Andrew had already removed his BCD and Oliver followed suit, but used the jacket as a back rest.Kristy placed the spear gun on the dash of the boat and grabbed her mobile phone.She swore and threw it back on the dash.“No service.”
Oliver assessed his chances.Could he dive over the side before anyone stopped him?No one on theOceanidwould hear him over the engine and Sam or Sherlock might not be looking this way.He couldn’t stay under water for long without his scuba tank and if Kristy got annoyed, she could shoot him with the spear gun and be done with him.
“What’s going on, Andrew?”He leaned closer to the boy to be heard above the engine.
Andrew ignored him as they sped across the water.
Frustration filled him as he put together what he knew.Sherlock and Sam suspected Lucas.Andrew had been forced on the expedition, maybe even forced to study maritime archaeology by his father.But why?Anyone who had watched the reality TV show would realise Oliver always did things the way he was supposed to.
Maybe that was the problem.Perhaps as Sherlock suggested, this was about family history and Lucas didn’t want it done by the book.
But what was Kristy’s role in all of this?Was she part of the Stonefish consortium?
What would she do to him when she realised he really had no idea where the treasure was?
It wouldn’t take long for Sam and Sherlock to notice they were missing.He checked his dive watch.Another ten minutes at the most and they’d start getting worried, because Andrew was always the first to surface.With today’s calm waters, it would be easy to see underwater and if they sent up the drone, they would see they weren’t there.The men would realise the boat was the only option.
So he needed to delay, or lead them into town where they’d be around more people.
Andrew lurched to his feet and spun, vomiting over the side of the boat.Oliver winced and shuffled out of the way to avoid being hit by any spray.Kristy slowed.
“Get down.”
“You want me to vomit all over your boat?”Andrew asked, his voice weak.
Kristy swore.
“He gets seasick,” Oliver told her and got to his feet to help Andrew to the front seat.TheOceanidlooked smaller now and people moved on the deck.
“You get down.”Kristy pointed at Oliver.“And you sit in the chair.Why did your father send you on a boat if you get seasick?”
Andrew said nothing, but sat in the chair and clung to the sides.Kristy handed him a bucket and then accelerated again.
Oliver stumbled back.There was no point diving over the side, as they’d be back around to get him before he went far.It was interesting Kristy knew Lucas.Perhaps his theory was right.
As he sat, he noticed the waterproof pen hanging out of the side of one of his BCD pockets.No one was paying him attention, so he slipped it and the notebook it was attached to out of the pocket.Using the jacket sides as a shield, he wrote a note for whoever found it and tucked it back inside.
Then he began to plan.
It wasn’t too much longer before the boat slowed.Oliver peered over the edge as they approached an almost deserted boat ramp, with only a single car parked in the car park.Damn.
Kristy ordered Andrew off the boat to tie up and tried to call someone again.She swore.“There’s still no reception!”She grabbed the spear gun, climbed off the boat, and gestured him to follow.
“What are we doing now?”Andrew asked.
“He’s supposed to lead us to the treasure, but he doesn’t know where it is,” Kristy snapped.
“Then we take him back to town.”
“We can’t,” Kristy said.“If Dot has been alerted Oliver is missing, she’ll be checking all the boat ramps.She’ll see us if we drive back to town.”
Andrew shrugged as if he didn’t care.Perhaps he didn’t understand the charges that came with kidnapping.“Then we head out of town.”
“I have to be home when my children finish school,” Kristy replied.
Oliver’s eyebrows raised.Kidnapper by day, mother by night.“Maybe you should arrange for someone to pick them up.”He smiled.“Just in case.”
The worry on Kristy’s face gave him a pinch of guilt.At least she cared for her kids.
