The Vision (7 page)

continually inhabited European settlement in the United States. The English got nervous

about the Spanish being so close, and the French were trying to get a piece of the action,

too. In 1763, Britain gained control of Florida in exchange for Cuba. Then came the

Revolutionary War, and Florida remained loyal to the mother country. In 1784, the

Spanish gained control again as part of the peace treaty that ended the American

Revolution, but in 1821 they ceded Florida to the United States.”

Alex yawned. He caught the others staring at him and sat up straight.

“Hey, sorry, but I grew up here. I learned all this stuff in school,” he said.

“Yeah, but were you listening then?” Victor asked.

“This is important,” Sheridan said impatiently. “It explains why our ship is where it is.

During the American Revolution, the French helped the U.S. Unofficially, the Spanish

helped the French give us help. Before he was a pirate, José Gasparilla was in the Royal

Spanish Navy. He knew these waters from his military experience, and he continued his

career as a pirate until he died in 1821. Rumor has it that before his ship could be taken,

he cast himself overboard with weights tied to his feet—one of his favorite ways to do

away with prisoners. But shortly before his death, he heard of the Marie Josephine.” He

paused dramatically.

“An English ship, despite her name,” Genevieve said into his silence.

“Yes, and Gasparilla was loyal to Spain. Unless, of course, there was a good Spanish ship

to be attacked.” He laughed, then continued. “At any rate, he heard that the Marie

Josephine was nearby, having taken a late exchange of prisoners to Cuba, and heading

back to jolly old England laden with the ransom that had been paid,” Sheridan said.

“He probably felt he had a right to steal it,” Marshall said with a shrug.

“Exactly!” Sheridan agreed.

Thor was startled when Genevieve disagreed. “I don’t think that was it at all. Gasparilla

had fallen in love with the captain’s daughter, Anne, who had managed to travel with her

father and the prisoners to Cuba, because she wanted to be with a young Spanish

nobleman they were exchanging. He and Anne had both been Gasparilla’s prisoners

previously—that’s how they’d met—and had been ransomed together by the English,

who then made the young Spaniard, Aldo Verdugo, their own prisoner. Rumor has it that

Anne tricked her father and managed to become a passenger on the ship once again to

remain with Aldo. And Aldo, who should have been safely in Cuba, had stowed away on

the ship so he could remain with his beloved Anne. Gasparilla, however, had also fallen

in love with Anne when she was his prisoner. He had returned her to the English because of the ransom, and his fellow pirates wanted the money. He, however, wanted her back.

That’s why he went after the Marie Josephine.”

Alex snorted. “Gen, that’s nuts. Let’s see…all that ransom money—in gold—or a

woman. Come on! Women would have been a dime a dozen to a pirate.”

Genevieve waved a hand in the air dismissively. “He wrote letters about his love for her,”

she claimed.

“Where are these letters?” Sheridan demanded, frowning.

“Your university,” Genevieve said. Everyone was staring at her. “Hey, I made a trip up

and studied everything in the library about the Marie Josephine, Gasparilla, the storm,

everything. I was cross-referencing, and that’s when I found the letters.”

“Come on, you can’t put a romantic spin on pirates,” Victor teased her. “They were dirty,

nasty thieves.”

“You should have read the letters,” Genevieve said. “Even a nasty, dirty pirate can fall in

love.”

“He could have had tons of women,” Victor insisted.

“Yes, but she was the one he wanted. Who knows why someone falls in love. Or maybe it

was only an infatuation. The one he couldn’t have. Anyway, he wrote about her in those

letters, and he said he was in love.”

“Leave it to a girl,” Victor countered, rolling his eyes and sighing.

Genevieve laughed. “Leave it to a girl to beat the pants off you,” she countered lightly.

Thor sensed camaraderie in their teasing. It was apparent this group knew one another

well, that there was a deep underlying friendship between them. He realized that he

envied it. He had a damned good crew, but they didn’t always work together. Zach and

Lizzie were totally reliable, but they were too close as a married couple to bond with

anyone the way Marshall’s people were bonded, even when they were teasing and testing

one another. He’d thought he liked it when business was business, but there was

something approachiing an actual family relationship between Marshall’s divers, and it

not only appeared to be fun, it clearly worked.

“Hey, baby, please don’t beat me up,” Victor said in mock fear. “Hey, Alex, watch out.

Our Gen is tough.” He paused, grinning and sliding closer to her on the bench to set an

arm around her shoulders. “Except, of course, when she’s seeing things in the water.”

Genevieve shook off his arm and smiled sweetly in return. “Eat shit and die, Victor.”

“Hey, hey! Knock it off, all of you. This is serious business,” Marshall said.

“Hey, I meant it,” Victor protested innocently. “She’s the best. Ouch, Gen! That wasn’t

nice.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” she said, staring at him sharply with those mercurial eyes that could so easily light with laughter, then narrow on a dare. “I did my homework.”

“Of course. Obviously…I haven’t read everything in our archives,” Sheridan said. Thor

had the feeling the man would be finding the letters immediately on his return to the

university.

“If Gen says they’re there, they’re there,” Victor said, suddenly dead serious.

“Come on,” Marshall said wearily. “It doesn’t matter why Gasparilla attacked the ship,

only that he did. And right as he was savaging her, a storm came through. Gasparilla got

away, but the Marie Josephine went down. He purportedly came back to find the treasure,

but the storm had shifted the sands and he couldn’t find her, so the ship remains at the

bottom of the sea with her complete treasure, or so we imagine.”

“Yes, well, that’s about it,” Sheridan said, sounding somewhat huffy. He’d always been a

nice-enough guy, if a little geeky, but it was obvious he hadn’t liked being shown up by a

diver. “The letters I do know about were left by one of his men, and from his descriptions

of their position while awaiting the Marie Josephine, and calculating the currents, the

effects of the storm and the natural shifting due to time, I firmly believe I have you

exactly in the right area. But you need to find proof positive of the ship’s final resting

ground before we allow any disturbance of the reef.”

“How many times do you think we’ll have to listen to this speech?” someone murmured

softly. Thor looked around. Jack Payne was shaking his head.

“As many times as Professor Sheridan wants to give it,” Marshall said, staring at them.

“We’re being paid by the state,” he reminded them. “Money raised mainly by the efforts

of Professor Sheridan.”

Thor leaned forward to speak at last. “We took more than simple pirate history into

account while plotting our coordinates. When the ship sank, remember, half of what is

land today wasn’t then. The area has been dredged, filled in, blown away and literally

remade by the army, the navy—and Henry Flagler. When he was building his railroad,

they didn’t have a place for a depot, so he told them to make one. All that has been taken

into account, along with weather charts and the tidal phenomena over the years. One of

the main points we need to remember is that our ship’s probably broken into many

pieces, most of them entirely unrecognizable without careful scrutiny. And she’s

probably spread out over a wide expanse of ocean floor.”

He was pleased to see that he’d captured their full attention. And they remained riveted

when Sheridan spoke again.

“And the state will take full possession of the find, with each of you receiving a

percentage,” he reminded them.

Marshall rose suddenly, arching a brow to Thor. He nodded, knowing what Marshall was

about to say. Sheridan had advised them both of the plan. For some reason the man

seemed very wary of the divers he had chosen. He wanted the two crews mixed up, so

there wouldn’t be any chance of one group hiding anything from the other. Sheridan was

not a trusting soul. The names had been mixed in an old bait bucket last night, to be

drawn at random this morning, before the meeting.

“We’re mixing up the crews today. We’ve done it by lot, so there’s no complaining—

there shouldn’t be complaining, anyway. We’re all in this together. So forget your old

buddy system, because you’re getting new buddies. Here’s the roster for today. Bethany,

you’re with Zach. Vic, you’re with Lizzie, and I’ll be the man on deck. Alex, you’re

teaming up with Jack Payne, and, Gen, you’re with Thor. Preston will be staying

topside.”

He was going to be working with Genevieve?

That was something Thor hadn’t known. Great. Just great.

Well, at least he could quickly dispel the notion that she was seeing dead people smiling

at her in the water.

“We’re retracing ground we’ve been over where the sonar has indicated there is metal

somewhere beneath the water. We may find a lost diving watch from last weekend, but

hey, we’re looking for a needle in a haystack, so…everyone ready?” Marshall asked.

If he was unhappy, it certainly didn’t seem Genevieve Wallace was thrilled with the

arrangements for the day, either, Thor noticed.

But as they walked, heading out for the boats, Jack Payne slipped an arm around her

shoulders. “Should I grab that equipment bag for you?” he offered.

“Jack, I’ve been hauling my own gear forever, you know that,” she said, but she smiled at

him as she picked up her own bag and they all made their way down to the docks.

So he was partnered up with her, Thor thought.

He still felt the uneasy sensation of waking to the strange noises, then seeing her, soaked, salty and wearing seaweed in her hair.

She was a wild card, no doubt about it.

So why the hell was he so damned fascinated with her?

On shore, fine.

In the water?

He shook his head.

It was going to be one hell of a day.

4

N either Genevieve nor Alex had been on The Seeker before, and Thor couldn’t help a

moment’s pride when he watched them survey his boat. She was nice, with a great cabin,

powerful motors and a large dive platform, allowing for easy exits and access.

He took the helm himself as they headed out. Lieutenant Preston was at his side.

“Sheridan’s a jerk,” he said above the roar of the motor.

Thor shrugged. “He’s all right. He’s just really passionate about history, I guess.”

Preston snorted. “Yeah, but did you see his face when Genevieve knew something he

didn’t? Thought he was about to have a stroke. I guarantee you he’s on the phone right

now to some grad student, reaming them out for missing a cross-reference.”

Thor shrugged. “Hey, finding the ship is the important thing, right?”

“Man, she’s nice,” Preston murmured then, studying the console. “There a second helm

in the cabin?”

“Yep.”

“Radar, sonar, GPS…she all but drives herself, huh?”

Thor turned, aware they were no longer alone. Genevieve was standing behind him,

wearing her wet suit. Beyond her, the other divers had already attached their buoyancy

control vests to their tanks, and tested their regulators and air, ready for the water when

they reached the reef.

Gen had a touch of challenge in her manner. “Great boat,” she told him seriously. “I’m

really going to enjoy it.”

He had to smile, then glanced down at his instruments to hide his pride. Marshall was

leading at the moment, and in fifteen minutes, they would be dropping anchor and tossing

out their dive flags.

“You’re point man,” Thor said to Preston, who nodded. Thor headed back to don his own

gear. One of his fellow divers had already taken care of his BCV and his tank.

Nevertheless, he checked out his regulator and air, along with the security of his tank.

“Don’t trust me, eh?” she said softly, next to him, sliding down on the seat to secure her

vest.

“Never trust anyone when you’re getting into the water,” he said.

“Don’t worry. I don’t. But if you’re with any of us, that’s all you have to do. Final

checks. We take care of each other.”

He felt his teeth grate. Was she suggesting that he’d never dived with anyone trustworthy

before?

She stood, balancing perfectly with the weight of her tank. Preston hurried up behind her,

but she was already moving. “Hey, we’re partners!” Thor called after her.

She waved. “I’ll be hanging at the surface. Waiting. Take your time,” she added sweetly.

Sweet? Like hell.

He was quickly ready, stepping off the dive platform to land beside her in the water

before sinking slowly.

Ten feet away, Jack and Alex gestured, indicating their parallel paths.

Thor believed strongly in the methods they’d used to determine the location for this search, but down here now, their depth a little over fifty feet, he wasn’t at all certain they would make a discovery. They were a little west and south of the customary beaten dive

areas, but they might as well have been pleasure divers off any tour boat. The reefs were