Dangerous Depths

  Bane sprang toward the door at the slur on Leia’s character, but she grabbed his forearm. “Let it go, Bane,” she whispered. “He’s not worth it.”

  Several months ago, Leia’s dad was working a security shift for the museum on O’ahu when some valuable Hawaiian artifacts went missing. He’d been exonerated from the crime, but he’d lost his job, and people believed what they wanted. Bane pressed his lips together and narrowed his gaze on Tony. “What was all that about? What’s his beef with you?”

  Tony shrugged. “Hans is no businessman. His dive shop is barely making it. Mine is doing well, and he blames me for his own incompetence. The island can only support one dive shop, and I’m it.”

  At least one thing Hans said was true: one glimpse of the gold doubloon around Tony’s burnished neck had tourists eager to find the mysterious Spanish treasure ship lost somewhere in the deep blue recesses of Hawai’i’s waters.

  “It’s just business,” Tony said. “Look, you want to meet the divers I’ve been working with? We were about to go out to look for the boat today, but we can look for the plane instead. Come with us.”

  “You’re the eternal optimist.” Bane glanced at his watch. Ron wouldn’t be ready to do anything about recovery until later this afternoon, maybe not until tomorrow morning. “I need to call Kaia first. What about Leia and Eva?”

  “We’ve got room for everyone.” Tony smiled and motioned to Dirk, who came toward them. “It’s Dirk’s fault our ratio of female to male divers has gone from 30 percent to 60 percent.”

  Dirk grinned and shook Bane’s hand. “Don’t listen to anything he says. The ladies eye him more than they do me, but Candace makes sure they know he’s taken. I am too. Did you hear? I got engaged over the summer. Much to Tony’s relief.” He jabbed his boss with his elbow. “Even though I told him Candace and I were just friends, he was afraid I was pining for her since he whisked her away.”

  Candace and Dirk once worked together on O’ahu, and Bane had heard the story of how Tony fell for her at a luau Dirk attended. Candace had come as Dirk’s date. “Congratulations,” Bane said. “When’s the big day?”

  “I’ll show up whenever Steph tells me to. Wait until you meet her. She’s a keeper. I’d say she was prettier than Candace, but Tony would take me down.” He grinned, then thrust his hands into the pockets of his denim shorts. “Good to see you again, Bane. I wish I was going diving with you today. I’m on shop duty. You ready to go out fishing again one of these days?”

  “You name the day. I want to catch that marlin that got away the last time.” Bane had always liked Dirk. In spite of Tony’s jibes about the ladies, most men liked Dirk too. Bane took the cordless phone Tony handed him and dialed Kaia’s number. Kaia answered right away.

  “Hey, sis, can you get here any sooner? I dropped my plane into the water. I wouldn’t mind having Nani help me find it.”

  The pleasure in Kaia’s voice dimmed until Bane assured her he was uninjured. “I’ve got a project to finish up. I don’t think I can get there in less than three days.”

  “Oh well, it was only a thought. I’ll figure out something. I just appreciate you bringing her over to help search for the ship. See you soon.” He hung up then went outside, where he helped pack up the truck with tanks of oxygen, regulators, weights, and other scuba equipment. They found Eva on her stomach on the dock, staring into the water. She squealed when she found out she was going diving.

  Leia had wandered off to talk to Candace. Bane handed the phone back to Tony. “So how are your latest divers working out?”

  “They’re fine.” Tony looked over his shoulder at his wife, but she was fifteen feet away talking to Leia. “Well, except for one. Did I ever tell you about Shaina Levy?”

  “The designer from New York? Yeah. What about her?”

  “She’s here. I’ve got a big problem.” He chewed his bottom lip. “She says her kid is mine. I had lunch with her today, and she’s pushing me to get a paternity test.”

  Bane raised his brows. “Is it possible?”

  Tony shrugged. “Maybe. I’d like to know why she waited this long to tell me though.”

  “Did you ask her that?”

  “Yeah. She says the kid, Andi, has some health problems, and she needs financial help now. New York hasn’t been good to her lately. I hired her to keep her quiet, but if Candace finds out, there will be fireworks.”

  “Whoa, buddy, you need to be up front with your wife. Hiding it is going to cause more problems. If she loves you, she’ll under-stand. This all happened before you even met Candace, right?”

  “Everything is riding on finding this treasure, Bane. We’re living on a shoestring. I can’t afford to support some kid I don’t even know.”

  Tony had always been a ladies’ man. It was a miracle he hadn’t plunged himself into deep trouble before now. “How did she get in touch with you?”

  “She saw the ad where I was hiring divers and just showed up. She threatened to tell Candace if I didn’t hire her.”

  “So she knew about the treasure hunt before she contacted you?” Bane asked.

  Tony nodded. “Sure. I talked to her about it as much as any-one when we were together.”

  “Then the first thing you need to do is establish paternity. She might just be out for money she thinks you have or are about to get. The timing seems odd.”

  “You think so?” Tony’s voice was eager. “Maybe the kid isn’t even mine.”

  “There’s only one way to find out. Get the test.”

  Tony’s smile faded. “She said she has Andi’s DNA profile. She seems confident.”

  “That doesn’t sound good. You’re going to have to step up to your responsibilities if the little girl is yours. How old is she?”

  “Five.”

  “How much money does Shaina want?”

  “She hasn’t said, but if we find the treasure, she wants a share for Andi. I guess I can afford it if we find the ship.” Tony gripped Bane’s arm. “Find that ship, buddy. I’m counting on you.”

  “I’ll do my best,” Bane said.

  By the time they got to the boat, the rest of Tony’s divers had assembled on the dock. Tony told them about the change in plans, then introduced them—two men and two women whose names ran together in Bane’s head as he tried to pay attention.

  “I keep telling Jermaine he’s going to be the next Michael Jackson,” Tony said, nodding toward a young man about twenty-four. Energy seemed to hum along his long limbs in an unseen melody, and he wore a gold guitar clock on a heavy chain around his neck. He was dressed completely in black, even down to his slippers.

  Jermaine tossed a mesh bag full of dive gear at Tony. “Not if you have anything to say about it. You think I should stay on this deadbeat island and dive for the rest of my life. But man, I’ve got to grab the brass ring while it’s in reach.”

  Tony dropped the bag he caught. “You’ll make it, Jermaine.”

  Shaina Levy stepped aboard the boat. Her red hair stuck out around her head like a Brillo pad. “Tony has inspired all of us to follow our dreams. When I get home, I’m going to move to L.A. and get my design business growing. This time away has been good for all of us.” She sent a flirtatious glance Tony’s way, but he ignored her. Her smile faded, and she bent to rummage in her bag.

  Rae and Eric Jardin, a couple in their fifties from Indiana, both nodded at Shaina’s words. “We just bought a house here, and Eric is going to open a business in town. Tony has promised to send some clients our way.”

  Bane grinned. “You try to make out you’re a tough guy, Tony, but that mask never holds. You should just give it up and show your soft side all the time.”

  “Shut up and get in the boat,” Tony growled.

  Bane chuckled and hopped aboard the forty-six-foot custom-made boat, Mermaid, and they headed out to sea.

  About an hour later Bane pointed off the bow. “This is close to where my plane went in,” Bane said as the boat slowed. “I want to take a loo
k here.”

  Tony nodded. “If it’s here, you’re in luck. Out beyond here, there’s only blue hole.” He instructed the divers to prepare to dive, and the men and women began to shrug into their buoyancy com-pensators and tanks. One by one, they began to jump into the water.

  Bane adjusted his BC, then bit down on his mouthpiece and dropped into the water. The whitecaps caressed him with warm, silken fingers. A brilliant kaleidoscope of fish darted past his mask—butterfly fish chased by yellow tangs, then followed by a flurry of rainbow wrasses. The whirl of color and movement disoriented him for a moment, and he paused, moving his fins slowly in the current as he regained his equilibrium.

  Eva swam with him as his buddy. Her eyes were wide with joy behind her mask. It had taken Bane weeks to teach her how to breathe properly with the regulator, but every hour had been worth it to see the pleasure in her face. Bane winked at her, and she winked back, batting both eyes in an awkward imitation. He took her hand, and they followed the line down toward several figures he could see moving along the colonies of lobe coral.

  Leia swam past him in leisurely movements to join Tony. The two had buddied up. The pressure built in Bane’s ears, and he blew to relieve it. He kicked his fins and dove deeper, checking his gauge as he went down to a hundred feet. Still no sign of his plane. The others were above him at about sixty feet as they explored a coral bed. He tried to stifle his disappointment. It had been a shot in the dark anyway. The ocean was a big haystack, and he was looking for a needle. He and Eva explored for about fifteen minutes before moving to rejoin the group.

  He caught a movement out of the side of his mask. Turning his head, he saw a figure shooting to the surface like a torpedo from a submarine. Too fast. The man zoomed up without a pause to decompress. Bane caught a glimpse of his face. Tony. Bane looked around for Leia and found her fifteen yards away. Still holding Eva’s hand, he swam to her side and pointed up urgently. She glanced up and saw Tony still shooting up to the surface like a buoy. Her eyes widened. She began to swim up with him. The three of them followed as fast as they dared, pausing occasionally to allow themselves to decompress.

  As he neared the surface, he saw Tony floating motionless in the water. Bane put on a burst of speed, kicking out with his fins. As his head broke the surface of the water, his hand touched Tony’s arm. It was flaccid. Leia was right behind him. He spit out his regulator. Tony was floating facedown. Bane rolled him over, his hope plummeting as he saw the blood that bubbled from his nose and mouth. “Tony?” he gasped. He grabbed Tony’s limp body and towed him toward the boat. Leia had Tony’s other arm, and Eva trailed behind them. He could see Candace sitting on deck braiding her hair. She hadn’t noticed her husband was in trouble.

  “Help us!” Bane shouted at her. She turned her head then sprang to her feet. “It’s Tony.”

  “Tony?” Her mouth gaped, and she put her hand up to cover it.

  “Hurry,” Bane panted. A wave slapped him in the face, and the salty spray filled his mouth.

  Candace came partway down the steps and grabbed Tony’s arm. “Tony,” she cried as they hauled him onboard. “What’s wrong with him? He has to be okay.” She crouched by his side and touched his face.

  “Let Leia take a look.” Bane scooted back and put his arm around Eva. Candace moved back a few inches, but her gaze stayed on Tony. Leia knelt by Tony’s side. Eva’s shoulders trembled, and Bane squeezed her arm reassuringly. She stuck two fingers in her mouth and sucked on them.

  Leia pressed her fingers on Tony’s neck, then lifted his lids and peered into his eyes. “Call for the Coast Guard to get over here!” she told Candace. She began CPR. The next few minutes passed in a blur, but when it was all over, Bane knew Tony Romero would never flash his famous white smile again.

  A weeping Candace, Tony’s body, and the rest of the divers were loaded onto the Coast Guard boat that had been in the area, but Bane and Leia stayed behind to bring the boat back. Bane pulled Leia aside and pointed to Tony’s gear still heaped on the deck of the Mermaid. “What happened to his weight belt?” It wasn’t among his things.

  Leia seemed as confused as Bane. “He wouldn’t just drop it off. We both saw him trying to slow his ascent. You want to go back down and try to find it?”

  “I was thinking the same thing,” he said grimly.

  Three

  Leia hovered at about forty feet below the surface. A school of highfin chubs congregated along the underground cave entrance in front of her, and she swam in the midst of them as they nosed around her curiously. Bane’s bright halogen light joined hers to penetrate the inner reaches of the cave. The beam illuminated a sleeping reef tip. She saw the eagerness in Bane’s eyes. He’d be back. Cave exploration was his favorite pastime.

  They turned in unison and swam down past the opening. She kept an eye on her computer to make sure she didn’t go too deep. The rest of the divers had been exploring the reef along here when Tony shot toward the surface. Leia paused to let her light probe a mass of antler coral. A school of bright yellow tang scattered from her gloved hand as she gently moved the coral out of the way to probe at the sand under it. Tony had been right here before his ascent. His weight belt should be on the sandy bottom fairly close.

  The currents were strong around Moloka’i, but the belt shouldn’t have gone far. Leia swung her light around, and the powerful beam caught a moray eel peering from behind a rock. She moved her light onto a mass of finger coral. Bane swooped in beside her and examined the coral but came up empty-handed. They searched the seafloor until their air began to run out. She turned to motion Bane it was time to go up and saw him and Eva swimming away. She followed, then realized he’d found his plane, down about a hundred feet.

  He made a triumphant gesture with his fist. She smiled and jabbed her finger toward the surface. About twenty feet from the top, Bane grabbed her arm and pointed toward two dark shadows looming toward them. Tiger sharks. Tigers accounted for most shark attacks in Hawaiian waters. A burst of bubbles escaped as she exhaled. The tigers veered at the bubbles, but they circled and came back for another look.

  Eva had seen them too. She started to swim toward the boat, but Leia grabbed her arm and held her tight. She thrashed to free herself, her blue eyes wide with terror. Leia embraced her, patting her back for comfort until her sister calmed. Bane grabbed his octopus regulator and purged it. The sharks turned at the explosion of bubbles and with a flick of their tails vanished into the dark blue water. Leia finned toward the boat as fast as she could go, Eva at her side. Bane was right behind them. Her head broke the surface, and she struck out for the boat. No matter how often she dived, seeing a shark always unnerved her.

  Leia kept an eye out for any approaching shark fins until her sister was aboard the boat, then climbed the steps herself just ahead of Bane. She shrugged out of her tank and unzipped her wet suit, rolling it down to her waist. “I thought sure we’d find his weight belt. It has to be down there somewhere,” she told him. “But at least you found your plane. We need to mark it with a buoy.”

  Bane unzipped his wet suit and peeled it off. “I’ll call it in. The Coast Guard is right over there.” He nodded toward the cutter anchored about half a mile away. “Something doesn’t smell right, Leia. Tony wouldn’t die at the surface just from losing his weight belt. He was a smart diver and would have exhaled to prevent his lungs from exploding, but he was dead when I got to him. I think something else happened to him down there. And now we can’t even find the weight belt. It doesn’t add up. It should have dropped right to the seafloor. It’s too heavy for a marine animal to carry off.”

  “We need to have an autopsy and see what killed him. From the blood, I’d guess his lungs ruptured. But he knew to exhale as he ascended.”

  Bane rubbed his chin. “Maybe I’m jumping at shadows. I’d say something happened on the seabed to disorient him enough that he held his breath. Or maybe he just had some kind of stroke or seizure down there.”

  “But where is his we
ight belt?” Leia tried to imagine a scenario where Tony was disoriented enough to shed his weight belt, but she couldn’t come up with anything that worked. The wind brushed her exposed flesh, and she shivered as chicken skin pebbled her arm. Her stomach growled. Bane’s answered with its own low rumble.

  “Got anything to eat? Diving always makes me hungry enough to chew a gecko.”

  “Check the small pouch of my backpack.” She watched Bane unzip the pocket and rummage inside. She grinned at his snort of disgust when he found her stash.

  “What is this?” He read the label. “Fried nori? What kind of food is that for a hungry man? It looks like something your cat chucked up.”

  “I like trying new things. It’s fried seaweed seasoned with a little chili pepper. It’s the newest thing from Japan. And it’s not fattening. You look like you’ve gained a few pounds since I saw you last.”

  He tossed her backpack aside, and she nearly laughed at his narrowed eyes and tight mouth. She rolled her eyes instead. She’d rather have him believe she found him unappealing than for him to know her pulse throbbed like her boat’s engine at full throttle. “Try the nori. It’s good.”

  “I don’t have any choice. I could eat Hina if I had a fire.” He glared at the cat.

  Eva frowned and pulled the cat closer to her. “You can’t eat Hina. She’s part of our family.”

  Bane’s mouth relaxed in a smile. “I’ll make do with the seaweed. Hina is probably old and tough anyway.” He dropped into a seat and began to shovel handfuls of nori into his mouth. His eyes widened.

  “Not bad, is it?” Leia didn’t try to keep the satisfaction from her voice. She took off her wet suit and pulled on shorts and a top over her wet swimsuit. She squeezed the water from her braid and toweled it dry.

  “You love to be right.” He offered her the bag, and she took a handful of the chips. “Let’s head back to shore and see how Candace is doing. How do you think she’ll handle this?”