the hurricane. It went belly up.”
I didn’t mention that the gold would have helped their financial situation.
“He didn’t trust anyone.” Em stood up and walked over to the balcony door, breathing deeply. “Can you picture that? The stench of dead bodies everywhere, this poor guy with his arm broken, feverish. Who knows what was going through his mind? None of these people had ever witnessed this kind of devastation before.”
“What’s important is that we’ve got two places where he may have hidden the gold. We’ve got a serious treasure hunt.” James had a grin plastered on his face.
I surveyed the assembled party and we all had a smile. Except Em. After reading about the death and destruction, we’d found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Now all we had to do was dig it up.
Who was it that said, “Nothing is as easy as it seems?”
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
“I think he had it shipped out to the rocks.” James was speculating.
We sipped more mai tais at the poolside bar and stared out at the water. Up until now, the idea of actually finding forty-four million dollars’ worth of gold was somewhat of a pipe dream. I thought it was possible, but I had no idea how it would feel.
Now, I could taste it. Feel it. Dream it in 3D. I was convinced that Kriegel had made this fortune accessible. And that meant that James and I and Em would be rich.
I’d checked it out at the dive shop. It was very doable. “I can dive it.”
“Skip, this is risky.” Em seemed concerned.
“Cheeca Rocks, Em. They have a supervised dive site out there. I can veer off and check out the territory.”
I’d taken a course at Samuel and Davidson University (Sam and Dave U) and learned the basics of diving. I mean I was certified, but with limited experience. But how tough could this be? Cheeca Rocks was a regular site, and was only fifteen to twenty feet deep at its deepest point. No big deal. In fact, for an experienced diver it would be almost claustrophobic. I was far from an experienced diver.
“Pard, your diving experience, this is awesome.”
James had majored in parties and sex. I was close behind, but in this case I’d taken a class that actually made a difference. Should have called it Treasure Hunting 101.
“It does make more sense to check the dive site first. We can’t just start digging at Cheeca Lodge. I mean, they may call the sheriff.” It was obvious James wanted no more run-ins with the law.
I unfolded a map I’d picked up at Holiday Isle’s dive shop.
“It’s here.” I pointed to the spot off the shore.
24° 54? 245? N and 080° 36? 885? W.
“But if it’s a popular spot, wouldn’t someone have found the cases by now?” Em always saw the other side.
The same thought had run through my head. Thousands of tourists had visited the spot, snorkeling, scuba diving, and if the crates had been left out there, someone would have found them years ago.
“What kind of camouflage would they have?” James asked.
“Coral.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s a lot of camouflage. I would guess you could accumulate several feet of coral in seventy-five years.”
“Accumulate? So it would grow over the cases?”
I’d read about some of Mel Fisher’s treasures that had been encrusted with coral. It was hard to make out the items at all. Only because he knew the location of the ships that he investigated did he find a lot of the valuable pieces.
“If Kriegel swore the guys who hid the gold to silence, there would be no reason for anyone to suspect that a treasure was just offshore.”
“So there would be no way of detecting any gold?”
I shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t know much about metal detectors, but I would guess there are some devices that can find gold. Especially if there’s that much down there. Ten crates should set a detector off, I would think.”
I was still skeptical. Ten crates of gold? Boated out to the rocks? It was a little too much to hope for.
Mrs. T. came down the steps.
“I cannot impress enough on you that we need to be very quiet about this. Even when you’re talking among yourselves. If there’s a chance that our property still exists, I don’t want anyone getting wind of our expedition.”
“We aren’t going to say anything to-”
“Mr. Lessor. You admitted to telling your employer where you were going.”
He quieted down.
“Mr. Moore, you not only told your lady friend where you were, but you invited her to join us.”
She was right. Neither of us kept a secret very well.
“If we are to keep this project to ourselves, then you will have to measure every word you speak.”
“What’s the project?” Bobbie walked over, eyeing our empty drinks.
James looked at Mrs. T. and rolled his eyes.
“Just a little history thing we’re working on,” Em said.
Bobbie pointed at the empty drink glasses, then motioned toward the male bartender, busily mixing a drink on the other side.
“Did Scotty get you?”
Without missing a beat James looked her in the eyes and said, “Nobody gets us Bobbie. That’s the problem.”
She looked puzzled as she walked away to wait on a heavy-set older couple. Probably in their late thirties.
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
“So you’re lookin’ for coins?”
The wizened old man looked like he was straight out of central casting. He had fine white hair tied back in a ponytail, and his brown leathery skin threatening to crack at the creases. A short shoot of hair stuck out from his chin; a beard that had never really taken off.
“Yeah. Coins.” James nodded.
“Lots of people find coins. I swear there’s still millions of dollars to be had, right offen these shores.”
“You think?”
I frowned at James. Don’t be a smart-ass. The idea was not to draw any attention to our mission.
“Yes, sir.” His voice was high pitched, and I decided he reminded me of old Ben Gunn from
“From Gasparilla to Bowlegs, them pirates were a burying bunch of thugs. And if it weren’t the pirates, then it were them wreckers who’d scavenge all sorts of riches off them distressed ships that ran up on the rocks.” His eyes were wide open and his animated speech told me that he had a passion for the stories. “And they buried their treasures. ’Twas the only way to keep ’em safe.”
“We think there are coins off the coast, maybe a quarter of a mile. So, we wanted to know if you’ve got a metal detector that works under water.”
