58. Chapter Fifty-Eight

Chapter Fifty-Eight

M arcus Fabius Varro

I return from my memory with the taste of bile in my throat and tears threatening behind my eyes as the captain calls out, “Sonar’s picking something up. The drone footage was correct. That definitely looks like the shape of a helicopter.”

Laura’s breath catches, and I pull her close. This is it. What she’s been searching for. The expressions flickering on her face tell me she’s a ball of emotions inside, though she’s not saying a word.

The boat slows to a stop, and the dive team springs into action. They ready their equipment with practiced efficiency, checking and double-checking everything. It’s fascinating to watch. And helps bring me back to the present, leaving my memories in the gloomy past where they belong.

The divers descend into the murky depths, and we’re left to wait.

“Is it just me? Does it feel as though they’ve been down there for hours?” Laura asks impatiently.

“No, Dulcis . ”

“What if we find bodies? That will be horrible.” She shivers with disgust. “What if there’s nothing left to find?” She wraps her arms around herself, and I step closer to embrace her from behind.

At the risk of sounding heartless, I murmur in her ear. “They crashed half a year ago and are most certainly dead, my love. I suggest you close your eyes and let these men do their jobs… to give the families peace.”

“Yes. Good idea. I have the picture of Merrivale and his men in my mind already. I don’t need more gruesome images cluttering my thoughts.”

I watch what Laura said were closed circuit cameras attached to the divers’ helmets and see what they see as they approach the wreckage. The moment the first body appears, partially eaten by fish, I turn Laura in my arms, press her head to my chest, and soothe her, my hand roving up and down her back.

“We’ll inform the Coast Guard,” Laura shouts to the captain, her head still tucked next to me. “They can retrieve the… bodies.”

Poor woman, this is so hard on her. It actually warms my heart that she’s led a sheltered, easy life and isn’t used to sights such as this.

“You did the right thing,” I tell her softly. “Their families will have closure now.”

She nods, blinking back tears. “I know. It’s just… I cursed Garrison and the crew a thousand times for escaping the island and abandoning me there. They didn’t escape, though…”

I still hate them for leaving her alone on the island, but I’ll never say that to Laura.

As we prepare to return to shore, Laura announces, “There’s something else we need to retrieve. Gold coins the helicopter was carrying. They should be in sealed blue plastic storage bins or might be scattered on the ocean floor. There were seven bins. They were in the back of the helicopter. Careful, they’re heavy. ”

The team exchanges glances, but to their credit, they don’t ask questions. It seems they have more integrity than Garrison’s crew. They simply nod and get back to work. They find the bins, intact, but they are far too heavy to retrieve. The bins are opened and the bags brought to the surface.

Thankfully the helicopter is resting on its side at seventy-five feet deep, so no pausing for decompression. Still, it takes hours for them to recover the coins. We both watched like hawks to ensure no coins were slipped into wet suits or buried in the seafloor for later retrieval.

The bins are brought to the surface, everything is dried, then the bags of coins are returned to the containers and locked.

“We need your discretion on this,” Laura tells them as the last lid is secured. “Just for a little while. Can we count on you?”

The captain looks at his team and they all nod solemnly. “You have our word. But you should know, in this business, nothing stays secret for long.”

Laura sighs. “I know. We just need a head start.”

“I need some way to get these crates off your boat and to a storage facility I’ve rented close to the docks.”

The captain pulls out his phone and begins to text. Less than a minute later his phone makes a ping sound. He reads the text. “I have a friend with a truck and motorized lift. He is available now and will do it, no questions asked, for five hundred American dollars. Would that work for you?”

Laura gazes at the captain as he looks back at her with a steady gaze.

“I’m trusting you with a lot here, Captain. I’ve been betrayed once, I don’t want to make the same mistake again.”

The captain continues with his calm, steady gaze and takes a moment to gather his thoughts .

“Laura, trust has to work both ways. I have to trust that your big friend here won’t turn around and kill us all to protect your gold and your secret.”

Laura nods and looks at me. I tell her in Latin, “My gut says to trust them, Laura. We’ve come this far. We either have to trust them or report the gold to the authorities immediately.”

“You’re right, my love. Thank you.”

Switching back to English Laura immediately agrees and gives the name of the facility, the storage locker number and code for the lock. The captain completes the text.

On the way back to shore, Laura tells the crew the whole story, minus the part of finding me in a block of ice. I was living on the island with amnesia after my boat crashed on the shore from a storm. In exchange for their silence, she promises each of them two million dollars as she gets the payout from the gold.

By the time she’s finished the story we’re back at the dock and there’s a truck waiting there.

The crew quickly help the driver load the truck, and it drives off. Some of Laura’s worry has transferred to me and I wonder if we’ll ever see the gold again. Laura calls the coast guard and reports that they found the missing helicopter and the four missing men.

Ten minutes later, many vehicles with flashing lights arrive at the dock.

What follows is a whirlwind of questions and statements. Officials from various agencies swarm the boat, documenting everything. The captain responds to their questions and gives them the coordinates where the helicopter was found. They separate Laura and me, leading us to different areas for questioning.

Laura and I discussed this before we left our hotel. We must come clean about everything—except my age—including Merrivale and his men. I do my best to recount our story—including Merrivale’s attack and show him the wound on my side made by the gun .

It’s strange, speaking of these events to strangers, trying to make them understand the desperate situation we faced. Guns and machetes against a makeshift spear and a sword I told them I found on the island. My fear for Laura’s safety comes through loud and clear.

Hours pass before Laura and I are finally reunited. She looks exhausted, but relieved to see me.

“They believe us,” she says, collapsing into my arms. “About Merrivale, about the self-defense. They grilled me hard, asked why we hadn’t reported it first thing. I kept telling them it was shame and guilt. By the look on my face and the sincerity in my voice, it was pretty believable.”

“I succeeded in playing dumb and having trouble with the language. It worked in my favor,” I tell her.

“They said if everything on the island checks out, we’re in the clear.” She breathes a sigh of relief.

I hold her tight, relief washing over me. “What happens now?”

She pulls back, a glimmer of excitement in her eyes despite her fatigue. “Now? Now we plan our next move. This dive team is good, Varro. Really good. Your gut was right. I trust them. I want to hire them for another expedition.”

“The other half of the Fortuna ?”

She nods.

“If you’re up for it,” she adds, searching my face.

I think about it for a moment. The idea of returning to that place, of potentially finding my comrades’ bones… makes my stomach clench. I’ve begun to hope perhaps one other might still be alive. One thing I’ve learned in life is that hope is more destructive than pain. But looking at Laura, seeing the passion in her eyes, I know my answer.

“I’m with you,” I say simply. “Always. ”

As we make our way through the crowd of officials and onlookers, Laura fills me in on what she learned. “The helicopter pilot was a friend of Garrison’s,” she explains. “He left in such a hurry to retrieve us, he didn’t file a flight plan. No one knew where he’d gone, just that he and the helicopter went missing.”

I shake my head, saddened by the unnecessary loss of life. “At least now their families will have answers.”

Laura nods, then lowers her voice. “We need to move quickly with the gold. It won’t be long before word gets out and a hundred treasure seekers try to get there before we do. At least we’re the only ones who know exactly where half of it is. I was right about its location. It shouldn’t take me long to figure out where the other half ended up.”

“And what of me?” I ask, suddenly aware of how out of place I must seem in this world.

She squeezes my hand reassuringly. “For now, you’re just a mysterious stranger I met on the island. We’ll figure out how to handle the truth when the time comes.”

I’ll never tell her, but that’s exactly what I worry about. She keeps warning me that people will be upset when they find out about me. What happens when I’m more of a burden than a boon?