That was a change.Usually the would-be treasure hunters were men.
The boat neared, but at about twenty metres away it slowed, moved parallel, the driver waved at their boat blowing a kiss, and then stopped at a distance from the dive area.Downstairs Tom laughed.“Andrew, isn’t that the old cougar who tried to pick you up at the brewery the other night?”
“She’s not old,” came the retort.“Besides, older women are more experienced.”
The others laughed.
Oliver smiled at the teasing as he headed back downstairs.It was nice to see Andrew interacting for a change.“Let’s finish getting ready,” Oliver called and returned to his gear.He yawned, but it didn’t take long before he was on the tender with Andrew and Sherlock, heading for their dive spot.
Sherlock did his buddy check.“You forgot to turn on your air,” he said, opening the valve on the scuba tank.
Oliver rubbed his hand over his face.He was sure he had.“Thanks, mate.”His exhaustion from the accumulated lack of sleep was making it hard to focus.Maybe he shouldn’t go down, but they were almost finished.They had two more areas to catalogue and if all went well, he could tell Lucas they were finished when he called this evening.
Then he could drive his students home and return to sort things out with Dot.
Last night she’d called Sam’s satellite phone to say she was home safely.
Then he finally got some sleep.
“Oliver, are we going?”Andrew asked.
Oliver blinked and nodded, bringing himself back to the present.“Let’s go.”He rolled backwards off the tender and into the water, allowing it to close over him before kicking to the surface.He and Andrew were cataloguing anything found in the area between where the cannons were dropped and the rest of the wreck site.Other items may have been pushed overboard to stop the ship from hitting the reef.
He descended slowly, balancing the buoyancy in his vest as he did so, and scanned the bottom.Nothing that appeared unnatural, but he gestured for Andrew to take one side and together they swam over the area.
A lot of fish swimming through the coral, a turtle grazing and a stingray swimming along the sandy bottom nearby.Nothing man made.
He checked on Andrew, who was disappearing out of the limits of Oliver’s vision.Annoyed, he kicked over.They were supposed to stay within sight of each other, in formation, so they missed nothing.Andrew knew that.
He’d be glad when he didn’t have to deal with the kid’s disinterest anymore.
Andrew increased his pace, kicking hard as if he’d spotted something of interest.Oliver waved, trying to get his attention, but he didn’t look back.
Damn it.
Oliver swam after him.He couldn’t let Andrew go off alone.He had a duty of care.
Andrew must have seen an animal, a manta ray or something, because he couldn’t have spotted anything to do with the wreck.
Anger built in Oliver as his lungs burned.He’d never seen Andrew move this fast.The kid would decide to go rogue today, when Oliver was exhausted.
Oliver slowed.Something about the word rogue seemed significant.As if he should pay attention.
His distraction almost cost him, as Andrew was a shadow in front of him.He kicked harder again to catch up, knowing he was burning through his air.Oliver was going to have stern words to Andrew when he caught up.He should know better than to be distracted by an animal when they had limited time on this dive.
Finally, when Oliver was about to call it quits and let Andrew go, Andrew stopped.There was a shape in the water beyond him, but Oliver couldn’t see what it was.He caught up, grabbing Andrew’s shoulder and checking what had so distracted him.
And stared at a woman pointing a spear gun right at him.
Chapter 18
Oliver stared at the spear gun, confused, his tired brain trying to catch up.Why was the woman pointing it at him?Andrew grabbed his arm and pointed to the surface where Oliver noticed the hull of a boat.
His confusion grew to concern.Something wasn’t right.
This must be the woman from the brewery who’d driven past before they’d got into the water.But what did she want with him?
Was she part of Stonefish?Was Dot right about Lucas Fitton, and Andrew was carrying out his father’s wishes?
