Deep Blue by Kat Martin

settled over the water and a warm breeze ruffled his hair. The smell of the sea enveloped him and he could hear the rush of waves against the hull as the ship cut through the water.
    They would reach Port Antonio tonight, dock at the harbor, and start resupplying the boat in the morning, refilling water and fuel tanks, restocking the galley with enough food to feed one woman and seven hungry men.
    He amended that. As soon as they had found the cannon, Conn had phoned Ron Keegan and Wally Short, divers he had worked with in Jamaica. The men were on standby, ready to join the dive team in the event the shipwreck was discovered and more men were needed for the search.
    While Joe watched over operations at the harbor, Conn intended to offload the cannon onto a truck bed and head for the maritime marine museum in Kingston. He hoped the professor had gotten the message Conn left for him on his cell phone, telling him to meet them in the morning down at the dock.
    “You think we’ve found her?” Joe asked, breaking into his thoughts.
    “I think we’ve found part of the trail she left. Finding the ship itself will probably be a hell of a lot harder.”
    “No kidding. It took Mel Fisher years to find the Atocha, and he was practically on top of the wreck the whole time.”
    “We’ll do better. We’ve got a lot better equipment than Fisher had.”
    “And better information.” Joe grinned, his teeth a flash of white in the moonlight. “He didn’t have Archie Marlin.”
    The ship dove into a trough and came up the other side, throwing sea spray into the air. The mist felt cool and damp against Conn’s skin, and he thought how much he loved the ocean, had since he was a kid living in South Miami. He’d spent every waking hour at the beach, a respite from the turmoil at home. Before his mother left, she and his dad were always fighting. His mom sported a black eye at least a couple of times a year and so did he. She had saved herself, run away and left him to suffer the old man’s wrath until he was old enough to leave.
    “So what about you and Hope?” Joe asked, grabbing his attention once more.
    “There is no ‘me and Hope.’ What gave you the idea there was?”
    “Well, for one thing, the two of you spent the night together in Jamaica.” Beneath a fringe of thick black lashes, Joe rolled his nearly black eyes. “I bet that is one hot babe.”
    Conn’s jaw tightened. “We didn’t spend the night together, Joe. She stayed in her room and I stayed in mine. She’s here on business. So am I.”
    “Okay, take it easy. I kinda thought maybe there was something going on, that’s all.”
    “Yeah, well, there isn’t.”
    “If that’s the case, I guess you wouldn’t mind if I asked her out. We could have dinner at that little place in the village on Pleasure Island…or, hey, we’ll be in Jamaica for the next couple of days. I could take her somewhere there.” He smiled. “I still think she’s one hot babe. She plays it cool, but I bet I could light a fire in that tight little body of hers. Man, I’d really like to—”
    “Shut up, Joe,” Conn said through clenched teeth.
    Joe just laughed. “Doesn’t pay to lie to your old buddy, man. I know you too damned well. You might not want to admit it, but you’re hot for the lady and I don’t blame you.”
    “She’s trouble, Joe. Trouble’s something I’ve had more than enough of already.” He should have known he couldn’t fool Joe. After six years in the SEALs together, they knew each other like brothers, thought of each other that way.
    He didn’t like the idea of Joe spending time with Hope, as his friend had known damned well he wouldn’t. Conn was attracted to Hope Sinclair in a way he hadn’t been to a woman since Kelly.
    Exactly the reason he meant to stay away from her.
    “Not all women are like your ex,” Joe said softly, clearly reading his mind.
    Conn just raised an eyebrow.
    “Okay, so Kelly was major bad news. But you gotta live,