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Hollis gave a small nod. Her father had been a great man and, despite her personal feelings toward Dylan, she could appreciate the fact that he also recognized that. “Thank you,” she said in a quiet voice. She downed the rest of the champagne and looked up at him with eyes full of sadness. “I don’t know what I’m going to do without him.”
When she felt the prick of tears, Hollis spun on her heel and hurried away. The last thing she wanted was Dylan Ford to see her cry. The day had been bad enough.
Dylan let out a sigh as Hollis rushed away. He didn’t miss the sheen of tears.Damn. He knew what it was like losing a parent that you loved so much. It fucking sucked and he wished he could’ve done something to make her feel better.
But, now, she was crying.
Dylan gritted his teeth and looked up at the dimly-lit aquarium. A bull shark swam right over his head and he felt a shiver run down his spine.
“Beautiful creatures, aren’t they?” a rusty-sounding voice asked, moving out of the shadows.
Dylan’s dark gaze moved over to see Diamond.
“Not my favorite,” Dylan said.
“Bull sharks have the most powerful bite with more than 1300 pounds of force,” Diamond said. “They bite harder than a Great White. Notoriously aggressive sons of bitches. But, you already knew that, didn’t you?”
A pallid glow seemed to wash over Dylan’s face and he felt the large scar on the back of his calf begin to itch and throb. He didn’t like thinking about that night and he tried to shove the dark thoughts away.
“Did you know bull sharks can survive in both fresh and saltwater? Adaptive little shits. They like to swim upstream. Been found in the Ohio River as far up as Manchester.”
“Can I do something for you, Diamond?” Dylan asked. He wasn’t sure what the man was up to or why he was baiting him, but he wasn’t in the mood for games.
Diamond nonchalantly tapped the aquarium glass with a finger. “But, of course, that’s nothing compared to a saltwater crocodile,” Diamond continued, ignoring Dylan’s question. “They slam their jaws shut with 3700 pounds per square inch.” Diamond pinned Dylan with a hard stare. “Probably best to just stay outta the water. And, away from Hollis Quinn,” he added.
As Diamond walked away, Dylan considered his words of warning with a frown.
Chapter Four
Early the next morning, theSea Struckswayed up and down, rolling with the waves. Inside the cabin, Hollis spread a large map out on the table. She glanced down at the pile of documents from the safe deposit box. And, when her eyes moved over to her father’s letter, his deep voice filled her head, and she recalled the endless conversations they had shared about the 1715 Spanish Treasure Fleet.
According to records, the Spanish fleet left Havana July 24, 1715, loaded with riches. Seven days later, a hurricane wrecked all 11 ships off the coast of Florida. The French ship with them, the Griffon, escaped the storm. Since then, every time a major storm hit Florida’s Treasure Coast, the area between Jupiter and Sebastian, those lost Spanish riches were known to surface and plenty had washed ashore over the years.
Hollis picked up the newly-translated documents from her Dad, still stunned by the information it revealed: the French captain had confirmed an undisclosed 13th ship that sank more North.
Up until now, everyone believed the 13thship was merely a legend. Technically, they all still did because she was the only one with this priceless information. A lot of technicalities came into play when seekers found treasure nowadays and the rules had to be followed.
But, back in the 1970s, when famed hunter Mel Fisher discovered the Spanish galleon Nuestra Señora de Atocha, he won a battle with the state of Florida and was allowed to keep all of his finds-- which amounted to over $450 million. And, he only recovered approximately half of the cache down there on the ocean floor. Priceless Columbian emeralds, bronze cannons, pieces of eight and over 40 tons of gold and silver were just the tip of the iceberg. The Atocha’s sterncastle which held the majority of gold and emeralds was never found.
Nowadays, however, things were a little different. When the United States passed the Abandoned Shipwrecked Act in 1987, it declared that any found shipwreck within U.S. waters, up to three miles off the coast line, belonged to the U.S., not the discoverer.
No more finders keepers…unless the ship laid in international waters and the original owner of the vessel had given up trying to recover the wreck.
Hollis crossed out the area between Vero Beach and Sebastian, and then marked out the area up to Melbourne. According to her Dad’s notes, the mythical, off-the-books 13th ship, the Santa Lucia, carried the motherload that the smugglers planned to divide up later. She sank somewhere closer to Cocoa Beach and probably in deeper water. Hollis circled an area further out in the ocean, between Melbourne and Cocoa Beach.
“Not an easy haul,” she murmured.
She knew she was going to need help-- someone with high-tech, specialized equipment. And, if she could re-navigate the course...then, she’d find a cargo worth over $500 million.
Only problem was that the one person who she needed to do the job was the one man she’d never ask for help. Their history was just too tumultuous, too strained. Besides, he got on her last damn nerve.
Strangely, though, he didn’t last night. Her thoughts had taken an unexpected turn and, instead of fighting with him, she had been thinking how good he looked and what his lips would feel like as they moved against hers. Again, she chalked it up to too much champagne. It was the only explanation.
God, she was hardly attracted to Dylan Ford. It was a ridiculous thought.Laughable.
The problem now was that Hollis had limited experience with deep dive recovery while Dylan had unlimited. And, she had to admit, he had been relatively successful in the last few years.
There had to be another way. Someone else she could hire.
