The dive boat doubled as a fishing boat the rest of the time, but it was big enough to be comfortable for several hours and looked to be well kept. The name had been painted on the wine-red hull in white,Le Roi Gradlon.
‘Bit on the nose, isn’t it?’ Ari asked. She was pretty sure her brother had picked it on purpose.
‘That our base ship is named for the last king of Ys?’ Jason grinned. ‘I rather thought it was a good sign.’
Of course he did. That was his sense of humour.
She followed him down the narrow pier. The tide was high. They had driven to Douarnenez earlier this morning than she would have liked and it had not left her in a good mood. TheGradlonwas tied up waiting for them.
‘Great,’ she muttered. ‘Signs and portents.’
‘You love it and you know it. It’s what you’re all about, sister of mine.’ Jason swung himself on board. ‘Shut up and say hello to Yana.’
‘Yana Kerdaniel, and that’s Skipper to you, Jason,mon cher,’ a slim-hipped woman with dark skin and luxurious black curls called from the helm. She wore a red scarf around her head, which almost made her look like a pirate and she clearly revelled in the aesthetic. ‘You must bela professeure.’
Ari climbed aboard, ignoring Jason’s offered hand. ‘Call me Ari,’ she replied. ‘Everyone does.’
‘Welcome aboard. A professional is always welcome.’ She cast an arch look at Jason and Ari smiled, liking her already.
‘I’m hurt,’ he pouted. Still Jason, still flirting. It never ended.
Yana laughed at him. ‘I’m sure you’ll live. Where is my cousin?’
‘He’s on the way. With the others. There.’ Jason pointed back towards the quay, where Nico and the team were unloading the van.
Her cousin. Ari wondered which one that was.
Several things clicked into place. Jason may have had some money for this, but clearly not enough. Perhaps Nico was right and that was why Rafael had turned up at the house. To stop his great-aunt handing over more money to her brother. That was a concern she could understand.
‘They’re late.’
‘No, we’re insanely early.’ Ari had never been a morning person. ‘I need coffee.’
‘The galley’s down below,’ Yana told her. ‘Help yourself. There’s a pot on the stove.’
‘You’re a lifesaver,’ Jason said. ‘Really. I think my sister is ready to kill me. I’d forgotten what you were like, Ari. Go on. Make yourself human. I’ll help load up. Once we’ve checked our gear, we’re ready to go when you are, Skipper.’
They anchored in the bay off the coast of Sainte Sirène, the imposing Pointe de Castelmeur sheltering them. Ari sat back in the staging area, watching them work. Nico didn’t mess around, his orders crisp and clear, his team well drilled.
She’d changed into a wetsuit and waited for him to call her over. There were four of them going down. Nico and herself, and Thierry and Madalen, both of them experienced divers. More so than her really. She knew she was out of practice, but paired with Nico she’d be OK. Jason would take lead from the surface and Thierry would operate a camera, letting him see what they were seeing. The mask and fins felt like second nature, as soon as she put them on.
When Nico beckoned, she slipped into the buoyancy control device and clipped it around her waist. It was almost like a gilet, but would help with descent and ascent, controlled by the air inflating and deflating it. There was a small knife, a light and a compass already attached to it. Nico was always prepared.
The air tank felt heavy on her back. It really had been a while. And the difference between the Med and the choppy waters of the Mer d’Iroise felt suddenly stark to her. She fitted the regulator in place in her mouth and checked the auxiliary line, the octo, the extra air supply needed in case something failed in her equipment, or someone else’s.
‘Remember to breathe, Ari,’ Nico said with a smile as he went over the equipment and then turned so she could check his as well.
The sea welcomed her. It was warmer than she expected and the gently rocking waves cradled her. The buoyancy control device kept them all floating until Nico gave the OK signal to the dive boat and Ari pressed the control on the vest.
Water closed over her, sound fell away and everything became as still as a dream. She wiggled her jaw as they descended, equalising the pressure in her ears, an old trick she’d learned that made it much easier for her. And yes, she had to remember to breathe because, although she knew what she was doing, that was always her first instinct on going underwater, to hold her breath. Nico knew it, joked about it, but still she couldn’t shake it.
Peace washed through her. A peace like she never found anywhere else, except with Simon, lying in his arms after making love, or long Sundays lounging around doing nothing. It was as profound as that.
Visibility was surprisingly good. The water here, straight off the Atlantic, had the quality of bottle-glass, bluey-green and crystal clear. Their first safety stop sent a silvery shoal of fish flying around them, too fast for her to identify. They weren’t going deep, Jason had promised her. Twenty to twenty-five metres, depending on conditions, to the site where he had found the coin.
And Ari had a clear objective.
Her area of expertise was looking beyond the obvious, finding patterns, whether that was in books, stories or here, on location. Or had been, once upon a time. Jason looked for the shiny things and always had done: the treasures, the high-value items that would make his investors happy. That was what he wanted to find here today – another coin, a treasure trove, something even better. But she looked at the bigger picture, at the wider landscape. She joined the dots together.
