But Lucas could ask Oliver what he wanted to know.
Andrew tugged him towards the surface, his expression determined and a little angry.The woman waved the spear gun at him and his body tensed.
Oliver checked his gauges.He’d burned through a lot of his oxygen chasing Andrew, so he would need to surface soon.He had no idea how likely the woman was to use the spear gun.And the way she was waving it around, she’d likely fire it without meaning to.
Perhaps if they could talk to each other, they’d clear up this mess.He made the thumbs up gesture for surfacing and slowly ascended.At the safety stop location, Andrew shook his head and kept him moving.
When his head broke the surface, Oliver inflated his BCD and took the regulator from his mouth.They’d come up on the northern side of the boat, so he couldn’t see theOceanid.Maybe there was a way to get Sam and Sherlock’s attention though.“What’s going on?”he asked Andrew.
“You need to get in the boat.”The kid sounded angry and was already ripping off his fins and throwing them over the side onto the deck.
“Why?”Oliver asked.
The woman floated next to him, not saying anything, just pointing the spear gun at him.
“Because you have to.”
He kept his smile friendly.“What I have to do is finish the examination of the wreck.I don’t have time for delays.”
“Get in the boat or I’ll shoot you,” the woman said, her tone firm, as she prodded him in the side with the tip of the spear.
Fear rushed through him, not so much from her but from her lack of awareness of where the trigger was.“Stop pointing it at me.”Slowly he took off his fins, hoping the boat would swing, exposing them.“Would you at least tell me what this is about?”
“They want to know where the treasure is,” Andrew said as he climbed onto the boat.
Incredulity filled him.“What treasure?We haven’t found any.”
“But the Stokes have,” the woman said.“And you know where it is.”
“I don’t know anything.”
“I heard you talking to Sam and Sherlock last night,” Andrew said.“You were talking about the treasure.”
Shit.How much had he heard?“We were talking hypothetically.They asked me some questions about ownership, I answered them.”
The woman swore.“You said they had it,” she growled at Andrew.
He looked unconcerned.“They have it, Kristy.”Nothing seemed to faze him.He didn’t seem to care that Sam and Sherlock hadn’t told Oliver where it was, or that he’d delayed Oliver’s work.
“I’ll be on my way.”Oliver raised the hose ready to deflate his BCD.
“No!”Kristy looked left and right, checking no one was near.“I don’t believe you.You’re still coming with us.”
“I’m no use to you.”
“You’re lying.You’ve been cosying up with Dot.That emotionless bitch will have told you something.Get in.”She gestured for him to climb into the boat.
Oliver gritted his teeth at her assessment of Dot and, instead of retorting, examined the spear gun.Her finger hovered over the trigger and she had it poked into his side.It was difficult to move fast in the water, encumbered as he was with the BCD.She could fire faster than he could twist and push the gun away.
“Get in.”She prodded him in the back again, her finger coming perilously close to the trigger.
“All right.”He handed his fins to Andrew and moved around the side of the boat to the ladder.The top deck of theOceanidwas just visible and Sam was looking south towards the dive site.It was a reasonable distance away, and Oliver wasn’t certain a shout would attract Sam’s attention.
“Keep quiet and move,” Kristy said.
She had to be a local if she knew who Dot was, but this was an aggressive tactic if she wanted the treasure.
Oliver climbed the ladder, moving awkwardly with the weight of the tank on his back.As soon as he was up, the woman followed.“Sit on the ground.Both of you.”
