directed the beam of light over the surface.
Piles and piles of twisted jewel-covered metal were encased in black netting and tucked inside the crevasse. He didn’t care if this was a wet uncharted or an under under. This was like a drug.
It wasn’t what he saw in the pictures; this was more. So much more. Barnacles and encrusted silt couldn’t hide the rubies that circled the gold plates or stems of the silver goblets that were circled with emeralds.
He turned to share his excitement with Dane and Zoe only to find a diver behind each with knives inches from their necks. The lack of sound when diving underwater had never been more unnerving. Clasping the flashlight, he instinctively held his arms out, palms down, as if he was in a high school hallway trying to calm a few volatile boys from losing their cool.
He had to rely on vision and touch. A stalemate ensued long enough for him to glance around for more divers, wondering how they were found, when they were found. Did Willow know? Was she safe?
He tried not to move as the divers slowly pumped their fins toward him, their bodies pressed against Zoe and Dane and the knives dangerously close to his friends’ air hoses.
Their masks had some kind of reflective film keeping Liam from identifying them. One diver had to be male. He was tall and slender. Rain gear guy? The other curvy and small. Female.
Slowly, Liam lifted one hand as if in surrender as he lowered the other, then waved the flashlight around the opening of the under under. The eel took the bait and jutted out, mouth open. Darting at the intruders, the female dropped her knife.
Zoe maneuvered away as the male punctured a hole in Dane’s air hose.
A cloud of air bubbles caused everything to blur in a mass of confusion.
The bubbles turned pink, then red. A shape darted at Liam from the angry, red cloud. Zoe.
Two large bodies twisted and wrestled, making Zoe swim back toward the fight. Dropping the flashlight, Liam reached and grabbed one of her feet with both hands.
The woman floated away from the wrestling men, clasping her side as blood oozed between her fingers. She drifted closer, and Liam recognized her. He caught her with both arms as Zoe got away, and the male intruder darted for the surface. The bubbles from Dane’s air tank slowed to a trickle.
Willow.
Liam handed the woman to Zoe and swam after the male.
His Willow. His life.
The male took to the surface too fast but, more importantly, away from the Sun Trips boat. Liam’s autopilot halted him at the first safety stop. He checked his watch, spewing obscenities in his head at the wait. He would be no good to Willow with the bends.
Damn it, through the waves, he willed her to call Matt. The bottom of the boat was visible. He wanted her to look over the edge and feared she would all at the same time.
Would the man have someone to man his boat too? Of course, he would. Why did Liam leave Willow alone?
A trail of blood seeped from the diver’s right thigh. The man was going to have the bends and stitches. Matt could watch for this in emergency rooms. Investigate the remaining original divers from Seth’s last dive—
Zoe and Dane. Checking below, he spotted them as they came toward him, Dane sucking on his backup regulator and Zoe hanging onto Miriam. Movement from beyond them caught his eye. Men. Several of them. He recognized the gear. Coast Guard. How?
Beams from flashlights darted around the floor of the Gulf.
Frustrated beyond anything he could remember, he checked the time for this safety stop. Darting to the last stop, he could see the Sun Trips boat so clearly, it seemed like he could reach out and touch it.
The splash and his voice seemed to happen at the same time.
“Willow, are you okay?”
The tone of Liam’s voice sent pin needles through her. Pulling starboard, she spotted him but didn’t understand. Where was the fake scooter? Why was there blood? “Yes, why?”
Keeping him in her sight, she craned her head all around. Boats dotted the Gulf. Some moving, some anchored. She saw them before she heard them.
Coast Guard boats, four of them, flew across the Gulf and all directed at her. Looking over the edge again, she noted Zoe and Dane had joined Liam. They didn’t have their fake tanks, either. They did have a woman.
The woman may have used a reflective face mask, but Willow would recognize Miriam Roberts anywhere. She was bleeding.
The diving group. She knew the emergency code, but she was no instructor or captain or even assistant. The extinguisher had to be wrong, but it would have to do. She banged it against the swim step. One long and two shorts. She did it twice through, then waited and banged it out twice more.
The boats came close enough that she was able to make out Matt in the bow of the one in the lead.
She leaned over the edge again. “What happened down there?”
Matt made it to her before they could answer. “Willow,” he called from the boat. “Are you okay?”
She nodded, although wanted to know why everyone was asking her that.
“Are you alone?”
She pointed down.
He looked over the bow as the Coast Guard boat headed around the stern.
“Did Raine call you?” Willow yelled to him before the four in the water would become visible.
He laughed. It wasn’t the gentle laugh she was accustomed to. It was an angry laugh. Sarcastic, even.
Standing tall, she inhaled deeply and closed her eyes. She had to center herself and her spirit. As far as she knew, everyone she loved was okay. Anything else was water under the bridge.
“Willow,” Matt barked.
Her eyes flew open.
“How many are down there?”
“Nine.” Plus Miriam, apparently. “Ten.”
He rolled his eyes. “Who?”
“Six divers, Dane, Zoe, Miriam, and Liam.”
“You used divers as a cover?”
It sounded so much worse when he put it that way.
“Willow,” Liam said. “Take my flippers.”
The most inappropriate smile spread over her face.
That was, until she saw his expression.
“What happened?” she repeated.
He nodded as she took his fins. He eyed the Coast Guard as the boat approached.
“It’s bad,” she said.
He nodded again and climbed the ladder.
Liam didn’t ask her why Matt was there. Not with words anyway. “Matt,” she said loudly as a way to let him know she was as much in the dark as he was. “What brings you out here?” she yelled her crew would become visible.
“What brings me—?” he started, then stopped and ran his hand along the back of his neck.
She spotted the damage to Dane’s air hose.
The Coast Guardsman jumped in after Miriam.
Dane and Liam looked at each other with a sadness that sent her back to panic.
“I’ve got men down there, so no more hiding your shit from me.”
Liam hoisted into the boat and sat. Plopping his forearms on his knees, he took a deep breath. “Miriam Roberts, Chief. She was with one other diver that we know of, male. They attacked us. There was a fight. The man got away.”
The Coast Guardsman in the water lifted Miriam as another pulled her onto the Coast Guard platform.
Liam seemed to look through Willow as he added, “There’s also a ton of treasure your guys won’t find, but the man with Miriam who attacked us will.”
A ton of treasure? An instant war erupted in Willow’s head. Another person she loved was stabbed for Luciana’s treasure. But, treasure? Was this why Miriam was down there?
Matt turned and had a quiet conversation with the Coast Guardsman behind him.
Willow mouthed the word, ‘Treasure,’ to Liam. His eyes were bright as he nodded.
“Tell my man, here,” Matt said. “Show him on the map. You three aren’t going anywhere.”