Dangerous Depths by Colleen Coble Page B

“Like pirates care. We’ll post a guard, but they’ll try to sneak in underwater. You and I both know there’s no keeping a lid on this once the media get wind of it. I’d like to make as much progress as we can before Westerfield Salvage moves in. Sam Westerfield is a blight on the earth. It’s like he has some kind of inner radar that can detect whatever I’ve found.”
    Bane eyed his boss’s face. “The plane was sabotaged,” he said quietly. “I found what was left of the bomb.”
    Ron’s smile faded, and his lips thinned. “Westerfield,” he spat.
    “Maybe. There’s no way to know for sure. The bomb components are pretty generic. Gunpowder, steel pipe.”
    “Of course it’s Westerfield. No one else is trying to horn in on my missions. Well, this time I beat him anyway.” Ron huffed.
    “We need to cement our find, announce it to the papers so no one else can take credit. I’d suggest we get back down there and get more proof. The cannonballs are great, but we need more.” Bane opened his locker and pulled out his diving gear. “If Westerfield did sabotage that plane, he must be insane. I can’t believe he’d go this far to steal your finds.”
    Ron took his wet suit from his locker. “I didn’t tell you the whole story. There were too many people around.” He sat on a bench and looked out over the water. “I married his sister. She died in a waterskiing accident. He’s never forgiven me for her death.”
    Ajax whined and bumped Bane’s hand with his nose. “I’m getting your stuff too.” He pulled out the dog’s snuba gear and began to get Ajax ready. “That must have been terrible. Why would he blame you?”
    “I was driving the boat. He swore he’d make me pay, and he knows how important my work is to me.” Ron adjusted the tanks on his back and reached for his mask. “He’s working on some similar equipment too. If he can get a patent first, we’ll be out of luck.”
    Ron’s work was his consuming passion. Anyone who disrupted that rocked his world. His voice was dispassionate even as he told about the death of his wife. Bane could see how her brother might get the wrong idea. Bane watched the dog jump in, then bit down on his mouthpiece and held on to his mask as he went over the side. The warm water enveloped him. He paused and adjusted his regulator, then finned his way down. He passed Ajax on the way, and the dog had a smile on his face. Baskets dropped by the crew on deck sank past him. They were attached to the winch in case the men found anything worth hauling to the surface.
    The throb of the engines faded from Bane’s ears as he dove toward the bottom. He followed Ron’s scuffed and worn fins to the coral bed. Bane’s gaze scanned the seafloor for any artifacts churned up by the current. An inquisitive triggerfish peered into his mask, then
zipped away. A honu , the Hawaiian green sea turtle, paused nearby while half a dozen surgeonfish nibbled algae from its back. The honu turned to look at him, then swam in lazy strokes to the surface. Ajax struggled to dive deeper, but he couldn’t manage it and turned to follow the sea turtle.
    Bane’s attention wandered to the cave. He wondered what secrets lay inside. Ron expected his help, but he felt drawn to the mouth of the cave. He finned over to the opening and shone his light inside. No sharks today, though the bright beam picked up a garden of colorful sponges attached to the walls and ceiling of the cave. A squid oozed away from his probing light into a rocky crevice. He itched to explore farther. The cardinal rule of cave diving was never to go in alone. Tony had broken that mandate and died for his trouble. Bane paused and glanced back at Ron. His boss would never agree to give up digging to go caving.
    Bane couldn’t bring himself to leave. He stayed near the mouth and swept his light inside. The cave stretched back farther than his light could reach. Entering just a few feet wouldn’t hurt. He advanced,