Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen

“Listen up, everyone,” Caesar said the following day as Jack anchored the boat over the spot they thought was most likely to reveal a treasure if there was one.

He handed Hawking, Phoenix, Zara, and Isla underwater metal detectors. They were all suited up and ready to enter the water.

“I want the rest of you to stay close to the boat. You can snorkel and enjoy the amazing, colorful fish, but stay aware of your surroundings at all times and don’t stray away from the boat more than a few feet just in case you need to get back in quickly.”

Kestrel, Celeste, Lyra, and Sadie nodded. They each had their snorkels and masks ready.

Caesar turned to the divers. “I attached a bolt to a D-ring next to your tanks. If anyone is in distress or finds something promising, reach back and tap the bolt against the tank. It will get everyone else’s attention.”

Caesar glanced at Kestrel and then the divers. “Kestrel has a storm whistle. Rocco and Jack will be in the boat watching for problems. If they see any sign of danger, they will alert Kestrel, and he will blow the whistle underwater. It’s a very distinct sound that will tell us we need to get back up to the surface immediately. There is no way we could confuse it with the pinging sound we’ll hear from each other. We didn’t have this in place last time because Isla and I were together at all times.”

He watched as the divers palmed their bolts and Kestrel held up his whistle.

“We will take no chances with anyone’s safety for any reason. If Kestrel blows the whistle, we all get out of the water.”

Rocco nodded. “Jack and I will be ready to pull you out as quickly as possible, two at a time.”

All twelve faces held serious expressions when Caesar scanned them. He knew the divers were anxious to get down there. None of them had ever used an underwater metal detector, and they were curious. He had to agree with them. Even if all they found was some kind of trash that had washed up close to the cave entrance and lodged in the sea floor, it would be fun finding it.

“Any questions?” Caesar asked.

No one responded as they glanced at each other.

“Then I say let’s do this.” At his signal, the divers entered the water first. He followed behind them and made eye contact with Isla, giving her a thumbs-up and a smile before they all descended into the beautiful water.

After thirty seconds, he was aware of the movement above them as the snorkelers got in, and then he turned his entire attention to the ocean floor below them.

His adrenaline was pumping because, no matter what, this was exciting. They might not find the treasure that specifically went with the map, but there was still a possibility they would find something, especially considering how many ships had gone aground in this area for decades after the discovery of New Zealand.

Caesar kept a close eye on Zara and Isla, who were diving buddies. The two of them chose a location and dropped down to the sea floor to explore with their metal detectors.

Everyone had a pouch attached to their hip where they could stick any items they found to bring to dry ground and examine. They were all well aware that anything they found belonged to the government of New Zealand and not to themselves. The Ministry of Culture and Heritage would need to catalog and record all items.

Searching for treasures in New Zealand was permitted, but keeping the spoils, or even moving them, was not. Anyone caught doing so would be fined heavily and possibly imprisoned.

Caesar stayed close to the women while Hawking and Phoenix searched several meters away. Because the dive was relatively shallow, they could stay down for about two hours before they would need to come up to the surface. If they found nothing and wanted to try again, they could swap tanks and go back under.

About a half-hour into the search, Isla pinged her bolt against her tank.

Caesar turned toward her and watched as she pointed to the ocean floor. He made his way closer with the others while Isla reached down to gently disturb the sand with her hand. A few seconds later, she discovered what looked like a brass candlestick.

Even through her mask, Caesar could see her eyes widen with excitement. He had to admit, a candlestick was a good sign. It wasn’t the sort of thing they would expect from random garbage.

All five of them spread out and sifted through the sand, trying not to disturb it so much that it limited their visibility. It took almost another hour before Hawking alerted everyone that he had found another artifact. His was a goblet.

Caesar’s heart was racing. This was exciting. There would never be any way to know for sure if any treasure found in this area specifically correlated with the map Isla had inherited from her grandfather, but that didn’t matter so much as finding evidence that it was possible.

In Caesar’s mind, if all they ever found were these two items, he would call this exploration a success. As it was, they didn’t need to look any further. It was time to turn the quest over to the government and let them handle it from there.

As soon as Hawking marked the artifact's location, Caesar gave the sign that it was time to return to the boat. Just as he tipped his head back to orient himself with the location of the bottom of the boat above them, something splashed into the water from near the cave entrance.

One second later, another similar splash occurred. He froze when he saw the two black shadows, his mind filling with flashbacks of the time he’d been out with Mindy.

Someone grabbed his arm, and he glanced to the right to see Isla staring at him.

The whistle sounded in the water a moment before the two men descended. When Caesar saw both holding spearguns, his heart nearly stopped. For a moment, he was paralyzed, dragged into the past, but then his brain kicked into gear. He grabbed Isla’s arm and angled her behind him.

A glance to one side indicated Phoenix was blocking Zara from the quickly approaching divers. Where was Hawking? Caesar couldn’t see him anywhere.

The two men descended so fast that there was no way to avoid them. The water wasn’t very deep. In seconds, they were both holding out the spearguns, aiming them toward Caesar and Phoenix.

Caesar wished he could have gotten Isla to safety, but there hadn’t been time. She was holding on to the gear at his back. Even if he could communicate with her and tell her to swim toward the surface, that would just leave her vulnerable. He couldn’t take that risk.

Heart racing, he removed his knife from his belt, but he and Phoenix would never be able to face off with two men with spearguns while protecting Isla and Zara. Where the hell was Hawking?

Caesar couldn’t take his gaze off the men coming toward them, and he had no way to communicate with anyone above water. Kestrel and Rocco were probably losing their minds since they had no way to descend. They would have seen these two divers jump in from somewhere near the cave, and now, they were stuck above with no idea what was happening.

Caesar felt foolish for not thinking about the fact that divers didn’t have to approach by boat. Why hadn’t he considered the possibility that they could enter from land? They could have been hiding there for hours, waiting for the opportunity to leap. There were many elevations along the shoreline. These men could have jumped in from only a few feet above the water, situated their masks, and then slid underwater so fast that Rocco and Kestrel wouldn’t have had much of a chance to react.

Movement in Caesar’s limited peripheral vision indicated someone was coming up behind one of the two divers. Holy shit. Kestrel. He’d palmed a weighted belt to help him descend, but he was holding his breath.

Caesar kept his gaze locked on the two men coming directly toward him and Phoenix, but he noticed Hawking coming from behind the second man. Thank fuck. Those two had no idea what was coming.

With nearly synchronized precision, Hawking and Kestrel attacked both men from behind, causing them to fling around as panic seized them both.

The man who’d been aiming at Caesar dropped his speargun, and Caesar lurched forward to grab it, barely snagging the strap before it hit the ocean floor. His jerky motions caused Isla to let go of him, but he used his fins and thanked God for all the time he’d spent working out to get back between her and the skirmish.

There was blood in the water now. It was hard to see. Phoenix was wrestling the speargun from the second man. Kestrel held an arm tightly around the first man’s neck.

Caesar aimed the speargun at the man’s thigh and pulled the trigger.

The asshole jerked and flailed around as soon as the spear was embedded in his leg. Caesar knew how bad it hurt. He’d been there. It was fucking painful.

The man was still fighting, though. He pulled a knife and turned to swing it at Kestrel.

Caesar used the speargun to knock the knife out of the guy’s hand before grabbing the sharp object that protruded out both sides of his thigh and wrenching it hard.

The man arched his back in severe pain, giving Kestrel the opportunity to stab him in the gut. Disarmed and severely injured, the man was no longer a threat, and Kestrel grabbed hold of his gear and yanked him toward the surface.

Kestrel was surely hurting for oxygen, and he was hauling dead weight, but he didn’t stop.

Caesar turned to find Hawking had stabbed the second diver several times. Blood was flowing out all around him, but he was still fighting. Phoenix had managed to get his speargun, and he held it up, threatening to shoot. Finally, the man lifted his hands in surrender, and Hawking grabbed him by the gear and pulled him toward the surface, too.

Caesar spun around to find Isla still at his back. Her eyes were wide behind her mask, but she didn’t seem to be injured or panicking. Zara didn’t either. Those two women had Littles in them who could giggle and play and make mischief, but they were also strong women with spunk and fight in them.

Caesar let go of the speargun and grabbed Isla by the shoulders, making eye contact. When she nodded, he set his forehead against hers and took a deep breath. They were going to be okay.