Also by Terry Shames

The Samuel Craddock Mysteries

A KILLING AT COTTON HILL

THE LAST DEATH OF JACK HARBIN

DEAD BROKE IN JARRETT CREEK

A DEADLY AFFAIR AT BOBTAIL RIDGE

THE NECESSARY MURDER OF NONIE BLAKE

AN UNSETTLING CRIME FOR SAMUEL CRADDOCK

A RECKONING IN THE BACK COUNTRY

A RISKY UNDERTAKING FOR LORETTA SINGLETARY

MURDER AT THE JUBILEE RALLY *

GUILT STRIKES AT GRANGER’S STORE *

THE TROUBLING DEATH OF MADDY BENSON *

The Jessie Madison Thrillers

PERILOUS WATERS *

* available from Severn House

DEEP DIVE

Terry Shames

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First world edition published in Great Britain and the USA in 2025 by Severn House, an imprint of Canongate Books Ltd, 14 High Street, Edinburgh EH1 1TE.

This eBook edition first published in 2025 by Severn House,

an imprint of Canongate Books Ltd.

severnhouse.com

Copyright © Terry Shames, 2025

Cover and jacket design by Nick May at bluegecko22.com

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. The right of Terry Shames to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs & Patents Act 1988.

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ISBN-13: 978-1-4483-1627-4 (cased)

ISBN-13: 978-1-4483-1682-3 (e-book)

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Except where actual historical events and characters are being described for the storyline of this novel, all situations in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is purely coincidental.

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Praise for Terry Shames

“Razor-sharp, propulsive, and filled with heart-thumping action”

John Lansing, author of the Jack Bertolino series, on Perilous Waters

“An irresistible, full-throttle thriller”

Reece Hirsch, author of Dark Tomorrow, on Perilous Waters

“Fast-paced … will appeal to fans of MacGyver”

Library Journal on Perilous Waters

“A page-turning thriller with hints of romance and future adventures”

Kirkus Reviews on Perilous Waters

“May be the best regional crime series around today”

Library Journal Starred Review of Guilt Strikes at Granger’s Store

“Readers … will expect, and get, shocking revelations”

Booklist on Guilt Strikes at Granger’s Store

About the author

An avid sailor for many years, Terry Shames has had adventures sailing on the US east and west coast, Mexico, The Bahamas, the Caribbean and the Mediterranean. She is a member of Sisters in Crime, the Mystery Writers of America, and the Texas Institute of Letters. Originally from Texas, she now lives in Marina del Rey, California.

www.terryshames.com

To the US Army Air Corps of World War II,
who took their missions seriously.

Acknowledgments

In writing about scuba diving, I’m entering a realm I know little or nothing about. Years ago, I was certified to dive, but found it terrifying, so didn’t pursue it. So why did I choose a protagonist who is an accomplished diver? It gives me a chance to explore intellectually something I am too much of a wuss to do physically.

All of which means I needed help in getting the dive parts of the book right. I owe particular thanks to my dearest friend Carol Valk, who warned me about dangerous currents and sea vents in volcanic waters. Chris Dreith, who has worked in dive search and rescue, read over the work in progress and corrected my errors. They tried their best to steer me correctly. Any errors remaining in my writing about diving are mine alone.

Regarding the FBI portions of the book, my deepest thanks to George Fong, who told me more than I thought I wanted to know – but in fact, it was exactly what I needed. He expanded my vision of what Jessie Madison could and could not do. I hope I got it right, but if I didn’t, it’s my fault; not his.

As always, thank you to my agent, Kimberley Cameron, my cheerleader, my eagle-eyed editor, and my advocate, for all your hard work on my behalf.

It’s always a pleasure to work with the team at Severn House, and I’m especially grateful to have Sara Porter as my gem of an editor.

ONE

I ran my ten miles early because it was summer, and by eight o’clock it would be ninety degrees. I missed The Bahamas, where I was in the water every day for months. After I showered, I grabbed some granola with fruit and sat down in front of my computer at the beat-up desk I’d bought last week. With reward money from my harrowing ordeal in The Bahamas funding me, I was giving myself a few weeks to do what the Newport News cops had never managed – find out who killed my father twelve years ago. It not only gave me a goal, but also an excuse not to look for a job, since the job I wanted was no longer an option.

All I had written down so far was the bare facts of my dad’s death, with a hefty dose of my own questions thrown in. According to the police files I’d managed to wrangle from the last cop who handled the case, the day my dad was shot he was wearing what he always wore to work as a dock foreman – jeans and a T-shirt. When they found him, his shirt was smudged, which made sense. He’d been lifting cartons all day on the docks. It was a balmy Friday evening in late summer. The police found out he’d stopped at Maxy’s bar for a beer. He’d left after one beer, telling someone he wanted to be home in time for supper. The weather was clear and cool, humid after rain, but that was usual this close to the ocean in Virginia. That’s all the cops had put in the report.

From there, it was all speculation on my part. Maybe he stopped to light a cigarette. Despite the pleading of my little sister and me, he still smoked; he would laugh when we fussed at him and said we were scared he’d get cancer.

‘C’mere you little muffins,’ he’d growl. ‘You think cancer will mess with a tough guy like me? Look at these guns.’ He’d make a display of his muscles, preening so we would giggle. ‘Feel that steel.’ We’d feel the hardness of his arm and shriek. Our mom would roll her eyes.

I had so many questions. Was he walking with anyone that night? Had one of his pals just left his side, splitting off to one of the streets headed for his own home? Or was he alone? Who was the last person he talked to? Did he see anyone on the street that he knew? Did he say hello? Was there someone sitting outside on the steps of an apartment building down the street, maybe drinking a beer or just enjoying the evening? It was dusk, not many people out.

Did he see his killer? Or did he, or they, step out from behind one of the apartment buildings along the block? Did he recognize them? Did he call out? ‘Hey, what are you doing here?’ Or did he sense that something bad was going to happen? Did he see the gun? Did he try to run? Or was he distracted and not notice anything at all?

And the big question: had he known someone was out to get him?

I was rereading my notes, imagining my father’s last hours, jotting down ideas for how to proceed next, when someone knocked at my door. No one knew where I lived. I’d only been in this apartment for a week. After staying with my mother for a month when I first got back from The Bahamas, I’d had enough and rented this tiny, furnished hole-in-the-wall. So most likely someone had gotten the wrong apartment. Or maybe it was one of those religious nuts that went door-to-door and pressed pamphlets into the hands of those who answered. I’d turned away two of those in the past week.

The knock came again. It was a confident sound, sharp. Whoever it was, they were determined to roust me. I sighed, got up, and went to the door. ‘Yes?’ I called out.

‘Jessie Madison?’ A man’s voice.

I peeked out the peephole. Two men stood there, dressed in suits. In the time it took me to open the door, leaving the chain still on, I recognized the men. Or, not the actual men, but their type. FBI. What was it with these guys that they all dressed alike? Dark suit, white shirt, plain tie. Buzz-cut hair. Bland faces, as if they were bred to blend in. What were they doing here? And why hadn’t they telephoned?

‘Are you Jessie Madison?’ One of the men peered at me through the inches between the door and the jamb.

‘Yes.’

The man flashed his FBI credentials. ‘Agent Steven Crowley, and this is Agent Jones. May we come in?’

Even their names were nondescript. Wondering why they were here, I closed the door long enough to undo the chain and then opened it back up.

Crowley was taller than Jones, and better-looking, if bland was your preferred taste in men. I asked if they wanted to sit down. They glanced at the dingy blue and gray plaid sofa and matching chair, then back at me. ‘No time,’ said Crowley. ‘We need you to come with us.’

‘Why?’

‘We’ve been instructed to bring you in for a briefing.’

I laughed. Typical bureaucratic language: We’ve been instructed. ‘Who instructed you?’

‘The only information we have is that John Farrell wants to see you at Quantico.’

John Farrell? My former trainer in the FBI training program? The last time I’d seen Farrell he’d been firing me from the program, after which I’d fled to The Bahamas, and taken a job as a dive instructor while I recovered from the disgrace. I understood why he’d fired me, had known it would most likely happen, but it had hurt, had dashed my dreams of joining USERT, the FBI dive program. And now, for some reason, he wanted to see me. And in true Farrell fashion, he wanted to see me immediately.

‘Now?’

‘Yes, now. And he said you should pack a bag.’

I snickered. ‘I’m sorry, I’m busy on a project. You’ll have to give me a little more information if you expect me to drop what I’m doing and come with you. You said John Farrell wants to see me? Why?’ Not that I was refusing to go, but maybe if I stalled they’d give me more information.

Crowley huffed. ‘Like I said, all I know is that he sent us to bring you in. He said it’s urgent.’

Urgent. Did this have something to do with what happened in The Bahamas? I couldn’t imagine how. That situation was all wrapped up. I’d received the reward money. So what could be so important that they sent two agents to haul me in? Did they want the money back?

‘How long will I be gone?’

‘No idea,’ Crowley said. ‘But we have a helicopter waiting, so if you could …’ He made a scooping motion with his hand, indicating I should hurry.

‘Wait. Why didn’t he just call me?’

The guys glanced at each other. ‘He didn’t give us that information. He just said we should come in person and to make sure you came with us.’

Farrell didn’t think I’d even answer his call, much less drop everything and get to Quantico on my own.

He’d sent a helicopter. That, and ‘urgent’ pushed me into the decision.

In my bedroom, packing, I wondered if I should call my mother and let her know I was leaving town. She tended to get flustered easily, and as much as I didn’t get along with her, I also didn’t want her to worry. I decided to wait until I knew more before I called. Besides, any conversation with my mother was difficult, so why call her until I knew exactly what was up?

I changed into my only pair of jeans, slipped my windbreaker on over my T-shirt, and then pulled my duffle out of the closet. Into it went everything from the closet and dresser. It only took a few minutes. I didn’t have much. In The Bahamas all I had needed day after day was bathing suits, shorts, and T-shirts, and that’s what I’d brought to the apartment. It was August in Newport News, so still hot enough that I didn’t need more than the basics. The rest was stored at my mother’s place. While I threw things into the bag, I listened for conversation from the two men in the living room, hoping to get more information, but they were silent.

I crammed my sparse toiletries into a zip-up bag and put it into the duffle. I took a last look around the bedroom to see if I’d missed anything. I hadn’t gotten around to personalizing the place except for a photo of my parents on the bedside table, the only photo I had of my dad. It went into the bag.

The two men looked surprised when I came out of the room so quickly. ‘Ready?’ Crowley asked.

I gathered the papers on the desk along with the computer and stuffed them in on top. As I zipped up the bag, I wondered how long it would be before I got back to the investigation of my dad’s murder. ‘As ready as I’ll ever be.’

TWO

It was a twenty-minute ride to the airport, the road busy with commuters. It was barely nine o’clock and already heat shimmered on the pavement. We drove in silence, arriving into a non-commercial part of the airport. Jones locked the car, then he and Crowley ushered me into a waiting helicopter and climbed in behind me.

We got to Quantico in another twenty minutes, and before I knew it, I was standing in the doorway of a dorm room exactly like the one I’d been living in when I was in FBI training – before the disaster that had me kicked out. It seemed like years ago, but had only been last April.

‘You can stow your stuff here,’ Crowley said. ‘Farrell wants you in his office right away. I’ll escort you there.’

‘No need. I know where it is.’

It was burned into my brain – the scene of my disgrace. Where Farrell had told me that by going rogue to save my sister’s life from the thugs who were after her, I’d wrecked my chances of continuing in the training program. ‘You should have come to me when you knew she was in trouble,’ he had said. He was right, but it was too late to go back.

Farrell had made a point of saying there was no chance of my being brought back; that I shouldn’t bother to try. So what did he want now? What was so urgent? The FBI worked in mysterious ways, but this was over-the-top mysterious. Maybe he’d heard that I was considering taking up Nick Garnier’s offer of a job with the security force connected to the Jeweler’s Security Alliance. It’s possible he had something to say about it. Did he think the skills that had gotten me into the FBI program – my physical fitness, my diving and swimming skills, my quick thinking – would be wasted at the JSA? I smiled, thinking about Nick. What would he say if Farrell snatched me out from under his job offer? Still, how likely was that?

The only way to find out what Farrell wanted was to get moving. I headed for his office.

Farrell looked the same. Sandy, buzz-cut hair with a trace of gray; muscular build; eyes the color of muddy water. And the confident bearing that intimidated recruits. ‘Come on in,’ he said, as casually as if he’d invited me in for a cup of coffee. He motioned for me to sit across from his desk – in the same seat where I’d sat when he told me how disappointed he was that I’d put him in a position to have to terminate my training.

He was still standing. ‘How do you take your coffee?’

‘Black.’

He came back with coffee and plopped down a package of store-bought donuts. He tore it open and gestured to it. I grabbed one. I didn’t care if it was stale. I wasn’t a food snob and breakfast was long gone.

He sat down across from me with a sigh. ‘Jessie, Jessie. Talk about landing on your feet.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Last time I saw you I figured I’d never see you again. And yet, here you are.’ He studied me, as if making some private assessment. I wondered what he saw. Had the rough time I’d endured in the past few weeks left a mark on me?

‘You asked me here,’ I said. I refused to give him the satisfaction of asking what he had called me in for. He’d tell me when he was ready.

‘I’m requested to bring you back on board.’

Again, that dodgy sentence. ‘What does that mean, “I’m requested”? You mean you don’t want me back but somebody higher up does?’

He tilted his head in a half-nod. ‘That’s right. Not that I’m sorry to have you back. But it wasn’t my choice.’

I felt a momentary leap of hope, but I was instantly wary. There must be strings attached. ‘Do I have to start the training over?’ I’d been within a few days of graduating with top marks.

He sat forward, forearms on his desk. ‘There won’t be any training.’

I frowned. This made no sense. There were protocols. Maybe I’d been right to be suspicious. Maybe he wasn’t actually bringing me on as an agent, and this was something else. I waited.

He picked up a piece of paper, glanced at it, glanced back at me. ‘There’s an emergency position open with a USERT team. They need somebody skilled, and they need them now. Yesterday, actually.’

USERT. The FBI’s Underwater Search and Evidence Response Team. ‘One of the FBI dive teams?’ I couldn’t resist a shiver of anticipation. Still, I hesitated. I was a skilled diver, but the dive program was elite and impossibly hard to get into. There was a list of protocols I didn’t meet. Why would they choose me?

‘Yeah. The big time.’

‘Why me? There are a lot of divers, and there must be other teams who you could steal somebody from.’

‘Nobody who can be spared on the spur of the moment. At least …’ He hesitated. ‘Nobody we think can fit the job.’

This sparked more questions. My mind raced, trying to think of what questions would be relevant. Farrell had accused me of being impulsive, so despite how much I wanted to say yes, I needed to take my time and prove to him that I had learned my lesson to assess things carefully. I fleetingly thought of the job offer connected to the Jeweler’s Security Alliance, based on my success in The Bahamas when I’d almost lost my life. The biggest temptation was that if I took that job, I’d see Nick more often. But that alone wasn’t enough to tempt me. After all, we weren’t a couple; not really. We talked often, but how much of our attraction was due to the dangerous experience we’d shared?

‘What can you tell me? Why is this an emergency?’

He grunted, looking surprised. ‘You aren’t saying yes? I figured you’d jump on it.’

‘Oh, I’m interested. I just want to be sure I’m ready.’ I’d read up on what the dive team protocol consisted of and it was intense, more classes and experience on top of the basic training. Forensics was one element I knew I lacked. Not to mention that they usually only recruited members who had been agents for two years.

Farrell waved his hand in dismissal. ‘Leave that assessment to us. Obviously you have superior diving skills. You’ll be with other team members who have the training you lack. This isn’t unheard of. From time to time, we bring skilled people onto the teams to assist.’ He leaned forward and looked into my eyes. ‘Look, Jessie, after the way you handled yourself in The Bahamas, my superior officers thought you were the right person to send in. By all rights, you shouldn’t have even survived. Nick Garnier documented your courage and quick thinking. He said you saved his life as well as your own.’

I suppressed a nervous spasm that still grabbed me when I recalled how close I’d come to death at the hands of a brutal gang of jewel thieves. I’d almost drowned. And been engaged in a shootout. But I was determined not to let my voice betray my unease. ‘It almost got me killed, so I assume the job you want me for is dangerous.’

He snorted. ‘We’re not called in for routine stuff, you know that.’

‘What can you tell me?’

He opened a file folder in front of him and turned it so I could see the photo of a man, early forties, hardy-looking, with an intense expression. ‘Taylor Fontaine. He was one of the lead divers of the team. A highly skilled guy with a lot of experience. He was involved in an accident a couple of days ago and had to be taken off the job. He won’t be diving for a while. It’s critical that we replace him right away. Someone on the team will slot into his leadership position, but they’re short-handed.’

I didn’t bother to ask what kind of accident Fontaine had had. Underwater was an alien environment. No matter how experienced a diver was, a lot of things could go wrong.

Farrell got up and stood with his hands behind his back. ‘In The Bahamas, you performed well under pressure. We need you.’

I nodded, but still hesitated. Despite what Farrell said, was I ready for a real mission? The whole time I’d been in training, I’d hoped – dreamed – that eventually I’d make the dive team. But I had assumed I’d have time to get to know how things were done, the inner workings of the team, the hierarchies. I was going to be thrown in green. How would members of the team feel about that? They’d most likely come onto the team the regular way. Would they resent me? ‘I’ll have to think about it,’ I said.

He grimaced. ‘I need to know now. I can’t force you to do it, of course. But we need someone fast, and if you take yourself out of the running, we’ll have to go to the next in line.’

I felt momentarily paralyzed. Had they already been turned down by other, more experienced divers? I didn’t want to know. I wanted to do this, but I also didn’t want to make a big mistake. Were there things I wasn’t taking into consideration? Then something else occurred to me. What would be my position after the assignment was completed? I didn’t want to be suckered into helping and then be thrown out when the job was over. ‘If I say yes, does that mean I get to be on the dive team after the mission is over?’

He hesitated. ‘Not right away. But it will give you preference for getting into the program to eventually become a full member of USERT. There are other protocols you’ll need to go through in order to become a full-fledged member. It’s not only diving skills. You’ll have to take classes to bring you up to that level. The program will take several months, you know that.’

‘So why won’t I need those skills for this mission?’

He chewed his lip, frowning, as if searching for the right answer. I’d never known him to be unsure of himself. ‘A lot of our work involves terrorism, forensics, organized crime … things you won’t have to face on this job.’

‘I understand, but if I say yes, I want a guarantee that I’ll be given every opportunity to make the team and not be dismissed as soon as it’s over.’

He grimaced. ‘I told Freeman you’d say that.’ I didn’t know who Freeman was, but it wasn’t important right now.

‘And?’

‘He said it depended on how you performed.’

What did that mean precisely? Who would be evaluating me? Other members of the team? The team leader? If the mission failed, would that be a failure for me as well?

Enough. This may be my only shot. ‘All right, I’m OK with that.’ I stood up, nervous energy shooting through me. ‘What happens now?’

He glanced at his watch. ‘Papers to sign, some briefings. It will take the rest of the day. You leave in the morning.’

‘Leave for where?’

‘The Mediterranean.’

‘That’s a big place.’

‘It is.’

THREE

I had been so busy after I left John Farrell’s office that I hadn’t had time to consider what lay in store. But when I got back to my dorm room, exhausted by the day of being shuffled from one office to the next, undergoing routine medical tests, signing papers, and digesting protocols, it finally hit me that tomorrow I’d be boarding a plane and spending hours over the ocean. That could be a problem.

After my father was killed and my mother sank into depression, money had been scarce, and I had never had the chance to travel. Only when I flew to The Bahamas to disappear for a while after my FBI training disgrace, did I find out that I didn’t like flying. Even on that ‘hop’ as they called it, I’d been jittery. Which was funny, considering that diving far under the surface of the sea didn’t faze me. In fact, it felt like my natural environment. I’d seen people become practically catatonic with fear at the idea of going under fifty feet of water, and I’d scoffed at them. Now I said a silent apology to them.

I was worried about that long flight. Would I be OK? Would I have a panic attack? I supposed I could start drinking as soon as I got on board, but the idea of arriving at my assignment drunk and hungover didn’t appeal. There were probably drugs I could take, but nowhere to get them this late.

Finally I thought of the one person who could ease my nerves. Nick. I had met Nick Garnier in The Bahamas when we were thrown together while investigating a gang of thieves who had pirated the boat I was on and left me for dead. Initially suspicious of each other, Nick and I had ended up a good team. And eventually lovers. He was the only man I’d ever met who I wanted to spend more time with; not less.

He’d offered me a job on the security team he was part of, connected to the Jeweler’s Security Alliance, but never pushed me to take up the offer. Now I thought I knew why. He’d probably known I was never going to take that job as long as I held out hope for some kind of investigative work with the US government.

I waffled about calling him. I didn’t look forward to telling him I’d taken the FBI job. In fact, I wondered if I should tell him. I’d been briefed on things I couldn’t say – the location and nature of the assignment, and the names of my teammates. But they hadn’t said I couldn’t tell anyone I was with the FBI. ‘With’ being the operative word. I wasn’t actually an agent, except maybe temporarily. But if I called Nick to tell him I was nervous about flying, he’d want to know where I was going.

I lay on the bunk, arms behind my head, picturing Nick’s face the last time I’d seen him, before he boarded a plane back to Paris from Nassau. His dark, serious eyes had zeroed in as if he was trying to print my face in his memory. Even remembering it turned me on. Not for the first time, I considered whether I was in love with him. But I always shied away from the thought. I hardly knew him well enough to know how deep my feelings were for him. All I knew is that I missed him. When would I see him again?

I squeezed my eyes shut to keep from tearing up. Taking this job, had I ruined chances of ever being with him? I grabbed my cell phone. At least I could hear his voice.

He answered on the second ring, his voice drowsy. ‘Hey, everything OK?’

I realized it was likely the wee hours of the morning wherever he was. I pictured him, coming fully awake, swinging his legs onto the side of the bed, maybe stretching and tousling his dark hair.

‘Where are you?’ I asked.

‘Southern France. Where are you?’

I closed my eyes, clutching the phone tightly. ‘I’m at Quantico.’

‘Ah.’ How did he manage to make that simple sound have a French feel? ‘They want you back.’

My breath caught. Should I tell him? I dodged the question. ‘I wish you were here.’

He chuckled. ‘To tell you you’re making the right decision?’

Was I? The smooth, sexy sound of his voice made me question it. ‘No, it’s …’

‘Look, I already know they’ve nabbed you, so you can talk.’

I still hesitated. Was he telling the truth? Oh, come on, I thought. After all we’d been through, I still didn’t trust him? ‘I didn’t really have a choice.’

‘Of course you did.’ He sounded surprised.

‘No, I didn’t mean it like that. I meant I’ve wanted this so long that I have to see it through.’

‘So it’s a done deal. What will you be doing?’

‘I can’t really talk about it,’ I said. I felt ridiculous. He probably already knew. He had some kind of connection with Farrell that I’d never figured out. Maybe they’d met when they were younger. Maybe they’d worked on some internal case together. The only time I’d asked, Nick had brushed me off.

He chuckled. Did he know? ‘I’m glad for you. And I admit I’m curious. John Farrell wouldn’t tell me much.’

His mention of his association with Farrell annoyed me. When we first met in The Bahamas, Nick had thought I was in league with the people who had almost killed me. I found out later that the only way he knew the truth was because he’d checked up on me, with Farrell. ‘I can’t tell you much either. Partly because I don’t know much.’

‘Well, good luck. I hope it’s all you wished for.’ His voice had grown wistful, which was the way I felt.

‘Look, that’s not why I called. I mean, not the only reason.’ I took a deep, shuddery breath, reluctant to tell him that I was afraid. Last time I’d told him that, he had snapped at me, told me to get a grip. Of course, those were different circumstances. ‘They’re sending me overseas. I’m nervous about flying over the ocean.’

He burst out laughing. ‘Scared? You? You’re the bravest person I’ve ever met.’

‘Don’t laugh. I’ve never flown that far. I’m afraid I’ll freak out.’

‘I’m sorry I laughed. It’s just that, Jessie, I know you. You’ll be fine. Trust me, as soon as the plane takes off, you’ll relax.’

‘But suppose I don’t?’

He sighed. ‘I wish I could come and fly with you.’ That was Nick. Not exactly a romantic, but there. ‘Look, if you really have trouble, call me. Any transatlantic flight will let you make a phone call.’

We talked for another half hour, describing what we’d been doing since we’d last talked. He wanted to know if I’d found out anything useful about my father’s death. The question jolted me. After being obsessed with the case since I got back from The Bahamas, I’d been so busy today that I hadn’t thought about it at all.

‘No. I was barely getting organized.’

‘You’ll get back to it eventually.’ Nice of him to be tactful. He’d told me he didn’t think there was much chance I’d figure it out if the cops hadn’t.

I wanted to keep him on the line all night, but I needed to get some sleep. I had to be up in five hours, ready to go at six o’clock.

Before we hung up, Nick said, ‘Look, you’ve got this. Of course you know fear of flying is irrational. But I had a colleague who had to fight it.’

‘And how did he manage?’

‘White knuckles.’ He was trying to help. ‘Seriously, as soon as you get on board, tell the flight attendant you’re a nervous flyer. They’re trained to deal with that. It will help.’

‘I’ll try it,’ I said.

‘Oh, yeah, and a Bloody Mary as soon as you get on board.’

The next morning I was surprised when the driver took me not to the regular airport but to a military airfield. We parked near a sleek, private jet. When I got out of the car, my escort handed me a manila envelope. ‘This will tell you more about your assignment.’

‘Do you know where I’m going?’

‘It’s all in there.’

There was one other person waiting to get on board the plane, a military officer, a one-star general, a serious-looking guy who nodded to me and gestured for me to board first. I blew out a breath, and walked up the stairs, hoping my jitters didn’t show.

Inside, a uniformed flight attendant, Russ, told me to sit where I pleased. It was a luxurious aircraft, all cream-colored leather with twelve comfortable-looking seats. Each seat had a worktable and an individual over-shoulder lamp. I wondered who usually got to ride in such luxury. After I belted in, the general surprised me by coming to my seat and extending his hand. ‘Mark Sorenson, Miss Madison. Glad to have you aboard. Let me know if I can do anything to make your flight easier.’ He knew my name! Weird.

The only thing that would make my flight easier was if he could give me a pill to knock me out and wake up when we arrived, but I couldn’t tell him that. ‘Good to meet you. It’s nice having at least one other fellow traveler.’

‘I’m only going as far as Rome. We’ll be stopping there briefly for me to disembark, and as I understand it you’ll continue on.’

Rome. And from there? I was anxious to open the envelope and find out where I’d be headed after that. But before I could do so, the flight attendant was back. ‘As soon as we’re airborne, I’ll bring you some breakfast. Would you like anything before that? Coffee? Juice?’ He paused, and peered closely at me. ‘Or better yet, some champagne or a Bloody Mary?’ He must be reading my nerves.

‘If that’s OK.’

He crouched down beside me. ‘You’re not the first nervous flyer I’ve come across. Trust me, you’d be surprised at the tough guys who white-knuckle it. I’ll take care of you.’

I was grateful for his kindness, and my tension eased. And when I took my first sip of Bloody Mary, I knew I’d be OK.

When the door closed and the engines fired up, the flight attendant took a seat next to me and belted in. ‘While we take off, I’m going to explain to you how an airplane works.’

‘You don’t really need to do that,’ I said. ‘I’m actually fine.’ I tilted the drink toward him.

‘Come on.’ He grinned. ‘Indulge me. I like to keep in practice.’

‘OK, you’re on.’

‘First of all, you know anything about sailing?’ he asked.

‘Yeah, I do.’

‘OK, you know how the wind moves the sail, right? Well, wind currents are the important part of an airplane’s movement, too.’

I was vaguely aware that in the background the pilot was telling us that since it was overcast there might be a few bumps on the way up, but that most of the trip would be smooth. Good news.

Using sailing as a metaphor, Russ told me that the engine was only necessary for getting the airplane aloft and moving forward. ‘But that isn’t what keeps the plane in the air. It’s air currents.’ He was really into it, and gradually I was, too. ‘Think of air currents like a highway. The plane is actually on a current of air that’s as solid as the road. The bumps you might feel are like potholes in a highway.’

‘Really? I never heard that.’

‘It’s true. That’s the way it works.’ He gave more details, describing every move the pilot was making so I could picture it. By the time Russ brought me a breakfast of a mushroom omelet and toast, I was relaxed enough to eat. And shortly after that I fell asleep.

FOUR

When I woke up, two hours later, Russ was nowhere in sight.

Time to open the packet I’d been given and find out what I’d gotten myself into. Why was this mission so important that I was accorded such special service? Although for all I knew being transported on a fancy military jet was normal.

I took the manila envelope out of my tote bag. The information inside consisted of short bios of each of the people I’d be working with, followed by a description of the assignment. I quickly scanned the bio pages, seven in all, four men and three women. I’d make it even.

I put the bios aside, more interested in the details of what the team was working on. It was brief, just enough to pique my interest. But it brought up more questions than it answered. Apparently, a World War II airplane had been found off one of the Aeolian Islands, north of Sicily. I’d never heard of those islands, but then I didn’t know much in-depth information about anything in Europe. I retrieved my computer from my bag and was able to bring up a map of Sicily and the Aeolian Islands to the north. Tiny islands. What was an airplane from World War II doing there? And why hadn’t it been found before? And why was it so important eighty years later? What was the goal? To bring the plane to the surface? Was it carrying something that they needed to find? I supposed I’d be told that when I arrived.

I spent more time looking over the biographies and photos. What could you tell from looking at people’s posed photographs? Not much.

One of the men, Marcus Robinson, was Black. Handsome but unsmiling, he was looking off into the distance, the only one not looking straight at the camera. His bio said he was from Kentucky, stood at six-one and 190 pounds and was thirty-five years old. He’d studied Biology at Princeton, and had been with the FBI for ten years. He was also married. The dive team was deployed all over the world for sometimes long stretches of time. What did his wife think of that?

The oldest in the group, and its new leader, Alvin Crosby, was forty-three, five-ten, 180 pounds. He had a round face, tending to jowls, with light blue eyes and short, cropped, light-brown hair. He was from California and he’d been diving since he was ten years old. His hobby was skydiving. Jesus, I thought, it wasn’t enough to go up in an airplane – he had to jump out of them, too?

I glanced back at Marcus’ hobbies. Nothing listed. Crosby’s alma mater was UCLA, where he’d gone to law school. He’d practiced contract law for eight years before joining the FBI. He’d been on the dive team for five. Interesting that he’d left legal practice. I could imagine him chafing in an office when he was yearning to get back to the water.

Thirty-year-old Jack Novotny, four years older than me, looked like an eager puppy, with sweet brown eyes and a smile that said, ‘Please like me.’ When I met him, I’d have to avoid thinking of him as wagging his tail, or I’d laugh. His light-brown hair was cut short in what I thought of as ‘standard FBI.’ He was a thin man, five-ten and only 160 pounds, but from the look of his neck and shoulders, I’d bet he was wiry. It said he had hiked the Appalachian Trail when he was eighteen. Wow! And he’d gone to college in Florida, the University of Miami. But the biggest surprise was that he’d been in Special Forces, serving for four years. What had made him decide to join the FBI’s Underwater Search and Evidence Response Team?

I sat back and pondered what I’d read so far. These were serious dudes. What would they be like as teammates? Would they condescend to me because I had so little experience? I’d find out soon enough.

I chided myself for having an instant aversion to the fourth man, thirty-three-year-old Dallas Girard. My first thought was playboy. He had an insolent look, his mouth in a smirk. He was from Chicago. I’d bet anything that at six feet tall, with his curly dark hair, brown eyes, and strong jaw, he thought he was a chick magnet. And probably was. It wasn’t fair to make that judgment based only on a photograph, but still. He’d gone to school in North Carolina, where he’d majored in Marine Biology. His hobby was cooking, which somehow made him more appealing. He had spent four years in the Navy, and he was trained as a medic.

Russ came into the cabin and saw that I was awake. He asked if I needed anything.

‘How long before we get there?’ I asked.

‘It’s an eight-hour flight, so we’re almost halfway there. You doing OK?’

I was relieved to realize that I was fine. The flight had been smooth so far, devoid of the bumps the pilot had warned about. I risked a look outside, but hazy clouds obscured the view.

Russ said, ‘Let me know when you want lunch.’

‘I never thought I’d eat again after that breakfast,’ I said, ‘but I’m hungry.’

He smiled. ‘People always eat on airplanes, out of boredom if nothing else. Even people who have a lot of work to do.’ He nodded at the pages I’d set aside. ‘I’ll let you get back to it.’

Now I turned my attention to the women of the team.

Susan Vance was thirty-two, six years older than me. Her look was forthright, straight into the camera. She had short, light-brown, fuzzy hair, was five-six, from Florida. She’d gone to the same university as Jack Novotny, and also studied Marine Biology. I wondered if the two knew each other from school. Under ‘hobbies’ she listed, ‘Reading history.’

Laila Basri was the beauty of the group. My age, she was sultry-looking with olive skin, thick black hair that she wore shoulder-length, and dark eyes. She was five-six, with plump cheeks. There was no weight listed. I suspected she had to fight to keep trim. The information sheet mentioned that her father was from Iraq, a diplomat, and her mother was from England. Born in Washington, DC, she went to American University where she studied Public Affairs. Odd. How had she decided to get into the FBI? She was young and I wondered if her diplomat father had pulled strings.

And finally there was thirty-two-year-old Gretchen Hoskins, nickname Grete. At five-eight she looked big-boned, with a firm jaw and straight, straw-colored hair. She was from Lubbock, Texas and her hobby was horseback riding. She’d gone to college at Texas Tech, and studied veterinary medicine. There was no indication of what had spurred a horseback-riding woman from west Texas to take up diving.

I sat back and wondered what kind of information the team had received about me. Did they know I’d been dismissed from training, or did they think I was being transferred from another team? Did they know what had happened to me in The Bahamas, that I’d barely escaped with my life?

It was still hours before we’d reach Rome, so I decided to look up information on the islands I was going to, but before I could start, the seatbelt light dinged and the pilot said, ‘We’re hitting some rough air. Please stay seated.’

The plane lurched and so did my stomach. The flight attendant plopped down in the seat across the aisle from me. He stretched his legs out into the aisle. ‘Nice not to have a full flight,’ he said.

I knew he was trying to put me at ease, and truthfully, after the initial jolt I was fine – if the turbulence didn’t get any worse.

‘Do you always work this airplane?’ I asked.

For the first time, his expression closed up. ‘Not always.’

I’d have to get used working for a clandestine part of the government, where you never knew if you were asking a question that was off-limits. I’d been used to tourists in The Bahamas, who were ready to tell you their life story if you showed the slightest interest.

I decided to ask what must be an innocuous question: where was he from?

The smile was back. ‘A little town you never heard of in Utah.’ He proceeded to regale me with stories of growing up as one of four children in a family that lived for practical jokes. By the time the seatbelt light went off, I was ready for the excellent meal he served – chicken wrapped in bacon with tasty carrots and green beans.

To my surprise, after lunch the general came and sat across from me. I’d almost forgotten he was on the plane, because I hadn’t heard a peep out of him.

He’d taken off his jacket and rolled up his sleeves, and he sighed as he settled in. ‘I need a break so thought I’d come and ply you with questions.’ He shrugged. ‘Questions you can answer, anyway. I’ve been instructed not to pry.’

‘Name, rank, and serial number, sir.’ I gave a mock salute and he grinned. He ordered a whiskey and soda and asked me the usual – where I was from, where I went to school, and what I liked to do in my spare time. I told him I was from Virginia, went to a college in Newport News that he’d most likely never heard of, and that I’d been a dive instructor in The Bahamas, leaving out the terrifying part. I asked him about himself, and like the flight attendant he stuck to funny stories of his early years. It occurred to me to wonder if either of them was telling the truth. But I was grateful for the company because it made the trip go faster. In fact, I was unprepared when the pilot announced that we’d be landing in Rome Fiumicino Airport in thirty minutes.

The general stood up and headed back to his seat. When we landed, he paused as he walked to the front, now wearing his jacket and hat, briefcase in hand. ‘Best of luck to you. Whatever it is you’re up to.’

It was pitch dark outside. ‘What time is it?’ I asked Russ. He was holding a flight bag and had put on his jacket.

‘It’s one in the morning. You’re wide awake, aren’t you?’

‘Yeah. That makes it what time at home?’

‘Four in the afternoon. Word from an experienced flyer – the faster you stop calculating what time it is back home, the faster you’ll get over your jet lag.’

‘Noted.’ I grinned.

‘Anyway, nice talking with you. I’m off duty and someone else will be with you to Palermo.’

Within minutes of his leaving, his replacement, a young, attractive woman came aboard and asked if I needed anything. I said no. We began to taxi almost immediately and took off again for what the pilot said would be an hour flight to Palermo. I was no longer nervous, but I was feeling stiff from having sat so long and antsy with inaction. I was used to physical activity and after all the hours of sitting down I felt stale. It would have been great if I could nap, but I was restless with anticipation. I knew I’d regret later not having any sleep, so I put my head back and dozed.

I jerked to consciousness when the pilot announced that the plane would be landing soon at Falcone Borsellino Airport. I felt disoriented, in a daze from the last two days of having my world upended. I put away my computer and my briefing information, ready for landing. It was dark outside, so all I could see when I looked out the window was that there was a lot of water to the north and west of the airport, and dim lights showing a few buildings.

When the door to the plane opened, I got up and paused on the threshold, taking a moment to get my bearings. Even though I could smell sea air, I was acutely aware that I was in a foreign country now, and on an unexpected and exciting new adventure. Two days ago, I’d been sitting at a rickety desk in a rented apartment, with no clear idea of what the future held, except investigating my father’s death. Now, here I was in Sicily, assigned to the FBI dive team. I hardly could have picked out Sicily on a map, much less grasped that I would be here.

I walked down the steps, wondering who would be here to greet me. Would it be a member of the team?

A harried-looking man in a rumpled suit stood at the bottom of the steps. ‘Miss Madison?’

‘Yes.’ Since there was no one else on the plane, the question seemed redundant.

‘Come with me, please.’ An Italian accent to go with his little toothbrush of a mustache.

‘Hold on,’ I said. ‘I need some identification.’

‘Oh, oh, of course.’ He looked flustered as he dug around in his pocket for his wallet. He flipped it open. ‘Ricardo Ricci,’ he said. ‘I am with the US consulate.’

‘Thank you, Mr Ricci.’

‘If you’ll come with me.’ He hurried away and I had to trot to stay up with him. We entered a dimly lit building that was almost deserted in the wee hours of the morning.

Inside, he said, ‘I will see to your baggage, yes?’

‘I don’t have anything but this,’ I said, hefting my duffle.

He looked surprised, but shrugged. ‘Then we can go. I’ll take you to a hotel where a room is reserved for tonight.’ What was left of the night anyway. I could hardly wait to get there. I needed a shower.

Before Ricci could walk away, a familiar voice said, ‘I see you made it without having a meltdown.’

Not trusting my ears, I whirled around and came face to face with Nick Garnier.

‘Glad you made it,’ he said, his grin mischievous.

I gasped, still not believing it was really him. ‘What are you doing here?’ I asked.

‘Meeting you.’ He put his arms around me and I melted into his embrace. I could feel his heart tripping against mine. Eventually he pulled back and kissed my cheek. ‘I’ll take her from here,’ he said to Ricardo Ricci. Ricci looked like he was going to protest, but Nick took out his wallet and flipped it open. Ricci peered at it and his eyes widened. ‘Of course, Dottore. The Hotel Presti in Via—’

‘I know where it is. Thank you.’

‘She is to meet—’

‘Yes, yes, I have the instructions,’ Nick said.

He had the instructions? How? The information had to have come from Farrell. That odd connection, again.

‘Certo, Grazia Dottore. I understand.’ Ricci disappeared into the crowd.

‘He may understand,’ I said, ‘but I don’t. He called you doctor. Doctor of what?’

Nick chuckled. ‘Let’s go. I’ll explain as we walk.’

Nick said that anytime Italian men were uncertain of status, they called each other doctor. ‘It doesn’t mean the same thing here as in the States, or even in France,’ he said. ‘It’s like saying “mister.”’

‘That’s not all I don’t understand,’ I said, trying to keep up with Nick’s fast pace. ‘What are you doing here?’

‘I wanted to see you.’

I stopped and grabbed his arm to arrest his pace. ‘Stop being coy. That explains nothing. How did you know where to find me?’

‘I had to twist his arm, but John Farrell told me.’

I started to ask another question, but he stopped me.

‘We just have tonight. Let’s not waste it.’

Outside, we jumped into a cab that he had kept waiting while he fetched me, and after a wild five-minute ride through dark streets, with old buildings looming on each side, we stopped in front of a tall, narrow, stucco building, crammed tight against its neighboring structures. A dim light illuminated the seedy-looking exterior. I saw a closed-down café through the windows. ‘Are you sure this is it?’ I asked. ‘It’s not exactly the Ritz.’

‘Let’s go inside,’ Nick said. ‘You’ll be surprised.’

And I was. Despite its worn exterior, the lobby of the hotel was cheerful and clean, with black-and-white tile floors and walls colored in bright green and white with black trim. Nick told me that a lot of people who owned buildings in Italy let the exterior look shabby to avoid increased taxes. ‘The tax man is the scourge of Italian life.’

Nick steered me toward the front desk. It was so late that the desk was deserted. Nick dinged the little bell and within a few minutes a man scurried out, buttoning up his shirt, rubbing his eyes.

‘Ah, Signora Madison?’ he asked.

‘Yes.’ Everything seemed so unreal that knowing I was expected was somehow reassuring.

Nick said something to him in Italian.

The man took a key out of a slot and handed it to Nick. ‘Buona notte,’ he said, with a little bow, and disappeared back into the room he’d emerged from.

Nick pointed me to the stairs. ‘It’s the second floor. I hope you don’t mind if I join you.’ He stepped close and kissed me, the kind of kiss I remembered. He never did anything by halves. He put everything into it. My knees felt trembly.

‘God, yes.’ I couldn’t believe I’d be so turned on so fast.

We were barely inside the room before we were pulling each other’s clothes off, kissing and touching each other. Nick took my face in his hands and said, ‘I’ve missed you.’

Although I ached to continue, I pulled away from him. ‘I need a shower,’ I said. ‘I smell like a goat.’

The bathroom was surprisingly big, with a tiled shower big enough for both of us. We soaped each other and rinsed off, urgency growing until we didn’t bother to dry off before we climbed onto the bed and made love.

Afterward, I lay staring at the ceiling, unable to sleep. I wished I could stay here with him for a week, before I had to go to the real world. But we both had obligations. I was incredibly grateful that we had the night. We talked, whispering, intimate, and eventually made love again. Finally, just before dawn, we slept.

A few hours later, I woke and watched Nick as he got off the bed and dressed. I hadn’t paid any attention to the room the night before. It was small, but charming, with cream-colored walls, a puffy gold and cream bedspread, and several framed photos on the walls. ‘Cozy,’ I said.

‘I didn’t know you were awake,’ he said. He leaned over and kissed me, but it was more a peck, almost impersonal. ‘We should get going. Your ride will be here soon.’

I didn’t move right away. I’d been thinking. ‘So John Farrell told you where I would be?’

He stopped buckling his belt and looked at me. ‘Yes. He didn’t want to at first, but in the end, he did.’

‘Why?’

He shrugged. ‘He’s a matchmaker?’

‘Not sure I buy that,’ I said.

He sat down on the side of the bed and stroked my cheek. ‘What would you buy?’

‘I don’t know.’ I slid off the bed and started dressing. There wasn’t enough time to get into an involved conversation at this point.

He watched me take a hairbrush out of my duffle and try to pull it through my hair. I’d gone to bed with it wet and even though it was short, it was sticking out all over. I looked like a clown. I went into the bathroom, stuck my head under the faucet in the sink and wet it down. When I came back, and began again, pulling the brush through my wet hair, he got off the bed, took the brush from me and continued the job. I closed my eyes, wishing we could go back to bed.

‘I need to tell you something,’ he said. ‘It’s about your job.’

‘What about it?’

‘You must be careful.’

My eyes flew open, but he was behind me so I couldn’t see his expression. ‘What do you mean? What do you know about the job?’ I stopped his arm from brushing my hair and swung around to face him.

‘Not everything, but enough to know it’s risky.’ He handed me the hairbrush and got out his wallet. ‘I’m going to give you a number. If you need help, call it. Give them your name and tell them whatever you can. They will reach me.’

I bristled. ‘You realize I can take care of myself, don’t you? I mean, who got us out of that tight situation in Nassau?’

‘I have every confidence in you, Jessie, but everyone needs help from time to time. Farrell said one of your shortcomings was that you always thought you could handle everything yourself. You are valuable to me. I don’t want you to get hurt.’ He kissed me again. ‘Now let’s go down and meet your ride.’

FIVE

My ride was late, so we had time to eat a pastry and drink cappuccinos, sitting outside in white plastic chairs at a white plastic table that could have come from Walmart or Costco back home. It was only nine o’clock, but already hot and humid.

‘This is better than pastries at home,’ I said, savoring my brioche.

‘All the food in Italy is better than in the US,’ Nick said, breaking off a piece of his cornetto.

‘Grits?’ I challenged.

‘In Italy it’s called polenta, and it’s delicious.’

‘Fried chicken?’

‘Pollo fritto. No comparison.’

We bantered until a big SUV pulled up. It looked out of place amidst the tiny cars on the street. The driver double-parked and walked toward us. ‘Jessie Madison?’ A lilting sound.

‘Yes. And you are?’

He looked startled. ‘Cosimo Perugini, at your service.’ He had a heavy Italian accent.

‘Do you have some identification that tells me I should go with you?’

‘Signora …’ He made a sound of distress. ‘Non capisce.’

‘Scusa.’ Nick stood up. ‘La signora vuole una carta d’identita.’

‘Si, certo.’ Cosimo dug into his pocket and pulled out a ragged wallet, drew out a card and handed it to Nick.

Nick perused it and smiled. ‘This doesn’t help much,’ he said to me. ‘It just says he’s a licensed driver.’ He said a few more sentences to Cosimo and Cosimo replied, casting furtive glances at me.

When they were done with a lot more talking than seemed necessary, Nick said, ‘He’s nervous because he thinks you’re an important person. He’s been sent to drive you today and doesn’t want you to be late. And he doesn’t want to make any mistakes.’

‘Tell him he’s doing fine. What’s the plan?’

More Italian was exchanged.

‘He said this afternoon he’s taking you to the ferry so you can get to Lipari. You’ll meet your party there.’

‘Lipari?’ I downed the last sips of my coffee and stood up. ‘What’s there? Is it far?’ My instructions had only mentioned Palermo.

Nick shrugged. ‘It’s a four-hour ferry ride. It’s on an island to the north that can only be reached by ferry.’

‘If he knows that much, he knows more than I do.’

‘Oh yes, he said first he was supposed to take you to a dive shop to be outfitted.’

That was a relief. I had wondered if I was going to have to use equipment that belonged to someone else and might not be suitable for me. I wished I had my own, or at least the gear I’d used in The Bahamas. ‘Wait. Who’s paying for this? And can I get good equipment or do I have to skimp?’

‘I’ll ask, but knowing the US government, I don’t think you’ll have to buy cheap equipment.’ Nick sent off another string of Italian. It was a beautiful language. I wished I spoke some. It sounded a little like Spanish, so maybe I could pick it up.

Cosimo nodded vigorously and eventually said, ‘Scusa,’ and headed for the SUV. He reached in and brought out a small packet that he brought back and handed to me.

Inside was a letter, introducing Cosimo, a few lines directing me what to do next, and a credit card. Attached to the card was a terse note: ‘You’ll need good dive gear. It’s a difficult dive, so be sure you get the best available. Whatever else you need. Be sure to get a drysuit. No need for a helmet. We have extras.’ The note ended with a telephone number I should call when I was on the ferry.

‘It would have been helpful if he’d given this to me right away,’ I said to Nick.

‘I think you’ll find that most Italians are careless about protocol,’ he said. ‘They’re used to ignoring the government and any bureaucracy.’

‘OK?’ Cosimo said brightly.

‘OK,’ I said. I couldn’t help smiling at his cheerful expression. I picked up my duffle and moved toward Cosimo. ‘One more thing,’ I said, looking to Nick. ‘It takes a while to get fitted for scuba gear. Can you ask him how long I have before I have to be at the ferry? Like, when is the last ferry?’

More Italian. ‘The ferry runs all day until seven o’clock. Cosimo advises leaving no later than the five fifteen, which will get you there by nine o’clock.’

Plenty of time. ‘I guess that’s it then. See you when I see you.’ I kept my tone light.

Nick took my bag from me. ‘Text me. Let me know how things go. When you’re done with this mission, we’ll go away for a few days.’

‘I’d like that.’

We kissed, but it was peremptory. We were both onto next steps.

Cosimo opened the back door of the SUV and waved me in with a flourish. I climbed in and we took off. I craned my neck to watch Nick. He waved.

The driver wasted no time getting us to the heart of Palermo, where traffic was thick. As far as I could tell the traffic pattern was chaotic, no one paying attention to road markings, but careening with gusto, cars barely missing each other, honking their horns aggressively. Meanwhile scooters zipped in and out of lanes between cars, looking like their drivers had a death wish. But Cosimo drove as if he was relaxed, in tune with the waves of the traffic. I was glad I didn’t have to navigate it for myself. I relaxed and paid attention to the things we were passing. I’d seen photos of Italy, but nothing did justice to the charm of the old buildings, the iron fences, the beautiful plazas and the flowers that accented everything. My breath caught as I glimpsed a magnificent domed tower. ‘What is that?’ I blurted.

‘Palermo Cathedral.’ He looked back at me, beaming. ‘You should stay more days. See everything. Is beautiful.’

As excited as I was to get to my destination, I would like to have stayed here for a few days and get to know this beautiful city. Maybe after the job was over, I could meet Nick here and we could explore.

Half an hour later we pulled up in front of a large building, Agua Dive Center. Cosimo jumped out and opened the door for me. I felt like royalty as he bowed slightly when I got out. ‘Signora, ecco.’ He gestured toward the shop. Ecco. That must mean, here it is. Or there it is. Whatever.

Happily, the guy who waited on me spoke good English and knew his equipment. I told him I was experienced and that I’d be doing dives at difficult sites and wanted the best equipment they had.

‘If you don’t mind my asking, where will you be?’

‘It’s called Secca del Bagno.’

He looked startled. ‘Ah. Secca del Bagno. You’re right, it is difficult. Are you sure you want to go there?’

‘I’m meeting friends there.’

He relaxed. ‘So they know the area? And they know you are experienced enough to handle it?’

‘Yes.’ What a strange response. For the first time, I felt a nervous twinge about the diving I’d be expected to do. I was experienced but except for my dive training, which had been in some rough waters, I’d only dived in the gentle, forgiving waters of The Bahamas. Not that there weren’t occasional glitches, but mostly it was easy diving. The hardest part had been taking care of inexperienced divers, and that could be a challenge. Was I experienced enough for Secca del Bagno?

It took almost two hours, but I wanted to be sure everything fit and was certified for deep diving. The regulator was the most important and I bought the best they had. The prices were in euros, so I had no idea how much I was spending. But the clerk was increasingly happy, so I figured it was a lot.

As directed, I bought a drysuit. The thicker neoprene was imperative for deep diving. But I hesitated over the wetsuit. In The Bahamas the water was so warm, I’d only needed a shorty, a suit that left the lower arms and legs exposed, but I wasn’t sure how cold the water would be in the environment I’d be in. In the end I bought two – one shorty and one full body.

The one thing I had brought with me in my duffle was my AGA mask. A good mask that fit well meant the difference in whether a dive was comfortable or annoying, and once I had found one that worked, I guarded it jealously so I wouldn’t lose it. But I bought a second one, as backup, and two good quality snorkels. They probably had extra aboard the dive boat, but they got lost easily or sometimes the rubber failed, so you could never have too many. Besides, in comparison to all the other gear, they were cheap. I also bought a diving writing board, another inexpensive item, but one that was indispensable in communicating with nearby divers.

Next I tackled booties and fins. In general, I liked short fins better, but on the advice of the sales guy I bought long ones, too. ‘Signora, the difficult dives around the islands can have strong currents and you will be more comfortable with long fins.’

I hesitated over buying a dive computer. The team probably had them, but in the end, I thought of the note that said to buy the best. Same with a dive headlight. I also bought a knife, but decided against a package of weights. Any dive boat had plenty of weights aboard. I’d be carrying enough gear as it was without adding extra weights.

Another hesitation over buying a camera. But I wanted one. If they balked, I’d pay for it myself.

The guy threw in a compass and a first aid kit.

Last night I had realized it got cool in the evenings so I also bought a jacket and some waterproof pants and a pair of yoga pants and a sweatshirt.

The numbers on the bill were a lot, and when I handed the clerk the credit card that had been attached to the note in the package Cosimo had given me, he glanced at it and his head came up quickly and he stared at me for a moment. ‘So you’re with them. That will be twenty percent off the dive gear,’ he said.

Cosimo insisted on carrying my gear to the SUV. Seeing it all gathered in one spot, I felt excited. This was really happening.

It was one o’clock, and although I was eager to get to Lipari, I decided to have lunch before I left. I didn’t know what was in store for me, and had only eaten a small pastry for breakfast. ‘Lunch?’ I said to Cosimo.

‘Certo, signora. I will take you.’

He drove out of the old part of the city toward the coast and entered an area that looked like a boat repair center. I wondered if he had misunderstood, but then he stopped in front of a wooden building with a charming garden at the entrance. ‘Trattoria Barca’ the sign read. It had a picture of a sailboat as a logo. The Boat Restaurant? A restaurant in the middle of a boatyard?

‘You will like. Good food.’ Cosimo beamed. ‘My brother is owner.’

The waiter greeted Cosimo with kisses on both cheeks, and opened his arms wide to me. ‘Benvenuta, signora.’ I wondered if I was expected to hug him, but he turned toward the interior, arms still open, as if offering it to me as a gift.

There were already a few diners and the food looked wonderful. He led me to a table that adjoined a lovely garden and presented me with a menu that was at least partly understandable. Italian food had the same names everywhere, although I wasn’t sure what some of the sauces were for the pasta.

‘Wine?’ he asked.

‘No, thank you. Water, please.’

He darted away and returned with a bottle of sparkling water. ‘Dimmi,’ he said. ‘Scusa, tell me. What would you like?’

I suddenly felt adventuresome. ‘You choose,’ I said.

‘Ah, well. Per primo, risotto or soup?’

‘Soup.’

‘You like fish? Our special today is branzino. Or maybe rabbit?’

That sounded awfully heavy. ‘A sandwich?’ I asked.

‘Ah. Panini. With prosciutto and stracchino?’

‘Yes.’ Whatever that was.

The soup was divine, a rich broth with delicate ravioli. I worried that I shouldn’t have ordered so much food. But when the panini came, on focaccia, served with a small arugula salad, I ate it all. If this kept up, I’d gain ten pounds in no time.

Before I could protest, the waiter presented me with a dish of tiramisu, which I couldn’t resist. And afterward, a small glass of a sweet wine. ‘Vin santo, signora. The best.’

Vin santo. It was heavenly. I wondered if I could buy a bottle to bring aboard. But no. Most dive masters didn’t allow alcohol aboard. With good reason. Alcohol could impair a diver, making accidents too easy to happen.

And with that thought, I wondered if anyone would tell me what happened to the diver I was replacing.

‘May I have the bill, please?’ I asked the waiter.

‘We say, il conto, per favore,’ he said, smiling. ‘But in your case the bill is already taken care of.’

‘What? No, I can …’

‘Signora, Cosimo has his instructions.’

‘I see. It was wonderful. Lovely.’ Should I tip? I realized I had no Italian money.

Outside, I asked Cosimo where I could exchange dollars for euros. He didn’t understand, so I took out of my wallet the few dollars that I had and said, ‘Euros?’

‘Ah,’ he said. ‘Lipari. Is many tourists and change dollars for euros.’

And with that we were on our way to the ferry, along a busy road with towering buildings on either side – the ‘new’ part of Palermo, as Cosimo called it. When we arrived at the terminal, Cosimo disappeared into the ferry building and came back and handed me a ticket. It was for fifteen thirty. That meant three thirty. It was now almost three o’clock.

Cosimo unloaded my gear into a cart that he retrieved from the trunk of the SUV. I followed him as he made his way past cars waiting to drive onto the ferry, to where there was already a line of foot passengers. I was surprised when he walked past the line and spoke to a man in a uniform. The man looked at me with raised eyebrows, and nodded. He beckoned for me to come with him.

Cosimo introduced him as Massimo. ‘He will take care of you. I leave you now and you will call for someone to meet you.’

I had a feeling this part of speaking English is what he understood.

‘Thank you for everything,’ I said.

He unloaded my gear, bowed, and walked swiftly away with his cart.

Massimo opened the gate and shouldered the heaviest of my gear, while I took my duffle and another bag. He took me into a waiting area where there were already two men dressed in impeccable business suits. They looked at my rumpled jeans and all the gear and smiled. ‘Diving?’ one asked.

‘Yes.’

‘It is beautiful diving in the islands.’

‘Have you dived there?’ I asked, eager for any information I could get.

The younger of the two men said, ‘Many times.’

‘Do you know Secca del Bagno?’ I asked, trying to get the pronunciation right from hearing it when I bought my gear.

The man threw up his hands. ‘Oh, no, signora, I have only done the other side of the island. The easy side,’ he added, smiling. ‘You must be very good at it to attempt such a dive.’

‘What makes it so hard?’ I asked.

He shrugged. ‘I have only heard stories. The currents are heavy. And it is hard to find the exact location. But I don’t know precisely why. I hope you are with a good dive boat.’

I hoped so, too. First the sales clerk, and now this man, telling me how hard the area was. I was decidedly uneasy. Had Farrell overestimated my abilities?

SIX

The open water of the Tyrrhenian Sea between the island of Sicily and Lipari was brilliant – an intense, clear blue. I had been taken on board early with my gear, which was loaded into a locker. I was surprised at the number of cars and people who swarmed aboard the large, graceful ferry and was grateful that I had boarded early enough to secure a place on the boat rail to watch the boat leave the busy harbor and set out to open sea.

A brisk wind sprang up as soon as we were out of the shelter of the harbor, and the ride became rougher. After that I had the rail mostly to myself along with a few other hardy souls, in addition to people who had turned a pale shade of green and were obviously seasick. I considered calling my mother but it would be too early at home. The big meal I’d had was making me sleepy, so I went in search of a cup of coffee.

While I drank the coffee, I discovered that there was good Wi-Fi aboard, so I logged onto my computer and started researching Lipari dive sites. The Secca del Bagno site was said to be the most challenging. The rest of the sites had lots of inviting photos, but Secca del Bagno had only a few, along with dire warnings, and again I felt a frisson of nerves. The lack of photos and further information was odd. How difficult could it be? Difficult enough that few people dove there, or did they not post photos in order to deter the casual diver?

Eventually, restless, I took a turn around the deck, noticing the people – mostly tourists, speaking different languages. I recognized French and German, and some I had no idea of what they were. Those who spoke Italian appeared to be having the best time, laughing, eyes sparkling, and using expansive hand gestures. By contrast, I heard Americans complaining and worrying. What made one set of people so full of joy and others so plodding and unhappy? I thought of the divers who had come to The Bahamas, many of them petulant and ready to nitpick.

I went back outside to see if I could spy any marine life in these waters, but there was too much chop. With the wind up, it was chilly. I’d left the jacket I bought in the gear bag so I went back inside. I wished I’d brought a book with me. It hadn’t occurred to me. I poked around online and read more about Italy and the Aeolian Islands. Until now I had never even heard of the islands, but from my reading I found that wasn’t unexpected: they were obscure islands. I searched the history of the islands and found that mention of them went back as far as the Odyssey. I didn’t remember ever reading the Odyssey. In college I’d concentrated on science and took only the bare minimum of required humanities courses.

According to Wikipedia, legend had it that Aeolus, king of the mythical island Aeolia was divine keeper of the winds, which he kept locked in the interior of the island. When Odysseus visited the island, Aeolus entrusted him with the bag of winds. In the epic poem, Odysseus’ men opened the bag and let the wind out. Fanciful. I wondered if there was something about the islands that lent themselves to myths that involved wind. Were the winds capricious there?

It turned out that not only was Lipari the name of the island I was headed for, but also the name of the main town. It was also the name of the collection of islands, seven major ones, the largest being Lipari proper, and several minor islands with a total population of under 20,000 people. I chuckled to myself. Strange that whoever named the islands wouldn’t have been more creative.

I read on. The islands were volcanic, with still two active volcanoes, on Stromboli and Vulcano. I looked on a map and saw that Vulcano Island was a few kilometers south of Lipari. I skipped over the description of how the islands were formed, being more interested in recent history, specifically how a World War II airplane had ended up in those waters.

I’d read in the briefing notes that the core of the mission I was on was that a World War II airplane had been found at depth: a German airplane. From what little I had gleaned from the briefing, there was something odd about the airplane. Surely it had to be something beyond the fact that it was German. During the war, other German planes must have been lost. But in the Tyrrhenian Sea? Maybe that was the mystery. I’d have to wait until I met the team to find out. Meanwhile I decided to read up on Italy’s participation in the war. I had a vague memory of Italy being on the side of Germany, and Mussolini being an ally of Hitler. Which meant Italy had been at war with France, England, and the United States. But that was all I knew.

Skimming through summaries online I found that Italy had been a German ally, but switched sides in 1943 when they knew they would be defeated by the American and British forces. When Sicily was finally invaded by the British, Germany marched into the northern part of Italy in order to provide a buffer to the Balkans. The country was in chaos, and many lives were lost. Mussolini was in prison and the economy shredded.

There was also fighting close to Sicily to the south, in North Africa – Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. The area was strategically important because it meant control of the Suez Canal. In May 1943 the last Axis troops surrendered in Tunisia.

Looking at a map of the area, it stood to reason that maybe the German plane that had been discovered was attempting to get to North Africa, maybe before the Italian surrender. But if it was from Germany, why hadn’t it flown a more direct course, south-southwest? Maybe I had it backward, and the plane was headed from North Africa to somewhere in Europe – Italy, or even Germany. I didn’t know how far the fighter planes could fly, and researching that seemed a step too far. There was another possibility. Maybe the plane had left from Italy, and headed for North Africa after the German’s takeover of northern Italy. The question in each scenario was why?

I sat back and considered. An even bigger question was, so what? Why was the plane so sensitive after all this time, that the United States would send a crack team of FBI divers to investigate?

It was almost six thirty, still an hour before we arrived. At home it would be mid-morning, so I went to find a quiet place to call my mother. The wind was too high outside, so I ended up going upstairs, where it was less crowded, and finding a table tucked in a corner.

My mother answered the phone in her usual, aggrieved tone and when I identified myself, she said, ‘Why are you calling?’ It sounded like she meant: what do you want? I didn’t take it personally.

‘I have to tell you something that may surprise you,’ I said.

‘Nothing you do surprises me,’ my mother said.

‘I’m in Italy.’ I braced myself for the negative response. It was always negative, always sounding as if my mother had gotten a raw deal. When I was young, my mother had been pretty, with soft eyes and dark hair that curled at her neckline. And she’d been loving, ready to laugh, ready to play with me and my sister. After my father died, though, my mother’s looks went downhill in proportion to the amount of alcohol she drank. She’d recently announced that she had cut back her alcohol consumption. I wasn’t sure if she was easier to handle when she was drunk and drowning in self-pity, or sober and sharp-tongued.

There was stunned silence. ‘The Italy? You mean like in Europe?’

I couldn’t help laughing. ‘Yes, Mom.’

‘How come you get to go places and I’m stuck here at home?’

‘Maybe you can come here sometime. It’s interesting.’

My mother grunted. ‘I should have known you’d use that reward money for selfish reasons when you could have used it to help your family.’ That was rich coming from a woman who had routinely drunk up most of the money that came into the household after my father died, leaving me as a teenager to scramble to pay rent and keep food on the table.

‘That’s not exactly what happened,’ I said. ‘Anyway, it’s beautiful here. I’ll send you some pictures.’ I’d taken a few during the ride with Cosimo, knowing I couldn’t document where I was going to end up. I could never trust my mother not to blab where I was.

‘I can see pictures of Italy whenever I want to,’ she grumbled.

‘I think you’d like the food here,’ I said, trying a new tack. Every phone call was an attempt to find a subject that wouldn’t bring on a round of complaint or invective from my mother. It was exhausting.

‘Since when did you ever care about food?’ she asked.

‘You’re right. I don’t usually. But I had some good soup today. So, how are you doing?’

‘When will you be back? What about your apartment? Are you going back to it? You were going to pick up your clothes. I can’t be a storage house for you, you know.’

‘I’ll be back before too long. If it really bothers you to have my stuff there, I’ll have someone pack it up and store it.’

‘Oh, yeah, spend money like it grows on trees.’

Gritting my teeth, I managed to stay on the line for another five minutes before I gave up trying to have a reasonable conversation, and told her I had to hang up now. And then I went in search of a glass of wine.

I took the wine out onto the deck and watched as the island of Lipari grew closer. Until now I had kept my mind off of all that was waiting for me, but now a surge of excitement grabbed me. And if I was honest, a dose of trepidation along with it.

As instructed, when I had boarded the ferry, I called the number in the note I’d received, but no one answered. I left a message saying I was on the ferry and would arrive at seven thirty. I had figured I’d get a call back. So far, I hadn’t.

Maybe someone would be there to meet me. Who would it be? Another driver, like Cosimo, or one of the members of the team? Would I be spending the night in Lipari or would I go straight to the dive site? It was frustrating to know so little and for no one to bother calling me back.

I had so many questions: how far from shore was the dive site? Did the team members sleep ashore and go out each day, or were they on a big enough vessel to sleep aboard? Did they dive every day? And bigger questions: what was taking them so long to complete the mission? According to what I’d read, they’d been at the site for three weeks so far. A long time. It seemed like they could send people down and find out what they needed to know and move on. Why hadn’t that happened? I hadn’t been briefed on the actual mission yet so there must be something in particular that was taking more time.

Growing increasingly edgy, I sipped the wine and watched the island loom closer. It reminded me of coming into Nassau. I supposed most island ports were somewhat alike, with docks and waterfronts that were set up for boats of various sizes. But not all of them had the kind of backdrop this one did. It was stunning. A rugged hill rose to the northeast with a citadel looking down on the town. There was a beach off to the west side of the port. Up ahead another hill rose behind the town, not as steep as the one with the citadel, but with clusters of houses sprawling over the hillside. As we neared the dock I saw that, like in Palermo, the buildings were utterly charming, clusters of stuccoed edifices in earth colors. The port was busy with small craft – wave runners zipping in and out between larger boats, skiffs with small sails, and larger pleasure craft. The ferry slowed and I could see that people were headed for the decks, ready to disembark. It was seven thirty, but the sun was still strong.

Despite the noisy engines of the ferry I could hear music and laughter from cafés and bars onshore. Before the boat docked, I returned to the bin where my gear was stored, to find that the same man who had helped me get the gear stowed was there to load it into a cart and wheel it onto the dock before the rest of the crowd disembarked.

He hurried up the ramp onto shore, with me behind him. Then he pulled the cart away from the dock and unloaded it.

‘Thank you,’ I said. I still didn’t have euros, but I reached into my backpack for my wallet and found a ten and handed it to him. He looked startled and threw up his hands. ‘No, signora. Mi dispiace, no tip.’ He said tip like it was teep.

‘Sorry,’ I said.

‘No problem.’ The universal phrase of excuses. ‘Excuse me, I must …’ He waved to the ferry, meaning he needed to get back.

‘Of course. Thank you again.’

He took off, trundling the empty cart. No one ran over to greet me, so I had a moment to take in my surroundings. The air was cooling off, the music and laughter from cafés along the docks was louder now, but not jarring. There was a peculiar smell in the air, like sulfur. It must be from the volcanoes.

People were pouring off the ferry, exclaiming over the beauty of the place, excited to be here. There were taxis and lots of young men in hotel uniforms with carts. Despite the crush of people, everyone managed to get sorted out. Gradually the crowd dispersed and I began to wonder what I should do if no one showed up. Surely they had my cell phone number.

And right on cue, my phone rang.

‘Is this Jessie Madison?’

‘Yes, who is this?’

‘I’m Alvin Crosby.’

‘Oh, good.’ Relief coursed through me as I recognized the name of the leader of the dive team.

‘Listen, I apologize. Someone was supposed to be there to pick you up, but we got in late. Can you … do you mind getting a cab? I mean, I could still come and get you, but it would be quicker if you got a cab.’

I glanced around and all the taxis seemed to have disappeared. ‘Um, I have a lot of gear. I don’t want to leave it unattended. So how can I get a cab?’

‘Hold on.’

I heard him conferring with someone, but I couldn’t hear what the other person said, just that it was a man and he sounded annoyed.

‘OK, look. There should be cabs there soon.’

‘There were, but a lot of people got off the ferry, and—’

‘Right. Look. Let me call a cab. Can you wait a few minutes?’

I was starting to feel testy. What kind of outfit was this that didn’t have their act together to come and pick up a new member of the team? ‘I guess I’ll have to,’ I said.

‘I do apologize,’ he said. ‘But we’ll sort this out.’ His apology was perfunctory.

I said fine, and switched off the phone.

It wasn’t dark, but shadows were starting to creep along the buildings. I wondered how long the cab ride could be. I was tired. And antsy. And even a little grumpy.

I spied three crew members from the ferry walking down the ramp onto the dock.

‘Excuse me,’ I called out. ‘Can you tell me how I can find a taxi?’

‘Taxi?’ The three men and one woman hurried over to me. ‘Where are you going?’ The man who spoke was in his twenties and his English was very good.

‘I don’t know exactly. Someone was supposed to pick me up.’

The four looked at my pile of gear and then each other and appeared to come to some tacit agreement. ‘We will take you to a hotel where you can get a taxi.’

Each of them picked up a bag and they started up the street. Before we crossed the street, I looked both ways and on the other side of the road, in the doorway of a shuttered building, I saw a man who appeared to be watching us. Or rather, watching me. The others didn’t notice. Somewhere I had read that pickpockets frequented areas where tourists abounded, and that tourists should be mindful of their surroundings. I was glad the crew was helping me.

They led me through an alley between two buildings onto a much busier street. Tourists with sunburns, and carrying beach gear, were dragging themselves up an inclined street supposedly to hotels. There were several cafés close by, with music and loud chatter coming from them. I wished I was among them, unwinding from my day. But I still had to get where I was going and then meet the team. I wondered if I could call Alvin and tell him I was going to spend the night here and I’d get there in the morning. Wherever ‘there’ was. But that hardly seemed like a good way to get off on the right foot with my team.

‘Up here,’ the man who was doing the talking said, interrupting my thoughts, gesturing toward a three-story building. ‘Hotel Caruso’ the sign read. Another hotel like the one I had been in last night, shabby on the outside.

We crossed the street and piled up my gear outside. ‘I’ll go inside and have them call a taxi,’ the man said.

‘That’s so kind,’ I said.

‘You look tired,’ the young woman of the group said. ‘Did you just arrive from the States?’

‘How did you know I was American?’ I asked.

She smiled. ‘Educated guess. I recognize the accent since we get a lot of American tourists.’

‘Yes, I arrived last night, and yes, I’m very tired. But glad to be here,’ I added, forcing my face into a smile. I was drooping, but I was determined to be friendly. After all, they were putting themselves out for me.

‘Where are you going?’ the woman asked.

‘On a dive. Someone was supposed to meet me.’

The original man came out and said, ‘They’ve called a taxi. It will be a few minutes. Go home,’ he said, shooing the others away. ‘I will wait to make sure she gets where she needs to go.’ He beamed at me. He was cute, but I didn’t get the feeling he was flirting with me, just being nice.

When the others straggled away, the man stuck out his hand. ‘I’m sorry I didn’t introduce myself. I’m Sergio.’

We sat down in the minuscule lobby that contained only two small, upholstered chairs and a tiny round coffee table. Sergio crossed his legs and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. He called out a question to the desk clerk, who apparently answered in the affirmative, because he said, ‘Do you mind if I smoke?’

I shook my head, but declined his offer of a cigarette. I still hadn’t heard from Alvin, so I phoned him again. He picked up. ‘We’re figuring it out,’ he said before I had a chance to speak.

‘Some people helped me,’ I said. ‘I’m at a hotel and they’ve called a taxi, but I need to know what address to give them.’

‘Oh. Great. Um, tell them to take you to Café Umberto. It’s around the south side of the island. One of us will meet you there.’

‘Wait …’ I had no idea of the distance and I wondered if the taxi driver would balk if it was a long distance. And how I would pay him? But I supposed I could use the credit card I’d used to buy my dive gear.

Sergio grinned when I told him my concerns. ‘Signora, the island is only nine kilometers long and half that wide. It can’t be so far.’

I flushed. In all my reading I’d neglected to find out the particulars of how small the island actually was.

‘Coming from America you are used to big places,’ he said, his arms spread wide.

I realized Alvin was still holding.

‘Alvin, I don’t have any euros yet,’ I said.

‘Doesn’t matter. Use the credit card I gave you.’

‘How long will it take to get there?’ I asked. The island was small, but I had no idea what the roads were like or whether the route would be a straight shot.

‘Twenty minutes. Maybe a little longer, but there’s not much traffic this time of night.’

I hung up, and sighed without meaning to.

‘Jessie,’ Sergio said, ‘may I bring you a glass of wine while we wait?’

I had already drunk one glass of wine on the ferry, but said yes. ‘Let me pay,’ I said.

‘Absolutely not,’ he said. He went off and came back minutes later with two glasses of red wine.

When he sat down, and we had each tasted the wine he said, ‘You are diving here? Which location?’

‘A place called Secca del Bagno,’ I said, suddenly aware that I might have made a mistake by being so free with the information of where I was going. The name of the site was so unfamiliar that it seemed impossible that anyone would know it.

‘I hope you are experienced. There are other, easier sites, you know. Equally beautiful.’

‘Are you a diver?’ I asked.

‘Me?’ He looked surprised. ‘Oh no, but I hear things from tourists.’

‘I’m here with some others,’ I said, ‘I’m looking forward to exploring several dive sites. Anyway, I’ve taken up enough of your time. I’m so grateful for your help.’

He made a no-no gesture with his forefinger. ‘I will stay with you until the taxi comes. These taxis … if one doesn’t come before too long, we’ll call again. This time of night they can be unreliable.’ He shrugged. He set down his wine, and stood up, pulling his cell phone from his pocket. ‘Excuse me while I go out and call my girlfriend to tell her where I am. I don’t want her to worry.’

‘Of course,’ I said. While he was gone, I tried not to let my anxiety amp up. I was annoyed. Since I was new, the leader at least ought to make an effort to pick me up. I looked outside and watched groups of people strolling by, laughing, some lugging suitcases, some with shopping bags. Tourists, ready for a good time.

I was at my limit of patience when Sergio returned, all smiles. ‘The taxi is here.’

The taxi was so tiny I wasn’t sure all my gear would fit. The driver had a prolonged conversation with Sergio. I got the impression that the driver was reluctant to burden his little vehicle. When I asked Sergio, he said, ‘It isn’t that. He’s used to Americans with all their luggage. It’s that he wants to get home to his meal, and he doesn’t want to drive so far this late. Usually people just want a ride for a few blocks up the hill.’

‘I’ll pay extra,’ I said.

Both men stared at me. Apparently the taxi driver understood what I said.

Sergio let off a string of what sounded like scolding words to the driver. The driver gave a dramatic shrug and gestured toward me. ‘The signora is willing to pay.’

Sergio made a dismissive gesture. ‘OK,’ he said to me. ‘Your offer to pay extra sealed the deal.’

The driver managed to cram my gear into the little trunk, in the front seat next to him, and in the seat next to me. In other circumstances, I might have thought it was charming, but my patience for charm was wearing thin. I desperately wanted to get where I was going. Once more I expressed my gratitude to Sergio, and he waved away my thanks. I wished Alvin seemed as eager to help. Why had he been so noncommittal?

Now that the driver had committed himself, he suddenly became more cheerful. He chattered about the night spots in Lipari as he tucked me into the backseat. The little car took off, headed down toward the bottom of the inclined street, rattling over the cobblestones so violently that I worried that I wouldn’t have any teeth left by the time we arrived.

SEVEN

I might have known from the desultory reception I had received by phone that there’d be no one there to meet me at the café. Furthermore, the area where the driver unceremoniously dumped me was a little creepy, on a side street, with only a few darkened buildings nearby, and no one on the streets.

At least the coffee shop was open. I dragged my things inside and saw behind the counter a barista who looked almost as disheartened as I was. He was talking on his phone in a loud whisper that sounded like he was pissed off. He was gesturing wildly. When he saw me, instead of giving me any sign that he intended to help me, he turned his back and talked louder.

I sat down at one of the tables. I decided I’d wait ten minutes and if no one had showed up I’d call Alvin to find out what the hell was going on. Maybe that would give me time to calm down. The way Farrell had talked, this was urgent, but so far, the team I was supposed to join didn’t give the impression that my presence was urgent, or even welcome.

The barista ended his call. ‘Signora, che cosa?’

I assumed by his curt tone, he meant ‘what do you want?’ or maybe even ‘what the hell do you want?’ He was the first Italian I’d run into who wasn’t welcoming.

I waved my hand and pointed to the door. ‘I’m waiting for someone.’ I hoped he understood.

He pointed to the clock, which read ten forty-five, and let off a string of Italian ending with: ‘Eleven, closed.’

I nodded. OK, he was closing at eleven, after which I’d be thrown out onto the street. He began vigorously cleaning the coffee machine, making more noise than necessary, or maybe I was just on edge.

At five minutes to eleven, a tall, broad-shouldered woman strode into the café. I recognized her at once from the briefing material. Gretchen Hoskins.

‘Are you Jessie Madison?’ Her whole demeanor expressed fury – shoulders and jaw tense, eyes glaring.

My mood sank even lower. What had I gotten myself into?

I stood up. She towered over me. ‘Yes, I’m Jessie.’

‘I’ve been waiting outside for you.’ A Southern accent.

Normally I would have had a snappy retort, but I was cowed by this woman, who was taller than I was and had thirty pounds on me. ‘I didn’t see anyone around when I arrived.’

‘I’m here now,’ she grumbled.

Although I did recognize her, I stubbornly refused to admit it. ‘And you are?’ I asked.

‘Gretchen. Bring your gear.’ No offer to help.

OK, if that’s the way she wanted to play it. I grabbed my duffle and one of the gear bags, hauled it outside, and plopped it down next to the waiting Jeep. Then I went back for the other bags. Gretchen waited in the driver’s seat while I opened the back of the Jeep and stowed my things inside. When I climbed into the passenger seat, Gretchen took off before I even had a chance to fasten my seat belt. I bit my tongue to avoid asking her what kind of bug she had up her ass.

I had a dozen questions, but I kept quiet. I’d be damned if I was going to give Gretchen the satisfaction of letting her know how uncertain I felt.

With Gretchen driving too fast for my frayed nerves, we proceeded down a street that was more like an alley, the backs of buildings ghosting to the right and left. What were these buildings? Apartments? Warehouses? I stifled a sigh. It would have been nice to be able to ask.

Within a few minutes, I could tell by the air that we were nearing water. Where would we end up? I still didn’t know if the crew stayed on land and went out on a boat daily, or if they had a big craft that we would stay on offshore. In The Bahamas, we’d mostly done day dives, and the few multi-day dives included posh accommodations.

One question was answered as we rounded a corner and drew up in front of a hotel directly opposite a dock. I reached for the door handle, but Gretchen put a hand on my arm. In the light from the hotel entrance, I could see that her expression had softened. ‘Listen, I apologize for being rude. It’s been a … an awful day.’ She hesitated, and I saw that she closed her eyes tight. ‘We had an accident. Not a disaster, but scary.’

‘That’s rough,’ I said, my voice coming out in a croak. I wanted to ask details, but there would be plenty of time tomorrow to be briefed and I was still miffed, despite the apology. I made do with: ‘Everybody OK?’

‘Yeah. Yeah, it worked out. Let’s get you inside. You must be tired.’

This time Gretchen helped me grab my gear and we went inside the hotel. It was a lot like the one where I’d spent the night with Nick last night. Had that only been last night? It seemed like days ago. After the rough greeting, I was doubly grateful that I’d had that time with him. It had made Gretchen’s brusque greeting bearable.

The hotel clerk was a young man who spoke English. He told me that my room was on the second floor and that the elevator was out of order. ‘May I help you with your luggage?’ he asked.

‘Is there someplace down here to stow my dive gear, so I don’t have to lug it upstairs?’ I asked.

‘Signora, I have a place in the back room where you can keep it and it will be safe,’ the desk clerk said. I was getting used to that soft word, signora. It had a gentle, sweet sound. The desk clerk glanced at Gretchen, clearly wanting her input.

‘Marco, can you lock it up?’ Gretchen asked.

‘Of course,’ he said.

He helped me lug my dive gear back into the room, this time with Gretchen pitching in.

‘I’m staying here tonight, too,’ Gretchen said. ‘My room is down the hall – 206. If you need anything, just knock.’

‘What time should I be ready tomorrow?’

‘The hotel serves breakfast from six to eight. The whole team will be here. It won’t be early, so take your time tomorrow morning.’

‘I didn’t get any dinner. Is there somewhere I can get a bite to eat?’

Gretchen flinched. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t think of that. Marco?’

‘Certo, signora. I will bring you a panini. Is that …?’ He looked upset, like he was offering something inadequate.

‘That will be wonderful,’ I said. ‘Thank you.’ If it was half as good as the one I’d had for lunch – was that only today? – it would be more than adequate.

He darted away down a corridor, where Gretchen had said breakfast would be served.

‘I hope it’s not much trouble,’ I said.

‘Don’t worry,’ Gretchen said, a smile flitting across her face, ‘Italians love to feed people. You’ve made his night complete.’

‘You don’t have to wait with me,’ I said. ‘But one thing. I don’t know how to pay him. Will he take a credit card?’

‘Oh, he’ll put it on the bill. Don’t worry, Alvin will pay the bill. If you don’t mind, I’ll go on up.’

‘No problem,’ I said. I’d actually be glad to get rid of her. I couldn’t take any more odd interactions tonight.

As soon as Gretchen disappeared up the stairs, my spirits sank. Not much of a greeting. I hoped the people I met tomorrow would be friendlier.

Marco came back a few minutes later and handed me a paper bag. ‘If you need something else, I am here.’ He gestured toward the desk.

‘I’m sure this will be fine.’ I shouldered my duffle and went up to the second floor and found my room.

The room was adequate, with photos of local sights, a small desk, and a surprisingly comfortable chair. The bed had the same kind of elaborate headboard as the one in the last hotel. Nick had told me that for some reason, most Italian beds had those. This one was in padded white faux leather, decorated with gold trim. I felt the bed and was relieved to find it was firm enough.

I set the paper bag down on the desk and unwrapped a beautifully put together sandwich on focaccia bread with salami, cheese and tomatoes. Marco had also included an orange San Pellegrino soda and an apple. A feast. I wasted no time gobbling it all down.

I had known I’d be too wired to sleep. Back home it was mid-afternoon, and I was wide awake. But I showered in the tiny bathroom and decided to lie down anyway.

The next thing I knew, loud voices woke me. Someone was having an argument in the hallway. It must be the middle of the night. I groaned. Now I’d never get back to sleep. I got up and opened the curtain, and was surprised to find that it was growing light. It was seven o’clock. I’d slept seven hours. If the angry voices hadn’t awakened me, I would have overslept.

I did a few yoga stretches and felt halfway human. As I dressed in cargo pants and a T-shirt, I tried to remember the details of the argument outside my room. It had been a man and a woman. The man said something like, ‘You’re a fool if you think I’m going to forget about this.’ The woman said, ‘But maybe it was really unintentional. Think about the …’ And then they had moved away.

If that woman was Gretchen, was the man also with the team? Were they rehashing the accident yesterday? If so, what did she mean ‘maybe it was really unintentional’? Was there a question that someone had intended to cause trouble? What kind of accident had it been?

Of course, the subject could have been something else entirely, and although they were speaking English, that didn’t mean they were part of the team I was joining. This was a dive site. And according to several people, last night, a difficult one. So it stood to reason that things happened that would have people on edge.

I headed downstairs and was directed to a spacious, cheerful breakfast room. On one side big windows looked out onto the dock and the ocean. The ocean was my preferred environment. People could be problematic, but in the water, everyone had an equal chance.

I stood outside the doorway, scanning the room. There were three people at one table, deep in conversation, and I recognized them as Alvin Crosby, Susan Vance, and Marcus Robinson. They looked grim. Were they still smarting from the accident Gretchen told me had happened yesterday?

I drew a deep breath and stepped into the room, which caught their attention. Crosby stood up, threw his napkin onto the table, said something to the other two seated with him, and came around the end of the table toward me. He was stockier than his photo implied, bearish, with a barrel chest. I felt myself flush as the three sized me up, physically. I was a good bit smaller than the others and I hoped they didn’t take my five-foot-five height and 120 pounds as wimpy. I was strong, and had demonstrated it plenty of times as a dive instructor in The Bahamas. And when I had gotten into bad trouble there, my strength and resilience had been what saved me – and Nick. If they were worried, I’d have to prove to them that I could hold my own.

‘Hello, welcome,’ Alvin said. He extended a hand, but his smile was tight. ‘I heard you got in pretty late. Did you sleep?’

‘I slept surprisingly well,’ I said. ‘I’m sure jet lag will hit me sometime today, but right now I feel great.’

‘Good to hear. Let’s get you acquainted with some of the team.’ He steered me toward the table where he’d been sitting.

‘Guys, this is Jessie Madison. She’s our fresh blood.’

Marcus Robinson and Susan Vance introduced themselves and welcomed me, certainly a warmer welcome than I’d gotten last night from Gretchen, but I still sensed a strained atmosphere. Like Gretchen, Susan Vance was muscular and fit-looking. She was pretty, her hair lighter than her photo – almost blonde. I wondered where Gretchen was, and if she had been the woman talking outside my room earlier.

Marcus, the Black member of the team, tall and lanky, was as serious-looking in person as his photo had made him out to be, but when he said, ‘We’re glad you’re joining the team,’ his deep, soft voice with its Kentucky accent smoothed the impression.

‘Hope you had a good trip,’ he continued. ‘I’m trying to tell Alvin to take it easy on you this first day.’

‘I hope you persuade him,’ I said. They all smiled.

Alvin looked around the room. ‘I don’t see the others. You met Gretchen last night. She may have slept in. But I expect Dallas went for a run. Jack stayed back on the boat. And Laila – well, she’s Laila. She always brings up the rear. I’ll pull you up a chair and you go get some breakfast.’ He indicated a buffet along one wall. ‘They’ll make you some eggs if you’d like.’

‘I’ll be fine,’ I said. ‘As long as there’s coffee.’

‘Ah, then truly one of us,’ Alvin said.

The buffet had a display of cold cuts and cheese, boiled eggs, and fruit. I got a bowl of fruit and yogurt with granola and poured myself a cup of black coffee that smelled heavenly.

When I got to the table, Susan stood up. ‘I’ll see you later. I have a couple of things to do before we have our debriefing.’

Good. I hoped in the debriefing I’d find out what had happened yesterday that had rattled them so much.

When I sat down to eat my breakfast, as soon as I’d taken a couple of sips of coffee, Alvin bombarded me with questions. ‘Tell us about yourself,’ he said. ‘All we know is that we needed a diver right away and we were told they were sending someone who was up to the task. Give us some background.’

I told them I was from Virginia and that I’d worked as a dive instructor in The Bahamas. As I talked, I could feel their eyes on me assessing, measuring.

Marcus was frowning, his dark eyes worried. ‘Any dive experience outside The Bahamas? Any tough dives?’

‘Not many. I admit, The Bahamas are pretty forgiving. But when I was getting certified, we went on some deeper dives.’

‘Where did you get your dive training?’ Alvin asked.

‘From a guy the FBI recommended, Tony Ortega.’

Alvin whistled. ‘Ah. He’s tough.’ His eyes held new respect.

‘He doesn’t let you wimp out, that’s for sure,’ I said. I didn’t add that Tony’s training had saved my life. That story was for another time, after I’d gotten to know them.

‘We were told you were in the FBI training program,’ Alvin said.

I hesitated. ‘That’s correct.’ I wondered if they’d also been told I’d been dismissed from training. Should I tell them? Would they want to know why? I didn’t mind answering the question, but I didn’t particularly want to volunteer it either. It had been a miscalculation on my part, impulsively rushing off to rescue my drug-addled sister after she’d killed a drug dealer, without alerting Farrell what I was up to. I’d known it could bring dismissal if I didn’t let him know, but my sister’s call had come in the middle of the night. I had judged that I had no time to waste, no time to notify Farrell. I had been terrified of what would happen if the drug dealer’s brother found my sister, Kayla. ‘I didn’t complete the training,’ I said.

Alvin blinked, but then said, ‘We also heard you acquitted yourself well in a tough situation in The Bahamas.’

That was the bottom line. My courage in a risky situation. They wanted to know if they could count on me. I understood that. A dive team was only as good as its weakest member. But I didn’t want to brag, either. People who boasted of their achievements were sometimes compensating for shortcomings – or were too competitive with others. I didn’t want to give that impression. ‘I ran into some trouble and managed to get out with a healthy dose of luck,’ I said cautiously.

‘You make your own luck,’ Marcus said, eyeing me intently.

‘I guess you can say I took advantage of luck when it showed up,’ I said.

Marcus rewarded me with a thoughtful smile. ‘Exactly.’

Gretchen walked up, trailed by a shorter woman I recognized from my briefing photos as Laila Basri. She was no taller than me, but heftier, maybe even a little overweight. She would have been beautiful if it hadn’t been for a scowl that twisted her features. Gretchen flashed me a tentative smile, probably trying to make up for last night’s temper tantrum, but Laila ignored me and went straight to Alvin. Stepping behind him, she put her hands on his shoulders, like a declaration of ownership. Alvin frowned, moved her hands off, and stood up. ‘More coffee,’ he announced. He scooted around the side of the table. ‘Anybody want a refill?’

Laila flushed. It looked like there was some history there. I suspected that members of a team that worked closely together could develop flirtations, and some of them might not be welcome.

Marcus handed over his cup, and a look passed between the two men. Alvin gave a tiny shrug. What did all that mean? It was hard joining an established team late. I had a lot of deciphering to do.

‘Do I have time to eat?’ Gretchen asked Alvin.

‘Of course,’ he said. ‘We’re taking it easy today. No hurry.’

‘I’m skipping breakfast,’ Laila announced. ‘I’m gaining weight and I have to stop eating so much.’

Gretchen flinched, and glanced at Alvin.

‘No, you aren’t skipping a meal,’ Alvin said quietly, but with steel in his voice.

Laila’s mouth turned down in a pout and she looked like she was ready to protest, but Gretchen said, ‘Come on, Laila. We’ll get something light.’ Laila followed Gretchen like a duckling.

What the hell was going on with that? Alvin was the oldest of the group, but why did that make him Laila’s big daddy? They were all within ten years of each other’s age. Was Laila a problem for the team?

I didn’t have time to finish the thought because another member of the team, Dallas Girard, strode in like a conquering hero, bearing the same insolent look as his photo. It looked like my initial assessment of him had been right. He was a peacock. I’d run into men like him in The Bahamas, guys who thought their good looks should get them extra points in life. And Dallas was good-looking. Tall and broad-shouldered, his curly dark hair was shaggy, certainly longer than the custom for agents. He had a strong jaw and chocolate-brown eyes. Everyone greeted him warmly, some joking with him about his need to run any time he was on land. Regardless of my first impression of him, he was clearly tight with the team.

‘Hey, you must be Jessie,’ he said, extending his hand to me. ‘Good to have you aboard. Well,’ he added, ‘not aboard yet. But you know what I mean.’ His eyes danced and held mine for a beat. Yeah. Flirtatious. I’d have to watch out for him. I had no intention of getting entangled in such close quarters.

Dallas headed to the buffet table and he and Alvin conferred briefly. Dallas came back with a plate laden with cold cuts and rolls, followed by Alvin and the two women.

Alvin looked at my plate. I’d finished my food. He addressed the others. ‘Marcus and I are going to take Jessie into the meeting room to give her some background. As soon as everyone has had their breakfast, come join us.’

EIGHT

I bused my dishes, poured myself another cup of coffee, and followed Alvin and Marcus to a meeting room with a table large enough for eight chairs.

They shut the door behind us, and Alvin gestured for me to take a seat to his right. He sat at the head of the table, with Marcus to his left. The two men were unsmiling, which unnerved me. What would they want from me? Would they think I was fit for the job? I had a momentary flash of being sent packing because they assessed that I didn’t have the right experience.

‘First, I have to apologize for your less than stellar welcome last night,’ Alvin said.

He must mean Gretchen’s snippy attitude, which meant Gretchen had filled him in. ‘No need to apologize,’ I said. ‘It was late.’

‘No, that wasn’t the problem. We had an incident yesterday that we had to deal with.’ He paused and seemed to be struggling for the right words. ‘Gretchen was pretty upset and she said she was rude to you. She feels bad about it.’

I shook my head. ‘Look, she apologized. I’m over it.’

‘Good. Then we can move on. OK, you’ve met everyone except Jack, and you’ll meet him this afternoon. As you might imagine, we’re a tight group. I’m sure you’ll find your way to fitting in, but give it time.’

It was a strange warning, and I wondered if there was anyone in particular I ought to approach carefully.

‘We’ve been working on this mission for a few weeks, and there have been some glitches we weren’t expecting, which is why it’s taking longer than we thought it would.’

‘What kind of glitches?’ I asked.

Alvin seemed surprised that I had asked a question. ‘I’d say the biggest problem was the accident with the other team member, Taylor. He was actually the leader of the team and very experienced, so it was a shock when he ran into trouble.’

‘And now you’re the leader.’

‘Yeah, I had the next most experience, and I’m the oldest, so it has fallen to me. The other incidents were annoyances, until yesterday, when we had a bigger problem. No need to go into the details.’

I glanced over and saw Marcus staring at me. He seemed to come to some decision. He said, ‘Alvin, tell her. She needs to know what’s going on.’

I had a feeling he had given me a seal of approval. But for what?

‘OK,’ Alvin said, swallowing. ‘It was an unusual occurrence. One of the tanks ran out of air and—’

‘No,’ Marcus said firmly. ‘The whole truth.’

I saw the muscle in Alvin’s jaw tighten. ‘OK, two tanks.’

I gasped. For one tank to go dry meant someone had made a mistake, had forgotten to fill a tank, or the tank was defective. Two? That pointed to something more problematic. More than carelessness. Bad equipment? Or worse … sabotage?

I had to speak up. I had to let them know I wasn’t a novice, that I understood the implication. ‘Two? How could that happen?’ I didn’t ask it of Alvin, but of Marcus. For some reason I had the feeling that although Alvin was the titular head of the team, Marcus was the one I could talk to.

Marcus nodded to me. I’d asked the right question. ‘That’s what we need to ascertain. We’re trying to figure it out.’

I frowned. One thing made no sense. ‘Wouldn’t people have noticed that the tanks were lighter? I mean a full tank weighs a lot more.’

‘The tanks weren’t entirely empty,’ Alvin said. He sounded defensive. ‘It was only after they’d been down for thirty minutes that they ran out. So it was a matter of maybe three or four pounds’ difference. We have so much going on when we go down there that people may not notice.’

‘But,’ Marcus added, ‘you can be damn sure that from now on we’ll weigh them before we go down.’

A major incident like that had no doubt left them all on edge, and probably defensive, and protective of each other. But that was no excuse for whitewashing the matter. Although I wanted to be tactful, I needed to know the particulars – to know who might have blown it. ‘Have you spoken with the person whose job it was to make sure they were filled?’

‘Of course. And that person,’ Alvin spoke carefully, letting me know that he wasn’t comfortable trusting me with the information, ‘swears they were all topped up.’

I wanted to know which of the team had been responsible, but I needed to be very careful of jumping in too quickly. I’d find out eventually. But there were things I could press them on. ‘Maybe it’s time to replace the tanks,’ I said. It was rare for air tanks to need replacing. They were heavy and almost indestructible. They should last for years. But you had to be able to depend on them.

‘We examined them and they look fine,’ Alvin said. ‘We brought them in to have the dive shop take a look at them to make sure they’re not damaged. That’s where Susan is now.’

So, it must be Susan’s job to make sure the tanks were filled. She’s the one who had blown it.

‘How are the tanks refilled?’ I asked. ‘Do you have an air compressor on board?’

‘We do, but usually we bring them to the dive shop where they have a bigger compressor – two of them.’

I wondered if the dive shop could be trusted. Had they been responsible for filling the tanks? Even so, someone would have checked them before the dive, wouldn’t they?

I pressed on. ‘Could the gauges be faulty? How old are they?’

Alvin nodded as if pleased at my questions, maybe because they indicated that I was experienced enough to know the right questions, but maybe also because I clearly wouldn’t shy away from the hard ones. ‘They looked fine. Susan is having the dive shop test them again to be sure.’

But there was one question I didn’t dare ask. Could it have been sabotage? Again, a subject for when I’d gotten to know the team.

‘Would you …?’ I hesitated. ‘Can you tell me how the ones with the bad tanks managed to get back?’

Alvin leaned toward me. ‘That’s why we were all so shaken up. There were five people on the dive, but two had already returned. So the three remaining divers had to do a three-way share. Not easy. Luckily, they’re all skilled.’

‘How deep were they?’ I blurted it out, feeling a sensation of panic the three divers must have experienced knowing they had limited air to get them to safety.

Alvin shrugged. ‘Deep enough that it was a tough ascent. Luckily their computers were able to calibrate how long they had before the oxygen stopped, and there was enough time.’

Not a satisfying answer. Having two tanks run out of air was a big deal, and I had the feeling that I wasn’t getting the whole story, that there was more to it. But again, I knew I’d have to tread carefully until they trusted me enough to tell me everything.

Another question – why hadn’t another diver gone down to meet them with a new tank? There must be a communication system. I personally had never used a communication mask, because they were complicated and not necessary in the waters I had been used to diving in. But on a deep dive like this one, they’d be absolutely necessary. So why hadn’t they used it?

Alvin straightened up, as if a hard task had been completed and more questions were now off the table. ‘Now you know why we weren’t there to greet you with a brass band.’

‘So Gretchen drew the short straw.’

‘Yeah.’ He glanced at Marcus. These looks that were passing between people spooked me. There was too much unsaid here.

‘I can imagine how tense everyone must have been,’ I said.

But the truth was I didn’t want to imagine it. The water was my environment, but only a few months ago I’d been in a situation where drowning had been a real possibility and only the best training had saved me. I still had shaky moments when the memory assailed me.

There was a tap on the door and Dallas Girard peeked in. ‘All clear?’

‘Sure, come on in,’ Alvin said.

Dallas was followed by Gretchen and Laila. Only Susan was missing, with her errand of checking out the tanks. They sat down at the table and once again I felt on display, everyone eyeing me almost warily. They must know that Alvin told me what had happened yesterday. Did they think I’d judge them harshly for it?

Alvin spoke. ‘We’ve briefed Jessie about yesterday’s incident, so let’s welcome her to the team, shall we?’ He led the others in clapping politely.

Laila shot me a narrow-eyed look that looked an awful lot like resentment. What had I done to deserve that? Maybe it had nothing to do with me. There could be problems with the job. Maybe she didn’t feel up to it. Or it could be personal insecurity. She was attractive. Maybe she enjoyed a certain status with the male members of the team and was afraid I’d usurp that. Or it could be that there were secrets on the team I knew nothing about, and she wanted it to stay that way.

‘Thank you, everyone,’ I said. ‘I hope to be a valuable part of the team. I understand there was a glitch yesterday. I know those things happen, and I promise I won’t be a weak link in the team.’

More polite applause.

For ten minutes Alvin led the team not in discussing how to avoid such problems in the future, as I’d assumed, but in simply going over some housekeeping – whose gear needed replacing, if the communication units were working properly, if people were getting enough sleep. There was a brief discussion about provisions – whether people were satisfied with the food – and who might like a day off to go into town sometime soon. Gretchen said she could use a day off, and Marcus said he’d like one, too. When they wound down, I still didn’t feel as if I’d had enough briefing. But that could wait until we were aboard the dive boat.

‘Where is Susan?’ Dallas asked.

‘I’m here.’ Susan stepped into the room. She looked worried and I wondered what kind of report she had to make about the tanks. Susan caught Alvin’s eye, and shook her head slightly. Alvin’s expression sobered.

Alvin stood up. ‘I’m going to have a talk with Susan. Marcus, why don’t you huddle with Jessie and fill her in on what to expect on board the boat. The rest of you disperse and go to the store if you need to. When Susan and I get back we can head out.’

I was glad it was Marcus who would brief me. Experiencing his calm, cool manner, I had begun to trust him. Marcus got up and suggested we go for a walk. ‘I can show you the town. I use the term “town” loosely,’ he added dryly.

Outside, I took a deep, satisfying breath of fresh air coming off the sea. I’d been feeling claustrophobic in the room, not because it was so closed-up, but due to the tension I sensed among the crew members. I hoped Marcus would tell me more. I felt like I was coming in blind.

We strolled along the dock, Marcus pointing out a combination grocery store and pharmacy, a café, and a laundromat. ‘All the things you really need in a pinch, but Dallas goes to Lipari for real provisions.’

‘Good to know. How often do you come into this village?’

‘Every few days. The boat isn’t big enough to store a lot of provisions, so we often need a top-up. But we have a big Zodiac. It only takes a half hour to zip around to Lipari, where there are more choices. We just come here for quick trips.’

One thing I wanted to get straight right away. ‘Who does the cooking?’

He burst out laughing. ‘Something tells me that isn’t an idle question. Not much of a cook, are you?’

‘Frozen pizza, frozen waffles, toast, spaghetti from—’ I stopped as he held up his hand.

‘Don’t tell me you eat spaghetti from a can. That’s sacrilege here in Italy. Look, everybody is expected to do something with regard to meals. If you don’t cook …’

‘You clean.’ I completed his sentence, laughing. ‘That’s fine with me. I’m much better at cleaning dishes than cooking.’

‘Excellent. We have two people on board who are pretty good cooks. One is Dallas, believe it or not. And the other one is me, although I don’t do much. Dallas seems to like it, so I’m happy for him to be in charge. Susan will cook in a pinch. She does the basics.’

‘And the others? How do they pitch in?’

‘Gretchen is like you. She hates to cook and she’s a vegetarian so she won’t cook meat for everyone else. Laila can cook, but she leaves the galley such a mess that everyone has decided she should stick to minor things. Not that she’s good at that either,’ he added.

I didn’t say so, but I was surprised. I had known people like Laila, who managed to get out of doing anything meaningful by pretending they couldn’t do it well. So how did that translate to being on a dive team? Most divers were a little, or a lot, OCD, super tidy. Did Laila shirk her duties on the team? Was she careless? If so, was she a danger to the team?

As if he’d read my mind, Marcus said, ‘Thank goodness that doesn’t include her dive habits. She’s meticulous in that regard.’ I would have to take his word for it, for now.

Marcus steered me to an outdoor café. ‘Let’s sit and get another cup of coffee. We have a lot to go over.’

There were a few people sitting outside, most of whom looked rooted in place. Tourists who liked out-of-the-way adventures? Divers taking a day off? Locals?

We sat at a table with an umbrella that would keep us from the sun that was beginning to be intense.

I was tired of the pussyfooting around and decided to take the initiative. ‘So, there was an incident yesterday, but it was handled. So why is everybody so jittery? It seems to go beyond that.’

Marcus looks startled. He took a sip of his cappuccino and contemplated the question. ‘You picked up on that?’

I nodded.

‘Close quarters for one thing. We had to charter the best boat we could get, but it’s not ideal. Most of us, it’s two to a cabin. Except for Alvin, who has one to himself because he snores like a rhinoceros and nobody wants to listen to him. Dallas prefers to sleep out on deck. I’m bunked with Jack. And Susan and Gretchen share. They seem to get along well.’

‘So I’d bunk with Laila?’ Maybe that was why Laila was so pouty with me. She didn’t want a roommate. I was getting the picture that Laila was spoiled. The briefing sheet had said that Laila’s father was an Iraqi diplomat. Were they a wealthy family? Had her father used his influence to get his daughter onto this elite team?

Marcus grimaced. ‘I’m afraid so. There is one other possibility. There’s a hole-in-the-wall cabin near the engine.’

‘That suits me.’

Marcus looked surprised. ‘It’s really small, and I don’t know how comfortable it will be. We use it for storage, but there are other places we can store stuff.’

‘As long as it has a mattress I’ll be fine. I’m a sound sleeper.’ And it meant I’d get to be alone, which I liked.

‘You’d better try it first.’

‘It won’t be a problem.’ Not nearly as much of a problem as rooming with a woman who resented my presence. I’d make it work.

‘Let me know if you change your mind. Laila can be something of a brat, but in the end she’s a team player. She’d sulk for a couple of days, but she’d come around.’

‘I’ll keep that in mind. Now, I’d like to know how the crew works. Who’s the surface commander?’ That was the person who stayed on the boat and monitored divers’ activities to minimize problems.

‘Alvin and I trade off. We both want to keep our hand in with the dives. And the others rotate. We always try to have two on board.’

‘Do you have any special equipment aboard?’

Marcus smiled. ‘You’re asking the right questions. We had an underwater bot. But it has a problem. We’re waiting for a part from Rome.’

‘Who’s trying to repair it?’

‘That’s Gretchen. She studied engineering in college, and has that kind of mind. She knows how to fix pretty much anything. She’s the one who identified the problem with it. At this rate, though, we’re likely to be done with the job before the part ever arrives.’

‘How would the bot be used? Could it perform what the team is supposed to do?’

He grimaced. ‘Probably not. If we thought it could do the job, I’d send somebody to the mainland to get the part. But Gretchen says for our particular needs, it might not even be suitable, so we could be wasting our time. We’re thinking of giving up on it.’

Which made me wonder again exactly what the team was supposed to do. What was the mission? To retrieve the plane? To retrieve the pilot? The pilot had not been mentioned in the briefing. Maybe the pilot had ditched the plane. I wanted answers. And I was getting impatient to have my questions answered.

‘We also have a winch,’ Marcus said. ‘And that’s something we can definitely use. But it has been balky, too. Gretchen has been working on it.’

‘What kind of underwater communication system do we use?’

‘We’ve got the best. Actually it’s military grade. We use five-watt walkie-talkie-sized units that can be attached to your harness. Have you ever used one?’

‘No, in sport diving we never had any need for something so elaborate.’

‘They’re pretty amazing. The units can work for more than a mile – not quite as elaborate as military, but plenty for our use.’

‘Yeah, I remember my trainer said some of those can transmit more than three miles. So how do they work?’

‘The communication mask is a full-face mask, and it’s more complicated than the usual mask. It includes cabling for the mic and an earpiece. There’s an oral nasal pocket to reduce CO₂ build-up and they have a built-in regulator, and a port to attach a comms system.’

‘Wow. I knew they were complicated, but I’ve never seen one up close. They must give a lot of extra visibility.’

‘True. They’re also warmer and more comfortable. And they protect a diver’s airways in case he or she goes unconscious. But there are disadvantages.’

I chuckled. ‘Aren’t there always? Like what?’

Marcus grinned. ‘Getting a tight fit is harder, equalization and mask clearing can be harder. And bailout is trickier. A diver has to remove his mask and regulator simultaneously to go on an alternative breathing source. That’s why yesterday’s incident was so tricky. Two of the divers were wearing communication masks.’

I tried to picture what that would be like having to share breathing equipment and simultaneously ascend slowly enough to regulate the air in each person’s body. I decided to plunge in with the next question. ‘So, if they had the comm system why didn’t they notify the boat what had happened so someone could go down with a fresh tank?’

Marcus looked away from me and shook his head, fiddling with the spoon in his cup. ‘They said they tried to, but we never heard them.’

‘How can that be?’

‘I hope it was just a loose connection. Gretchen will look into it.’

I wasn’t going to press farther. I had heard what I needed to know. Somebody had monkeyed with the dive. No wonder everyone was on edge.

‘Anyway, we have to figure out what happened. But bottom line, regarding the comm system, if you want to learn how to use it, somebody can teach you. But you won’t actually need to learn it. We have four people on the comms team who’ve had the necessary training: Gretchen, Alvin, Dallas, and Jack.’

I was glad I didn’t have to learn a new breathing system right off, but eventually I hoped I’d become familiar with it.

Marcus sipped the last of his coffee and looked at his watch. ‘We should get back. Any more questions?’

‘I have some general curiosity about the team. I read that Dallas is the medical technician.’

I read the hesitation in his eyes. ‘Yes.’

‘You don’t sound too enthusiastic.’

He smiled. ‘You’re good at reading people. That’s a valuable talent to have. Not everyone on the team has that kind of people skill. It will come in handy.’

‘But you didn’t answer my question. Why are you hesitant about Dallas’s medical skills?’ It wasn’t as if we needed a brain surgeon aboard. We just needed the equivalent of a military medic.

Marcus looked out to the water and tapped the table with his fingers. I waited, while he decided whether to blow off the question. ‘This is strictly my take on it, and I don’t want it to influence you, but I’ve seen him freeze a couple of times when there was an injury. I mean minor things, like a gash or a bump on the head. He’s hesitant, not a good trait for a medic.’

‘I understand.’

‘Do you by chance have any medical training?’

I grinned. ‘I’m a pro. I know how to bandage a skinned knee and I can hand somebody a couple of Tylenol and a glass of water.’

He chuckled. ‘At least you’re honest.’

Was I? I’d find out whether I’d been honest about my diving skills when I got into the waters that everyone seemed intent on warning me were difficult. I was looking forward to testing myself on that first dive.

‘Look,’ I said, ‘I don’t want to be too nosy, but the briefing I was given was shy on details, so maybe you can fill me in.’

‘How much do you know?’

‘The brief said that a German World War Two airplane had been found off the coast here and I assume we need to retrieve it. But it didn’t say why this airplane was of any importance. I imagine there were plenty of German airplanes downed in this area. Do they always try to recover any that are found?’

‘Recover? No. But they always try to find out if a pilot was a missing American. If it is, there are protocols for handling remains.’

‘Are there remains on this plane?’

He hesitated. ‘Do you mind asking Alvin these questions? He’s the one charged with telling you what you need to know.’

‘Of course. I understand. And I deeply appreciate the chance to work with the team. But I hope at some point I’ll be brought up to speed.’

‘I’m sure you know that the FBI works on a need-to-know basis, right? Since you haven’t been fully trained and don’t have experience as an agent, it puts you in an odd category.’

I nodded, disappointed. I was going to be kept in the dark, at least for now.

‘Please don’t take this personally. Anyone who comes on new has to be vetted before they are fully briefed.’

‘No problem.’ What kind of assessment would it take? I supposed they’d want to dive with me to make sure I was as accomplished as they’d been told. And they’d want to be sure I could get along with others on the team – that I wasn’t some kind of secret headcase.

Marcus leaned forward. ‘I’ll tell you one more thing, because you’ll find out soon enough anyway. The airplane is in a precarious position. These are volcanic islands and very little land has been built up. What is there is like a mountain landscape – boulders, caves, walls. It all makes for interesting diving. It’s sort of like diving on Swiss cheese. You get these places where you have shelves under you, but they drop off into an abyss one-thousand-feet deep. It can be startling.’

The idea gave me goosebumps.

‘But as interesting as the dive is, it’s also much more treacherous. The airplane is at the edge of one of those shelves I mentioned, dangling over an abyss. Theoretically, too much movement could push it over and we’d lose it.’

I could understand that the position of the plane was precarious, but it seemed like they could hitch the airplane to the large boat and stabilize it, and then maybe haul it to a less precarious location. Surely they’d thought of that, so there must be some circumstances making it difficult. Something to do with the treacherous terrain? Were there sharks? Or worse? It occurred to me that maybe the plane was carrying bombs and they were afraid to joggle it too much.

Picturing the position of the airplane, I remembered an odd dive I’d been on in The Bahamas off one of the private cays. Many years earlier, a small airplane had missed an island runway and crashed into the water. It was only twenty-five feet under the surface – you could free-dive it. Still, when I snorkeled over it, even though I knew the pilot had gotten out alive and no one was hurt, it gave me an eerie feeling. I’d talked to more than one person who said they wouldn’t return to it because it gave them the creeps, something to do with an airplane being out of its natural element. It was supposed to be in the air, not in the sea.

‘How deep is the plane?’

‘One hundred and twenty feet.’

‘Oh.’ My pulse jumped. Right at the cut-off for recreational diving. One hundred and thirty feet was considered the maximum depth for a recreational dive, and even that was a dive to be carefully calibrated.

‘You obviously understand what that means. We have to work in short spurts and everyone has to take time in between. Have you ever been that deep?’

I thought of the dozens of dives I’d taken – hundreds, even, but none approaching that level. I wished I could say yes. Maybe I should fudge it. But I couldn’t. That would be stupid. It would put not only me but everyone else at risk. ‘Not really. Well, once. When I was getting certified. Tony was hardcore. He insisted we try a couple of deep dives.’ But we’d been in open water, and the dive had lasted a short time.

‘Never mind. We’ll get you acclimated. The diving here is tricky, so it’s a good idea for a member of the team to take you out and get you acquainted with the area. Maybe take a few practice trips before you go down to the plane.’ He sat back and stared at me. ‘Wait. You said you’ve mostly done diving in The Bahamas. Have you ever been on dives that are rated difficult?’

‘No. Unless you count some of the difficult asshole tourists I had to deal with.’ I had tried to deflect the question, but I could see from the look on his face that he wasn’t to be deflected.

‘Medium dives?’

‘Look, I haven’t been where there were rated dives. But I’m a good diver. I’m comfortable in the water and I know what I’m doing. I can learn to be competent in deeper dives.’ Could I? I was holding my breath. What if he sent me home?

‘You understand we really have to be careful with the team. It’s perilous out there. The water around here is variable, from reasonably deep to really deep.’

‘So I’ve been told.’

‘Your ex-trainer told me you had acquitted yourself well in a bad situation, so I’ll take your word that you’re game.’

‘Thank you. I won’t disappoint you.’ I released the breath I’d been holding. I was in, at least for now.

‘One other thing,’ Marcus said. ‘Have you ever had to buddy-breathe? I mean, other than in training?’

‘Sure. Many times. We took a lot of people out every day and there were frequent incidents. People who were unused to diving and used up their air too quickly. People dropping their equipment. Someone would get panicky.’ Buddy-breathing with two people was easy enough, even when one was panicky and I had to be firm with a novice diver. But three? In deep water? That was a stretch. I’d never even heard of a situation where three had to share one regulator.

Marcus stood up. It had gotten hot and we were both perspiring. ‘We should get back. I don’t know about you,’ he said, ‘but I’ll be glad to hit the water.’

‘Ditto.’

The crew was waiting for us. Alvin glanced from Marcus to me. ‘All good?’

‘She’ll be fine,’ Marcus said.

‘Hold on,’ Alvin said. ‘What does that mean? Come inside.’

He led us into the meeting room. ‘What do you mean, fine?’ His voice was harsh. ‘We need better than fine.’

‘She doesn’t have experience in difficult dives,’ Marcus said.

Alvin gritted his teeth and glared at me. ‘Are you shitting me? We’re not doing resort dives here. It’s serious. And it’s dangerous.’

I was quaking inside, but my mind leaped to when I’d been wrapped in chains and thrown overboard to drown. Only determination and good training had gotten me out of that situation. How could any dive be any worse than that? I didn’t want to tell Alvin about that, but if I had to, I would. I managed to sound firm when I said, ‘I’m a good diver. I’m comfortable in the water. More than comfortable. It’s my element. I’ve had good training and I can do what needs to be done.’

Alvin chewed his lip and didn’t reply for a full minute. I refused to break the silence and I could feel Marcus next to me, tense and uncertain.

‘Tomorrow you’ll be tested,’ Alvin said. ‘Then I’ll decide.’

‘Fair enough,’ I said.

NINE

Before we left for the boat, Alvin insisted on checking the gear I had bought, in case I’d forgotten anything. That was OK with me. Tony, my dive instructor, had drilled into his students that you could never be too careful. I brought it out of the room where it had been stored and took it to the meeting room where Alvin said he’d inspect it.

‘All good,’ he pronounced after he laid it all out in the meeting room. ‘Maybe a little overkill.’

And maybe not.

He frowned. ‘I’m not seeing a mask.’

‘I have my own,’ I said. ‘I’ll bring it down with my stuff.’

He gave me a look of approval and nodded. When I came down a few minutes later with my duffle and pulled out the mask, he said, ‘That’s the gold standard. Good for you.’ One step closer to acceptance.

We hauled everything out onto the street to pack into a dock cart. Laila scrutinized my gear. ‘Where’s all your other stuff?’ she asked.

‘I don’t know what you mean,’ I said. But I suspected I knew exactly what Laila meant. Few people traveled as light as I did.

‘That duffle is all you brought with you?’ she said, her voice rising in disbelief.

‘Yep. I don’t need much. And I did buy some pants and a jacket. I’ll be good.’

Dallas was watching our exchange and he snickered. ‘Laila, not everyone needs to dress like a fashionista on a dive boat.’

Laila glared at him and flounced away. Marcus had described tight quarters. It was no surprise that there would be some minor conflicts. I hoped there weren’t major ones. I’d make sure I wasn’t the source of one.

The dinghy, tied up at the far end of the dock, was a Zodiac large enough for all seven of us, with a powerful outboard motor. Alvin was the driver. He directed me to sit at the back close to him. ‘I can tell you about the formations we’ll pass,’ he said.

Several tanks, including, I presumed, the ones that had run out of air, were stowed in a storage locker under the forward seats. Dallas had done grocery shopping and Susan came back with bags of supplies, so along with my gear, we were packed in tight.

It was after noon, and the wind had kicked up, so the ride was bumpy, but I didn’t care. Feeling the wind on my face and the spray from the waves was all I needed to make me feel pumped for whatever I had to face. I’d been cooped up in my apartment, then in the airplane, then in vehicles. Getting out on the water was heavenly. And despite the waves, the water was clear. I saw that Alvin noticed my delight at being there.

Alvin had said the ride would be twenty minutes, but it seemed shorter. There was so much to see! We passed big rock formations that loomed up out of the water like sculptures. I saw the shadows of them below, and in some places, you couldn’t see anything but depth. ‘These rock piles were formed when volcanoes spewed out lava over thousands of years,’ Alvin said.

‘You mean lava fell in the same place?’ We had to yell to make ourselves heard over the motor.

‘Largely,’ he shouted. ‘Around the formations there will be underwater shelves, even a few caves.’ The way Marcus had described it.

I surveyed the area, puzzled. ‘I’m surprised there are no dive boats around,’ I said.

‘We’ve arranged for this area to be off-limits until we get the job done,’ he said.

‘The dive masters are willing to steer clear? Don’t they get curious?’

‘They were satisfied.’ He made the universal sign for money, rubbing fingers and thumb together. ‘We’ve had a couple of skipper-owners stray into the area, but we tell them we’re conducting some experiments and need the area to stay clear.’

Good. That meant whatever we were trying to accomplish, at least we didn’t have civilians getting in the way. But locals must have some idea that there was a secret mission.

When we neared the boat, I saw what Marcus meant when he said they had done the best they could to get a decent boat, but that it wasn’t a showpiece. It was a big trawler, at least sixty feet long, but it had seen better days. There was rust around the rails, and it needed a good scrubbing and a paint job. There was a flying bridge, which meant the boat was essentially three levels – cabins below, the deck and the bridge. Plenty of places for people to get private time when they needed it.

As the dinghy slowed, I peered down into the water, anticipation coursing through me. The water here was murkier than it had been closer to shore. Why was that? What was down there? I would have asked Alvin, but we were coming alongside and we had to prepare to get out of the Zodiac and onto the dive boat.

Jack Novotny came out onto the deck to meet us and secure the dinghy. As I’d noted from his photo, although he was thin, he was wiry and muscular. He waved a greeting to me. He had a nice smile.

Everyone scrambled out of the dinghy, Gretchen and Marcus first, then Laila and Susan. Marcus handed my gear and the groceries and supplies to Jack, who passed them on to Gretchen. At last, Alvin and I disembarked.

When everyone was off, Jack retied the dinghy, but didn’t haul it onto the davits. That was only needed if the boat was moving from place to place.

When he was done, he came to meet me. ‘Hiya,’ he said, ‘nice to have you aboard.’ I’d been right about another thing. If he was a puppy, he’d be wagging his tail. ‘We’ve got some swells this afternoon. I hope you don’t get seasick.’

The deck was rocking a good bit. The wind had come up strong, probably twenty knots. Wind came up often in the afternoon most anywhere on the water. ‘No, thank goodness. I’ve never gotten seasick. Although they say every sailor has one motion that will get to them.’

‘Yeah, I’ve had problems a time or two. We get all kinds of wind here,’ he said, gesturing toward the open sea. ‘Mostly from the west, but sometimes we get a north or south wind, and every now and then it will be from the east. That’s the tough one. It can mess with the anchor.’

Jack went off to help put away supplies and I was left alone momentarily. I looked around, taking stock of my surroundings. On land, a half mile away, the sheer face of a cliff rose up, spanning this side of the island. It was beautiful and forbidding. There was no sign of settlements – no buildings of any kind. I saw a couple of people with hiking sticks standing on a high outcropping. The island was small, so there was probably plenty of hiking.

I turned my attention to the boat. So much to learn. I noticed that there were two anchors, fore and aft. How were we anchored out here? Was it on a shelf? It must be rock, which meant not a great anchorage. Rocks could shift. Jack had said if the wind shifted, the anchor could get loose. I decided to look into that on my first dive, to familiarize myself with how the anchor was lying. It wasn’t my job, but it was always good to know as much as you could about the workings of the boat.

Alvin reappeared. ‘Gretchen will show you around the boat to get you oriented,’ he said. ‘And to stow your gear. Marcus tells me you’re going to stay in the engine cabin. You sure? It’s pretty small. And loud. But we try not to run the engine at night. We just run it during the day to charge the batteries and to run the water maker.’

‘It will be fine,’ I said. ‘If it isn’t, I’ll figure out something else.’

‘Also, it can get hot in there. There isn’t a porthole. But there’s a fan if you need it.’ His earlier annoyance had subsided. At least for now, he was throwing out the welcome mat.

Gretchen found us. Now that we were back on board she looked more relaxed. Maybe like me, she felt more at ease on the water than anywhere else.

First, she took me up the ladder to the bridge. There was a bench seat in front of an array of gauges, surrounding the steering wheel. The gauges were turned off now, but when they were on, they’d give a captain all the information needed for navigation – depth, engine speed, an area map, probably sonar, fuel, temperature.

Behind the bench seating was a lounge area with a half dozen wooden chairs and a couple of chaises around a table. There was also a rolled-up mat and sleeping bag. Marcus had told me that Dallas slept up here, so it must be his.

The view from up here was fantastic. I could imagine that when the boat was underway this is where a captain would want to be to steer the boat, although in inclement weather he could also steer from the nav station inside.

We went below so Gretchen could show me the public areas, the navigation station, and the cabins. The galley was spacious, but with eight people aboard, a lot of food had to be stored and Dallas had rigged up hanging baskets to hold overflow fresh food. He was unpacking provisions he’d bought this morning and paused to say to me, ‘I hope you aren’t a picky eater. We have enough of those aboard as it is.’ He shot a glance at Gretchen, who made a face at him. Marcus had said she was a vegetarian.

‘I’m the opposite of picky,’ I said. ‘When someone else is cooking, my rule is to say that I love whatever is being served.’

‘You hear that, Grete? That’s the way it should be,’ Dallas said.

‘Bite me! Because I don’t eat animals, you think I’m picky,’ she grumped. ‘I eat everything else.’

Dallas laughed. I could see this was a long-running battle without much fire.

The saloon was big, and posher than it had looked from the outside. There were faded Oriental rugs on the floor. Although they’d seen better days, they lent an air of coziness. There were a couple of easy chairs and a big chair at the nav station. The dining area was outfitted with a drop-leaf table that could accommodate the whole team. The shelves on the side walls were crammed with books – everything from paperback mysteries to thrillers to non-fiction books, and a few classics. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had a chance to sit down and read. In The Bahamas after work, I’d often gone out at night, and would come home and drop into bed. My roommate Shelley had been a TV watcher, but she mostly watched series that I found ridiculous, about people trying to get dates, or trying to lose weight, or fixing up their houses.

At one end of the area a good-sized TV screen was mounted over the door. ‘TV?’ I asked. What kind of shows would they be watching here in Italy?

‘Movies,’ Gretchen said. ‘The reception here is spotty, so we watch movies. Alvin has a bunch of them. Mostly guy stuff. Top Gun kind of things.’ She snorted.

‘Oh, no,’ I said in a falsetto. ‘No romances?’

Gretchen looked surprised, and she giggled.

We continued to the aft cabins. She opened the doors in turn. They were small, but adequate. ‘These two are bigger than the ones forward. We had the big beds taken out and single beds installed so we could share. Susan and I are on the starboard side and Marcus and Jack on the port side. Each of these cabins has its own head. Not luxury, but nice not to have to share with guys.’

The forward cabins were asymmetrical, with the one on the starboard side smaller than the port side because some of the space on the starboard side was taken up with a pantry. ‘These are Laila and Alvin. They share a head,’ Gretchen pointed out. ‘Between you and me,’ she said in an aside, ‘I wouldn’t want to have to share with Laila. She’s a princess.’

She rapped on the door of the starboard cabin and Laila opened it, darting a nasty look at me.

‘You’ll be sharing with Laila,’ Gretchen said. ‘Bunk beds. I hope that works for you.’

‘Oh, I decided I’m going to bunk in the far aft cabin,’ I said. ‘The one near the engine.’

‘Really?’ Laila said, her dark eyes wide.

‘Ugh,’ Gretchen said. ‘Are you sure? It’s cramped. And smelly.’

‘I’ll try it. If it’s too bad, I’ll reconsider. I can always sleep out on the deck, or here in the saloon.’ I glanced inside Laila’s cabin and saw that the place was completely stuffed with her things. Even with the few belongings I had brought with me, I couldn’t imagine where I’d be able to store anything if we shared.

‘You realize you don’t have a head out there.’

I shrugged. ‘I’ll share with somebody.’

‘You can use the one aft with Susan and me.’

Before we moved on, Gretchen said, ‘I don’t know if Marcus told you, but the reason Alvin has his own cabin is that he snores like a rhinoceros. One perk of being at the far back of the boat is you won’t be able to hear him.’

I laughed. ‘I’m a good sleeper. Let’s see this famous cabin.’

We went back on deck then aft and down a couple of steps. There were two doors, facing each other. ‘That door leads to the engine room,’ she said, indicating the one to my right. ‘And this one is all yours.’ She opened the door.

I peered inside and saw what she meant. There was one small bunk and barely room to turn around. But there were shelves. And someone had hung up a tiny hand mirror. The fan Alvin had mentioned was positioned on the wall so it would blow on the bunk. An odor of unused quarters wafted out. ‘I’ll leave the door open for now if that’s OK,’ I said. ‘To air it out.’

It suited me fine. Funny how I could be claustrophobic in a room full of people, but on a boat, I had no problem with close quarters.

Gretchen then showed me the engine room which was a lot bigger than my cabin. Unlike the exterior of the boat, the engine was gleaming and well-kept. It made sense. The engine was the heart of the boat.

My dive gear was sitting on the deck next to a hatch.

‘This is the gear room,’ Gretchen said, opening the hatch.

I looked down into it. It was cramped, but orderly. ‘I’ll stow my gear,’ I said. ‘What’s the protocol?’

‘I’ll show you. Go on down and I’ll hand it to you.’

I descended the short ladder into the gear room and Gretchen handed my gear down to me, then climbed down to show me where people stored things. ‘This is … was … Taylor’s locker. So it will be yours now.’ Her voice wobbled and her face had grown bright red.

I wondered if the two of them had been an item. I still hadn’t heard the details of the accident. I needed to know if there was something I should be especially careful about. Or somebody. ‘So, I heard he had an accident. What happened?’

Gretchen’s face went blank. ‘I …’ She stalled. ‘We’re not supposed to discuss it. You should ask Alvin. He said all information concerning the accident needed to come through him.’

I nodded, but it bothered me. What information would be so tricky that it was a secret? I remembered Alvin’s controlling attitude this morning toward Laila, his insistence that Laila eat breakfast. Was he a control freak? He had been very careful to take stock of the gear I’d bought. But it made sense that he’d want to check it, to make sure I’d brought the right gear.

I started putting my things away, enjoying the familiar feel of the wetsuits and the strange thickness of the drysuit. I loved the look and feel of the new equipment I’d bought. I felt like a kid on the first day of school with all the new supplies. I’d be diving soon. Not today, but tomorrow. I swallowed back a jolt of unease. Alvin said he would be ‘testing’ me. What did that mean? I tamped down the fear. I loved diving. I’d be fine.

‘I’ll leave you to it,’ Gretchen said.

I watched her climb out through the hatch. She’d told me to ask Alvin about the accident that had taken my predecessor off the team. So why hadn’t Alvin told me when we had our briefing this morning? Why hadn’t Marcus? Would they tell me if I asked? Why was everyone so secretive about it?

I noticed that the tanks were stacked at one end, and went to take a look at them. On impulse, I hoisted them one by one and examined their pressure valves and gauges. All of them were heavy, which meant they were filled, and the valves and gauges had no apparent problems that I could see.

After I stowed my gear, I took my duffle into the cabin I’d be living in. I turned on the small lamp, surprised and grateful that it actually had a bulb that worked. Unpacking the duffle took no time and afterward I tried out the bunk. It was a lot more comfortable than I anticipated. I lifted the mattress to find that someone had managed to get hold of an eggshell foam mattress pad. That’s why it was so comfortable. I was tempted to take a nap. No, I needed to get in tune with the time change. I wondered how long it had been since the sheets had been washed, but a sniff assured me that somebody had made the effort. I wondered who had last stayed here.

Which brought me to the question of how the laundry got done. When I’d worked on dive boats in The Bahamas, they were day sails with only the occasional overnighter. I had no idea how long-term boaters did their laundry. They probably took it into shore. Not that I was as fastidious as Laila, but I did have some pride. There was a limit to how many times I’d wear the same clothing.

TEN

Back on deck, everyone looked busy. I wished I could get suited up and go out this afternoon. I didn’t have to dive really. I could snorkel, just to get a feel for the water. But I wanted to make myself useful. Besides, the wind was still creating a lot of chop, so I wouldn’t be able to see much if I was snorkeling.

Marcus and Alvin were bent over a contraption I wasn’t familiar with that looked like the winch Marcus had mentioned. He had said it was balky. I walked over in time to witness them firing up the engine. It sputtered and died. They tried it again a couple more times, then Alvin walked to the gangway leading down into the bowels of the boat and yelled, ‘Dallas, is Gretchen down there?’

‘I’ll get her,’ Dallas called back.

A good smell was wafting up from the galley. I glanced at my watch and was surprised to see that it was almost five o’clock. Time on the water always seemed to go faster. I realized we hadn’t had lunch and I was famished. Whatever Dallas was cooking, it made my mouth water.

Gretchen came up from below. ‘What’s up?’

‘Grete, I thought you said you’d repaired the winch engine,’ Alvin snapped. ‘I can’t get it to start.’

‘You want me to work on it now?’ She sounded annoyed. Last night she’d been ticked off because she’d had to pick me up, and now her temper was flaring again.

‘Yes. If we have to go back for a part, I’d rather do it now than wait until tomorrow.’

She sighed. ‘I was helping Dallas.’ She glanced at me. ‘How are your chopping skills?’

‘I can do that, as long as I don’t have to do anything with the stove.’ I hoped my tone was light-hearted. But it was the truth.

Gretchen shrugged. ‘I guess Susan could do it.’

‘Jessie,’ Alvin said. ‘Go down and do what you can. I’ve got Susan working on something else.’

I took note of his peremptory tone and tucked away the information in the mental list I was acquiring about my teammates – Gretchen was easily miffed, but bounced back quickly. Laila was the prima donna, the only side she’d shown so far. Alvin was the head of things, and a little controlling, maybe short-tempered. Marcus was the steady hand behind the scenes. Dallas was still an enigma; well-liked, and if my nose was any guide, a good cook, but Marcus had said he could freeze in an emergency. I didn’t have a good read on Jack or Susan. Jack was cheerful and seemed competent. Susan? No idea. All I knew is that it was likely Susan had been at fault in the incident with the air tanks.

I went below and saw that Jack and Susan were sitting at the table in the saloon with papers spread around them. There were charts and what looked like spreadsheets.

‘Reporting for duty,’ I said to Dallas. There was a big pan on the four-burner stove that took up two of the burners. On a cutting board sitting across the sink was a half-chopped bunch of carrots and celery.

‘What happened to Grete?’

I told him.

‘Uh oh.’ He grimaced. ‘Can you take care of that?’ he said, pointing at the vegetables. ‘Cut them up and then throw them in the pan. I’ve got to get the oven started.’

‘How small do you want them cut up?’

He shrugged. ‘Bite-sized.’ Why were cooks always so nonchalant about their instructions? I could have prodded him on what ‘bite size’ meant, but I aimed for not-too-big, not-too-small.

The galley was big enough, but Dallas was cooking for eight, which meant a lot of activity. So I moved to the outside of the galley counter and worked from there. Dallas saw what I did and threw me a thumbs-up. When I had finished chopping the vegetables, I watched him. He chopped a couple of chickens into pieces, briskly slathered them with olive oil with his hands, seasoned them from a few bottles of herbs, salt and pepper, and then opened the oven. He withdrew a casserole that had been the source of the delicious smells. I wanted to snatch it out of his hands and run into the corner with it and gobble it down. He grabbed a roll of foil and stretched it over the casserole.

‘What is that?’ I asked.

‘Potatoes au gratin.’ He shoved the chickens into the oven. ‘Voila!’ he said. ‘We eat dinner in an hour.’

‘Good. I’m starving,’ I said.

‘We’ll fix that.’ He opened a bag of tortilla chips and out of the refrigerator took a container of guacamole, and put them out on the table.

I snatched up a chip, slathered it with guacamole, and popped it into my mouth. ‘Should I take some up top?’

Dallas shook his head. ‘Best to leave them alone for now. They’ll come down soon.’ He gestured toward the chips and dip. ‘Don’t expect this every day. It’s because we didn’t eat lunch. And also we were in town so I could buy a few extra treats.’

‘OK, I think we’ve got it sorted,’ Jack said to Susan. He stood up and stretched, and then grabbed a handful of chips. ‘Any salsa?’ he asked.

‘In the frig,’ Dallas said.

They heard a curse from deck.

‘Uh oh,’ Susan said softly. The other three exchanged worried glances. Sure enough, Alvin yelled down. ‘Guys, we have to go back to town. We’ll be back in an hour or so.’

Jack’s jaw tensed, but he answered, ‘You want me to come?’

‘If you would,’ Alvin said.

To Dallas, he said, ‘Anything you want me to grab at the store if I have time?’

Dallas asked if there was any food in particular that I liked.

‘I’m easy. Of course there’s always ice cream.’ I laughed.

‘You laugh,’ Dallas said, ‘but that’s a great idea. We can’t keep it around, but at least we can have some tonight.’ He told Jack to get a couple of pints, his choice.

Alvin came down and went into his room for his jacket. ‘Don’t wait dinner for us,’ he said. ‘We’ll be back as soon as we can.’

Jack took another handful of chips and went up the gangway after him.

Gretchen came down to get her jacket. She looked grim and unhappy. No one said anything to her.

After they left, we were quiet.

‘OK,’ I said. ‘They could have gone by themselves, so why did Jack offer to go with them?’

Dallas gave me an appreciative look. ‘You got that, huh? The truth is Alvin can be hard on Grete. She’s really good at mechanical stuff and sometimes he expects too much. Jack is one of those people who knows how to be a good go-between. He doesn’t like conflict, and he’ll smooth things out.’

Another thing to add to my mental list.

‘OK, listen up,’ Dallas said, after we heard the dinghy leave, ‘Shall we play cards? Anybody want to?’

‘Monopoly,’ Susan countered, looking mischievous.

‘You always want Monopoly,’ Dallas said. ‘How about a little strip poker?’ He sent a wicked leer in my direction and I scoffed.

Coming down below from the deck, Marcus had heard the exchange. ‘Dallas, can it,’ he said. He was smirking, not really angry.

‘A guy just wants to have fun,’ Dallas said. He went over and knocked on Laila’s cabin door. ‘Hey, Laila, we’re playing cards. Come on out.’

Laila opened the door enough to say, ‘I can’t. I’ll come out as soon as I’m ready.’

She closed the door.

Dallas came back grinning. ‘Doing her ablutions,’ he said.

Susan said, ‘I don’t know why she bothers. This seawater is hell on the skin anyway.’

‘Can’t blame a girl for trying,’ Dallas said. I was beginning to see why the others liked him, for his light manner.

We agreed on poker, with Dallas bringing out a deck of cards and a container of toothpicks, sorted into various colors. There was also a small notebook. ‘This,’ Dallas said to me, ‘is our running total of who owes what. You, of course, get to start with a clean slate. Everyone starts by putting in twenty dollars.’

‘Uh oh,’ I said. ‘I don’t have much money.’

‘You don’t actually have to give me twenty dollars,’ he explained. ‘It just goes on your page.’

‘Tell me how everyone is doing so far,’ I said. I was competitive. I wanted to know my challengers.

‘OK. I’ll read it off. Marcus is ahead. He is owed fifty-two dollars. Then Laila with forty-eight, me with thirty-five. Then in the negative, you have Alvin. He owes ten dollars, Jack owes twelve, Susan owes eighteen, and Gretchen owes twenty-two. And of course now you’ll be at negative twenty until you show us that you’re a ringer.’

‘What do you play?’

‘Dealer’s choice. Mostly Texas Hold’em and Five-card stud. Look out for Marcus, though; he knows all these obscure games like Follow the Queen and Anaconda.’

I had played Texas Hold’em and Five-card stud, but I had no idea what the others were. ‘Is it OK if somebody explains the weird ones to me?’ I asked.

‘Oh, sure. Marcus is only too happy to explain them. Not that we know what he’s talking about half the time.’

Marcus folded his arms across his chest and looked smug.

‘Drinks!’ Susan demanded.

I was surprised. Alcohol was usually not encouraged on dive boats. I vowed to go easy. It wouldn’t do for Alvin to come back and find us all half-potted. I need not have worried.

‘What’s your pleasure?’ Dallas asked. ‘Sprite, Coke, or orange San Pellegrino? Or of course there’s always water.’

I chose the orange drink.

‘It’d be more fun if we could have real drinks,’ Susan said. I was beginning to warm to her. She had an easy manner, no drama.

‘That’s for special times only, kiddo. You know that,’ Marcus said. So there was alcohol, but it was not a usual thing. I’d bet it was up to Alvin to decide what ‘special times’ were.

The games went quickly and by the time dinner was ready, I was only sixteen dollars in the hole.

Laila came out to watch for the last twenty minutes, not saying much. I wondered if she was OK. She looked pale.

‘You OK, Laila?’ Gretchen said. ‘Seasick?’

‘A little. You know me.’

‘You want to take something?’

‘I’ll be fine.’ She sat down and nibbled a chip.

Dallas got her a Sprite and she gave him a grateful look.

The conversation over dinner was lively, but the others stayed clear of anything to do with our current mission. I couldn’t know if it was by design or by accident. But at one point, Dallas said, ‘I can’t believe the stupid winch motor is still a problem. I thought Grete fixed it.’

Susan looked tense. ‘Yeah, well I can believe it. After all—’

‘Susan,’ Marcus said, his tone sharp. ‘It’s a fluke.’

Laila frowned. ‘How did they think they were going to get a part tonight?’ It was the first time she’d spoken up. After eating, her color was better. I wondered if she had low blood sugar problems. Maybe that’s why this morning Alvin had admonished her for saying she wasn’t going to eat breakfast.

‘Alvin called the marine store,’ Marcus said. ‘They said they had the part, and they’d stay open for them.’

Another indication that this team had some clout. They were able to keep dive boats out of the area, and now a marine store was staying open to accommodate them.

‘I don’t know if it’s kosher to ask this, but why hasn’t the airplane been stabilized before now?’ I asked.

The others froze, but Marcus said, ‘It’s a valid question. The boat is not as big as we had hoped and the plane is bigger than we thought, so we didn’t think it was a good idea to try to hitch it to the boat. We figured we needed a winch. That way if something went wrong and the plane started to slide, we could quickly detach the line at the winch. But we had to wait for one to arrive. It got here a few days ago, and then it didn’t work. Gretchen has been fiddling with it.’

We were finishing our game when we heard the dinghy arrive. ‘That was quick,’ Dallas said. He hurried up onto deck to help secure the dinghy.

When Jack came below, he brandished a plastic grocery bag. ‘Ladies and gentlemen, your ice cream!’ He was clearly in a good mood.

The other two were less sanguine, but brightened when Dallas served them dinner. ‘Grete, I sautéed some tofu for you to have with your veggies,’ he said as he set her plate down.

‘Thank you,’ she said.

He winked at her.

‘Didn’t take you long,’ Marcus said.

‘The wind had died so the trip was easy and the guy at the marine store was waiting with the part.’

‘Now, let’s hope it works,’ Laila said.

Grete glared at her, but kept quiet.

I was full and sleepy and ready for bed. Jack suggested a movie, but everyone else said they were ready to turn in.

‘Jessie, I imagine you’re tired,’ Gretchen said. ‘Why don’t you get done in the head before Susan and me.’

‘I’ll be quick,’ I said. ‘How’s the water situation?’

‘We have a water maker,’ Alvin said. ‘But with eight of us …’

‘I know. Navy showers,’ I said.

Even a Navy shower, which consisted of getting wet, turning off the water and soaping, then rinsing off quickly, was heavenly.

When I came out of the head, I was surprised to find only Jack in the saloon, reading a book.

‘What are you reading?’

He showed me the book.

‘Shackleton’s Boat Journey? I think I’ve heard of him, but I don’t know why.’

‘Really? He’s only one of the most famous adventurers of all time. I’ll let you read it when I’m done. The guy was amazing. He led an expedition to the South Pole that got iced in. It makes our task look downright easy.’

‘I’ll look forward to it.’ After my shower, I felt wide awake, so I chose a thriller at random from the collection and took it to my bunk. But I’d only read a few paragraphs of the book before I fell asleep.

ELEVEN

I startled awake. There’d been a noise. I strained to hear it again, but all I heard was the usual boat sounds of creaking, and water lapping against the sides. Somewhere aft there was a dull metallic clang. A loose cable. That’s what it must have been.

Still, I was uneasy. None of that should have awakened me. I was used to boat sounds, even the loose metal cable. I saw that it was three thirty in the morning. I decided that at least I could secure the cable. I was slipping on some pants when I heard another sound. Footsteps? Maybe someone else had heard whatever woke me. I took the couple of steps out onto the deck. Although there was no moon, the night was not dark, and I realized brilliant starlight was keeping it light. I looked up in awe at the sight of millions of stars. If there had been a moon, it had set – or hadn’t risen yet, and the town of Lipari was around the other side of the island, so its lights were not visible.

I breathed a sigh of contentment. I was on the water. All was well. The starlight lit up the deck. I didn’t see anyone, so I started to the back of the boat, to take care of the cable. But a movement out on the water to port caught my eye. It was a boat in the distance, moving away from us. It was far enough away so that I couldn’t hear the engine. Had the boat been close enough so that’s what I had heard? And then I remembered the sound. It had been the sound of something bumping up against our boat. I was sure of it. I wished I knew where the binoculars were kept on the boat. I would like to have gotten a closer look at the other craft.

What was it doing here? Alvin had said the area had been declared off-limits to other boats. Even if it hadn’t been, why would someone be out this late at night? But then I reconsidered. There was likely an easy explanation. Maybe it was a private cruising boat, moving at night, unaware that the area was off-limits. Maybe what I had heard was a wave from the wake of the boat slapping up against the side.

My senses heightened, I heard movement below, the sound of a cabin door clicking closed. Someone getting up to use the head? I’d heard footsteps earlier. Maybe someone else had heard the same thing I did and had come outside to check it out. And I heard another sound, like a rumble. As if the engine had started of its own accord. What the hell?

Five seconds later I had to clamp my hand across my mouth to keep from laughing out loud. I’d been warned that Alvin snored really loud, and that’s what I was hearing.

Dallas was sleeping up in the lounge area on the bridge. I wondered if he had heard the sound that woke me. I went up the ladder to the bridge and saw his sleeping bag, with him in it. Whatever it was hadn’t bothered him. Or he’d seen it and realized it was nothing to be concerned about and gone back to bed. I considered waking him, but for what?

I went back down and found the loose line and secured it. Still uneasy, I walked around the boat, looking over the side to see if something else had bumped up against it, but saw nothing. Growing chilled in the night air, I padded back to bed, vowing to tell Alvin or Marcus what had occurred.

I managed to get a couple more hours’ sleep, and when I woke I dressed and went out on deck. The sky was turning gray. In the light of day, my concern from last night seemed foolish. The likely explanation was the one I had surmised, that it was a pleasure boat unaware of restrictions in the area. Still, after I did a quiet visit to the head, hoping not to wake Gretchen and Susan, I walked around the perimeter of the deck, peering over the side. I wasn’t sure what I was looking for – a scrape mark? Something attached to the side? But I saw nothing out of the ordinary.

What I did see, though, was beautiful, clear water. I couldn’t wait to get out into it.

Dallas climbed down from the bridge. From his tousled hair and grumpy expression I guessed that he wasn’t a morning person. He slouched past me and headed down into the galley. I waited a few minutes until I smelled coffee before I ventured below. Dallas was nowhere to be seen, but soon Alvin emerged from his cabin, and Dallas came out of the head. The regular morning routine.

‘You’re up early,’ Dallas muttered.

‘Sorry. I tend to be an early riser. If I can beg a cup of coffee, I’ll leave you alone,’ I said.

He gestured to the galley. ‘Be my guest. Everybody gets their own breakfast.’ He stretched and sat down at the table.

I poured a cup of coffee and took it to him. ‘You take anything in it?’ I asked.

‘Thanks. No, black is fine.’

By the time I poured my coffee and sat down, Alvin had come in and then Gretchen.

An hour later, everyone but Laila was up and busy. Alvin told me that I should get ready to dive in an hour. I washed my cereal dish and went to grab my equipment from the gear room. I was eager to get started. I walked up on deck to find Alvin standing over the winch, looking puzzled.

More drama with the winch? ‘Everything OK?’ I asked.

Alvin straightened and said, ‘Just … nothing. You ready to roll?’

‘Yep. I’m actually excited.’ I wondered if now would be a good time to mention seeing the boat last night, but I could bring that up later. For now, the water beckoned.

The first thing I saw when I was submerged was a white shimmer over everything, as if it had snowed underwater. I’d read about it in the limited information I’d been able to find online. Apparently, mining of the white pumice stones from Punta Castagna a few miles north produced a shower of white frost. It made everything look ghostly. I wondered why the pumice wasn’t washed away. While I was marveling at it, a large grouper came out from what I realized was a cave in the wall I was floating next to. I moved closer to the wall, which held a garden of plant growth, only some of which I was familiar with.

Alvin was behind me. He had told me to go with whatever enticed me. Aware of his presence, I moved along the wall, noting the different plants and the larger and less colorful fish than the ones in The Bahamas. I hoped I would see a sign of one of the shipwrecks that dotted the coastline, or the ancient artifacts that people reported seeing.

The water was warm enough so that my full body wetsuit was plenty. I knew that when I went into deeper dives, I’d need my drysuit for warmth. Alvin had told me not to go deeper than sixty or seventy feet today, which I was comfortable with, even though the dives I’d been familiar with were usually a maximum of fifty feet and often a lot less.

I looked down every now and then, knowing that at some point I would see a deep drop-off. Marcus had said that volcanic build-up would concentrate in one place, while leaving its surroundings to plunge one thousand feet.

Suddenly, the bottom dropped out, and even though I had been expecting it, I tensed. It was disorienting: a fathomless pit, with only a few fish to mark that I was looking down. I swam to my right, in the direction of the shoreline, unsure if there would be any more rock formations between where the boat had anchored and the shore. We were a half mile out. For several feet I was suspended with no formations of any kind to orient myself. I turned to the right again, to the direction I had come from, wondering if I had turned far enough. I realized that I should have checked my compass as soon as I got into the water, so I could make my way back. A rookie mistake I’d made because I was in too much of a hurry to get underwater. There was the impulsive side of me.

But my sense of direction had saved me for now, as the wall came back into view. Like an old pal. But before I reached it, I was gripped by a sudden current that pulled me sideways. I fought to right myself, managing to keep the wall in sight, but watching it recede as the current pushed me along. With all my leg and arm strength, I righted myself, swimming sideways with the current until it died down and I could swim across it. For a moment I tensed, wondering how wide the current was, but it soon released me and I made it back to the wall. My heart rate had amped up, and I made myself stop to give my breathing time to settle. I glanced at my watch and was shocked to see that I’d been in the water for an hour. I checked my air gauge. Time to come up.

I looked around for Alvin, turning 360 degrees, and didn’t see him. What the hell? What was he playing at? Buddies were supposed to stick together. He had told me he’d be behind me the whole time. Had the current surprised him as much as it had me? Should I try to find him or head back to the boat? I decided to meander along the wall for a few more minutes and give him a chance to catch up before my curiosity would turn to worry.

I was watching an eel slithering out from a hole in the wall, when I glimpsed Alvin coming to my left. He signaled that we should go up.

Five minutes later we were ready to climb back aboard. Alvin signaled that I should go first. I hefted my tank and mask onto the deck, then grabbed the side of the platform and hauled myself up, kicking my fins to propel me. I plopped onto the platform and heaved a sigh.

Then Alvin came up, shedding his gear next to mine. He gave me a nod. We both stood up. ‘You looked good,’ he said. ‘Anything a problem for you?’

‘Not really. I was little surprised at that heavy current.’

‘No shit,’ he said. ‘It caught me not ready because I was watching you. It swept me along for a minute before I got right.’

‘I should have been watching for you,’ I said. ‘I’ll do better next time.’

He looked surprised. ‘No. I told you I’d be behind you, and presumably I’m the more experienced in these waters, so you didn’t have an obligation to watch for me.’

I shook my head. ‘I disagree. We always, always, have to look out for each other.’ I looked at him steadily, wondering if he’d come back with some kind of alpha male thing.

But he nodded. ‘Good call. Anyway, you handled the current well. That’s one of the hardest things about diving here. The currents are unpredictable. We don’t know whether it’s because of underground thermal activity or what.’

We both peeled off our wetsuits and rinsed everything off with the outdoor hose. ‘Let me ask you about the pumice,’ I asked while I waited for my gear to dry. ‘Why doesn’t it wash away? Why does it cling to the rocks?’

‘The way it interacts with seawater makes it tacky,’ he said. ‘That also presents a problem for the regulators. We have to clean them regularly so they don’t get clogged.’

‘Good to know.’

I remembered the boat from last night. ‘I want to mention something to you, but I want to check something out first. Is it OK if I go back in the water for a few minutes?’

He snorted. ‘Ah, hardcore. You haven’t had enough yet. But you don’t have your wetsuit on.’

‘Just a quick swim. I won’t be diving.’

He shrugged. ‘Be my guest.’

I retrieved my mask, then put my fins back on and slipped back into the water. I swam all the way around the boat, examining the sides all the way down to the bottom. I knew I was being overly cautious, but it occurred to me that if the boat I had seen last night really was up to no good, they might have attached something to the boat. But it was clear of all but the expected barnacles.

Next, I dove down and checked the anchors. As I suspected, they were hooked on rocks, but they looked secure, unless the wind shifted and came up strong. The boat was far enough away from shore that even if the anchor didn’t hold, we would have plenty of time to avoid being beached. I wondered if there were underwater rock hazards that might be a problem, but I’d have to wait for another time to check that out. Not that it was my job in particular, but it was everybody’s business to make sure things went well on a boat. One slip-up could mean a pesky problem at the least and at worst, disaster.

TWELVE

‘Why didn’t you wake me?’ Alvin was pacing, short steps because there wasn’t a lot of room to pace. After I had cleaned up from my swim, I had told him about hearing a sound in the night and the boat I’d seen moving away from ours.

‘I didn’t think of it. The boat wasn’t nearby anymore and I didn’t know for sure that’s what I had heard.’

He stopped in front of me, scowling. ‘Always wake me if anything unusual happens. Understand?’

I nodded. I hadn’t planned to mention the footsteps I’d heard, but it was best to get it all out. ‘One other thing,’ I said.

He huffed. ‘What?’

‘I heard someone close their door, below, as I was climbing out of my bunk. It was in the aft cabins.’

He seemed not to breathe for several seconds. ‘You’re sure?’

‘I know it wasn’t you because I could hear you snoring. It came from one of the aft cabins.’

‘OK, I’ll ask if anybody was up.’

‘I thought it was probably somebody who’d been awakened by the same noise that woke me, and maybe they went to the head.’

‘You’re probably right.’

Nick had warned me to be careful and I had the feeling that Alvin was still withholding something. Did he think I couldn’t be trusted? Every other person on the mission had been an agent before they were put on the team. They had experience I didn’t have. Maybe he still had doubts about me. I had a stubborn need to press him.

‘Has this happened to anyone else?’ I asked.

Alvin shook his head. ‘None of the other team members have mentioned anything like that.’ He paused and studied me. ‘Did you tell anyone you were coming here?’

‘Absolutely not.’ Nick had known, though. And I had assumed his information came from John Farrell. Had it? I made a mental note to ask him next time I talked to him. Then I realized I wasn’t being entirely truthful. I had told the men on the boat that I was going to dive at Secca del Bagno. I hadn’t known then that it was off-limits and that presumably everyone in the Lipari dive community knew that the US government was up to something in this area. My heart sank. I had to tell Alvin. So I did.

‘You’re right, you shouldn’t have said anything.’ He sighed. ‘That’s the problem with having an unseasoned agent aboard.’

I flushed.

‘Look, I doubt if it’s a big deal.’ He gave a brief snort of laughter. ‘Every one of us has had a slip-up like this. I presume you’ll learn to keep your mouth shut.’

I nodded, feeling like a chastised child.

‘And Jessie? Don’t let this get to you. It was a mistake. We’ve all made them. We just need to be vigilant.’

I drew a deep breath. I needed to vent. ‘Alvin, I appreciate your support. But something is going on here and I think I should be told what it is so I can be prepared. I mean, suppose I’d come on deck last night and found someone had boarded the boat?’

He cocked his head. ‘I’m curious. How would you be prepared? You can’t have a weapon, so what would you do?’

‘First of all, if I was forewarned that there might be trouble, I would peek out of my cabin and make sure there wasn’t anyone there. And if there was, I’d shout an alarm.’

‘OK, now you know to be on the alert if anything like that happens again, although I seriously doubt it will. Look, you’re going to be fine.’

I nodded. I knew I would be, unless there were things being kept from me that I should know.

Alvin said, ‘I need to get busy. I’m not going to load you up with chores yet.’ He glanced at his watch. ‘We’ll have lunch soon. Maybe you can pitch in with Dallas.’

‘Will do.’

He started to walk away but then came back. ‘I’m curious. Why did you go back into the water after the dive?’

I was almost embarrassed to admit it, but I decided to tell him the truth. ‘I was worried that maybe that boat had been here to attach something to the side, maybe a listening device … or even a bomb. Plus, I wanted to see how the anchor was sitting.’

‘And you found nothing.’

‘No, of course not. I would have told you that right away. And the anchor was sitting fine.’

He nodded, and I thought I saw a glimmer of approval.

‘I’d like to take a look at charts of the area,’ I said. ‘Where would I find them?’

‘Get Susan to show you. She’s the chart person.’

He went up top and I followed him. I found Dallas sitting on the bridge writing in a notebook. ‘Reporting for lunch duty,’ I said.

‘Oh, is it that time?’ he said. He looked at his watch. ‘Not quite. Sit down, relax. You had a busy morning.’

I watched him write. He was easy in his body, and appealing with his curly hair a little shaggy, and his gray eyes intent. I considered going to get my book to read until he was ready for me, but the sun was warm, the sea calm, and I sat down in one of the wooden chaises on the upper deck and let my muscles relax. I realized I was sore from the morning’s dive. It had been more than a month since I’d been on a dive. I hoped I’d be back in shape soon.

‘OK, sleepyhead, let’s feed the thundering hordes.’

I jerked awake, to find Dallas standing over me. I was embarrassed that I’d drifted off. I stood up and stretched. ‘Oh, that was nice.’

He was grinning at me. ‘At least you weren’t drooling.’

‘Thank God.’

We went below and he took cold cuts, bread, and sandwich spreads out of the refrigerator. ‘Put those out on a plate while I whip up some coleslaw.’

‘You really are a cook,’ I said. ‘We’re lucky.’

‘I find it relaxing. My mom died when I was a teenager and my dad was useless in the kitchen, so I had to feed him and my younger sister. I got into the rhythm of it.’

‘Rhythm? Is that what it takes?’

‘Yeah, like this.’ He did a few dance steps, then took my hand and twirled me around.

I laughed.

‘How was your night in the ghost cabin?’ he asked.

‘Ghost cabin?’

‘Yeah, the people we chartered the boat from swore there was a ghost that lives in that cabin.’

‘I’m glad nobody told me. I might have been nervous. But nope, no ghost. I actually don’t mind it. It’s cozy.’

‘Better than having to bunk with somebody you might not be compatible with,’ he said. He came closer and whispered, ‘Like Laila.’

I smiled, but I didn’t want to get into a gossip-fest. ‘Oh, I could have made it work.’

He looked toward the gangway, and seeing nobody close by said, ‘Did Alvin treat you OK this morning?’

‘Sure, no problem,’ I said. ‘Why?’

‘He can be demanding. So you were able to hold your own down there in the deep?’

‘We didn’t go that deep. He wanted to go no more than sixty feet down.’

‘Still, that’s a distance. And you didn’t run into any problems?’

‘Like what?’

He shook his head and moved away from me. ‘Never mind. Sounds like you did great.’

‘No,’ I said, following him to where he was placing the cold cuts on the table. ‘I really want to know. What kind of problems?’

‘OK, currents, for one thing. They can be a bitch.’

‘I did hit one, but it wasn’t so bad. It surprised me, though. No warning.’

‘Exactly. The problem here is that it’s a volcanic area and there are thermal spouts and if one goes off deep down, it can roil the water pretty hard.’

‘But isn’t it short-lived?’

‘Usually. But in that short time, if you’re trying to surface from deep down it can pitch you around pretty hard and make the ascent tricky.’

‘I’m glad you told me. Alvin didn’t say a thing.’

‘That’s the way he rolls. Lets you make a mistake and then tells you what you did wrong, rather than instructing you in advance. If you ask me, it’s ass backwards.’

Footsteps clattered down the gangway. We shot each other a guilty glance and turned to greet Marcus.

‘Hey, how’s it going?’ he said to me. I hadn’t seen him at breakfast and wondered if he’d slept in. Had he been the person who was up last night? Had he seen the boat that had been in our vicinity?

‘It’s going well. So beautiful here.’

‘I hear you passed your first day with flying colors.’

‘It’s really interesting down there,’ I said. ‘Different. Rock formations instead of reefs. But I saw a few groupers and some eels. And some great flora.’

‘Good. Anything you weren’t expecting?’

‘I had read that the dive area looked like underwater snow, but seeing it in person is strange. Beautiful, sort of eerie.’

‘That’s not the only thing we run across from the pumice mines.’

The others came clattering into the saloon and I didn’t have a chance to ask what those things might be. One more thing I had to learn in this different environment.

The team was more relaxed than yesterday, seemingly able to put aside the drama of the empty tanks. Even Laila was friendlier, probably because she knew she’d be able to have a cabin to herself.

When we were done eating, Alvin stood up. ‘Listen up, everybody. Tomorrow we’re going to take another run at the plane.’

‘Good,’ Gretchen said. ‘I was beginning to think we were on a pleasure cruise.’

Everyone snickered.

‘Marcus will be commander and Susan will stay aboard with him. I’m putting Gretchen on relay. Jessie, you can work with her.’

‘Relay?’

‘Yeah, we have somebody stationed approximately halfway to keep an eye on things. They can relay any problems to the commander on board, and they can help if a diver is struggling for some reason.’

Interesting. I wondered who had been on relay when the tanks ran dry. They could have gone down to help bring the others to the surface – that would have meant three divers sharing two regulators rather than three on one.

I was relieved that I wouldn’t be expected to do a deep dive yet. I wanted to have more experience in these waters, especially after my experience with the current today. There had been currents in The Bahamas, especially if you were diving between two islands, but they were predictable, and not as violent as that one had been.

After lunch, I asked Susan to show me the charts of the area. They were kept in a drawer next to the navigation station. Susan hauled out a few and the two of us sat down to pore over them. Susan pointed out where the boat was on the chart, and I was able to see where the underwater cliffs plunged off into an abyss hundreds of feet deep.

‘It’s an unstable area,’ Susan said. ‘We can’t even be sure the charts are one hundred percent accurate. There are underwater seisms – not really earthquakes, but shifts, like if one area of rocks gets built up too much on one side, the whole thing can tip over and crash down.’

‘Yikes,’ I said, goosebumps prickling my arms. ‘Sounds treacherous.’

‘I haven’t seen anything that looks too unstable nearby. Of course, we don’t know what’s going on down deep.’

‘Where is the plane located that we’re supposed to be recovering?’

Susan sat up from her position bending over the maps. Her expression was serious. ‘I need to talk to Alvin, to see if he’s ready for you to be briefed on that.’

‘I understand. So, you were describing the unstable terrain below. Is the area near the plane unstable?’

‘Again, I’ll need to clear all that with Alvin.’

I couldn’t help being miffed. They had begged me to come onto this mission, but they were treating me like a hanger-on. I understood the need for security, but what did they think I would do with the information if I found out? But then, I had already committed a breach of security once.

Also, if my diving skills were found wanting and they dismissed me, they wouldn’t want me to be privy to secret information. I sat back and crossed my arms. ‘How long have all of you been together as a team?’ I asked.

Susan looked relieved to be changing the subject. She looked up at the ceiling and tapped her lips with her forefinger. ‘This is our first one together, but we’ve all been on teams prior to this.’ She counted off on her fingers. ‘Let’s see. Marcus, Dallas, and I have been together longest. We were on two missions together before this one. Alvin was with Jack and Gretchen on two others. Then Laila joined them for the last one. And Taylor was with them.’

‘A jigsaw puzzle. What was Taylor like?’

Susan grew pensive. ‘He was terrific. A real team guy. Funny and competent. That accident was so strange …’ Her voice trailed away.

She looked so downcast that I reached over and touched her arm. ‘Accidents happen. It’s a foreign environment.’

Susan drew her arm away, and I saw that I’d stumbled. It wasn’t what Susan wanted to hear. ‘Of course.’ She stood, abruptly. ‘I’ll leave you to go over the maps. And I’ll have a talk with Alvin.’ She stood up and started to walk away, but came back. ‘Look, we’re happy to have you aboard. It’s just that things have been tense since Taylor left. You’ll settle in soon. You probably think Alvin is too harsh, but he feels the weight of responsibility.’

‘I know how important it is to be certain of your crew. We’re only as safe as our weakest link.’ It was becoming my mantra.

THIRTEEN

This time I knew exactly what woke me in the night. A woman was sobbing. A man’s voice accompanied the sobs with soothing words. Dallas. I couldn’t be sure, but I thought the woman was Gretchen. What was she so upset about? And why was Dallas telling her it would be OK?

‘You’re doing a great job,’ he said. ‘Everyone is on edge, and he feels the weight of his position.’ He must mean Alvin.

‘He … he … he never lets up.’ Gretchen hiccupped. ‘I don’t know how much more I can take.’

They were quiet, and I pictured him with his arms around her, stroking her hair. Were they lovers? I hadn’t gotten that vibe.

I wondered if I should let them know I could hear them. I didn’t want to embarrass anyone, but on the other hand I wouldn’t have wanted to be in Gretchen’s position and know someone was listening.

‘Look, Gretchen, you know part of the problem is you’re still upset about what happened to Taylor.’

A pause. ‘I know. And I know he’s going to be fine. But with everything else …’ Her voice trailed away.

‘Things will shape up. And once everyone relaxes, Alvin will let up.’

There was a big sigh. ‘Thanks, Dallas, you’re a pal,’ Gretchen said.

‘Do you want me to talk to him?’ he asked.

‘God, no. That would make things worse. Maybe I’ll ask Marcus if there’s anything I can do to make him trust me.’

‘Mm, I don’t know,’ Dallas said. ‘Marcus has his own agenda.’ They were quiet for a minute. ‘You may not want to hear this, but maybe you need to confront him directly. Tell him he’s coming down too hard on you and it’s stressing you out and that you think the stress is affecting your ability to do what you do best.’

‘I suppose that would be the brave thing to do,’ she said. Another quiet moment. ‘That’s probably the answer. I can’t let him get to me this way. Even if he gets mad when I confront him, it’s not like he’s not mad all the time anyway.’

‘Not confront him. Don’t think of it that way. More like, clue him in. Maybe he doesn’t realize what a dick he’s being.’

She laughed softly.

‘Give it some thought. Now, see if you can get some rest. You’re going to need it tomorrow.’

I heard Gretchen pad away, but either Dallas was really quiet, or he had stayed where he was. I considered going out onto the deck and letting him know I’d overheard, but sleep dragged me under.

The next time I woke up it was to the sound of footfalls on the deck overhead. A lot of them. I looked at my watch and saw that I’d overslept. Damn! I slipped into my clothes and darted up the ladder out onto the deck. Jack spied me first. ‘Hey, Jessie, be careful. You’ll give Laila a run for her spot as the last one out of bed every day.’

I growled and headed downstairs. I quickly peed, brushed my teeth and then grabbed some yogurt and toast for breakfast. I was almost done when Laila came out of her room. She looked like a different person – alert, fully dressed, her hair pulled into a ponytail.

‘You ready for today?’ she asked me, as if she hadn’t been aloof to me until now.

‘I think so. What’s your job today?’

‘I’ll be going all the way down.’ Her grin was huge. ‘I love it down there. It’s spooky. And like another world. Not like any diving I’ve done anywhere else.’

That was the last thing I expected, for Laila to be thrilled about the dive.

I was relieved to find that no one noticed that I was the last person on deck. The others were in their wetsuits, or, for the ones going all the way down, drysuits. I flew down the steps to the gear room and wriggled into my wetsuit and grabbed my other gear. I was ready to go back up and then stopped myself. It was important to check all my gear to make sure it was pristine. Whatever was going on here, I couldn’t risk having my gear sabotaged. But it all checked out. No apparent damage or shortcomings.

Up on deck I sidled over to Gretchen, who I was pairing with today. Gretchen was so intent on watching Alvin that she jumped when I said her name. ‘You startled me,’ she said.

‘Sorry.’

Gretchen looked awful. Pale and tense.

‘You OK?’

‘I’m fine,’ she snapped. ‘I didn’t sleep well, that’s all. I’ll feel better once I get in the water.’

‘I know what you mean,’ I said. ‘Whatever else is going on, the water takes me out of myself.’

Gretchen looked at me as if seeing me for the first time. ‘Nice to hear you say that. Not everyone feels that way.’

Alvin addressed us as a group, reminding us that four would be diving at serious depth. ‘Dallas, Jack, Laila and I will be down. Jessie, you and Gretchen will be on relay, ready if anyone needs help. And Marcus will be on-board dive commander with Susan assisting. What I didn’t tell you was that today we’ll be trying to take the winch line down. Gretchen, you and Jessie need to be ready in case they can’t get it all the way. One of us will come back up with it, but if they have to let go, we’ll notify you. Don’t try to catch it. Stay out of its way. We’ll call Marcus and they’ll haul it up.’

‘What’s our goal?’ Dallas asked. ‘Are we going to try to attach it?’

‘Not today. I only want to make sure we can get the line winched down that deep. Even if we do, I’ll come back up with it. I’ll only let go if for some reason I can’t control it.’

‘Why don’t we hold onto it together? Might be easier if two of us have it,’ Dallas said.

‘OK. But Laila, you and Jack keep a sharp eye in case you notice something we don’t.’

‘Got it,’ they both said. I was struck once again by how different Laila was in this environment.

I watched as Alvin, Jack, and Dallas put on the special communication masks. They tested them with Gretchen’s. Then the winch line was attached to Alvin’s backpack. I thought he looked nervous when he tugged on the line to see if it was secured.

The four deep divers went in first and began their descent, the winch line playing freely along behind them. When I watched them go, I had a moment of regret that I wouldn’t be going down with them. I knew in my head that it wasn’t a good idea. But my heart yearned to be down as deep as they could go. What was down there? My heart skidded at the idea of it.

I glanced over at Gretchen to find her watching me. ‘You want to go all the way down, don’t you?’

I grinned. ‘Is it that obvious?’

‘Only to someone who understands, and I do.’

‘Get ready, you two,’ Marcus said. ‘They’ll be past the relay mark in another minute.’

I checked my GPS location and marked it. Gretchen and I adjusted our masks, inserted our mouthpieces, went to the back platform, and on Marcus’ word, plunged in.

Today, in the company of Gretchen, who was used to the area, we’d be working in, and not under the eagle eye of Alvin, I felt more open to the environment. On our downward trajectory we passed sea fans waving from rock formations, a few scorpion fish, an eel slithering out from its hiding place, and more flora. As we went deeper, the white pumice covering disappeared, revealing a rich variety of colors and formations.

At forty feet, we were suddenly grabbed by a current, but I followed Gretchen’s lead as she swam sideways to it until it eased up, and then darted across with strong fin kicks. I saw by the GPS reading that we’d strayed several yards from our heading, and Gretchen must have seen the same because she beckoned for me to follow her as she swam back. I recognized a couple of formations that I’d seen on my dive yesterday and made a mental note to pay close attention to the details of formations in case I got disoriented or if my GPS stopped working.

Gretchen signaled when we reached the relay area. She spoke to the descending team on the through-water communication system, nodding her head at whatever she heard. When she switched off, she indicated to me through hand signals that the team would take another five minutes to reach their destination. They didn’t have to descend as slowly as they would have to ascend to avoid a build-up of CO₂, but it was a good idea to take it slowly.

Before we had left, Gretchen had told me that once the four divers were down as far as they were going, I could take the opportunity to investigate the area. ‘I’ll stay put and you can orient yourself. There are some interesting things down here.’

Interesting didn’t begin to describe it. I took off, swimming away from Gretchen, and almost immediately encountered a cliff that, when I swam over it, plunged into an abyss, so I could see nothing below me except a few fish. Even though I had known it was a possibility and had no problem with heights, it was momentarily scary. I turned and waved to Gretchen and pointed down. Gretchen nodded. She understood that it had jolted me.

I swam away from the abyss and encountered a wall that stretched upwards out of sight. The wall was full of beautiful sea fans. I swam past a tentacle emerging, and stopped to watch an octopus slide out into the open, its tentacles undulating as it swiftly fled. I was surprised to find a shaft of sunlight striking one piece of the wall and looked up instinctively. I couldn’t see the surface from this deep, but what I did see froze me in place. A huge tiger shark was passing by overhead. I knew it was unlikely to attack, but it was so massive that I didn’t want to take any chances that it would mistake me for a delicious sea creature, so I stayed still until it swam out of sight.

As soon as the shark was gone, I headed back to Gretchen and as I got close I saw that she was talking intently on the communication system. Gretchen gestured for me to come close. She was nodding.

When she switched off, I saw that she had a big grin on her face. She gave a thumbs-up, which meant they must have reached the bottom with the winch line. It was a successful run.

A half hour later the team came into view, ascending from the depths. The winch line tagged along behind Alvin like a long tail. Alvin gestured that we should all go up.

I wanted to stay down a little longer. I had plenty of air left and wanted to get a little more familiar with it. When I conveyed that to Gretchen, she nodded and pointed to herself to indicate that she’d stay down with me.

The next half hour was magical, the underwater formations like mountain landscapes, with giant boulders and deep valleys. We came across one area where Gretchen pointed and I saw the vague remnants of an old ship that had broken up on the bottom of a canyon. Scattered around it were rusted-out pieces from the ship. While I watched, an octopus slid out from what had once been a window and sidled along the side of the ship before it disappeared into the depths. Gretchen pointed out caves and some strange flora that I wanted to remember to ask about when we returned. We even descended deeper, to ninety feet, which pleased me. It got me a little closer to the depths I’d be going to.

When we got back to the boat, we were greeted with an air of celebration.

‘How did you like it down there?’ Marcus asked, grinning.

‘It’s amazing. Certainly nothing like what I’m used to.’

‘She’s a natural,’ Gretchen said, removing her elaborate mask and communication gear. ‘I think she would have stayed down there for another hour if she could have.’

Marcus caught my eye. ‘If you’ve been given the OK by Gretchen, it means you’re in,’ he said. ‘And with the way things went today, I think you brought us some good luck.’

After I rinsed off the seawater and cleaned my equipment, I went below deck to see if Dallas needed help. I found him with headphones on, dancing around as he took out the provisions for the evening meal.

I heard the dinghy start up. ‘Who’s going ashore?’

‘That’s Susan and Alvin. They’ll get the tanks filled.’

‘Are they going all the way to Lipari?’

‘No, the shop in the village has two air compressors, too. It’s faster to get six tanks filled there than on board.’

He put me to work chopping again. I found myself a lot wearier than I’d expected, probably the result of not having dived in several weeks, plus the residual of jet lag. But despite being tired, I was happy. I was in my natural environment, I’d been given the seal of approval by Gretchen, and everyone was in a cheerful mood. Maybe tonight I’d get a full night’s sleep.

Dinner was upbeat, with stories of past dives, both successful and near disasters. Laila and I were on dishwashing detail. I got to see more of the Laila that everyone else was comfortable with. She talked about the dive and how strange it was to go so deep. ‘I’ve only been on one other assignment,’ she said. ‘That was investigating a shipwreck off the coast of Croatia.’

‘Was the team able to figure out what happened?’

‘Oh sure. It wasn’t so hard. The captain had made up a story that sounded unlikely and sure enough it turned out he was in the wrong place because he was carrying contraband and was supposed to meet his contact. They didn’t realize his ship was too big for the area. And the captain was an idiot.’ She glanced around.

‘Who from this group was with you?’

Gretchen said she was. ‘And Marcus and Dallas were there, too.’

‘What happened to the captain?’

‘Oh, he’s in prison,’ Laila said. ‘The ship was chartered from Libya, and the Libyan government didn’t like being embarrassed by him.’

I wanted to ask more questions. I wanted to know what most of the dive teams were called in for, how long the missions were, and how members were chosen. Gretchen, Marcus, and Alvin were the most experienced and they would have better answers for me. But it was getting late and everyone looked bushed.

Laila yawned. ‘I’d better get to bed. Tomorrow is a big day. We’re going to try to attach the cable to the plane.’

She headed toward her cabin, and then turned back. ‘Jessie, are you OK in that funky cabin? I mean, I was sort of a bitch about you rooming with me, but I could make it work.’

‘I’m good. I actually like it. Sort of like a wolf’s den. It’s small, but the bed’s comfortable and I’m not claustrophobic.’

‘Great. But if you want to make a change, I’m good.’ She smiled. Amazing how much a smile could change a person’s whole demeanor.

FOURTEEN

The next day was a disappointment. We awoke to heavy skies and the weather report said an unseasonal storm was brewing, so the dive was canceled. Marcus and Dallas took the dinghy to town for provisions. Alvin was like a bear with a sore paw. He snapped off duties that needed to be done: Gretchen would give the engine a thorough examination for potential problems, including topping off oil and cleaning it; Jack and Laila were ordered to scrub the deck and check the lines; Susan volunteered to clean out the files for extraneous material and to make sure they were organized. And he put me to work in the gear room checking out everyone’s equipment. ‘You know how to do that, don’t you?’ he snapped at me.

‘Yes. And if I have questions, I’ll ask you.’

Only Marcus was left to his own devices. He said he had been planning to take inventory of supplies and now was a good time.

I went below into the gear room and took two hours going over the suits for tears or weak spots, examining the masks, the mouthpieces, and the hoses. I was gratified when I found a hose that needed to be replaced. When I was done, I went to find Alvin and found him in the saloon with Susan. They were arguing over whether to throw out some old manuals.

‘I think we should keep them,’ Susan said. ‘Sometimes you get a piece of equipment that’s old and has a glitch, and the repair isn’t covered by the new manuals. And not only that, if you ask me, some of the newer manuals were written by third-graders.’

‘We can’t keep every damn piece of paper ever written, Susan. We don’t have the space. And it’s all online these days anyway.’

‘Which is fine,’ she said, ‘if you have internet that works. You really want to be using the satellite phone to look at a manual?’

Alvin grumbled, but agreed with her. He turned to me. ‘What do you need?’

‘I’m not familiar with the communication system masks, so I’d like you or someone who’s familiar with them to help me check them over.’

He stood up. ‘I’ll come with you. And, Susan, keep what you want, but don’t be a hoarder.’

Susan nodded, but when he turned to go up the steps, behind his back she made a face at him and rolled her eyes at me.

In the gear room I showed Alvin the hose I’d replaced. ‘Everything else looks good,’ I said. ‘But show me what I need to know about the comms equipment.’

He was surprisingly patient, showing me how the masks worked and what parts were vulnerable. One of the comm masks had a loose attachment. ‘I’m glad we found this,’ he said, frowning. ‘It’s odd. I’ve never seen one fail, but this one could have.’

Back up top, I saw that the storm was still a way off, so I asked Alvin if it would be OK if I went down for an hour. ‘Every time I go down, I get a better feel for the topography. It’s really different from what I’m used to.’

‘I think it’s a great idea, but you have to take somebody with you,’ he said. ‘Ask if one of the others is free.’

Laila and Jack had finished their cleaning chores so I asked which of them might go down with me. ‘For no more than an hour, to check things out.’ They both said they’d like to go, so the three of us suited up.

They had put on their gear and were ready to go, when I saw Alvin head back down to the gear room. I wondered if he was going to double-check the gear to make sure I hadn’t overlooked anything. What an annoyance. When would he start trusting me?

I saw Laila watching me. ‘Don’t worry about it. He’s obsessive. Drives us all crazy.’

Jack had turned up with a spear gun. ‘What’s that for?’ I pointed to it. I remembered the tiger shark and wondered if they had had trouble with sharks.

‘I’m going to see if I can catch supper,’ Jack said. ‘You ready? We’re going to take you to some trickier spots.’

I wondered what that meant. Forty minutes later I found out.

We had taken off in a different direction, toward land. I soon saw that the topography was much more varied and, in some places, difficult to navigate between large boulder-like formations. But the fish here were more plentiful. We ran across a herd of seahorses. They looked alert and curious, and I fell in love with them, so tiny and brave-looking.

Again, Laila seemed to be in her element, pointing out things I wouldn’t have noticed: a crevice that held a moray eel, its toothy mouth looming out of the crack; a garden of sea anemones underneath an overhang; a school of tiny, multi-colored fish that I didn’t recognize.

I was following Jack and Laila when, without warning, they disappeared. I stopped and backpedaled. Had I missed them turning somewhere? I looked 360 degrees around me and saw nothing. Where had they gone? I swam toward where I’d last seen them, and suddenly it was as if a giant hand had seized me. I saw a cave looming, and I was propelled helplessly toward the mouth of it. I tried to fight the current sucking me in, but it was useless. I was swept into the dark cave. Once inside, the current lessened, but I wondered how I would get back out through the mouth of the cave.

Was this what had happened to Jack and Laila? Had they been caught, too? I turned on my headlight and saw that the cave went back several yards, then took a turn. Did I dare go back there? Not that I was afraid there was a dangerous sea creature, but there could be another current that would hold me fast and I’d be unable to get out. I moved to the cave wall and, keeping my hand on it, proceeded cautiously toward the turning point. Keeping a tight hold on a protruding rock, I peeked around the turning point. All at once I was blinded by two headlights. I jerked back and Laila and Jack swam out, laughing. I shook my head at their antics. But I still wondered how they planned to exit the cave.

I pointed to the mouth of the cave and opened my hands wide in a question.

Jack signaled for me to follow. He swam along the inside wall, and slipped around the side, out of the cave and took off to the right, avoiding the current that had swept us all inside. Good to know. I wondered if there were other such caves. I understood that they had been teasing me, but it made me wary of what they might come up with next.

We had been gone almost an hour, and Jack signaled that we should return to the boat. On the way back, I saw a grouper, and Jack bagged it for our supper.

Back on board, Laila and Jack were delighted that they had given me a hazing of sorts. Especially Jack. ‘You totally fell into it,’ he said gleefully.

Jack asked if I thought I would have been able to figure out how to get out on my own.

‘I supposed I would have eventually – or else died in there.’

‘No,’ he said. ‘The current is capricious. At some point you would have noticed that it wasn’t strong and could have swum out. That’s what happened to me the first time. Laila was the one who figured out that you could sneak out the side.’

Dallas and Marcus were back and Dallas was thrilled that we had brought back a grouper. ‘I was making hamburgers tonight. This will be better.’

Lunch was a selection of salads they had brought from town. After lunch, everyone was given the afternoon off. I wasn’t sure what to do with the time. The storm was approaching and I knew it was a matter of minutes before it would start raining, so I went into my cabin.

I had been wanting to call Nick, but I had only two bars on my phone. Marcus had mentioned a satellite phone on board, but I doubted Alvin would allow it to be used to phone a boyfriend. So instead, I texted Nick: All good here. Friendly crew. Interesting waters.

Within a few minutes he texted back: Any problems?

I pondered whether I should mention the boat I thought had come alongside the first night I was here, but I really didn’t know if it had been close. I’d only felt a bump and seen the boat moving away, which didn’t seem important enough to bring up. So I replied: None. And that I would call him when I could.

I had just opened a book when there was a tap on my door. It was Susan. ‘Do you have a minute?’

‘Sure.’ I came out onto the deck. The sky was now dark and the wind had risen to at least twenty knots. There were whitecaps, and the boat was rocking.

Susan looked anxious. ‘I wanted to ask if you were OK. Laila told me that she and Jack pulled that cave trick on you. She said she hadn’t wanted to, but … well, you don’t know Jack. He’s really terrific, but he’s also a big practical joker. And sometimes if you don’t know him, he can come off as reckless.’

‘Hey, it was no big deal. It kind of spooked me for a minute, but I lived to tell the tale.’

We laughed.

‘Thanks for checking on me though,’ I said.

Susan shrugged. ‘I know what it’s like to be the newbie. You can feel out of place and shut out when somebody plays a trick on you. Anyway, if you ever need to talk, I’m available.’

I was moved by her kindness. ‘I do have a question. What goes on between Gretchen and Alvin? I mean, I don’t want to pry, but they don’t seem to get along very well.’

Susan grimaced. ‘It’s a personality thing. Alvin is really controlling, and Grete doesn’t like being second-guessed. She’s competent and she doesn’t think he appreciates her.’

‘Ah. Yeah, he does seem a little nit-picking.’ I remembered seeing him go back down to the gear room after I had checked out the equipment.

I hesitated. ‘And … this is trickier. Is there something between Laila and Alvin? Like are they in a relationship?’

‘Why do you ask?’

I told her I had noticed Alvin getting annoyed when Laila put her hands on his shoulders.

Susan chuckled. ‘Laila loves to provoke him. She thinks he’s a bully and so she takes every opportunity to annoy him. She’s such a brat.’

The skies opened abruptly, and rain began slashing down. ‘Yikes!’ Susan yelled and ran for the gangway. I ran for my cubbyhole and ducked inside. No way could I keep the door open. The rain was pounding and the wind howling. The boat motion became violent, and I wondered if the anchor would hold.

I must not have been the only one who wondered, because I heard heavy footsteps on the deck and Alvin was shouting at someone.

Then Marcus yelled. ‘We can keep an eye from below. I think it will hold.’

I heard their footsteps move toward the gangway. I considered leaving my snug hole and going down to the saloon with the others, but decided to stay put. It was dry in my hidey hole and because the wind was chilly, the room hadn’t warmed up too much.

An hour later, the storm subsided and I poked my head out to see that the skies were clearing to the north. Sicily was in for the next onslaught. But unless the storm changed direction, it would be clear in our area within thirty minutes. It was cold on deck and I put on my jacket.

I headed to the saloon for a cup of coffee and found Dallas, Gretchen, and Marcus at the table. Dallas had set out some snacks and they were drinking hot beverages. ‘Any coffee?’ I asked.

Dallas stood up. ‘I’ll get you some.’

‘You don’t need to wait on me. I can get it.’

‘Dallas is like a mother hen,’ Gretchen said. ‘He wants everybody to be OK.’ The words were pleasant enough but there was an edge to her voice.

I was struck by the convolutions of personality. I’d never been in such close quarters for a long period of time with people and wondered if it was going to be a problem eventually. Surely the job wouldn’t take much longer and then we’d all go on to other ones. Maybe tomorrow we’d get the airplane stabilized with the cable and then things would speed up.

After dinner, we played another few rounds of poker, but it was not as much fun as before. Everyone was distracted and there were a couple of minor squabbles about rules. I ended up winning a couple of hands and now was only eight dollars in the hole.

‘Look out,’ Dallas said. ‘I think Jessie has been holding out on us. She’s a card shark.’

FIFTEEN

The next morning the passing of the storm had left the air fresh and clear. Although the waves had eased up, the ocean was still restless. I suspected that below the surface it would be turbulent. Maybe it settled and became quiet once you got several feet down. Regardless, we were suiting up to dive.

There was tension in the air, as if everyone had been keyed up by the storm. Alvin snapped at Laila when she straggled onto the deck ten minutes after everyone else, even though she wasn’t holding up the process. I saw Dallas and Gretchen having words. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but their body language was tense, and at the end of the exchange, Dallas stalked away, leaving Gretchen red-faced and surly-looking.

I kept my head down, and I noticed Susan and Jack doing the same. They busied themselves without addressing anyone. At one point, I sidled over to Susan and whispered, ‘The grump patrol is in high gear.’

Susan jerked her head up and grimaced. ‘You got that right. I’m keeping my mouth shut.’

‘Same.’

‘All I know is I’m glad I don’t have to go down there today. It’s going to be murky.’

‘You think so? That far down?’

She shrugged. ‘Maybe not.’

Because the previous team had been successful with the cable, they kept the same configuration, with Marcus and Susan staying aboard as monitors, Gretchen and me on relay, and Alvin, Dallas, Laila, and Jack making the deep dive.

The deep four went in first again. Alvin had the winch line attached to himself. I hadn’t paid much attention to it the first time, because there was so much new stuff to take in. Now I saw that it was a thin, woven line, and it didn’t look too heavy. I presumed someone had done a calculation that indicated that the line would be sturdy enough to steady the plane.

As soon as I hit the water, I saw that Susan had been right. The water was a mess, silt having been stirred up and not having time to settle. I could barely see three feet in front of me. Nothing looked familiar, and I felt disoriented. I wondered if it wouldn’t have been a better idea to wait another day. But the way people were behaving, it was probably not an option.

Once again, I wished I could go down to get a look at what the team was up against. The way it had been described, the airplane was on a ledge and could easily be tipped over the edge and lost in the abyss. What would that look like? Like an airplane on a runway ready to take off?

Gretchen and I stopped at the relay point, sixty feet down. At least the water was clearer here. In the light from my headlight I saw that there were more fish today, darting around in fits and starts as if they’d been as disturbed by the storm as the people were. At one point, Gretchen pointed up and there was the tiger shark again. At least I assumed it was the same one.

Suddenly Gretchen cocked her head and pointed to her ear. She was getting a message. She threw a thumbs-up, meaning the crew had arrived at the plane. Now came the hard part: attaching the winch line. I tried to picture what that would be like. The line had to be tight enough so it didn’t wiggle around, but have enough play in it to allow them to work with it.

Today, I didn’t feel like exploring. There was a lot at stake for the crew and I wanted to stay put. I imagined that more than one line would have to be secured before the plane was considered stabilized. This would be the first of two or more dives to get the plane ready for … for what? What were they planning to do with it?

Gretchen stopped moving and froze. She put up a hand to indicate that she was getting a transmission. What I could see of her face was full of alarm. Her eyes were wide. I splayed my hands to ask what was going on. Gretchen grabbed her writing board and wrote: ‘Laila. Mask leak.’ She signaled that I should stay where I was and that she was going up top. She wrote: ‘Back with mask.’

She took off, straight up, slowly. If she had to go all the way to the surface, it would take her two minutes, to be on the safe side. But maybe Susan would meet her halfway with a mask. Then Gretchen would have to start down to deliver the mask. Most likely she wouldn’t have to go all the way down; someone would be ascending to meet her.

In all the diving I’d done, I had rarely heard of a mask leaking, unless they were cheap and a poor fit. The ones we wore were expensive, and incredibly well-built. The communication masks were more complicated, but I had checked all the masks the day before. I’d seen nothing out of kilter. And I’d been with Alvin. He would have noticed if something was wrong. The situation wasn’t dire, but it was an odd one. With the other things that had gone wrong, it had to be nerve-wracking. Was this mission snake-bit? Suddenly I thought again of seeing Alvin go down into the gear room after our thorough examination of the gear. Why had he gone there? The two of us had just checked everything. I shoved my mind away from where it was straying. Alvin would have no reason to sabotage Laila’s mask. Would he?

I waited, making sure I didn’t drift away from the waypoint marker. Five minutes later, Gretchen descended carrying a bag which presumably held the replacement mask. She signaled to ask me if I was OK and I nodded. Then Gretchen started down.

For the next ten minutes, the only thing that disturbed the waters was a huge grouper that approached me and stopped to investigate me straight on. I couldn’t help grinning at the droopy-eyed creature. It looked gloomy. I supposed that with predators in the water like the tiger shark I’d seen earlier, the grouper must live in constant fear of being eaten.

After the ten minutes had passed, I became antsy. Had Gretchen been forced to go all the way down? If so, I would be here alone for another half hour, while Gretchen took the slow descent and the even slower ascent. Not that I minded being alone in the water, but I didn’t like not knowing what was happening. I vowed to learn how to use the communication masks as soon as I could.

Finally Gretchen came back. She looked concerned, but wrote on the board that all was fine. We swam around a bit, and Gretchen pointed out a couple of small caves and another drop-off point. I had never been skiing, but I imagined the terrain on a ski slope must be like this, with craggy mountains and sudden drop-offs.

A half hour later, the four came up, Alvin nodding to us and looking pleased. We took our time ascending, Gretchen and me staying with the other four to make sure they didn’t have any issues. Coming up from 120 feet meant they had to be sure their CO₂ didn’t build up.

But all was smooth and eventually we were back on board. There were high-fives and lots of laughter.

After we were out of our suits and dressed, Laila came over to me. ‘I need to talk to you.’ Her expression was grim.

‘Sure. What’s up?’

‘Let’s go over there.’ She pointed to the aft area near my cabin. When we were away from the others, Laila snapped, ‘I thought you checked the masks.’

‘I did. I can’t explain what happened. They all looked fine. And Alvin checked the comm masks with me because I wasn’t familiar with them. Neither of us saw any leaks.’

Laila nodded. ‘OK, I guess if you both checked them, it was a glitch.’

‘I’m really sorry. Something like that is scary.’

‘No kidding. Especially that deep. But it was a slow leak; I only noticed it because the mask started to fog up.’

‘I’ll check them all again this afternoon.’

‘Good idea.’ She gave me a curt nod and headed for the gangway.

I watched her go, troubled. Again, I thought of Alvin going down to the gear room after we had checked out all the gear. Had he been up to something? Like sabotaging Laila’s mask? I shook myself to get rid of the negative thought. Why would he do that? He wouldn’t, I thought firmly.

I was starving. I should be helping Dallas put out lunch. I started for the gangway and realized that Jack was standing still, several feet aft. He’d been watching Laila and me. I waved and grinned, but he turned away and headed for the front of the boat. It was odd for the usually good-natured Jack to give me the cold shoulder.

During lunch, the air was festive. Alvin described how they had used the cable. ‘Jessie, you haven’t seen it, but the body of the plane is lying at the edge of a cliff. As you can imagine, after eighty years in the sea, it’s badly corroded. Our mission is to get something from the plane and we were afraid if we jostle it too much, it will pitch over the cliff. We decided to attach a line, to stabilize it while we examine it. Because of the corrosion, we weren’t sure where we could attach the line so it wouldn’t break off. We’ve been down a few times to test the strength of the various parts. We finally figured that one of the struts is intact enough to do the job. And today I got the wire attached!’

I noticed that he made it sound like he had been the prime person involved in attaching the cable. There was a certain ego involved. I hadn’t seen him be so expansive before. He fairly glowed with pride. And his explanation made sense of why the job was taking so long.

The others were in a good mood, but as Alvin talked, they became quieter. Gretchen, in particular, looked increasingly agitated. Suddenly she slammed her fork down. ‘Really? We’re not going to talk about the leak on Laila’s mask? We’re going to pretend that didn’t happen? We’re not going to ask how, or why?’ She glared at the others.

‘Gretchen …’ Susan said quietly.

‘Don’t be overly dramatic,’ Alvin said. ‘Sure, it was a bit of a scare, but nothing happened. And thank you, Gretchen, for fetching the replacement mask. It’s teamwork!’

Marcus cleared his throat. ‘It was successful, no question. But Grete is right: we have to investigate what happened and how to prevent it in the future.’

Alvin eyed me and I knew I was in for it. No way was he going to shoulder any of the responsibility. ‘I sent a novice down to check the gear, so I’ll take the blame for that. We have to make sure an experienced person goes along in future.’

That was totally unfair. He had checked them with me, and yet he was putting all the blame on me. I’d told Laila that Alvin had been with me, so I was sure that Laila would come to my defense, but Laila kept her attention on her plate.

Dallas got up and started clearing dishes. ‘That’s my job,’ I said and got up to help. I ran water and detergent into a small pan and began washing the dishes.

The others went off to their quarters or up onto the deck.

When Dallas and I were alone, he said, ‘Laila told me Alvin was with you checking the gear. Why didn’t you say something?’

I took my hands out of the water and dried them. ‘I didn’t want to cause any trouble. Alvin doesn’t seem like a guy who can take any criticism.’ I hesitated. Should I tell Dallas the rest of it? That Alvin had gone to the gear room after we had checked the gear?

‘You’re right. But it’s a fine line. You can’t let him think you’re a wuss, or he’ll pick on you.’

‘The way he does Gretchen? She’s not a wuss.’

He shrugged. ‘I’m just saying.’

‘I get it,’ I said. ‘I’m curious. What is it like down in the depths, working with him?’

‘That’s his good side. He’s careful. As snarly as he can be, he would be devastated if anything happened to anyone on his watch.’

‘So Taylor’s accident?’

Dallas became still. I had the impression he was making a decision.

‘Look,’ he said, his voice quiet, ‘Taylor’s accident was his own fault. At least that’s my take on it. You won’t get the same opinion from everyone. I thought Taylor was reckless. He was a terrific diver, but at that kind of depth you have to be extra careful.’

‘Tell me what happened. Please. No one wants to talk about it.’

‘Let’s go up top. I’ll tell you.’

We got cups of coffee and went up to the bridge and sat in the chaises. ‘I’m breaking Alvin’s prohibition by telling you this,’ Dallas said, ‘but I don’t think it’s fair for you to be shut out. But please don’t let on that I blabbed.’

‘Not a problem.’

‘It happened this way: only Taylor and Gretchen went on the dive. They went down to take some measurements. According to Gretchen – and by the way, I believe her – Taylor got impatient and swam out over the abyss. Not a good idea. He got caught in a current and it took him twenty minutes to get back. Gretchen was frantic. She had communication with Alvin up top and she was yelling for help.’

‘What did she think they could do?’

‘I don’t know. I guess she thought if Taylor needed somebody to buddy with if he ran out of air, she didn’t have enough to help. Which is exactly what happened. Apparently, he used up too much air fighting to get back onto the ledge. And although they did buddy-breathe, he was so stressed out that they were almost out of air. In a perfect environment, he should have taken more time to come back up. Alvin actually went down to the relay point to meet him with an extra tank, but by then he was flailing around. Alvin stayed down with him for twenty minutes before they started back up, but the damage was done. He had to be taken to shore for decompression, and was told he couldn’t dive for a year.’

‘Jesus!’ I shuddered. ‘That’s terrifying. But I don’t understand why all the hush-hush. It’s an accident that could happen to anyone.’

He sighed. ‘Taylor and Gretchen were an item. Not supposed to happen on a team like this, but they were. They had had a fight earlier in the day. And Gretchen felt horrible after the accident. She second-guessed herself, wondering whether the fact that she was mad at him had clouded her judgment and thinking she could have done more to help.’

That explained a little bit, but not why everyone else evaded the subject. I started to insist that he tell me more, but decided that for now I should back off. Dallas had told me more than I expected. But there was one more thing I wanted to know. ‘What do you think? Could she have done more?’

Dallas was quiet for minute. ‘Really, there’s no way to know.’

That wasn’t what I wanted to hear. What I was after was whether he thought Gretchen had been afraid of being caught the way Taylor was, and she hung back when she could have helped.

‘Look,’ he said. ‘Nobody can know what happens in a situation like that. The currents can be really strong down there. She might have thought that if she tried to help him, they’d both be in trouble. And that could be true. The only two people who know for sure is the two of them.’ He shook his head, but then added, ‘Taylor never said a word against her, though. And if anybody had a right to do that, it was him.’

‘When you say they were an item … Did they know each other before this?’

‘I don’t think so.’

‘So it was a short-lived thing. Did their relationship cause any friction?’

He frowned, eyeing me curiously. ‘Interesting question. What made you think of that?’

I didn’t know for sure, but Gretchen’s tense relationship with Alvin seemed worse than mere personality mismatch would account for. But how could I word it? ‘Do you think it’s possible Alvin was jealous of Taylor?’

‘Whoa.’ He laughed. ‘You really do have the radar, don’t you? Yeah, I always thought there was some undercurrent there, but no proof.’

I stood up and stretched. ‘Oof. I should do some stretches. Getting muscles back in shape is a bear!’

‘You’re a real water baby, aren’t you?’

‘Yep. Funny, I wouldn’t have pegged Laila for one, but I notice that she perked up as soon as she was diving.’

‘Like I said, you have the people radar. She can be a pain, but in the water, I wouldn’t want a better partner. Her whole mindset seems to change when she’s in the water. She’s more alert and vigorous. Otherwise she’s kind of a slug.’

We laughed.

‘Marcus is the only person who’s married?’

‘Alvin is divorced, and I think Susan is in a relationship, but the others – me, for example – are unattached.’ He paused. ‘How about you?’

How to describe my ‘relationship’ with Nick? It wasn’t serious, but I had no interest in getting involved with anyone else. As for whether Nick felt the same, I didn’t know. We’d never discussed it. ‘I’m seeing someone,’ I said. ‘Occasionally. It’s a question of when we manage to get together. Like, I wonder how Marcus and his wife manage to make it work with him gone so much.’ I did wonder, because if Nick and I eventually decided to be a real couple I wasn’t sure how we would navigate being away from each other.

‘She’s this mega lawyer in Washington, DC, so I don’t think it’s a problem when he’s away. You know, it’s like if he was in the Navy on a ship. I’ve only met her once and they seem really solid with each other.’

We heard steps on the ladder, and Jack’s head popped up. ‘What are you two plotting?’ he said.

‘World domination,’ Dallas said. ‘Same old, same old. Come and join us.’

The three of us spent the next half hour analyzing today’s dive. Jack and Dallas had both been all the way down, and I was eager to hear their post-mortem. In general, they were satisfied.

‘The next time we go down, though,’ Dallas said, ‘I’d like to secure the line off the winch. It seems like there’s a potential for it to get grabbed by a current and it could get out of control.’

‘Good thought,’ Jack said. ‘It does seem awfully long to be untethered.’

SIXTEEN

The next morning, when I went down to breakfast only Jack and Alvin were there. I sat down with granola and yogurt, but for some reason the thought of eating didn’t appeal. I had the beginnings of a headache, which was unusual. Was I getting sick? Jack and Alvin appeared to be fine, so where did I get a bug? I hoped I’d feel OK when it was time to go down.

‘Where is everybody?’ I asked.

‘Gretchen went back to her room. She said she wasn’t feeling good and didn’t know if she could go out today,’ Alvin said.

I didn’t know if it was the suggestion that someone else was sick, but now I felt dizzy. I took a sip of coffee and my stomach flopped.

I took another look at the two men. Alvin looked fine, but Jack was pale.

‘Alvin,’ Jack said, ‘Dallas and I were talking and wondered if it would be a good idea to tether the line to one of the divers at the relay point, so there isn’t so much chance for it to get out of control.’

Alvin leaned back and crossed his hands over his belly. He looked very relaxed. ‘I don’t think it’s necessary,’ he said. ‘I didn’t get any tug from the line yesterday. It’s thin and it was light in the water.’

‘Yeah, but if a current caught it—’

‘I’ll think about it,’ Alvin snapped.

Jack picked up the piece of toast from his plate, glanced at it and set it back down, looking puzzled. I wondered if he was feeling as crummy as I was. My headache had ratcheted up and I felt woozier by the minute. ‘Guys, I don’t know what Gretchen has, but I’m not feeling so hot either.’

‘Same here,’ Jack said. He got up abruptly. ‘I think I’m going to be sick.’ He rushed upstairs onto deck and I heard him retching over the side.

Laila was straggling out of her room. She was in yoga pants and a sweatshirt. ‘Alvin, do you have any ibuprofen? I’m feeling a little achy.’

‘Shit,’ Alvin said. ‘Let me get the medical kit.’

‘I’m sorry,’ Laila grumped. ‘I can’t help it if I’m sick.’

‘You and everyone else,’ he muttered. He took the cushion off one of the banquette seats, opened the lid and hoisted out a big first aid bag. He took a couple of plastic bottles from it and set them on the table. One was ibuprofen, the other acetaminophen.

Dallas came down the steps to the saloon, moving slowly. ‘I saw Jack outside. He’s sick and I’m not feeling too great either.’ He looked at Laila and Jessie. ‘Everyone’s down, right?’

‘Everyone but me,’ Alvin said.

I went back to my room. My stomach was unsettled, but I thought rest was all I needed. I moved a wastebasket next to my bed in case I woke up vomiting, and went right back to sleep.

I slept on and off the rest of the day, wondering if everyone else felt as exhausted as I did. In between sleeping, I considered what might have hit us. Was this some variation of Covid? Probably not, with everyone coming down at the same time. And why didn’t Alvin get sick? That wasn’t entirely unheard of. In any group of people who came down with something there was almost always one person who dodged the bug.

By evening, I was feeling better and ventured out to find Dallas lying on a mat on the deck, and Jack propped up against the side of the boat near Dallas, his eyes closed.

Dallas stirred when he heard my footsteps. ‘You feeling better?’

I shrugged. ‘Better, but not a hundred percent. I can’t believe I slept all day. Everybody OK?’

‘I haven’t seen anyone but Jack. I’ve been lying here all day. I didn’t like being below.’

‘Can I bring you anything?’ I asked. ‘Is there any ginger ale?’

‘Yeah, there should be some in the pantry. If you find it, I could use one. It won’t be cold, but …’

I looked to see if Jack had been awakened by our talk, but if he was awake, he wasn’t letting on. I went below and found Gretchen stretched out on one of the banquettes, a cloth over her eyes. She sat up when she heard me come in. She groaned. ‘God, what a day. I must have thrown up five times. Susan, too. We played musical head.’

‘I’m exhausted,’ I said. ‘I can’t remember the last time I was sick. But at least I didn’t throw up.’

Laila wandered in, looking drained. ‘I think I need some crackers or something,’ she said.

I seemed to be better off than most of them, so I rummaged around and found crackers and peanut butter and ginger ale. ‘Peanut butter is supposed to be good for an upset stomach,’ I said.

‘Ugh.’ Laila shuddered. ‘Just the crackers for now.’

I took crackers and ginger ale up to Dallas.

‘I think I’m going to live,’ he said. ‘My stomach was upset, but not as bad as poor Jack.’

I went back down to keep Gretchen and Laila company, wondering if I should try to figure out a light meal. Marcus emerged from his room, unsteady on his feet but saying he was on the mend. Eventually everyone but Jack gathered at the table, listless and pale. Everybody but Alvin, who looked as chipper as ever.

‘OK, guys,’ Alvin said. ‘I’m not much of a cook but if anyone wants soup or some rice or something, I can manage that.’

‘Oatmeal,’ Laila said. ‘That sounds great.’

‘Oatmeal?’ Alvin said. ‘Do we have that?’

‘Yes,’ Dallas said. ‘Look, Alvin, I’m feeling OK. I can handle the food. And I’ll make some soup.’

It turned out the soup was from packets, since cans couldn’t be kept on board due to the danger of the tins rusting.

While Dallas prepared the food, I went up to see if I could persuade Jack to come down. When I woke him, he was stiff from lying in an odd position, but he said he felt better. He came below and slumped onto the banquette.

After we ate, we all perked up. It was Alvin who brought up the relevant question. ‘How do you think we got a bug?’ he said.

‘All except you,’ Laila grumped.

‘It’s true I didn’t have it as bad as everyone else,’ Alvin said, ‘but I was a little queasy this afternoon, too.’

‘Could it have been something we ate?’ Marcus asked, directing his attention to Dallas.

‘You know how it is,’ Dallas replied. ‘There’s always a possibility on board that something will go bad. I try to be careful, but things happen.’

‘Could it have been the fish?’ Marcus asked.

‘No,’ Dallas said. ‘Gretchen didn’t eat any and she got sick. And everything else was fresh.’

‘Could the water be contaminated?’ I asked.

‘I don’t see how. It’s the same system we use every day.’

Everyone looked uneasy. I understood why. There had been too many hints of things going wrong. Could someone have deliberately given us something that made us sick? With what? And how? It likely wasn’t Dallas, because he’d know he’d be the first suspect. But who else had the opportunity to contaminate the food? Really, I was the only one who could have had such access besides Dallas, and I knew I hadn’t done anything.

Gretchen was staring at me. ‘Dallas,’ she said, ‘did you ever leave Jessie alone in the kitchen?’

Dallas snorted. ‘Come on, Grete, surely you’re not suggesting that Jessie would poison us. After all, she was sick, too.’

‘I’m throwing out ideas,’ she said. ‘I’m just saying, she’s new. We don’t really know anything about her.’

‘Excuse me,’ I snapped. ‘I don’t appreciate being talked about as if I’m not in the room. And no, I didn’t do anything to the food.’

‘You would say that, wouldn’t you?’ she said. Why was she intent on picking on me?

‘That’s enough, Gretchen,’ Marcus said. ‘Most likely one of the vegetables was contaminated. Farming practices vary, and it’s impossible to check out where everything comes from. In the States, instances of food poisoning from lettuce or whatever is commonplace.’

‘I didn’t eat any salad,’ Alvin piped up. ‘Did everyone else?’

It turned out everyone but Alvin had all eaten the greens. We agreed that Marcus had probably read the situation right.

‘I’ll be sure to wash things thoroughly,’ Dallas said. ‘I know in some Asian countries they wash greens in a little bleach. Maybe I should do that.’

‘Oh, please don’t,’ Gretchen groaned. ‘It sounds disgusting.’

‘But if it keeps people from getting sick, it might be necessary,’ he said, his tone stubborn.

‘We’ll discuss it tomorrow,’ Alvin said. ‘Right now, early bed, everybody. We’ll aim to go out tomorrow if everyone feels up to it.’

SEVENTEEN

I still didn’t feel a hundred percent the next morning, which made me suspect it was a raging virus that we’d succumbed to. I sat on the edge of my bunk and wondered if I should beg off for one more day. When I stood up, I was still woozy, but I clamped down on making excuses. I refused to be the one who wimped out on everyone.

When I went on deck, I was glad to see that at least the sea was calm and there were only a few wispy clouds on the horizon. I reminded myself that four hours from now I’d be back on the boat and could go back to bed if I needed to.

By the look of everyone else at breakfast, they all felt the same. But no one wanted to admit that they were still under the weather. Or maybe everybody simply wanted to get the dive over with. Despite Dallas’s claim that Taylor’s accident had been his own fault, Gretchen’s uneasy worry that our sickness was one more in a string of mishaps resounded for me. We should be extra careful.

I forced down toast and peanut butter and saw that no one else was any more enthusiastic than I was about eating. Alvin didn’t notice, or if he did, he ignored it. After breakfast he clapped his hands and ordered everyone on deck. His energy was annoying. But still, no one complained that they weren’t ready to go into the water.

As I dressed, feeling like my wetsuit weighed more than usual, I remembered my dive trainer, Tony’s, admonition: ‘If you think you don’t have the proper energy for a dive, don’t do it. That’s when accidents happen.’

For once, I was glad I wasn’t on the deep dive team. Alvin had named the same four to go down. ‘Sorry to disappoint the rest of you, but we four secured the line the first time, and I think after yesterday, we shouldn’t mix it up. Tomorrow we’ll shuffle it around.’

He was right. It went like clockwork when the first four took off, with the wire attached to Alvin’s pack. Several minutes later Gretchen and I leaped in. As soon as I hit the water, I was glad I had gone ahead with the dive. The water was clear and refreshing. We saw several fish right away, and as we sank down toward our sixty-foot position, there was more sea life than usual. It was as if the fish had been upset by the storm and were celebrating having the water back to normal.

When we got to the relay position, Gretchen again spoke with the deep team and they said they were almost at the airplane. Gretchen signaled that I could swim around and explore if I wanted to. ‘I’ll hold the fort,’ she wrote on the board.

Despite being glad to be in the water, I didn’t want to expend too much energy exploring, so I lazily swam a few yards in each direction, getting more familiar with the niches in the wall, the rock formations, and the fish life. From being in The Bahamas, I had learned that fish tend to stay in the same area. It had come in handy when we were showing tourists the Bahamian Islands. And it came in handy now. I recognized the area where the seahorses hung out, saw the moray’s cave, and saw the grouper who looked like the granddaddy of the fish.

Later, I couldn’t have said what made me feel suddenly uneasy and head back to Gretchen, but when I got there, I saw at once that Gretchen was in distress. She was treading water fast, her fins moving swiftly and her head was down. I swam closer and saw that she was listening to something that was being said on the comm line. She nodded curtly a couple of times and then her head jerked up. Clearly something was wrong. Her eyes were huge and looked terrified.

I signaled a question. Gretchen grabbed the board and wrote: ‘Accident below. Bad.’

I pointed to myself with a question: could I do anything to help?

Gretchen shook her head and closed her eyes as if she was thinking. Then she opened them and started talking on the comm line. She looked upward, so clearly she was talking to someone on the boat. She nodded several times. When she switched off, she wrote: ‘Stay here. Marcus coming. I’m going down.’

I frowned and pointed to Gretchen’s suit. Anyone going down so deep was wearing a drysuit, but Gretchen was in a wetsuit. She’d be cold.

‘Back soon,’ she wrote, and without waiting, started the descent.

My pulse rate had speeded up and I forced myself to calm down. A faster heart rate would mean more breaths, using up more air. I didn’t know what might be required of me, so I needed to conserve my energy and my air.

I could calm my body, but my mind was working overtime. Accident? What kind of accident? Another leaky mask? Another empty air tank? So many things could go wrong underwater. No matter how careful people were, being in an alien environment could be unforgiving. I remembered my earlier thoughts about my instructor Tony’s warning that accidents happened when people were not at their best. I should have taken it seriously. Should have said something then.

Within a few minutes, Susan had descended to join me. ‘OK?’ she signed.

I opened my hands out and then pointed down to indicate I wanted to know what happened.

Susan crossed her index fingers and shook her head. Surely she couldn’t mean what that was supposed to mean – that someone had been killed. Maybe badly hurt? But how?

Time stretched too long before Gretchen finally came back up. She was carrying a pack and a tank. Her face behind her mask was dead white. My God! I felt a spasm of horror. Somebody had been killed. But who? And how? Shark attack? Another damned equipment malfunction?

Gretchen signaled that she was going on up. Susan swam to her and hugged her. The two women didn’t move for a minute. Then Gretchen disengaged and started moving toward the surface.

I wanted to know what was happening, but more than ever I suddenly felt like an outsider. Susan kept looking down and I didn’t want to ask her what was going on. I’d find out soon enough.

Another minute or two and three heads appeared. Two of the divers were carrying a body between them. A small body. Laila. Alvin and Dallas were carrying her, while Jack swam close to them. Someone had taken her respirator off, and her head was lolling to one side in an angle that I knew meant she was gone. I felt sick. How had this happened?

Jack had his arms hugged up tight across his chest. When he reached Susan, he reached out and clung to her, his eyes closed. Susan clutched his arm and let him lean on her. Alvin’s face seemed made of stone, and Dallas’s eyes could have been made of pieces of coal, they were so dark and sunken into their sockets.

I saw that Laila’s mask was still on, but there were cracks in it. It looked like something had attacked her. But what? What would crack her mask that way?

Then I saw that Alvin no longer had the wire attached to his pack. Where was it? Had the wire gotten out of control the way Dallas and Jack had worried it would? Had it somehow slammed into Laila? How could that have been hard enough to kill her? Or had it wrapped around her head and broken her neck? None of it seemed possible. The wire wasn’t that heavy.

I went to Dallas’s side and signaled that I would help take the burden from him if he wanted me to. He shook his head. I didn’t ask Alvin. I could see from the tense set of his shoulders that he would never relinquish his hold on Laila.

Oddly, it was Susan who took control. She tapped each of us in turn and pointed upwards. Slowly, slowly, we ascended, stopping to let our breath acclimatize. I wished we could go upwards forever and never reach the boat. Once there, the real impact of the accident would begin.

But eventually we reached the surface. Marcus was waiting at the back of the boat. Alvin and Dallas gently pushed Laila’s body up onto the platform and Marcus immediately picked her up. Cradling her body in his arms, he walked toward the front of the boat. Where was he taking her?

The rest of us climbed out onto the platform. No one said anything while we peeled our suits off, rinsed ourselves with the outside hose, toweled off, and headed to our piles of clothing.

Only when we were dressed did Marcus come and address us. ‘We’ll discuss this in a while. I’ve called Washington to send an investigation team. It will be tomorrow before they can arrive in Sicily. Susan, will you and Gretchen help me get Laila’s suit off?’

The three of them headed forward. I still had no idea what had happened, and no one was saying anything.

‘I’ll put on some coffee,’ I said.

Dallas shot me a grateful look. I went downstairs, my head buzzing. Now that I was out of the water, I was feeling weak and sick in addition to feeling crushed with sorrow. I shouldn’t have gone out today. No one should have. And the result had been disaster – the worst disaster.

Dallas and Jack came down for coffee, but Alvin didn’t appear. I wondered what he was doing. Raging at himself and at fate? Making a phone call? I wanted to know. Knowing something about him now, I was worried that he would try to think of how to blame someone besides himself, or try to think of a story to tell investigators. I understood now that I didn’t trust him. His ego was getting in the way of safe procedures. Everyone had to realize that, but no one was willing to say so. At least, not yet.

As an excuse to find out what he was up to, I poured a cup of coffee, and took it upstairs to him. When I found him, I felt ashamed of my unkind thoughts. He was sitting on the deck, wearing only his bathing suit and a T-shirt, propped against the cabin outside wall, head in his hands.

I sat down beside him and handed him the coffee. ‘Drink this. You need to warm up.’

He raised his head, and his ravaged look stabbed me. He may have been responsible for the accident by having people go down when they weren’t ready, but he was suffering. He took the coffee from me, his hand shaking so hard that the liquid sloshed over the side of the cup. ‘Thank you,’ he croaked.

‘Let me get you a jacket,’ I said. I found the only pile of clothing left on the deck and came back with his sweatshirt. Without a word, he put it on.

I sat down beside him again, staying quiet. Sometimes all people needed was another warm body next to them.

I heard the sound of the winch being run, pulling back up the line that they had taken down with them.

Alvin sipped the coffee, sighing a few times. Finally he put the cup down and groaned softly. ‘What kind of leader makes such a stupid mistake?’ he said. His voice sounded like he felt like the loneliest person in the world.

‘A human leader,’ I said. ‘You’re not the only one to blame. We all should have paid attention to the fact that we weren’t a hundred percent.’ I told him that I had had a flash of Tony’s admonition before we took off on the dive. ‘And I sat on it. I could have mentioned it to you, told you it was iffy to go down the day after we’d all been sick. But I was afraid of seeming like a coward. I wanted so bad to prove myself that I ignored advice from the best diver I’ve ever known. So you’re not the only one who’s stupid.’

‘Laila,’ he said, his voice bereft. ‘Why sweet little Laila?’

Why any of us? It was as good a time as any to get him to open up. Keeping it inside could only make it worse. ‘What happened?’ I asked.

For a time, I thought he wasn’t going to reply. ‘Remember Dallas wanted to secure the line at the relay point? And I said I didn’t think it was necessary? I said everything had gone well before?’ His voice turned harsh. ‘Well, he was right and I was wrong. This time it didn’t go well. I took the line off to secure it to the plane, and …’ His voice wavered and he waited while he collected himself. ‘A current blasted through and grabbed it. It snaked out and smashed into Laila, and … around her neck. Fuck!’

I grabbed his forearm and hung on while he sobbed. I didn’t say anything. What was there to say?

There was movement on the deck, so I rose and went to see what was happening. Marcus, Jack, and Dallas were carrying Laila’s body to the dinghy. I stopped myself from going over to touch her body. I’d barely gotten to know her, but her love of the water and of diving had shone through, and I had just begun to appreciate her. The one consolation in this horrible disaster was that she had died doing what she loved.

‘Where are you taking her?’ I asked when the three men had come back on board after their onerous task.

Marcus looked ravaged. ‘We got word that her parents want her taken to the US Consulate in Palermo. The investigative crew will meet us there when they arrive tomorrow. Gretchen has volunteered to make the trip with me. We’ll stay the night and tomorrow we’ll bring them here after they’ve had a doctor examine the body.’

Alvin appeared while Marcus was talking. His expression turned thunderous. ‘When were you going to tell me this? Were you going to leave and let me find out later?’

‘Alvin, Jesus Christ, give me a little credit. I was coming to tell you. I didn’t want you to have to see us taking Laila onto the boat.’

‘I’m not fragile, you know. I’m upset, but I’m not going to break under pressure.’

Marcus rubbed his forehead as if he was fighting a headache. ‘Now you know what’s happening. We need to get over to Lipari if we’re going to catch the next ferry.’

Gretchen appeared carrying a duffle. ‘I’m ready.’

‘I’m going, too,’ Alvin said.

Marcus and Gretchen exchanged weary looks. ‘If you think you need to do that.’

‘I do. It was my responsibility. After all, I am the team leader.’

Marcus nodded.

‘I’ll go get a few things together,’ Alvin said.

‘I have to do the same,’ Marcus said.

I followed him down the gangway. ‘Marcus, I need to ask you something.’

He spun around. I glanced toward Alvin’s door and pointed toward Marcus’s cabin. He nodded and we walked into his cabin. I hadn’t been inside it, and it was as tidy as I would have imagined.

I faced him. ‘I know it’s a bad time to ask, but with the three of you gone, we won’t have any duties tomorrow morning, so I’d like Dallas to take me down to the plane. I want your OK.’

Marcus grimaced. ‘Let me think about it while I get my stuff together.’ He grabbed a change of clothes and some toiletries. When he zipped his duffle, he said, ‘I can’t authorize that without Alvin’s approval.’

‘Dammit,’ I said. ‘You know he won’t say yes.’

He shrugged. ‘Maybe, but I won’t go behind his back. And you shouldn’t either. You saw how he was just now. Besides, why do you want to go down there now?’

‘I feel like a fifth wheel. What’s the point of me being here if all I do is hold down a place? I need to get some sense of the plane. And since nothing else will be going on, now is a good time.’

‘I understand. Look, we’ll put it to him. And I’ll make the case.’

When we got back on deck, Alvin was already there, along with everyone else, standing near the bow where the dinghy was tied up, bearing its terrible load.

Marcus said, ‘Alvin, I need a word. Jessie? You, too.’

The three of us huddled away from the others. Marcus put my request to Alvin. To my surprise, Alvin didn’t immediately say no. He sized me up and then said, ‘You sure you’re ready for this? You’ve never been down that deep.’

‘I am ready. If I start to feel like it’s not working for me, I’ll abort.’

He looked out to the ocean for a few seconds and finally nodded. ‘But I want two people with you, not just Dallas.’

‘Even better,’ I said. ‘Thank you.’

‘That means only one will be up top, so nothing can go wrong. Got that? No heroics. No poking around on the site. Nothing. Look at it and come back.’

I nodded.

‘We have to get going,’ Marcus said.

‘Get into the dinghy. I’ll have a word with Dallas,’ Alvin said.

He spoke to Dallas and I saw him nod and look in my direction.

It only took a couple of minutes and then they were off. It was a stunned group that watched silently as our teammate was borne away.

The evening was somber. Dallas made a lentil soup for dinner and afterward we watched a movie to take our mind off things. We decided on Cast Away when they found out I had never seen it, but halfway through our hearts weren’t in it so we went off to bed.

EIGHTEEN

After a restless night, I stumbled down to breakfast and found that Dallas was already up. ‘I made oatmeal. Comfort food. I hope you like it.’

‘Real oatmeal? Not instant?’

‘Woman, bite your tongue. I make the real thing.’

It was the perfect food to settle my mood and my stomach, which was fluttery with the prospect of what the day held.

‘You still up for the dive?’ Dallas asked.

‘Completely.’

‘Both Susan and Jack wanted to go with us, so they drew straws and Susan will be staying with boat. Does that work for you?’

‘I would have been happy with either of them.’

We all felt somber, but my spirits perked up at the prospect of finally getting to see what the big deal was with the airplane. It had almost become a mental game for me to try to guess why a World War II German plane was so intriguing. Was it a special make of plane? Was it unlike any other planes from that era? Some kind of test vehicle? A UFO? Was there precious cargo? Gold, jewels, papers? I may not get all the answers today, but I’d at least get to see it.

I struggled to get into my drysuit. I’d never needed one in The Bahamas, and had never had one on except when I tried it on at the dive shop. It was heavy and thick and as soon as I got it zipped, I was hot.

The others were trying to boost each other’s spirits with wry jokes and jibes at each other but a pall still hung over our small group.

Before we went into the water, Dallas told me a few pointers: ‘The visibility can vary depending on what’s going on down there, and even if it’s calm, it’s going to be dim. Also, in these volcanic waters you get little eruptions that can cloud the water. So be prepared to use your light. If the water is murky you won’t be able to see straight ahead because the light will bounce off the detritus, but it will help us keep tabs on you. And we’ll have our lights on as well so you can tell where we are. We’ll keep each other in sight at all times.’

‘Got it,’ I said, pushing down jittery feelings.

‘I’m sure you know this, but I want to remind you that if you decide to come up, you have to take it slow and easy. And be aware that at any time you can be caught by a current. As we ascend, keep your eye out for projections in the rocks that you can stabilize yourself with if necessary. There are a lot of rock formations down there, so that won’t be too much trouble. And finally when we get down there, if you feel panicky, signal that you want to go up. We’ll be right there with you.’

I nodded, impatient to get on with it. He was making me nervous with all these warnings.

Just before we went in, Dallas said, ‘One last thing. You know this airplane is on the edge of the abyss. The first time I saw it, I was freaked out. It’s really strange. So be prepared.’

And then we were in the water. The first sixty feet felt like home by now. I had been all around that depth, learning the caves and the fish, where the eel lived, where the shrimp hung out, where the grouper swam in lazy circles. I looked around for the tiger shark, but didn’t see it.

We stopped at ninety feet and Dallas signaled to ask if I was OK. I nodded. I’d been this far with Gretchen. The water was definitely murkier here, but I could easily see Dallas and Jack. They were hanging very close to me.

Down, down, down, stopping every few feet to make sure our pressure was stable. And then we were at 120 feet, on a shelf where someone could actually have stood if they wanted to. Fifty feet away, off to the right, I saw an indefinable mass. That must be our goal. I could see that past it the water got very dark. This must be the jumping-off point. I felt a frisson of nerves. What would it be like to swim into that deep, deep water?

This was nothing like The Bahamas. There, the water had usually been crystalline, with the exception of the occasional storm roil. And there were always a lot of colorful fish. At this depth I was seeing few fish, and they were not colorful. There were a few large groupers, giant sea bass, and one fish drifted past that I couldn’t identify.

Dallas signaled for me to follow him slowly. I followed his fins, heart hammering, knowing we would soon be over the airplane. He stopped, moved aside, and pointed. And there it was. I really thought I had been prepared, but it was an even greater shock than the plane I’d seen in The Bahamas. It was a striking sight. You could make out that it was an airplane, even though it was covered with sea growth and parts of it had been sheared off on impact.

It was much larger than I’d imagined. The main frame of the plane had settled amid some rocks, and was covered with silt. The body of the plane was corroded badly, crusty and full of holes.

I remembered how out of place the small plane I’d seen in the waters of The Bahamas had looked, but that was nothing compared to this. Eerie, unlikely, unearthly, this plane had been down decades longer than the one in The Bahamas, and had become part of the seascape, and yet forever different. The plane’s tail had been sheared off, and sat at a cockeyed angle near the plane. But someone had cleared off the crust and corrosion and one arm of the Nazi symbol was clearly visible.

As we floated nearer, I suddenly saw what Dallas had warned me about. Although the body of the plane was jammed into the surrounding rocks, the plane was literally perched on the edge of the shelf. Except for the nose, which had obviously gone over the cliff. It was like one of those action movies, where a car is hanging on a cliff with people inside, screaming to be saved.

Dallas motioned me closer. And closer. We floated over the top of the plane. The canopy had crumpled and was lying off to the side. I was struck by how tiny the cockpit was. A seat for the pilot and one behind him. I suddenly thought of the pilot and froze. What had become of him? And then I saw it. In what would have been the seat of the airplane was a mass of some kind, covered with barnacles and sea growth. Some visceral reaction led me to recognize that this must be the bones of the pilot, covered like everything else with soft, spongy sea life. I backed up. I wasn’t ready for this.

I looked around and saw Dallas and Jack watching me, soberly assessing my moment of discovery. Dallas signaled to ask if I was ready to go back up.

How long had we been down here, with me mesmerized by the site? I was feeling exhausted. A result of the dive? Holdover from yesterday’s intensity? I saw that forty-five minutes had gone by while I was underwater. I nodded that I’d seen enough.

We took our time going back up, pausing every few minutes to regulate air and for Dallas and Jack to point out various underwater sights, things I wanted to commit to memory in case I ever found myself alone down here. Unlikely, but always possible. I checked my compass every now and then to keep my bearings. I was used to feeling a certain disappointment when I reached the surface after a dive, but not today. I climbed out onto the back platform, tore off my vest, regulator, and tank, and sprawled out on my back, taking deep breaths.

‘You OK?’ Dallas asked. I looked up to see him standing over me.

‘I’m great,’ I said. ‘Just … so tired!’

He gave me a thumbs-up. ‘We’ve all been there. There’s something about your first experience not only of being that deep but also seeing the sight of the plane. It knocks you out.’

I hauled myself to my feet. ‘Now I have to figure out how to get out of this drysuit.’

‘I’ll help,’ Dallas said.

He unzipped the suit and pulled it down over my shoulders. Then he peeled it off one arm at a time. There was something unexpectedly erotic about it, and I didn’t dare look at him. He chuckled, so I knew he had the same feeling.

‘I can take it from here,’ I said.

‘I don’t mind doing the rest if you’re too tired,’ he said. I met his eyes and they were dancing with amusement.

I slapped at his hand. ‘Cut it out.’ I knew it wouldn’t be a good idea to get too close to him. Not to mention that I wasn’t sure I wanted to cheat on Nick.

He threw his hands up, laughing. ‘Just offering.’

I shed the rest of the suit, fighting the lingering tingle of desire.

After a shower, I went on deck, commandeered a long cushion from one of the outside seating areas, and stretched out on it. I’d brought a book, but only got in a page or two before I was asleep. A shadow looming over me woke me. Dallas was standing there. ‘Hey, sleeping beauty, shall we put out some snacks?’

I got up and did a few stretches to get out the kinks. The sun was low in the west. ‘How long have I been out?’ I asked.

‘Couple of hours. Come on downstairs. We can do a post-dive assessment over drinks.’

NINETEEN

I’d gotten used to ‘drinks’ meaning soft drinks, so I was surprised to see a pint of whiskey on the table along with crackers and cheese. ‘What’s this?’ I said. ‘Iced tea in a whiskey bottle?’

‘What this is, is my secret stash. Not to be mentioned to a certain Alvin Crosby,’ Dallas said.

‘Say no more. My lips are sealed.’

Susan came out of her room and when she spied the whiskey, she moaned. ‘Oh, my God! Dallas, this is you, right?’

‘You know it.’

‘All for me, or do I have to share it?’

‘If it’s OK with Jessie and Jack, you can have it all.’

‘Um, that would be a hard no,’ I said.

Susan laughed. ‘Then Dallas, you’d better pour, because I can’t be trusted not to be greedy.’

Dallas divided half of the bottle among four glasses and called Jack to come join us. When he saw the booze, Jack had the same reaction as everyone else. ‘I presume you cleared this with Alvin,’ he said with mock innocence.

‘One hundred percent,’ Dallas said. ‘Although I wouldn’t mention it if I were you.’

Before we began sipping, Dallas said, ‘I’d like to propose a toast. To Laila.’

‘Laila,’ everyone said, and there was a moment of silence before we clinked our glasses and drank. The whiskey was fiery going down and within minutes I felt its effect in my limbs.

I got up and went to get some fizzy water. ‘To make it last longer,’ I said.

Jack watered his down, but Susan and Dallas took theirs neat.

‘OK,’ Dallas said when we had had a minute to savor the unexpected treat. ‘Jessie, you did great today. Talk about what you noticed, how you felt, that kind of thing.’

I took another sip of whiskey. ‘First of all, being that deep wasn’t a problem, thanks to your prep. You had warned me that the water could be murky, and it was. The ledge was cleaner than I thought it would be. I guess the currents keep small detritus swept off.’

‘That’s what we all figure.’

‘I thought there would be more sea plants and smaller fish. I also thought the abyss would scare me more, but we never got close enough for me to have a sense of how deep it is. The water off the edge is dark, but there are places in The Bahamas, on the Atlantic side, where you get some deep holes. Gives you the same sense of bottomless depth.’

‘What did you think of the plane?’ Susan asked.

‘That was totally different,’ I said with a shiver. I struggled to think of the words to describe the experience. ‘It’s crazy. No matter how long it has been down there, it feels like a real presence, and yet not quite earthly. Do you know what I mean?’

‘Totally,’ Susan said. ‘It’s like an alien spaceship.’

‘Any idea what brought the plane down? Was it shot down? Did it run out of fuel or was it trying to land?’ Did they know more than they were telling me?

‘No way of knowing what brought it down,’ Jack said. ‘But the fact that so much of it is in one piece leads us to believe it was going really slow when it plunged into the water. But why? Who knows? Maybe the pilot lost consciousness? Maybe he was injured and he died?’ He shrugged.

‘I remember from my reading that North Africa was involved in the war. Any chance the pilot was trying to reach North Africa?’

‘Sure,’ Susan said. ‘There are any number of possible answers. We’ll probably never know.’

‘Here’s what I don’t understand,’ I said. The alcohol was loosening my tongue. ‘Why does it matter almost eighty years later? There has to be more to it.’

Jack slapped his hand down on the table. ‘My thought exactly. It seems like a colossal waste of time and resources.’

‘Who found the plane anyway?’ I asked.

‘As I understand it,’ Jack said, ‘there’s a group that goes around searching for downed airplanes from World War Two in order to repatriate remains. Apparently they weren’t even looking for this one. A couple of guys from the group were on a vacation dive and recognized what they were seeing because they’ve seen these types of wrecks before.’

‘Does the government always want to be notified?’ I asked.

There was silence. Three sets of eyes stayed on their glasses.

‘Dammit,’ I said. ‘I’m tired of this wall of silence. Why is that such a hard question to answer?’

Dallas made a tamping motion with his hand. ‘The easy answer is yes, the government likes to be notified and then this private group goes about its business identifying remains.’

‘But this is different?’ I asked. I held my glass out for another hit of whiskey. Dallas shared around another few sips.

‘It is different. The guys that found the wreck poked around and they found something that surprised them. When they told the department that handles these matters they were immediately told to vacate the area. And that’s when we were called in.’

‘So … what’s the big secret?’ I asked Dallas. He rubbed his hand across his mouth as if to keep it shut.

‘Tell her,’ Susan said. ‘It’s stupid to keep quiet.’

‘Right.’ He nodded. ‘First off, the guys brought up a piece that had some lettering on it. They were able to clean it up and figured that the plane was German. That’s not rare. This was a flight route between Italy and North Africa that was used toward the end of the war.’

‘Do you know what kind of plane it was?’ I asked.

‘The plane is a “Stuka,”’ Jack said. ‘That’s the nickname for the Junkers Ju87D. It was a common fighter plane. I read up on it, and apparently it was popular with the German Air Force because it made a terrifying noise. It sounded like a siren. That’s the thing you hear in World War Two movies. It scared people to death.’

‘So I still don’t get why it’s such a big deal that they thought it was worth sending a team here.’

‘What was different was the pilot.’

‘Different how?’

‘They found evidence that the pilot was wearing an American uniform.’

‘What? What kind of evidence?’

‘Something to do with the helmet the guy was wearing and some buttons. These guys have really studied all this World War Two stuff, so they know what they’re seeing.’

‘And,’ Jack put in, ‘it still may be bullshit. Maybe it was a German who stole an American uniform and was trying to escape to North Africa.’

‘On the other hand,’ Susan said, ‘it might have been an escaped prisoner or an American soldier who stole a German plane. I mean, I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’d at least want to know who it is.’

‘I think that’s one thing the government wants to know,’ Dallas said.

‘What else?’ I asked.

Dallas paused for dramatic effect. ‘If he was an American, they want to know if he was carrying something important that he was trying to get out of Italy.’

‘You mean cargo?’

‘I don’t know exactly. Once we’ve got the area stabilized, they want us to go through the pieces and see if there’s a container of some kind, or a … I don’t know what.’

‘Maybe something that had papers in it?’ Susan said.

‘If that’s what it is,’ Jack said, ‘I don’t know how they think it could have survived for eighty years in the ocean.’

‘Could have been in a plastic container,’ I said. ‘You know plastic never disintegrates. Or at least eighty years is barely long enough to start the process.’

‘Curiouser and curiouser,’ Susan said. She had a big smile on her face. The alcohol had made her cheerful. This was a woman who liked her booze. The kind of person for whom it was best not to have alcohol available on board all the time.

‘So we’re supposed to retrieve something even if we don’t know whether it exists?’

‘Pretty much,’ Dallas said.

‘I don’t know,’ Jack said. ‘I have a feeling Alvin knows more than he’s saying. He seems pretty sure that we’re looking for a container.’

‘We’ll find out before long,’ Dallas said.

I wondered whether I should throw the monkey wrench in, but if I could ask anyone, it would be these three. ‘It sounds pretty straightforward,’ I said. ‘So why is someone trying to sabotage the operation?’

‘Whoa!’ Jack said. ‘You got there pretty fast.’

‘Am I wrong?’

He made a face. ‘Not really. But what led you to say that?’

‘It’s been obvious that you’re all jumpy as hell about how things are going. The accident with Taylor spooked everybody, and since I got here there’s the winch that was supposed to work but needed a part. And then Laila’s leaky mask. And then …’ I didn’t have to complete the sentence. The accident with Laila was devastating.

Dallas meted out the rest of the whiskey. ‘I’ve thought about it a lot, and I don’t see how Laila’s accident could have been planned. It was too random. Jack, what do you think?’

He shook his head. His face was stricken. ‘It happened so fast.’

‘It does seem unlikely,’ I said. ‘But for hypotheticals, suppose it was sabotage. Why Laila? Her mask had already been a problem. If she was the target, why her?’

They were quiet for several minutes. ‘Her father?’ Susan ventured. ‘You know he’s a diplomat, from Iraq.’

‘Oh, God,’ Dallas said. ‘I’d forgotten that. Her dad is going to raise holy hell over this.’

He laid his head back on the banquette, thinking. ‘I don’t see how his job as a diplomat from Iraq figures into the sabotage of our mission, though. Or Laila’s death. Was Iraq involved in World War Two?’

We all shrugged. ‘If they were,’ Jack said, ‘it must have been minor.’

‘Her poor family,’ Dallas said. ‘They’ll be devastated.’

I didn’t express my deeper concern about the sabotage: if somebody was trying to stop us, it had to be a member of the team. But who? My immediate thoughts went to Alvin. I had seen him go below after the two of us had checked all the gear. He could easily have messed with Laila’s mask. But again, why Laila? He was also the only one of us who hadn’t gotten sick. Had he slipped something into the food? And even though it seemed unlikely that he could have engineered the accident that killed Laila, he was there, and he was the one who was in charge of the winch line. In fact, he’s the one who had told me how it happened. He’d seen it happen.

‘Guys, I know this is a hard question, but did anyone actually see what happened to Laila?’

There was a dead silence. Dallas drew a deep breath. ‘I saw it. In fact, I not only saw it, I was the person who unhooked the line from Alvin’s pack. It whipped out of my hands …’ He groaned. ‘It was so fast. Every other time, the line kind of dangled in the water, but this time it ripped out of my hands and whipped straight at Laila. There was nothing we could do.’ He poured himself the last of the whiskey and slugged it down.

‘I’m so sorry,’ I said.

Dallas sat back and closed his eyes and the rest of us stared at the table. My mind was active, though. I was trying to puzzle something out. If Laila’s accident hadn’t happened on top of several suspicious incidents, no one would have questioned that it was an accident. But the other incidents were strange enough to hint at sabotage. So, why go that route? The plane looked solid, dug in, even if it was on the precipice, but a few people had said that it was precarious. If someone was really out to mess with the mission, couldn’t they simply go down and shove the main body of plane off the edge? I tried to picture how that would happen and realized it would be tricky. Whoever did it would have to be willing to go 120 feet down, alone, no buddy. If something went wrong, they were putting their life at grave risk.

Not only that, but the logistics were tricky. It was possible for a diver to go down in the middle of the night, slipping off the back without anyone hearing, but getting back aboard was tougher. Even if you strung a line to haul yourself up, it was noisy plopping onto the back end. And then there was getting your suit off. It took time and effort. You could easily be caught. Anybody could be up and restless and could discover you in the process at either end – diving or returning.

‘You’re awfully quiet,’ Jack said. ‘What are you thinking about?’

I shook myself back into the moment. ‘The dive. It was pretty amazing.’

‘It’s nice being here, the four of us,’ Susan said. ‘Eight gets pretty intense.’

Dallas got up and threw together a chicken stir-fry. While we ate, our mood lightened by the couple of drinks, we turned to lighter subjects. Dallas talked about his family in Chicago. His dad had been a cop and was disappointed when Dallas didn’t follow in his footsteps.

Susan told us about her college years and how she had almost flunked out because she was a party girl. ‘But then we had this job fair and I was with my boyfriend who wanted to go into the FBI, so we stopped by their table. I’d been diving since I was a kid, but I had no idea there was such a thing as the FBI dive team. The idea of being able to dive for a living … Wow! I mean, I was so stoked! I guess the recruiter could tell he had me hooked, so he pretty much ignored my boyfriend and told me what I had to do to get into FBI training. For one thing my grades had to come way up. But once I had a whiff of this as a possibility I went all in and I did it!’

‘Did your boyfriend join, too?’ I asked.

‘Pfft! He’s a CPA with his daddy’s firm. We didn’t last two weeks after that job fair. He was pissed off that I had jumped right in.’ She giggled. It was infectious and we all laughed.

‘In the bios I read that you and Jack both went to the University of Miami. Did you know each other?’

‘I wish.’ Jack grinned at Susan. ‘I would have enjoyed knowing a party girl. I was on a scholarship and had to work to keep my grades up.’

‘Besides, you were two years behind me,’ Susan said. ‘A baby.’

Jack said, ‘We’ve had a chance to get to know each other, Jessie, but all we know about you is that you got a special deal. So spill it! Who are you? What was the hush-hush thing that happened with your induction into the firm?’

So I told them. How my father’s murder had sent my family into a tailspin that meant I became the rudder for my sister and mother. How my sister had become addicted to drugs and how that addiction had led to me having to decide between saving my sister’s life and continuing the FBI training. ‘I really didn’t think I had a choice. I knew if I rescued her, I’d be kicked out of training. But I couldn’t abandon her.’

‘Of course not,’ Susan said. ‘But it worked out in the end. How?’

I laughed. ‘The short version? I went to The Bahamas to pout and I stumbled into some bad trouble with a gang of jewel thieves, if you can believe it. Anyway, I managed to get out of trouble and John Farrell found out about it and he tagged me for this effort.’

‘John Farrell? Jesus! He’s hardcore,’ Dallas said. ‘If he gave the nod, you must have something special.’

‘I had been diving nonstop for a few months, so I guess they figured I was the best they could get on short notice,’ I said. ‘I mean, I was almost done with the basic training before I was shown the door, so it wouldn’t have been a stretch to bring me back into the FBI. But being on this team? That was really unexpected. That took some luck. Too bad it meant there had been bad luck for you guys.’

‘Yeah, well, we’re glad to have you,’ Dallas said. ‘Especially since you’re on dish duty.’ He stood up and started gathering up dishes.

I groaned. ‘Couldn’t we throw the dishes overboard this once?’

Jack laughed. ‘I’ll help.’

‘I’m going out to check on things,’ Dallas said. I knew it meant he’d make sure the boat hadn’t moved, because if it had, it meant the anchor was dragging. And he’d check fuel and water levels to be sure nothing was leaking. He’d take a turn through the engine room to check for oil leaks.

‘I’ll do the gear check,’ Susan said.

It took no time to get the dishes done. Although it was only nine o’clock, Jack said he was turning in early.

I went out on deck. It was a beautiful night. This was the first night I’d had time to pay attention to the stars and the beauty of the water in the west, where there was still a dusky light.

Susan and Dallas came back and joined me. We lay on the deck and picked out the easy constellations, Orion, the Pleiades, and the Scorpion. When it grew fully dark the Milky Way was prominent. I had never seen it so vivid and I lay on my back taking in its grandeur.

Finally Susan said she’d had enough and she went off to bed. And then it was just Dallas and me. I knew I should go to my cabin. I was tired. It had been a wonderful day, too full really. Staying out here with Dallas was asking for trouble. Was it trouble? Not exactly. A complication, maybe. I would feel guilty if anything happened between us, but I had no illusions that Nick wouldn’t play around if he had the chance.

Dallas propped himself on one elbow. He was close to me. ‘So, Jessie Madison, you’re a hotshot.’

‘That’s me,’ I said.

‘What do you think are your drawbacks?’ His tone was suddenly serious.

‘You want the truth? I have been accused of having poor impulse control.’

‘Definitely a drawback.’

‘And someone said I rely too much on my own skills, that I should learn to ask for help.’

‘Hmm,’ he said. ‘Not a team player.’ He reached out and stroked my arm. I shivered.

‘I wouldn’t go that far,’ I said.

‘How far would you go?’ He was whispering. I knew he was referring to more than the subject at hand.

‘Not sure,’ I said.

His hand moved to my neck, caressing it, then moving down to my chest.

‘Cold?’ he asked.

‘Not anymore.’ I touched his face, moving my fingers along his jaw.

He kissed me, and my body responded, desire coursing through me. However bad an idea it was to have sex with him, I didn’t feel much like resisting.

‘Shall we go up to my lair?’ he asked.

I felt like I was on automatic, turned on, and feeling as if somehow it was inevitable that we would have sex. I felt like tonight was like stepping out of time. Whatever else happened in the next few days, this was a one-off. I got to my feet and moved toward the ladder. Dallas was behind me, his hand at my waist. Before we started up the ladder, he turned me toward him and kissed me. I sighed and he pulled me closer. I could feel his erection and my breathing quickened.

As I climbed up, I had second thoughts. Would I tell Nick? Would he really care?

Before I could decide to stop things, Dallas reached out and slipped my shirt over my head. I wasn’t wearing a bra and he leaned down and took my nipple in his mouth. I gasped and grabbed the back of his head, twining my fingers in his hair.

He tugged my shorts down and slipped them off, reawakening the feeling I’d had when he was pulling the drysuit off me, the erotic suggestion of it. He pulled off his shorts, then clasped my butt and pulled me to him. I moaned and he knelt and began kissing my belly.

He yanked open his sleeping bag and we fell onto it. The sex was urgent, as if everything that had happened today had stirred a need to make love. I hoped no one could hear us. Afterward, we lay soaked in sweat, our bodies intertwined. Neither of us spoke for a while. I wondered if I’d regret this in the morning. Too late now.

‘How did you get the name Dallas?’ I whispered.

He chuckled low in his throat. ‘My mother was from Dallas and she thought it was the greatest city ever. So she named me after it.’

‘Have you ever been there?’

‘Once on a family trip. Seemed like every other city, but I was a kid.’ He sat up. ‘Want to go for a swim?’

‘You’re a genius. That’s perfect.’

We were already naked, and didn’t bother with suits. We went into the water and stayed near the boat, lying on our backs, talking in whispers.

Finally I said, ‘I’m getting cold. If I stay out any later, I’ll regret it in the morning.’

We showered with the outdoor shower, and I said I was going to sleep in my cabin – alone. I was glad he didn’t try to persuade me to spend the night with him. I didn’t want any questions in the morning.

As I drifted off, I thought about the evening, and it occurred to me that although everyone else had told their back story, we hadn’t heard from Jack.

TWENTY

I heard the motor before I was even up the next morning. The dinghy. It was only seven o’clock. Why were they back so early? I glanced at my phone and my heart sank. I hadn’t checked my phone last night before I fell into bed, and I had a text from Nick. Welcome to Guiltland.

Going to stopover in Palermo tomorrow, the text said. Can you meet me?

I quickly texted back: Just saw this. I can’t. Trouble here. TTYL when I know more. Part of me regretted that I couldn’t, but I also didn’t want to face him so soon after I had slept with someone else.

I dressed quickly and ran down to brew coffee in case Dallas wasn’t up yet, but he was already there and the coffee was on. He winked at me, but other than that there was no sign that anything had happened between us. No handsy stuff. Thank goodness.

‘Did you know the dinghy is here?’ I asked.

‘Yeah, that’s why I’m up. Alvin texted me at six this morning to say they were on their way. I’m making pancakes and bacon. I figured they’d need something substantial.’

I put out syrup and butter and set the table.

Susan came out of her cabin, looking like she’d just awakened. ‘What’s going on? Did I hear a motor?’

Dallas explained that our teammates were back.

‘Did they say why they were back so early?’ I asked.

‘Nope. You know that’s not Alvin’s style. He’ll explain when he wants to.’

I heard Alvin and Marcus talking, and they slogged down into the saloon, looking drained. Alvin headed straight for his cabin, but Marcus sank down onto the banquette. I knew the trip must have been exhausting for them – a four-hour trip to Palermo bearing the body of their teammate, then a day spent with the consulate, arranging transport of Laila’s body, notifying her parents, then the return trip. No doubt there had been reams of paperwork and a bevy of bureaucrats to deal with. I felt more than a twinge of guilt for the amazing day I’d had yesterday. Not that I had known Laila that well, but I’d been careless of the feelings of those who had to deal with the reality of her death.

‘That bacon smells great,’ Marcus said. ‘I’m starving.’

‘How did you get back so early this morning?’ Dallas asked. ‘The ferries don’t start until seven thirty.’

‘We came back last night on the last ferry and spent the night in Lipari. We didn’t feel like bringing the dinghy back late at night.’

I exchanged a glance with Dallas. Thank goodness they hadn’t come back last night and caught the two of us. I was already beginning to regret giving in to lust. If we’d been discovered, I would have felt even worse.

Alvin came back out of his cabin and Jack joined us from the deck.

‘Where’s Gretchen?’ Dallas asked.

Alvin sighed. ‘The consulate officials wanted one of us to be there to escort the investigators to Lipari. Gretchen volunteered.’

‘Lucky her,’ Susan said. ‘She gets to spend another night in a hotel.’

‘Your fine accommodations don’t suit you?’ Dallas said.

‘You know what I mean,’ she grumped.

While we ate breakfast, Marcus told us how things had transpired at the consulate – the papers that had to be signed, the arrangements for the body, then the back and forth conversation with FBI officials. ‘With Laila’s dad being a diplomat, there’s an extra layer of concern.’

‘Concern how?’ Susan asked.

Alvin put his fork down. ‘I told them some of the things that have happened on the boat, and that I’ve been concerned that we’re dealing with sabotage. Their first impulse was to believe Laila might have been murdered.’

The word hung in the room.

‘That’s crazy,’ Susan said angrily. ‘How could anyone have set up an accident like that?’

Marcus shrugged. ‘We explained the nature of the accident and how it was virtually impossible for it to have been rigged.’

Jack threw his fork down. His face was flushed. ‘I’m sick of us pretending everything is A-OK. We need to either figure out who is fucking with this mission, or else agree that it’s just a string of bad luck.’

No one said anything for a minute. ‘I don’t believe in luck,’ Marcus said in his usual calm manner. ‘On the other hand, every one of the incidents can be explained rationally.’

‘They actually considered shutting us down,’ Alvin said grimly. ‘I persuaded them to wait until we’ve had an investigation.’

‘When is that going to happen?’ Dallas said, a tinge of impatience in his voice.

‘Investigators will be here tomorrow, Wednesday,’ Alvin said. ‘They’re arriving today in Palermo and spending the night there. Then they’ll take the early ferry on Wednesday morning with Gretchen and I’ll pick them up in Lipari from the noon ferry.’

‘I don’t get it,’ Susan said. ‘What are they going to investigate? Are they going to dive down to the site?’

‘They’re going to interview each of us and take a look at how things are run.’

‘As if they’ll have the first clue about how things work on a dive boat,’ she said.

I had a thought. ‘Marcus, I don’t want to be blunt, but are they going to be replacing Laila?’

Marcus glanced at Alvin and drummed his fingers on the table. ‘Probably not. When Taylor was injured we automatically applied for a new diver. With four at depths, two at relay, and two aboard, it’s a complete team. We don’t always have to have all of us, but if one of us gets sick or gets hurt it’s good to have backup. But we feel like at this point—’

Alvin interrupted. ‘With the powers-that-be thinking of cutting us off, we felt like it’s best to push ahead with the seven of us. We’re almost there anyway.’

Dallas stood up and started clearing dishes and I followed suit.

‘Is there anything we can do today?’ Jack asked.

Alvin stood up. ‘They told us to suspend the operation until the investigators arrive.’

‘OK,’ Dallas said. ‘Why don’t Jessie and I go into Lipari and stock up on groceries?’

Alvin agreed. By now I was feeling really gloomy about the sex with Dallas, thinking about how Nick would respond if he knew. I wondered if, when we got to Lipari, it would be possible to take the ferry to Palermo to meet Nick. I could come back on a late ferry, or come back tomorrow with the investigators. Wishful thinking. The timing simply didn’t work.

When I went down to get ready for the trip to Lipari, I saw I had another text from Nick: What trouble???

I texted him that I’d be in Lipari in an hour and I’d have better cell reception and would call him.

It was a little after nine. There was a knock on my door. ‘Jessie, are you ready to go?’ It was Dallas.

‘Sorry,’ I replied. ‘Got side-tracked. I’ll be out in a minute.’

When I joined him, I asked if we should make a list of supplies we needed.

‘I keep a running list,’ he said, brandishing his phone. ‘Alvin asked us to get something at the marine store.’

Good, I’d volunteer to do that and make my call to Nick then.

Once we were under way, I had questions. ‘Have you ever dived closer to shore here? What’s it like?’

He had to turn down the engine speed so we could talk. ‘It’s actually deeper in some places close to shore,’ he said, pointing out an area. ‘The volcanic eruptions that built up the rock formations spewed out farther from shore.’

‘Have you ever hiked up there? I saw some hikers and thought it might be nice to try that one afternoon if we’re not diving.’

‘You’d have to take a cab to the hiking area.’

‘But the island isn’t that big. You could hike from town.’

‘True. I’ve actually done some runs in that direction, but never far enough to get up to those cliffs.’

When we got to town, he suggested that we have a coffee before we did our shopping. ‘I get sick of the coffee on board. I’d like a cappuccino, the way the Italians make it.’

I was happy to comply.

When we sat down at a charming outdoor café, Dallas said, ‘I really enjoyed last night.’ He grinned. ‘I was surprised at how much energy you had after the dive.’

‘To be fair, I did have a nap.’

He stirred his coffee and I could see he wanted to say something and didn’t know how. ‘You know, as much fun as it was, if we want to get together again we’ll have to be careful.’

I laughed. ‘Oh, really? You think?’

‘Hopefully, it won’t be too long before the job is over. Maybe we can spend a few days exploring the island before we get assigned somewhere else.’

No. I was planning to explore, but now I was sure I wanted it to be with Nick, not with Dallas. So I changed the subject. ‘How does that work, being assigned? Do you stay with the same team? Does each person have a specialty? I mean, my getting to come on the assignment happened so fast that I didn’t have time to find out details.’

He shrugged. ‘Depends on the mission. Sometimes they only need a few people. Like if it’s a small boat lost offshore and it’s pretty clear what happened, but the government we’re working with wants to be sure to get the facts straight in case there’s more to it. And then you have shipwrecks – much bigger problems and much bigger teams. Sometimes if drugs are involved or anti-government sabotage, you get specialty teams. Really depends.’

‘Do they select people at random? Do people get to volunteer for things that interest them?’

‘Sometimes. Usually everyone is busy, but occasionally we have a break and when an assignment comes up we jump in. Or sometimes we get pulled off other jobs if one comes up that goes to the top of the list.’

‘Like this one?’

‘Yeah. They wanted a crew right away.’

‘And you volunteered.’

‘Not me. I was on leave so they called me back. And they cherry-picked people from other teams. I think Jack, Susan, and Gretchen all volunteered.’

‘Are you always the cook on your teams?’

‘God, no. Not that I mind it, but sometimes there are cooks sent in whose only job is to feed the crew.’

Eventually, he shoved his cup away and stood up. ‘I think we’ve fooled around as long as we can. Let’s get to it.’

I told him I’d go to the marine store to pick up the items Alvin had asked for and then come to the store to help him.

‘Sure. You know where the marine store is?’

‘I saw it down at the dock when we pulled in.’

He gave me directions to the grocery store, and took off. I waited until he was out of sight and then put in a call to Nick.

He answered and said he wished I could have come to Palermo.

‘Me, too,’ I said. ‘I’m sorry, I couldn’t swing the four hours there and back.’

‘I understand. It’s just that I had some things to talk to you about.’

‘What?’

‘First, tell me, what’s the trouble you mentioned?’

I told him about the accident that killed Laila. While I talked, I got up and walked down the street toward the marine store.

‘Merde.’ He paused. ‘Are you sure it was an accident?’

‘The way it was described to me, I don’t see how anyone could have planned it. There were two eyewitnesses and three people on the dive. Unless all three of them were in on it, it has to have been a fluke.’

‘I’m sorry. It must have been terrible.’ His voice was gentle.

‘It was awful, but honestly, I hardly had time to get to know her, so it wasn’t personal for me. For the others, it was worse. She was popular. A good diver. Why did you ask if I was sure it was an accident?’

‘I’ve heard there have been a string of accidents that could be … well, sabotage. Have you seen any evidence of that?’

‘I admit the accidents have seemed excessive, but each incident has a rational explanation. But …’ I hesitated. ‘I’m not the only one worried.’ I told him about the conversation I’d had with Dallas, Susan, and Jack in which they told me they were all uneasy about the unusual number of accidents.

‘Do you feel safe? What I mean is, would you consider leaving the mission?’

‘No! Absolutely not. Why would you even think I would do that?’

‘I knew you wouldn’t. Just thought I’d put it out there. Look, I know a guy in the Italian government. He said there’s more to this assignment than the team is being told.’

There it was. Even Nick knew. How did he know? ‘What? Why is the team being shut out? Why do you know, and we don’t?’

‘It isn’t that big a deal. We were just—’

‘What do you mean, not big a deal? It is a big deal when someone on the outside knows more than we do!’ Was he on the outside? I was having serious doubts that he was.

‘He really didn’t say much. All he said was that the mission probably had something to do with documents. But it made no sense. It seems unlikely that documents would survive eighty years underwater.’

I calmed down gradually. Whoever Nick’s ‘inside connection’ in the Italian government was, he didn’t seem to know any more than I did. Should I tell him? Why not? ‘I did hear about the documents. They think they’re in a box that must be waterproof.’ I snorted. ‘And rust-proof. But no one seems to know what’s in them.’

He didn’t speak for a couple of beats. ‘Most likely something damaging to someone higher up.’

‘One thing doesn’t make sense. Who was the pilot? Why does no one seem interested in him? He obviously had access to documents – if they even exist. So who was he? He’s in an American uniform, but maybe he’s a German who stole the uniform. There are too many unanswered questions.’

‘Jessie, is there anyone in the crew that you really trust? That you can discuss this with?’

The question made me pause. I didn’t know. If he had asked me who I suspected, it would have been Alvin. Gretchen seemed very competent and like a senior member of the team. Could I trust her? Dallas? Just because I’d slept with him didn’t mean I could trust him. My cheeks burned at what I’d done last night with Dallas. I wished I could tell Nick, and tell him it was a whim, nothing important. But I couldn’t tell him on the phone. ‘I don’t know,’ I said finally. ‘I’ll think about it.’

‘The important thing is that you be on guard. I want you alive so we can spend time together when it’s over. Here in Sicily.’

He was there, four hours away, and hearing him say so made me long to be with him. I was walking past the dock where the ferry was leaving, and I paused, watching people gather, ready to get on board when the ferry arrived. If only I could have been among them. ‘Yes. I’ll be careful.’

‘Are you diving today?’

‘No, we’ve been put on hold until investigators get here to find out what happened that killed Laila.’

Suddenly, in the crowd I saw a face that stopped me cold. ‘Nick,’ I said. ‘I have to go. I’ve got errands to run.’

I barely noticed when he signed off. Had I been mistaken?

TWENTY-ONE

When I finished the call, I moved toward the woman I’d seen. Was it really Gretchen? If so, what was she doing here? She was supposed to spend the night in Palermo. The woman had turned away and I couldn’t be sure it was actually Gretchen.

I started to walk toward her to make sure, but I saw that there was a man with her, so it probably wasn’t Gretchen, but a lookalike. The man slung his arm around the woman’s shoulder and hugged her close. There was something familiar about him. Where could I have seen him? The two were talking, and the man turned back and gestured, and the face clicked. It was the man who had been watching me at the ferry the night I arrived. And this time I saw clearly that the woman was Gretchen. I turned away so that she wouldn’t see me. I needed time to think. Why was Gretchen here instead of in Palermo? And who was that man? Had he really been watching me when I arrived, or was it a coincidence? What was the connection between Gretchen and him? Maybe they were lovers and Gretchen had sneaked back to spend the night with him last night. But that didn’t explain why the man had been watching me. Unless I had been imagining that.

I was considering whether to confront Gretchen and ask her why she was here instead of in Palermo when I saw that the ferry had docked, and she moved with the crowd to line up to board the ferry. I lost sight of her. Was the man going aboard with her?

As soon as people had boarded and the gates were closed, the ferry started up and moved swiftly away. I searched for Gretchen’s face among the people at the rail, but didn’t see her, or the man who had been with her.

I turned back to survey the people who had remained behind, but in the crush of tourists I didn’t see a familiar face.

Suddenly my phone buzzed. It was Dallas.

I answered with: ‘I know, I know, I’m on my way.’

‘I’m all done,’ he said. ‘But I could use some help getting the stuff to the boat.’ He sounded annoyed.

‘I’ll be there in ten minutes.’

I rushed to the marine store, a couple of blocks away, and grabbed the items Alvin needed. While I trotted toward the grocery store, I kept an eye out for the man who’d been with Gretchen, but I didn’t see him. They must have both gone to Palermo.

‘Where the hell were you?’ Dallas asked when I showed up. He was standing outside the store with several bags of groceries surrounding him.

I had an excuse ready. A lie. ‘I’m really sorry. I saw the ferry coming in and the guy who helped me the night I arrived was on the dock. I wanted to thank him and we got into a conversation. I lost track of time.’

‘OK. Well, I wish we could stay longer, but I’ve got perishables. We should get back.’

We didn’t talk on the trip back. All I could think about was whether I should mention that I’d seen Gretchen. Should I tell Alvin or Marcus? I didn’t trust Alvin as much as I trusted Marcus, but was I right in that assessment? Besides, maybe they knew she had come to Lipari overnight. But did they know she had met a man here – a man who had been watching me the night I arrived?

When we got to the boat, I jumped onto the back platform and tied up the dinghy. Dallas started handing me grocery bags. At one point he paused and said, ‘You OK? Seems like you have something on your mind. Is it about last night?’

I forced a smile. ‘No, I had a great time last night. I got a text this morning that concerned me, that’s all.’

‘Ah.’ He cocked his head, frowning. ‘Hope everything is OK.’

‘So do I.’

Jack showed up to help us cart groceries to the galley.

‘Have you guys had lunch?’ Dallas asked. It was almost one o’clock.

‘Alvin thought you’d be back sooner. I was getting out some sandwich makings,’ Jack said.

‘We’ll do that,’ Dallas said. While he stowed the provisions, I put out meat, cheese, and bread. Dallas had bought lettuce and tomato, a rare treat since there wasn’t much storage space for perishables like that.

Meanwhile, I tried to think of a way to find out if Alvin and Marcus had expected Gretchen to stay in Palermo without actually asking them. Mid-lunch, I said, ‘Did Gretchen get to choose where she stayed? Like, was there a five-star hotel near the consulate?’

Marcus snorted. ‘Right! No, the government is paying for it, so her hotel was minimal.’

‘Still, it’s nice to be able to explore the town a little bit,’ Susan said. ‘I don’t know how everybody else did it, but when I arrived, I was picked up at the airport and driven straight to the ferry. Hardly had time to glance around.’

Most of the others said the same but a couple had spent the night in Palermo at the same hotel I had been in.

Her hotel was minimal. So Gretchen had been expected to spend the night in Palermo.

‘I’m surprised she would accept that,’ Jack said. ‘She’s got plenty of money. Her family is loaded. She could afford to stay where she wanted.’

How did Jack know that?

‘She didn’t balk,’ Marcus said. ‘She said it was fine with her.’

But she hadn’t stayed there. I studied Alvin’s expression to see if it gave away any hint that he knew she hadn’t, but he was chowing down and seemed unruffled by the conversation. He caught me staring and said, ‘While you were gone, we’ve cleaned up the boat so the investigators won’t find fault with the way things are run. Jessie, why don’t you run a critical eye over things to check we haven’t missed anything.’

‘Except for Laila’s room, of course,’ Marcus said. ‘They want it left untouched.’

Jack made an annoyed sound. ‘That makes no sense. Do they think she committed suicide by wrapping a cable around her neck?’ He got up abruptly. ‘It seems strange without her and Gretchen here.’

‘Too much testosterone,’ Susan said.

‘Don’t be stupid,’ Jack sniped.

‘Oo, aren’t we testy,’ she shot back.

Jack glared at her. ‘It’s just that nobody seems all that upset that one of our team members has died. It’s like things are going on as usual.’

‘Come on, Jack,’ Dallas said. ‘What do you want us to do, declare a day of mourning? Wear black?’

‘I don’t expect anything from you,’ Jack said. ‘We all know you couldn’t stand her.’

‘That’s not true.’ Dallas stood and started clearing dishes. ‘She got under my skin sometimes, but she was a good diver. That’s what counted.’

‘Enough of this,’ Alvin said. ‘Let’s get back to work.’

Marcus rose and said, ‘Jessie, when you get a minute, can we talk?’

‘Sure.’ Oh, God. Had someone ratted about me and Dallas? I was beginning to seriously regret that I’d let myself get carried away. ‘Let me finish cleaning up and I’ll be with you.’

Twenty minutes later I found him cleaning the forward windows. ‘Won’t they get dirty again right away?’ I asked.

‘Yes, but I can’t bear sitting around. And we’re running out of busy work.’

We sat on the foredeck, leaning against the front hull, out of reach of a brisk wind that had sprung up. ‘I wanted to know how your dive went yesterday. We haven’t had time to talk about it.’

I told him it had gone well and described how spooky it had been to see the detritus from the plane. ‘I don’t see how it has stayed on the edge of the cliff all these years,’ I said.

‘Looks like it landed among some boulders and most of it stuck there. We think the nose plunged over, but there’s no way to know for sure.’

‘If it’s jammed in that tight, why worry about securing it?’

‘We’re being cautious before we disturb too much. I don’t like surprises, and it’s hard to tell how secure it is.’

I hugged my knees to my chest. ‘It’s so eerie. It almost seems sacrilegious to disturb it.’

He studied me. ‘Right. I know what you mean, but you’ll get used to it. I’m glad the dive went well. With Laila gone, we’re going to have to depend on you more.’ He sighed. ‘I’m assuming while we were away somebody told you what we’re after.’

I nodded. ‘At least I got a hint. No one seems exactly sure. Do you know?’

He waggled his hand. ‘A container. That’s all.’

‘Why has that been such a secret?’

He gave a sharp bark of laughter. ‘You’ll get used to that. Sometimes it drives me crazy, this being secret just for the hell of it. But I’m sure there are instances where it’s important.’

‘Marcus, do you know what time the investigators will be here tomorrow? Maybe I could go down again first thing, before they arrive.’

‘Possible,’ he said. ‘Oh, and another item I wanted to pass by you. It’s early to bring it up, but after the investigators leave, Laila’s cabin will be up for grabs. You want it?’

‘No. I’m fine where I am. Let someone else have it.’

‘If you’re sure.’ He paused and I could tell there was more. ‘There’s one more thing I need to bring up. And this is trickier.’ His expression was troubled. ‘The four of you were here alone. Was there any talk that …’ He sighed. ‘Talk about possible sabotage of the mission?’

I shrugged. ‘We did kick it around. Jack thinks there was a good explanation for everything that happened. And I see his point.’

Marcus seemed to relax. ‘Good. It’s not comfortable when people start being spooked. Jack’s right. The things that have happened have a reasonable explanation.’

Should I tell him I’d seen Gretchen and the man who had spied on me this morning? I wanted to trust him. And I had to trust somebody. ‘Marcus, I need to tell you something.’

He looked startled. ‘You sound serious.’

‘This morning when we were in Lipari, I saw Gretchen getting on the ferry.’

He froze. ‘When was this?’ His voice was cold.

‘It was the noon ferry.’

His expression was intent. ‘And you’re sure it was Gretchen you saw?’

‘One hundred percent sure.’

‘What were you doing near there?’

I already had my story straight, having provided it to Dallas earlier. ‘Dallas went to the grocery store and I went to the marine store to buy the cleaning spray Alvin wanted. On my way back, I passed the ferry dock, and that’s where I saw her.’

He sat thinking for several seconds. I wanted to hear what he thought about it before I mentioned the man Gretchen was with. ‘Look, we aren’t babysitters here. She can come and go as she pleases. She knew the investigation team wouldn’t be in Palermo until this afternoon, so there was no reason for her to hang around in Palermo as long as she’s back there when they arrive.’

‘I understand. But there’s something else. She was with someone. A man.’

‘Boyfriend maybe?’

‘It’s possible, but I’m troubled. The first night I arrived, I noticed that somebody was watching me when I was waiting to be picked up at the dock. I thought it was a pickpocket looking for a mark, but here’s the thing: I think it was the same guy.’

He frowned. ‘But you aren’t sure.’

I flinched. ‘Not entirely. He looks like him, but it was evening when I got here and I was tired. And there was really nothing to distinguish him. But suppose it was the same guy? What was he doing with Gretchen?’

‘You could ask her. Could be nothing more than a coincidence.’

‘You think she’ll tell the truth?’

He snorted. ‘You really suspect she’s got some ulterior motive? I mean there could be a perfectly legitimate reason for her to be with him.’

‘But if he was spying on me, why was he with Gretchen?’

‘Come on, Jessie. Maybe he happened to be there and noticed you. Surely you don’t suspect Gretchen of … what?’

I sighed. ‘Honestly, Marcus, I don’t know what’s going on here, but I don’t know who I can trust.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘I mean, what if those accidents really are sabotage? Who is doing it? I’m not sure who I can trust on the team.’

He gave a short laugh. ‘I’m grateful you trusted me enough to talk to me.’

‘What do you think? Is it sabotage, or bad luck?’

He gazed out at the water. ‘I don’t know. What I keep wondering is if it is sabotage, not only who, but why? What does anyone have to gain?’

‘The container we’re supposed to retrieve must contain something that someone doesn’t want to be made public. It was during the war, so maybe somebody was secretly aiding the Germans and …’ My thoughts stalled.

‘Agreed. And I keep wondering what possible difference it makes all these years later,’ Marcus said.

‘I don’t know. It must be important. Otherwise, why is our government going to the trouble, and spending what must be enormous amounts of money, to fund this team? There must have been a lot of German planes that went down. So why this one?’

‘I assume you were told there was evidence the pilot was wearing an American uniform.’

‘Of course, but so what? What if the guy was a traitor? Is it really worth all this trouble to identify a traitor?’

‘No, but if he wasn’t a traitor, it would be interesting to know why he was in a German plane and who the container was intended for.’

I shrugged. ‘Which makes the case for sabotage. Someone doesn’t want that information to come out.’

‘And it appears they’re desperate,’ he said. ‘But if that’s the case, I wonder why the saboteur hasn’t just shoved all of it over the cliff? I doubt it would take much to get it loose from the rocks holding it, and then it could be tipped over and that would be the end of it.’

I’d already thought this through. ‘It would be tricky for one person,’ I said.

‘True, but then the evidence would be gone, and there would be no way to prove it wasn’t the result of natural shifting of the rocks. Seems if someone is desperate enough, it would be worth the effort.’

‘Yes, but besides going down alone to do it, getting on and off the boat would be almost impossible without someone noticing.’

He sighed and was quiet. I doubted this was the first time he’d posed this question to himself.

‘Maybe when the discovery of the plane was reported,’ I said, ‘the person who knew what the plane was carrying was powerless to stop the investigation. And now, all they can hope for is to make sure the information is never made public.’

He nodded. ‘OK, that’s reasonable. But again, why not simply destroy it?’

We were quiet for a minute, each wrapped up in our thoughts. ‘Or another possibility,’ I said. ‘Suppose someone knows there are incriminating documents, but they don’t know exactly what’s in them, and they want to know what they are – details that for some reason are important.’

‘That’s probably closer to the truth.’ He gave a humorless laugh. ‘But I suspect when we hand over what we find, we’ll never be told what was so important.’

I groaned. ‘So frustrating.’

‘Look, this is above both of our pay grades. What we have to do now is make absolutely certain that nothing else happens. We have to be obsessive about checking equipment, we have to keep an eye on each other for problems. It’s only a few more days. We’re so close to retrieving the container. We need to double down our efforts. OK?’

‘Sure.’

But the conversation left me with more questions than answers. Why was Marcus willing to ignore the fact that Gretchen had sneaked over to Lipari to meet somebody? Had I made a mistake by going to him with my concerns? Was he involved in whatever plot was going on? Were he and Gretchen in it together? That was a step too far.

I remembered Alvin’s request that I assess the clean-up job on the boat. I went forward and aft, actually impressed by how much better the boat looked than it had when I arrived. There was something to be said for having a team of people used to action who found themselves at loose ends. I went below to make sure everything in the saloon was tidy. I straightened the books and rearranged a few things in the kitchen cabinets, wondering if the investigation team expected to be fed. Of course they did. I went in search of Dallas and asked him if he’d considered that.

‘Yep,’ he said, when I found him cleaning the hatch covers. ‘I’ll make a big stew. You’re going to be chopping a lot.’

I helped him clean the last of the hatches and when we were putting away the supplies down below Jack came into the saloon. ‘Hey, Jessie,’ he said. ‘Want to see if Alvin would be OK if you had another dive tomorrow morning before the snoops get here?’

‘Sure. I already asked Marcus, and he said he’d talk to Alvin.’

Dallas set me to work chopping carrots and celery, and that took up the next hour.

That night at dinner, I had to really push for Alvin’s OK to do another dive, but eventually he said as long as two other people were willing to do it, he’d OK it.

Dallas said he’d be busy preparing food, but Jack said he’d go with me and Susan said she wanted to go, too. I was secretly glad. After Susan had told me that Jack was a practical joker, I didn’t entirely trust him not to pull another cave stunt. To my surprise Alvin said he’d changed his mind, and he’d go too. ‘I’ll work relay. I haven’t done that in a while.’

TWENTY-TWO

Mindful of the fact that Alvin had been on the dive when Laila was killed, and I wasn’t sure I trusted him, I was extra careful with my equipment the next morning. I checked and rechecked my mouthpiece, my mask, and the tank I’d be using. And still I was uneasy on the descent, eyeing my tank levels periodically and alert to any sign that either Susan or Jack was having trouble.

But the dive went off without problems. This time I swam to the edge of the cliff to get a sense of the drop-off into the abyss. It wasn’t as dramatic as I’d feared. Dark and deep, with only a couple of flashes of fish, it wasn’t inviting, but not terrifying, either. I hung out there for a couple of minutes, but then remembered what it had felt like when the current grabbed me and forced me into the cave. That could happen here, and it could be dramatic. I swam back to where Jack and Susan were poking around in the wreckage, seemingly without result.

As routine as it felt, I was glad when we ascended. It wasn’t the dive itself that troubled me, but the idea that anything that happened down here was more serious than in shallower waters.

At noon, Gretchen texted Alvin to say that she had arrived on the ferry with the two investigators and they’d have lunch before they headed over. They hoped to arrive by one thirty.

We ate lunch, but there was little conversation. Everyone was apprehensive about what the investigators would find that might lead them to recommend shutting down the mission. I wondered if they even had the authority to do that. Somebody higher up wanted this mission to be a success, and I suspected whatever the investigators found, it would have no effect on whether it went forward. We were so close!

When I got back to my cabin, I had a text from Nick: Emailed you.

I cleared my emails every day. There wasn’t much. I’d had a note from my Bahama roommate, Shelley, wanting to know what I was up to, but the rest were ads.

I opened my server and there it was – Nick’s email.

Nick had done some digging and the results were stunning.

I don’t know the details, but your mission involves an American corporation that conspired with the German government during the war. The company will do anything to avoid making this public. I think it isn’t really about the company itself, but one of the owners. Somebody on that boat is working with the corporation to stop your team from being successful.

If I had been with him, I would have demanded to know how he knew this. I was getting fed up with being deflected. But at the moment, I was grateful for any information. We’d hash out his sources and how he was connected with them later. I texted him that I had gotten the email.

What corporation?

Don’t know.

I decided to try a phone call, and although the connection was crackly, at least we could hear each other. ‘I really appreciate the information,’ I said. ‘It’s tense around here.’

‘I don’t like what I heard,’ he said. ‘Big corporations can be ruthless.’

‘Nick, don’t worry. Everyone is alert. We’re all being very careful. And today the investigation team is coming. They may even shut us down for all I know.’

‘Keep me posted,’ he said.

Afterward I sat on my bunk, thinking about what he’d discovered. It changed things. Before, the idea that someone wanted to sabotage the operation had seemed plausible but not beyond doubt. But corporations whose reputation was at stake didn’t play nice. If they thought they had to, they could blow up the goddamn boat. They could have a crew come out and kill all of us in some way that would be considered only a tragic accident. But bottom line, one of the team members on this boat must have been planted here with us to create trouble. Was it Gretchen? Jack had said she was from a wealthy family. That could mean money from a big business. I tried to fit what I knew of Gretchen into the role of saboteur. Was she connected to the corporation in question? Parents? Grandparents? If so, it was more than a coincidence that she had landed on the team. It took some muscle, an in with the FBI at the very least.

Whoever it was must have pulled strings to be selected. So who had been put on by chance, and who had made it happen? And how was I going to find out? Who could I trust to work with me?

Hearing the sound of an engine, and footsteps on the deck, I went outside to join the team to greet the investigating visitors.

I eyed Gretchen as she stepped off onto the platform, wondering if and when I should confront her and tell her I’d seen her in Lipari yesterday morning.

The two men who arrived with Gretchen were at least dressed for the job. I had imagined them showing up in suits and ties, wearing street shoes. But they were wearing jeans, jackets, and boat shoes. They were younger than I’d imagined, too, no more than forty.

They introduced themselves to the dive team. Ben Hecht was tall and lanky, with short dark hair and aviator sunglasses. Paolo Vicenti was short and compact. Although he spoke excellent English, he said he was Italian, and the FBI had acquiesced to his government’s request that he be present at the scene of Laila Basri’s unfortunate accident.

Despite being polite, the two men were no-nonsense sorts. They convened everyone in the saloon and Ben Hecht made a little speech, saying that they didn’t intend to disrupt our routine any longer than necessary. They requested that we all stay in the saloon while they interviewed each person alone. They assured us that they weren’t out to ‘get’ anybody. They simply needed to be clear what happened. Alvin asked where the investigators would like to set up and what information they needed. They decided to set up on the bridge, which was the most private area.

They started with Alvin, Marcus, and Dallas. Each interview took twenty minutes, and those of us kept waiting fidgeted. Jack took out a deck of cards and played solitaire. I took a book off the shelf at random and tried to concentrate with little success.

Eventually it was my turn. I described what I had experienced. ‘I’m new to the team, and therefore I was on relay with Gretchen, so I wasn’t at the scene.’

‘How did you find out what had happened?’ Ben Hecht asked.

I told them that Gretchen had a communication headset and the team at the site relayed the information to her, and she told me. But then I realized she actually didn’t tell me. ‘At first she said there had been a bad accident. It was actually Susan who told me someone had been killed.’

‘Was there anything that troubled you about the way the incident was handled?’ he asked.

I considered the question. It wasn’t one I had posed to myself. But in retrospect, I couldn’t fault anyone, and said so.

‘Since you’re new, maybe you can give us some outside perspective,’ he said. ‘How does the team work together? Does everyone get along? Any conflicts?’

‘No more than you’d expect from any team working in such close quarters. But everyone is professional. They put the mission first.’

‘Were there any issues with Signora Basri?’ Paolo Vicenti said. ‘Was she well-liked? Did she have any problems with anyone?’

‘Probably people have told you that she was something of a prima donna – fussed over her looks, and pouted when she didn’t get her way.’

‘Really—’

I held up my hand to stop him. ‘But I never noticed any serious conflicts between her and anyone. When it came to her diving, she was very professional. Whatever personal quirks she had, everyone respected her ability as a diver.’

‘Was she a flirt? Did she have an intimate relationship with anyone on board?’ Vicenti asked.

I was surprised at the question. What difference could it make? ‘No intimate relationship that I know of. And as for flirting, there was nothing overt that I noticed.’ Although there had been that awkward moment when I first arrived, when Laila seemed to lay claim to Alvin, only to have him shrug her off. Susan had said Laila liked to goad Alvin. Had there been more to it? I didn’t know enough to mention it to these guys. Besides, I didn’t want the mission to be scrubbed. Even if Laila had been flirting enough to annoy someone, that wasn’t enough to lead to her death.

A look passed between the two men. ‘Did anyone mention to you that she was not supposed to be on the team, but that strings were pulled to get her here?’

I was shocked, not so much because I didn’t think such a thing could happen, but if any strings had been pulled to get someone on the team, I would have thought it was the saboteur. Had someone suspected Laila of sabotage and decided to get rid of her? It was a horrifying thought. But that would mean her death had been planned. Was that even possible? ‘No. I never heard that. Is it important?’

Ben Hecht looked surprised that I would ask them a question. He shrugged. ‘We wondered why she was so determined to join this particular assignment.’

‘Do you know what we’re here for?’ I asked.

‘We’ve been briefed.’

I wondered if they knew what Nick had told me, that there was a large national corporation concerned about what we would find. But I didn’t dare ask. So I tried to think of a way around it. ‘Then you know it concerns a German airplane with an American pilot. I can’t imagine why that would be of particular interest to her. Or her family,’ I added. Maybe Laila’s father or mother was involved with the corporation in question.

‘Look,’ I continued. ‘There’s no way anyone deliberately killed Laila. This accident was truly bizarre. Nothing anyone could plan.’

Again, that hesitation. Had one of the team hinted otherwise? ‘We were told that someone suggested it would be a good idea to secure the line halfway down, and Alvin Crosby made the decision not to do so.’

‘True, but they had already done one connection with the line with no trouble. There was no reason for him to believe there would be trouble this time.’

‘Except, signora, in this region, heavy currents can be dangerous. Wouldn’t he know that?’

They really were suggesting that Alvin might have been at worst responsible for Laila’s death, and at least negligent. They were right, of course. I had been hesitant to trust Alvin myself. So why was I defending him?

‘I don’t know what to say. Are you suggesting that Alvin might be relieved of his position as head of the team?’

‘We’re not suggesting anything,’ Hecht said. ‘It’s too early for that. We’re just gathering information.’

They thanked me for my input and sent me on my way. I went down to the deck to find a glum group sitting forward. It was warm and sunny, but a few clouds kept it from being too hot.

‘I wonder if we can go for a swim?’ I said, seeing how despondent everyone was.

My suggestion was well-received and we eagerly donned swimsuits. Swimming leisurely, I was reminded of my night swim with Dallas. Such a short time ago, but it seemed like many days had passed. At one point he eased over to me while I was lying on my back in the water. ‘You doing OK?’ he said softly.

‘I guess.’ I began treading water, facing him. ‘This whole thing is so worrying.’

‘What do you mean? They’re just doing their job.’

‘What if they decide Alvin was negligent in not securing the line? What if they delay the job longer or call it off altogether?’

He waved his hands toward the shore. ‘The worst part would be leaving this gorgeous place. Quite frankly, I’m sick of the whole undertaking. It should have only taken a week or so, and it’s dragged on for almost a month.’

‘Dallas, about these so-called accidents. Do you think someone doesn’t want the information that pilot was carrying to be found?’

He glanced around. The others had all drifted in other directions. ‘I think that’s exactly what’s going on.’

‘And that doesn’t make you more determined to find out what it is?’

He laughed and splashed water at me. ‘Whatever it is, we’ll never know. We’ll hand over the info and go on our merry way. Why do you care anyway? It got you onto the team, which apparently might never have happened otherwise.’

I felt annoyed at his putting it so bluntly, even though it was true. ‘Sure, there’s that. But I don’t like the idea that one of us is trying to keep us from doing our job. I mean, whoever it is must know what the pilot was carrying.’

He nodded. ‘I hadn’t thought of it that way. In fact, I haven’t thought much about it at all. What do you think the prize is?’

I was surprised that he hadn’t given it much thought. Clearly, he was cut out to be more accepting of things than I was. ‘I don’t know. Somebody doing something they shouldn’t have done and it would have consequences even now.’

‘Interesting. Maybe.’

Jack and Gretchen swam up to us so we said no more. But after we were back on board, I wondered if Dallas had been entirely honest when he said he never thought about it. Did he actually know what I knew? That the papers we were after involved a big corporation? Which led to the basic question: did he have a dog in this fight?

The investigators agreed to have dinner on board before they left. They planned to spend the night in Lipari and leave on the early ferry the next day.

For the occasion, Alvin brought out a couple of bottles of wine, assuring the two men that alcohol was rarely served. ‘We can’t dive the next day if we drink.’

‘That’s not a rule, is it?’ Ben Hecht asked.

‘Not really. As long as you don’t drink more than a couple of glasses of wine, you should be fine. But most of us prefer not to drink before a dive anyway, especially if we’re going deep.’

‘Same as pilots,’ Hecht said. ‘In fact, most of the pilots I know are teetotalers. They worry if they’ll get called at the last minute and can’t take the gig.’

I planned to dive tomorrow, even if we couldn’t approach the plane, so I abstained. There would be plenty of time after we were done to sample Italian wine. I was surprised to see that Susan declined, too. I’d been wrong when I thought Susan was a little too fond of alcohol.

The meal was tense, everyone polite to our guests and trying to find subjects that would entertain without getting too close to the edge of our situation. For their part, the two men gave not a hint of what their conclusions was. It was a relief when they said it was time to go back. Gretchen jumped up and said, ‘I’ll take them back.’

‘I’ll go with you,’ I said, standing up to clear the table.

‘Oh no, you don’t,’ Dallas said. ‘You’re not going to get out of cleaning duties that easily.’

‘Can you wait for me?’ I asked.

Everyone looked at me oddly, as if I wasn’t behaving according to protocol. They were right; I wasn’t. I normally should have dutifully washed dishes without complaint. But I wanted to be on that boat. To hell with protocol. I wanted time alone with Gretchen.

‘I guess,’ Gretchen said. She looked to Alvin, as if hoping he would intervene, but he said nothing. I hadn’t been keeping score, but Alvin’s face was red. I wondered if he’d had a lot to drink.

Marcus was watching me, and must have realized what I was up to, wanting to keep an eye on Gretchen. ‘Never mind. I’ll help clean. I need to keep up my skills.’

Everyone laughed.

The four of us climbed into the dinghy and took off. I wondered if it was my imagination that Gretchen had been cool toward me when we were getting into the dinghy. Tough. If Gretchen had planned to meet the man she’d been with at the ferry dock, that plan was now off the table.

TWENTY-THREE

As I had suspected, when we got to the dinghy dock, Gretchen said, ‘Jessie, you can stay with the dinghy, and I’ll escort these two to their hotel.’

‘That’s not necessary,’ Ben Hecht said. ‘We can find the way.’

‘That’s all right,’ Gretchen said, ‘I have a quick errand to run.’

I’ll bet you do, I thought. ‘I’ll tie up the dinghy and come with,’ I said. ‘I’d like to stretch my legs.’

Gretchen shrugged and said, ‘Good.’ I could swear she was hiding a smile. What was her game?

The four of us walked up to the same hotel where I had waited with the man from the ferry the first night I arrived. The men thanked us and went to check in.

When Gretchen and I went outside, she said, ‘Listen, Jessie, I have a friend I want to meet. Do you mind hanging out while I go?’

‘I do mind,’ I said. ‘I’d like to know who this friend is.’

Gretchen blinked. ‘What?’

‘Who is he?’

‘What business is that of yours?’ Gretchen said.

‘I saw you at the ferry yesterday.’

‘What do you mean? I was in Palermo. You must have seen a woman who looked like me.’

‘No, Gretchen. It was you. Who is that guy?’

She loomed over me. Her voice was icy. ‘Like I said, that’s none of your business.’

‘So you came over and spent the night with him, and then hustled back to Palermo to pick up the investigators.’

Gretchen crossed her arms across her chest. ‘So what? Are you going to tattle to Alvin because I’ve got a friend here on Lipari?’

‘I want to know who that guy is, that’s all. Somebody is trying to sabotage our efforts. I think it’s important to be on guard for anyone who’s a stranger.’

Gretchen took a step closer. I was aware how much bigger she was than me. ‘You’re accusing me of interfering with our mission? What the hell is wrong with you?’

I hesitated. It was possible Gretchen’s family was connected with the corporation that was trying to make sure we didn’t retrieve the papers aboard the airplane, but all I had was suspicion, not a shred of evidence. ‘All I know is that the night I arrived here on Lipari your “friend” was watching me. So what’s your connection with him?’

At my words, Gretchen looked uncertain, but she drew in a breath and said, ‘Don’t be ridiculous. Angelo knows nothing about what we’re here for.’

And then something else occurred to me. Suppose he had been pumping her for information? But why? So who was he passing it on to?

‘Are you sure? How did you meet him?’

‘I don’t have to answer any of your questions,’ Gretchen said. She whirled away and started striding toward town.

I ran behind her, caught up and grabbed her arm. ‘Why won’t you tell me how you met him?’

Gretchen shook my arm off. ‘In a café, if you must know. Dallas was with me. We both met him.’

‘Does Dallas still see him?’

‘Of course not. Angelo and I were attracted to each other. We made a date to meet and we’ve been meeting when we can ever since.’

My mind was racing. What she had said made no sense. She had been in a relationship with Taylor, the man I’d replaced. She was lying.

‘What have you told him?’ I asked.

‘This is too much. You have no business questioning me. When we get back, I’m going to tell Alvin that you were spying on me. I’ll tell him myself that I met Angelo and that we’ve been seeing each other.’

‘Aren’t you curious why he would be watching me when I arrived?’

‘Like I said, you have the wrong person. And besides, maybe he was waiting for a friend. Maybe it had nothing to do with you.’

‘Good. Then I’d like to meet him and ask him myself.’

‘Christ!’ she hissed. ‘You are impossible. I’m not introducing him to you.’

‘Why not?’

‘How do I know it even happened? How do I know you won’t say it’s the same man, even if it isn’t.’

‘Why would I do that?’

‘I have no idea, but you’re asking these questions … no, you’re accusing me of being a traitor. What, you want to be a hero? Find out who’s creating problems for us? And you’re picking me at random?’

‘I’d hardly call it random when I saw you somewhere you weren’t supposed to be. Gretchen, maybe you’re right. Maybe the guy was meeting someone at the dock. But shouldn’t you at least make sure who he is?’

I was willing to give Gretchen an out. It would be humiliating for her to find out she’d been played. And now that I’d planted a doubt, if she really was innocent, she’d pull back from Angelo. At least I hoped so.

Gretchen snatched her phone out of her pocket. ‘I’m going to text Angelo that I can’t meet him and then I’m going back to the dinghy. You can come or you can stay here and snoop around.’

I waited while she texted. She got a reply and made a hissing sound through her teeth at whatever Angelo said. Then she stalked off toward the dock.

I followed her, keeping an eye out in case Angelo showed up.

On the way back, I tried to decide whether I should tell Alvin about Gretchen’s clandestine meetings. I was torn. If Gretchen really was innocent, all I’d be doing was tattling on her for meeting a lover. I was no angel, and I didn’t like the idea of being a snitch for no reason. But if she had divulged anything to Angelo about the mission, however innocently, he could be involved with whoever was sabotaging the boat. I thought back to the night I’d heard the thump and seen a boat come close to ours. What had the boat been up to? It could easily have been the guy I’d seen Gretchen with. But what was he doing? And the footsteps I’d heard? Who was that? It could have been Gretchen.

All these thoughts dovetailed with my frustration. Clearly I hadn’t been briefed on the full picture. Something was being withheld from me. Some kind of near-disaster that no one wanted to divulge? Somebody who they all suspected was a traitor and didn’t want to admit it? It was time for me to demand an answer. But from whom? Dallas? Gretchen said Dallas had been with her when she met Angelo. It was possible that Angelo was in touch with Dallas, too. But why? Did I really believe Dallas would sabotage this mission? He was as good a candidate as anyone, I supposed. I remembered his nonchalant attitude with regard to the sabotage when I brought it up. Could that have been a smokescreen?

I certainly wasn’t going to ask Alvin. He was too invested in the team, and I was sure he wouldn’t tell me any more than he already had. Marcus. That’s who I could ask. He’d been straight with me so far. Had he? Maybe not. He had shrugged off my report that Gretchen had returned to Lipari when she was supposed to be in Palermo. Why would he do that? I groaned, knowing Gretchen couldn’t hear me. I had to trust somebody! Goofy Jack? Or Susan? Susan roomed with Gretchen. Had she ever noticed anything odd going on with her?

I sighed. It was like picking a name out of a hat. I wished there was some way to find out more about my teammates. But of all the people on board, Susan seemed the most without guile. The night the four of us had been on the boat, while Alvin, Marcus, and Gretchen had taken Laila’s body to Palermo, Susan had opened up and told us she’d been a party girl in college. It fit with her breezy manner. And I liked the story of how she had been recruited to the FBI dive world. I felt a certain reserve from her, but it was possible she still felt embarrassed about the tanks running dry the day before I arrived. I could probably get Nick to probe deeper into Susan’s background. If she came up clean, at least I could push her for answers about what else had happened on the boat. But I wanted to know now. I’d try to find a time to approach Susan. Carefully.

Gretchen got into the dinghy, her face like stone. She didn’t speak to me on the trip back to the boat. When we arrived, Jack was there to tie up the boat. Gretchen looked back at me and put her hands out as if she was pleading. I shrugged. Gretchen got off the dinghy onto the boat and put out a hand for me. I took it and stepped on board. ‘I won’t say anything for now,’ I said. ‘But I want you to go silent with that guy. After we’re done you can spend the rest of your life with him if you want to, but for now we can’t trust anyone.’

Gretchen clamped her lips together, but she nodded and marched away.

Jack hadn’t heard what we were saying, but he had watched our exchange and when I was close, he said, ‘What’s going on? Things look tense between you and Grete.’

‘Nothing. A little spat. It’ll blow over.’

It turned out that Alvin was waiting for us, so we could have a general meeting. It was a solemn group that sat around the table drinking coffee.

‘I have no idea what Hecht and Vicenti are going to say,’ Alvin said without preamble. ‘I got the feeling they are going to fault me for the accident. Anybody else get that idea?’

No one said anything for a minute, and then Jack said, ‘They mentioned that the line should have been secured at the relay point. I don’t know if one of us told them that, or if they thought of it themselves, but that’s what they said.’ I remembered that it had been Dallas who suggested it. Was he the one who told the investigators?

‘OK, if they do blame me, it’s possible they’ll either shut down the operation, or – and I think this is more likely – they’ll appoint a new head of the team and get a couple more divers out here. That will take time, so I hope you’ll be patient.’

The rest of the talk was more conciliatory and philosophical than I would have given him credit for. ‘Accidents happen. We know that. But they’re right. I should have listened to whoever suggested we secure the line. It was hubris on my part.’

‘Alvin, come on,’ Marcus said. ‘Don’t beat yourself up. Any of us could have made the same call.’

‘Yeah, but I’m the one who did. Anyway, we can’t move forward until we get the official word on their findings. So be prepared to hang out and wait. We can schedule trips to town, maybe go up the coast and try a dive on one of the more popular sites …’

Schedule trips to town? That meant Gretchen would be able to move at will. So would everyone else. Whoever was sabotaging the mission could have a free rein. I wondered if anyone had mentioned to the investigators the attempts at sabotage. I certainly hadn’t, but then they hadn’t asked.

TWENTY-FOUR

No one felt like being social, so most everyone went to their cabins, except for Susan, Dallas, and me. We went up to the bridge and settled onto the chaises, wearing light jackets because it was cool out. Susan said, ‘I have to stay out for a while. I didn’t want to go in the cabin with Gretchen. She’s in a foul mood.’ She glanced at me. ‘You know anything about that? She was like that when she got back from town. Did you two have a problem?’

‘Did she say that?’

The light was dim, but I saw Susan flinch. ‘She might have said she was having trouble with you.’

‘Yeah, we had a little problem.’

‘What kind of problem?’ Dallas asked. He was lying on his back, hands behind his head.

I decided to put out some feelers. ‘Dallas, do you remember meeting a guy when you first got here when you were at a café with Gretchen?’

‘You mean Angelo?’

‘That’s right. What do you know about him?’

Dallas was quiet, thinking. ‘Nothing. Why?’

‘Did you ever see him again?’

‘No.’ His chaise creaked as he shifted onto his side to face me. ‘Why are you asking about him?’

‘Gretchen has been seeing him when she gets a chance.’

‘Really?’ He laughed. ‘OK, I remember, there was some flirting going on when we met him. I didn’t think much about it. What do you mean seeing him? You mean like dating? That doesn’t seem right. She was really into Taylor. Besides, when did she have time to see him?’

‘So you haven’t talked to him at all since then?’

‘Jessie, why are you quizzing me? You’re like those investigators today. What’s up?’

I drew a deep breath. Should I tell them I thought the guy had been watching me and that I’d seen him with Gretchen this morning? It would help to have allies to keep an eye on Gretchen, especially Susan, since she was her roommate. ‘The night I arrived I saw a guy at the dock and had a feeling he was watching me.’

‘What?’ Dallas sat up. ‘Did you tell Alvin or Marcus?’

‘No. Honestly, I wasn’t sure whether he was actually watching me, so I didn’t think to mention it. But I saw him again yesterday.’

‘Where?’

Decision time. If I told them I saw him with Gretchen, I’d have to say where and when. I wasn’t ready to do that. I’d tell them part of the truth. ‘I saw him with Gretchen.’ I left out the part where Gretchen had sneaked back to Lipari to spend the night with him and then gone back to Palermo to pick up the investigators. ‘I asked her who he was, and she got defensive. So I wondered who he was. That’s what we had an argument about.’

Susan said, ‘You say she got defensive. Why?’

‘That’s what I wanted to know. I wondered if she maybe said more than she should have about the mission.’

‘Wait,’ Dallas said. ‘You wanted to know if I knew anything about him. You think he might have targeted her to find out what we’re up to here?’

‘It occurred to me. Do you have any reason to think I’m right?’

‘Oh boy,’ Susan said. ‘I don’t know what to say. Sometimes Gretchen can be secretive, but I think that’s just who she is. I can’t imagine that she’d feed information to anyone, even accidentally. She’s really conscientious. What did she say when you confronted her?’

‘She said I was being nosy and my concerns were ridiculous.’

Suddenly an angry voice spoke from the gangway. ‘They are ridiculous.’ Gretchen came up the ladder from below. ‘I decided to come up here and join you because I figured you’d gossip about me and Angelo. You’ve really got a bug up your ass about him.’

Dallas said, ‘The point is, Gretchen, you’ve been seeing him on the sly. Why? Why not tell us you met somebody in town and you’d been seeing him? Why the secret?’

‘It’s obvious,’ she said, her voice furious. ‘Like Susan said, I’m secretive. In other words, I don’t always like everyone to know my business. Is that so wrong?’

‘No, of course not,’ Dallas said. He was keeping his voice even. ‘Not usually, anyway. But we are on a delicate mission, Gretchen, and you can’t be playing fast and loose with hooking up with a stranger.’

‘Angelo is a nice guy. He’s fun and I like him. He’s never asked me anything about what we’re doing here. Nothing.’

‘Then why was he watching Jessie when she got here?’

Gretchen was still standing over us like an avenging presence. ‘How do I know it was Angelo she saw? Or that there was even someone watching her? And why has she been keeping that secret?’

‘I didn’t do that deliberately,’ I said. ‘It came up when I saw you with him. The question is why didn’t you want me to meet him if you’re so sure he’s not the same guy?’

‘Because I was angry that you were so quick to accuse him, without even knowing it was him.’

‘I do know it’s him. I recognized him when I saw you with him.’

‘Wait, wait,’ Dallas said. He stood up, as if he didn’t like having Gretchen hovering. ‘When did you see them together?’ he asked me.

I still didn’t want to out Gretchen for coming back on the ferry when she was supposed to be in Palermo. If she really was innocent of wrongdoing, it was best to keep at least some level of equanimity between us. ‘Last night,’ I said, hoping it was specific enough to satisfy the question.

Although there was light from the myriad stars, I couldn’t see Gretchen’s face clearly, but saw her shoulders relax.

‘Gretchen, Jessie’s right. You need to be really careful with the guy. I mean he seemed OK, but you know as well as I do that with an operation like this, there could be … not to be too dramatic about it … spies.’

Susan stood, too. ‘Gretchen I’m sorry I said you were secretive. I mean, you are, but I didn’t mean to imply it was a problem.’

Gretchen nodded. ‘We’re in close quarters,’ she said, her tone calmer. ‘We’re bound to have some differences. But as for you, Jessie,’ she said, her tone hardening, ‘if you’re going to go around snooping and accusing people of colluding with some vague enemy, I think you should consider whether you’ve made the right choice of being on a tight team like this.’

My temper flared, but I was determined to keep it under control. ‘I don’t think it’s out of line for me to want to know what’s going on. And since you refused to let me meet him, you bet my alarm bells went off!’

‘OK, OK, calm down,’ Dallas said. He sounded flustered. ‘Jessie, what do you want to do? You want to go to Alvin about this?’

‘Not really.’ He had enough worries without this adding to it.

‘What then?’

‘I’d like for Gretchen to either promise she won’t see this Angelo again until we’ve accomplished what we’ve set out to do, or take me to meet him so I can ask him why he was interested in me.’

Gretchen made an annoyed sound. ‘Maybe he thought you were attractive.’

‘No, Gretchen,’ I said. ‘It wasn’t that kind of interest, believe me.’

‘All right. Next time we’re in town, I’ll arrange for you to meet him. Satisfied?’

‘Yes.’

She went back down the ladder and we heard her retreat down the gangway. ‘Sheesh,’ Susan breathed when we heard the cabin door close down below. ‘I can’t believe that just happened.’

‘All right, you two,’ I said. ‘Now that we’ve got that out in the open, there’s something else I want to know. And I want honesty.’

We sat down again. Somehow it felt like a closer-knit group than when we first sat down. ‘OK, chief, what’s your question?’ Dallas said.

‘I’ve heard a lot of talk about minor things that have happened since the team arrived here, but none of it adds up to what makes everybody so jumpy. Something else happened and I want to know what it is. It’s not fair for me not to know the full story. In fact, I don’t feel safe not knowing. I don’t know what to look out for.’

‘Shit,’ Dallas said. I could feel the tension in the air. Finally he said, ‘I’m sorry, Jessie. We’ve been sworn to secrecy.’

‘By whom? Why don’t they want me to know?’

‘It’s not you,’ Susan said. ‘It’s anyone. We agreed it was a freak accident. It was before all this other stuff happened.’

‘I think we should tell her,’ Dallas said quietly.

‘Be my guest,’ Susan said.

Dallas ran his hands across his head. ‘All right, but if Alvin asks you how you found this out, you’ve got to have some story.’

‘I’ll tell him I overheard someone talking outside when I was in my cabin.’

Silence.

‘What?’ I demanded.

‘There was a fire. In the engine room,’ Dallas said.

I felt suddenly cold. ‘Oh my God. Was anyone hurt?’

‘No, but it was only because Marcus kept his head. He happened to go out on deck because he couldn’t sleep and he smelled something burning. He raised the alarm. He didn’t open the hatch to the engine room until everyone was up and alert, in case it got out of hand and we all had to jump overboard if it blew. Remember that dive boat accident off California a few years ago? That was on his mind. A couple of us stood beside him, ready with fire extinguishers and as soon as he opened the hatch, we foamed it out before it could get out of control.’

‘How did the fire start?’

‘We don’t know,’ Dallas said. ‘Gretchen examined the engine to see if there were any leaks, but she didn’t find anything.’

Gretchen again. I didn’t want to accuse her, but it looked awfully suspicious.

‘There was very little damage,’ Susan said. ‘Some searing, and when the engine was cleaned up, Gretchen said the engine looked fine. We’ve used it to run the generator and the water maker every day since with no problems.’

‘Was this before or after Taylor’s dive accident?’

‘It was early on, a few days after the team got here. Before Taylor’s accident. And before all the other glitches. That’s probably why we shrugged it off and assumed the boat hadn’t been well-maintained. If it happened now …’

So they hadn’t had enough experience of sabotage at the time to be worried. But it still bothered me they had kept it from me when I arrived.

We sat a bit longer, but it was getting chilly and Susan went off to bed, saying she hoped Gretchen would be asleep by now.

That left Dallas and me.

Dallas said, ‘Wanna fool around?’

I sighed. ‘I’m sorry, but not really. Too much going on in my head.’

‘Yeah, I get it. Are you going to tell Alvin that Gretchen is seeing Angelo?’

‘Probably not. I’m not sure what it would accomplish.’ I waited a beat. ‘Do you think I should?’

‘I don’t know. I guess I’m surprised. I don’t remember the guy that well and I don’t remember having any reason to be suspicious of him.’

‘Given the nature of our job, I think that it was stupid of Gretchen to get involved with a stranger. If she’s really serious and I get to meet him, I’ll ask him why he was watching me. Maybe he has a good reason.’

‘You know, Jessie, these mishaps have made us all so skittish that it’s hard to remember we’re trained agents. We’re professional. Gretchen included. She knows she has to be careful.’

I wondered what he would say if he knew what Nick had told me about the mission. ‘Is the operation atypical in any way?’

‘I’ll admit, I’ve never been on an assignment quite like this one. They’re usually straightforward. You get on board, do the dives, get the data or whatever, and get out.’

‘I understand that Gretchen is professional, and maybe you’re right, maybe this guy she’s seeing has nothing to do with the sabotage. But one of the team members is messing with the operation. Dallas, if you had to guess – and I trust you won’t name yourself – who do you think it is?’

He blew out a breath and flopped onto his back. ‘God. Who knows? You really think it’s Grete?’

I sat up. ‘If I had thought it was anyone, I probably would have said Laila, but that’s before I saw her in action as a diver.’

‘You haven’t been with the group long, so you’ve got a fresh perspective. Think about it. Who else?’

I mulled it over. ‘Alvin.’ I told him I’d seen Alvin go back down to the gear room after we had thoroughly checked all the gear, and wondered why he was going down there. And later that day on the dive, Laila’s mask had malfunctioned. ‘And I know that it seems impossible that Laila’s fatal accident could have been planned, but Alvin did reject the idea of keeping the line contained.’

‘Yeah, but Alvin has always seemed like an upright guy. And he’s devastated about Laila.’ He cleared his throat. ‘And remember, I was there. I saw what happened. No way Alvin could have planned that.’

‘Yeah,’ I said softly.

‘What about Jack?’ Dallas asked. ‘What do you think of him?’

‘I’ve had no reason to suspect him of anything but being a practical joker.’ I told him about the cave incident. ‘Susan was alarmed. But I thought it was sort of like a hazing incident. Do you have some reason to ask about him in particular?’

‘I don’t know. He just doesn’t seem like he fits in. Nothing I can put my finger on.’

‘Let me ask you this. You said you thought Taylor’s accident was a result of poor management on his part. What if it wasn’t? Who could have been responsible?’

He thought for a minute. ‘I don’t remember that much about the dive. It was early on, and none of us knew each other that well. It could have been anybody.’

Anybody. Including, I supposed, Dallas.

‘I have to go to bed,’ I said. ‘This is all too sad.’ I stood up and Dallas did too.

He leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. ‘But we’re not done, Jessie.’

TWENTY-FIVE

Although I was sure I would toss and turn, I slept well and woke feeling better than I had last night. I realized I had lost sight of the fact that my teammates were professional people who had experienced some unexpected trauma. Thinking of them that way made me feel less at risk. Maybe one of them was a traitor, but without further evidence, all I could do was keep alert and notice if anything struck me as unusual.

Clearly everyone had gotten up determined to make the best of the day off. After a short discussion of possibilities, we organized a dive excursion up the coast. Marcus said he’d stay with the boat again. ‘I’ve scheduled a call with my wife and children, so I’m going to pass on leaving the boat today.’

No one was surprised when Alvin begged off, too. He said he needed to get some work done, but it was clear he was in a funk and in no mood for fun.

Then there was a playful argument about where to go. Susan wanted to do some snorkeling. ‘I’ve had enough diving for now, and I’ve heard there’s good snorkeling between Lipari and Vulcano.’

Jack said he’d be glad to snorkel to keep Susan company.

‘Susan’s right,’ Dallas said. ‘Maybe instead of hauling all the dive equipment around we could snorkel. Give ourselves a break.’ Everyone agreed, which meant a light load for the boat. Dallas and I put together a picnic and the team decided to try some of the waters close to the coast.

The weather conspired to give us a great day for being in the water. Sun, crystal clear water, and a light breeze. We first went snorkeling on the west side of Lipari. We swam among rocks and along walls that eventually sheared off into deep water, but there was a shelf extending out for several yards, and up and down the coast. The bottom ran the gamut from yellow and red sand to black lava. We saw the remains of an old shipwreck, including a barnacled anchor. In one area there were pottery artifacts.

As we went farther from shore, we saw a few tiger sharks, smaller than the one I’d seen at the dive site, along with what I had come to expect – grouper, eels, scorpionfish, lobster, prawns, and parrotfish. We ran into beautiful pools where we lay suspended watching the fish. And we discovered an underwater cave where we could dive without the currents that plagued the area where our boat was anchored.

Only once did we get a little freaked, when a great white shark loomed into view. We headed for the beach and watched its fin until it swam away. We decided that was as good a place as any to have lunch, so we feasted on sandwiches with pickles and olives. Afterward, we lolled on the beach for a while.

‘Come on, you lazy slugs,’ Dallas said. ‘I have a surprise for you.’ We piled into the dinghy and made the quick trip by dinghy across the short channel to Vulcano. It was a forbidding-looking island, almost like a moonscape, dominated by a crater on the north end. Dallas guided the boat around to the east side and beached it up on a rocky part of the coast.

‘The water looks weird,’ Susan said. ‘Is there good snorkeling here?’

‘Farther out maybe, but for now, we’re going swimming.’

Suddenly I saw an odd sight. It looked like a big bubble popping on the surface. I laughed out loud as I realized what it was. Underwater vents were warming the water and making bubbles. I ran out into the water and in a few strokes was several yards offshore. Sure enough the water was warm, like bathtub warm. ‘This is heaven,’ I yelled. ‘It’s warm.’

Everyone swam out, and we had what amounted to a spa experience, moving from warm to cooler spots. Eventually, we decided to try one more adventure that Dallas had heard about – mud baths. There, we found tourists slathering themselves in mud. At first it looked gross, but Jack and Dallas immediately got muddy and the rest of us followed their lead.

By the time we returned to the boat, it was late afternoon. With the boat cleaned up and all the petty chores having been done before the investigators arrived, there was nothing for us to do but continue to be lazy. Some people holed up in their cabins but Dallas, Susan, Jack and I lay out on deck like a bunch of languid sea lions. It was understandable that Alvin was hiding out, and Marcus seemed to prefer to be alone. But why was Gretchen not out here? Possibly to avoid being with me.

At five o’clock, Dallas got up and stretched. ‘If we’re going to eat on board, I need to start dinner prep. But as for me, I’d rather go in and have dinner in town. Anybody else?’

Jack got up. ‘I like it. I haven’t been into town for a while and I need a dose of civilization.’

Susan said she was definitely up for it.

‘Jessie, you coming?’ Jack said.

I was wondering who would stay behind. Would Gretchen jump at the chance to go into town and sneak away to be with Angelo? Or would she volunteer to stay aboard. Either way, whatever she decided to do, I was sticking with her. ‘Sounds good, but let’s find out what the others want to do. If they want to stay here, I can make something simple – grilled cheese sandwiches and a salad.’

Dallas went below to get the count. Marcus said if everyone else wanted to go, he’d stay aboard for security. He told Dallas not to worry about dinner for him, he’d rustle up something. Alvin said he was feeling restless after a day of inactivity and wanted to go, and so did Gretchen. ‘I’m in, too,’ I said.

Despite the underlying dread we all felt about the verdict of the investigators, there was a festive feeling as everyone dressed for town and gathered to get into the dinghy. We chattered and argued about where to go. ‘It’s going to be crowded with tourists anywhere,’ Dallas said. ‘So we have to be prepared to wait with such a large group.’

‘We could split up,’ Gretchen said.

‘Oh, I think we should all stick together,’ I said, arching an eyebrow at Gretchen. ‘We’re all in this together, right?’

Luckily, we found a restaurant off the main street that could accommodate the six of us right away. We agreed that wine was absolutely called for, although we decided one glass was plenty. Susan and Jack sat next to each other, and I noticed that they were having some kind of furtive chat. I’d never noticed them being particularly cozy with each other, and there didn’t seem to be an element of sex to it, so what were they up to? I didn’t want to be paranoid, but there was a slim line between paranoid and alert.

After our day in the sun, everyone was relaxed, and we fell into easy patter. The food was amazing. We ordered a couple of pizzas for appetizers and went overboard ordering main courses: pasta, a vegetarian primavera, and another with pork ragu; a couple of pork dishes; and a fish stew that we shared around. We boxed up the remains of the meal for Marcus.

‘No offense, Dallas, but I think I’m going to start coming here every night,’ Susan said.

‘None taken. I may join you. The rest of you are on your own.’

I kept my eye on Gretchen, but didn’t see her texting. She seemed as relaxed as everyone else.

We decided to walk for a while and then get gelato for dessert. Alvin paid the bill, announcing it would be on Uncle Sam’s dime. As we were leaving the restaurant, Gretchen sidled up to me. ‘OK, you wanted to meet Angelo. Now’s your chance. I’ll contact him and he can meet us.’

She sent a text. We took off ambling up the street, breaking off into two groups – Alvin, with Susan and Jack; and Dallas stuck with Gretchen and me. Soon Gretchen’s phone buzzed and she read it. ‘OK, Jessie, we’re on. We’ll meet Angelo in fifteen minutes at the Miramare Hotel. Dallas, you can come too, if you’re worried that he’s going to abduct Jessie.’

‘Come on, Gretchen, don’t be a bitch,’ he said. ‘She’s got valid concerns and you know it.’

Gretchen huffed and strode ahead of us toward the hotel.

It only took five minutes to get there, the same hotel I’d been in when I arrived. There were several hotels on the island. How did I keep ending up here? We sat in the lobby and Dallas offered to get us an espresso. Gretchen and I sat without speaking. I had been distracted the first time I was here, and now I had a chance to notice that there were old photos of Lipari. I got up and was perusing them when I heard a familiar voice.

‘Signora, how nice to see you again.’ It was Sergio, the ferry employee who had rescued me when I arrived, helping carry my bags and waiting with me until the taxi came.

He said he was waiting there for his fiancée and they were going out to dinner. ‘How are you enjoying your visit?’ he asked. ‘Is the diving good?’

‘Excellent,’ I said. ‘But today I went snorkeling on the south coast and off of Vulcano. The water is amazing.’

Before long, his fiancée showed up and after effusive introductions they took off.

Dallas had come back with the espresso. We drank them and eventually he said he was going to find the others. It had been a good bit longer than fifteen minutes and I was beginning to wonder if Angelo was going to stand us up, when a man walked in and headed straight for Gretchen. ‘Grete, who is this person you want me to meet?’

Gretchen stood up and brought him over. ‘Jessie, this is my friend Angelo Perugini.’

It was not the same man who had been watching me. Nor was it the same man I’d seen with Gretchen boarding the ferry. There was a resemblance – same build, same dark hair, same approximate age – but then a lot of Italian men could be described that way. If only Dallas had stayed with us, he could have validated that it wasn’t the same person. But he wasn’t here.

‘Nice to meet you,’ I said. ‘I wanted to check out if you were the same man I saw the night I arrived.’

‘Signora, you are a lovely person, but I’ve never seen you before.’

‘Nor I you,’ I said. ‘Obviously, I was mistaken. Please accept my apologies.’

I couldn’t ignore the triumph in Gretchen’s eyes. ‘Now,’ Gretchen said, ‘if you don’t mind, I’m going off to spend a little time with my friend.’

‘Of course,’ I said. ‘I’ll go find the others.’

They took off and I lingered in the hotel for a few minutes to give them a head start. When I went outside, I saw them walking up the inclined street. They were walking fast and appeared not to be talking to each other. There were enough people out on the street that I didn’t worry that they would discover I was following them. It occurred to me, though, that as an experienced agent, Gretchen might suspect I’d do so. I had to be sure I wasn’t seen. Soon we were out of the main part of town, and two- and three-story apartment buildings took over from storefronts. Before long, Gretchen and the man went into an apartment building.

I couldn’t follow them inside, so I walked to the other side of the street and watched the building. A light came on in a second-story apartment, but the curtains were drawn, and I couldn’t see if it was them.

The apartment buildings were all on one side of the street, and I was on the side that fell away to a cove. No cover nearby. There weren’t as many people here, and I realized that if Gretchen came back out, she’d spot me. Did it matter? Maybe not, but I’d just as soon she not be aware that I’d followed her. I retraced my steps a block down the street to where there were a few straggly storefronts, little more than shacks, closed for the night. I tucked in between two of the shacks far enough away so I couldn’t be seen but close enough that I could keep an eye on the apartment building.

I had barely gotten settled when I saw Gretchen come out of the building and head back down toward me – alone. I ducked far back into the shadows and watched her walk past, again at a fast clip. As soon as she had gone a block, I fell behind her. But there was nothing more to see. She stopped and took out her phone and soon came upon our group, eating the last of their ice cream. I ducked into one of the shops that was still open and snatched up a T-shirt and paid for it. Then, package in hand, I headed back out, toward the group. ‘Hi, guys.’

‘Hey, where have you been?’ Dallas asked.

I nodded toward the shop. ‘Buying souvenirs. Do I have time to get gelato?’

‘What did you buy?’ Susan asked.

I held up the bag. ‘Touristy thing. A T-shirt. I didn’t bring much stuff and I’m getting tired of my clothes.’

We strolled back toward the dingy, me licking my pistachio cone. Dallas sidled up to me and glanced around. ‘That was interesting,’ he whispered.

‘What?’

‘I waited outside and saw the guy that Gretchen introduced you to. That’s not the same guy I met with her.’

‘Oh, thank God,’ I said. ‘I thought I was losing my mind. But what is Gretchen up to?’

‘I wish I knew,’ he said. ‘I hate to think that she can’t be trusted, but it looks sketchy.’

‘What should we do?’

‘I’m going to have a talk with her, privately. I’ve known her longer than anyone else.’

‘I hope there’s an innocent explanation.’

The evening had been upbeat at the beginning, but as we climbed into the dinghy, everyone was quiet. It seemed like the mood had dipped. Still, it was a beautiful, clear night with no wind. Dallas and Jack bantered, and I was pretty sure they were trying to bring our spirits back up.

TWENTY-SIX

When we got close to the dive boat, we had to use a flashlight to tie up. There appeared to be no lights on. ‘What the hell is Marcus thinking?’ Alvin grumbled. ‘There should be a light on out here.’

‘He must have fallen asleep when it was dusk,’ Jack said.

We hopped out onto the platform. I saw Dallas stop Gretchen and say something to her, presumably that he wanted to talk to her, because they walked up forward.

‘Shall I get done in the head?’ I asked Susan. ‘That will clear it for you and Gretchen.’

‘Sure,’ Susan said.

I went to my quarters to grab my toiletries and then went below to take care of my evening ablutions. I found Alvin talking to Jack and Susan. ‘Where the hell is he, then?’

‘What’s up?’ I asked.

‘Marcus isn’t in our cabin,’ Jack said. ‘We don’t know where he is.’

Dread coursed through me. Not another bad incident. ‘Could he have gone for a swim?’

‘Unlikely, since he was alone,’ Alvin said. ‘OK, everybody get on it. Look in the engine room and the gear room. Maybe he fell or something.’

‘I’ll get the beam light and look in the water,’ I said.

I had gone up on the deck with the beam light when Jack shouted, ‘He’s here!’ He was calling from the engine room.

I was close by and hurried over to where Jack’s head was sticking out of the opening to the room. ‘Is he OK?’ I asked.

‘He’s injured. Looks like he fell and hit his head.’

Alvin and Susan rushed up from down below. ‘Dallas!’ Alvin hollered. ‘You need to come.’

Dallas ran down the deck to the hatch and went down into the engine room. He poked his head back up. ‘Bring the medical kit.’

Susan ran to where it was kept and I saw Gretchen hanging back, hugging her arms, as if she was cold. Whatever Dallas had said to her, she looked stricken.

Susan came back with the heavy medical bag and handed it down.

‘I wonder if we should call for medical help,’ I said to Alvin.

‘If he needs a doctor, we’ll take him in.’

‘Unless he shouldn’t be moved,’ Susan said.

‘We’ll let Dallas make that call,’ he said.

We waited, Alvin pacing with short steps, Susan and me huddling together. Jack was sitting on the deck, head in his hands. He’d been the one who found Marcus. Gretchen stayed near the bow of the boat as if she didn’t want to be involved. Was she involved? Had she told her friend Angelo that Marcus would be alone on the boat and Angelo had sent someone to attack him?

Dallas was taking his time assessing how bad the injury was. Maybe it was worse than any of us thought. I wondered if everyone else had the same feeling I did about Marcus, that in many ways he was the emotional center of our group, always steady.

After several minutes, Dallas came up, looking shaken. ‘He’s OK, he’s talking, but I think he should be taken into town to be seen in case he has a concussion. He had a pretty big blow to the head.’

‘Did he say what happened?’ Alvin asked.

‘Said he thinks he slipped and fell.’

‘Why was he in the engine room to begin with?’ Susan asked.

‘I didn’t ask.’

‘I’ll talk to him,’ Alvin said. ‘Dallas, you and I can take him to town.’

‘Got it,’ Dallas said.

Susan gestured to me to follow her. We moved away from the others. ‘It’s not like Marcus to fall,’ she said. ‘I wonder if he was pushed and doesn’t remember.’

‘Exactly what I was thinking,’ I said.

‘The longer we’re here, the more uneasy I am about this mission,’ she said. ‘Somebody doesn’t want us to succeed, and the more I’ve heard, the more I suspect Gretchen has been involved in sabotaging us.’

‘Do you have any idea why?’

‘Not really, but Gretchen has been acting strange. She has these furtive conversations with her family. She said they’re having some kind of crisis with her grandmother, but I don’t know if I believe her. With what you said about her and that guy, it doesn’t add up.’

‘I have an update,’ I said. I told Susan that Gretchen had introduced me to a man who was supposedly Angelo, but it wasn’t the same man I’d seen her with. I decided it was time to come clean with Susan. I told her I’d seen Gretchen in Lipari when she was supposed to be in Palermo.

‘Crap,’ she said. ‘That does it. It’s time to tell Alvin all this. And if he won’t take it seriously, I’m calling headquarters. It’s not worth risking any more “accidents.”’

‘I agree.’ I felt relieved, but also a tinge of disappointment. Would my first assignment also be my last if it was a bust? But Susan was right, we couldn’t risk more injuries … or deaths. At the very least, headquarters should send some kind of security detail to beef up the team.

‘Where’s Jack?’ I asked.

‘I saw him go up to the bridge. He looked shaken up. Maybe needs a little time to himself.’

Ten minutes later, the dinghy took off with Dallas, Alvin, and Marcus aboard.

‘I’m going below,’ Gretchen said. I hadn’t had time to ask Dallas if he’d gotten anything out of Gretchen, but her manner was unapproachable.

When she was gone, I said to Susan, ‘There’s something I want to check.’

I went down to the engine room. I didn’t know what I was looking for, but it had made no sense for Marcus to fall here, let alone what he was doing down here to begin with. Had he heard something and gone to investigate? Had the engine been turned on to run the generator and Marcus thought it sounded like something was wrong?

The engine room was kept spotless, so there wasn’t much to see. It was a tight room, not too much space, just enough to get to all parts of the engine for a repair, if necessary. At the bottom of the steps, I crouched down and examined the steps. I wondered if something had tripped him up? Something sticky on the stairs, or an impediment – something placed so he’d trip on it? I saw nothing. Of course, Dallas had been here and he might have moved whatever it was in order to get to Marcus. I looked in the corners at the back of the engine, and even on the engine itself. Nothing. I got on my hands and knees and surveyed the area at a lower level. And that’s when I saw it.

The thinnest of threads, like a fishing line was tucked behind the steps. I pulled it out. It was no more than four feet of line, but it was crimped at either end, as if it had been tied. I tried to figure out how it could have been placed so that if one of us came down, they would trip over it. There were no handholds along the steps, so nothing to grab hold to if you pitched forward. I wondered if the blow Marcus had received was in the back or front of his head. If the back, then he’d been hit from behind. If the front, then this line had likely tripped him. Was it for him in particular, or anyone who happened to go down below?

I sat back on my haunches and thought. I had surmised that whoever attacked Marcus must have come by boat, but now I revised the thought. Anyone could have rigged this before we left for dinner. In fact, it could have been set up anytime, with no particular victim in mind – simply another accident to add to the collection of puzzling events.

There was blood on the floor and on the engine itself, so I went to the cabinet where the cleaning supplies were kept, found a rag and came down to clean it up. When I got back up, I looked at the generator levels and they were lower than they should be. Marcus hadn’t run the generator and we would run out of electricity in a few hours. It was late, but no one was going to sleep anyway. I decided to run the generator, which meant firing up the engine.

I paused before I started it. I should let people know what I was going to do, in case there was something wrong. I tapped on Gretchen’s door and called out.

‘What do you want?’ she snapped.

I told her I was going to run the generator. Gretchen opened the door. She was wearing yoga pants and a T-shirt. ‘Why are you doing that?’

I explained that we were low on power. ‘I wanted to alert everyone that I have to start the engine. It’s possible Marcus heard something wrong with the engine and that’s why he didn’t run it.’

If Gretchen knew the engine had been fiddled with, now would be the time to admit it, or to at least try to stop me from turning it on. But she shrugged, said, ‘Fine,’ and closed the door in my face.

After I warned Susan and Jack, I turned on the engine. It took hold at once and sounded fine. Nevertheless, I opened the hatch to the engine room and went down to see if anything looked suspicious – an oil leak? Smoke? But there was nothing. I went back and started up the generator. Same result. Everything seemed fine, so why had Marcus gone down to the engine room?

Jack saw me and came to join me. ‘What do you think happened?’ he asked.

‘No clue,’ I said. ‘It’s just odd that no lights were on.’

‘No shit. When Alvin and Dallas get back, I think we should have a meeting. It’s time everybody put their cards on that table. And that includes Gretchen. We’ve got to figure out why we’ve had so much trouble.’

By midnight, when they hadn’t shown up, Jack called Alvin. When he got off the phone, he said, ‘They’re still waiting for Marcus to be seen. It’s a small urgent care facility and they don’t deem Marcus an emergency. So it could be a while.’

We decided to go on to bed. I turned off the generator and the engine, and went to my cabin. When I stretched out, I realized how tired I was. It had been a long day. Hard to believe our snorkeling excursion had been earlier today. Then we’d gone out to dinner, and discovered Marcus. I was asleep in an instant. At some point, the dinghy motor woke me up and I heard two sets of footsteps creep onto the boat. I heard Alvin and Dallas speaking quietly. Then Alvin went below and Dallas mounted the ladder to the bridge. Marcus must have stayed in the hospital overnight. It was quiet, and I slept again.

TWENTY-SEVEN

It seemed like no time at all when I heard my name whispered. Had I been dreaming? I sat up. Someone said my name again, and I looked to see my door open a crack.

‘Susan?’

‘Shh.’ She stuck her head inside. ‘Come to the gear room,’ she whispered.

I would have asked why, but Susan was gone.

Sleep-fuzzed, I shrugged into sweat pants and a sweatshirt and padded barefoot down the deck to the gear room. Through the hatch I saw a dim light. I opened the hatch and peered down into it. Susan moved the light so I could see. ‘Come on down,’ she whispered.

I went down and found Jack with Susan. ‘What are you guys doing?’ I asked.

The two glanced at each other. ‘Jessie,’ Susan said. ‘We’re going to dive to the plane.’

‘Now?’ Was I dreaming this?

‘Now. And we need you to come with us.’ Susan’s voice was more forceful than usual.

‘Whoa, whoa.’ I sat down on the bottom rung of the ladder. It was crowded in here, a place meant for two people at most. ‘First of all, why are you diving to the plane at night?’

‘Look,’ Jack said. ‘We think someone needs to get into that plane and find whatever it is we’re supposed to bring back. And it needs to happen now. We’re worried that the investigators are going to either shut the mission down, or at least take Alvin off the team, meaning we have to wait for another recruit. We had a tough enough time getting you, so we could be stuck here—’

‘And meanwhile,’ Susan interrupted, ‘whoever is sabotaging the operation would be free to continue to put us at risk. I mean, none of us are safe anymore. Taylor, then Laila, and now Marcus. Who’s next?’

They were right, but the risk was incredible. I wanted to be sure I understood what they were planning. ‘Let me get this straight. You plan to dive down tonight and try to find whatever container we’re supposed to be looking for? You realize that may not even exist.’

‘But someone thinks it does.’

‘Even so, it might be hard to find.’ I thought of the cramped interior of the plane. ‘The thing we are looking for could be anywhere,’ I added.

‘True,’ Susan said. ‘But at least we can give it a try. And if we find it, we’re done.’

I thought about what I’d seen. The wreckage and the single tether holding it to the boat. ‘I don’t know, guys. Alvin seems to think it’s still unstable and needs another tether holding it in place. There’s still the chance of the thing sliding off the ledge and plunging into the abyss.’ I didn’t add that if it caught us by surprise it might hook one of us and take us with it.

‘I think it’s pretty stable,’ Jack said. ‘It’s wedged pretty securely into rocks. And now there’s a cable attached, so even if it went off the ledge, it wouldn’t go far.’

I had an image of the cable snapping, or worse. ‘How much do you suppose the plane weighs? Anyone know? I mean, if it went over, it could drag the boat with it.’

‘No, no, no,’ Jack said. ‘Those planes were light – maybe five, six thousand pounds. This boat weighs at least three times that.’

‘You know this for sure?’ I asked.

‘I don’t know the exact figures,’ he said, sounding impatient. ‘But I know the boat is heavier by a big margin.’

‘Could the cable snap? Or could whatever is holding it taut slip?’

‘Look, no question there are risks,’ Jack said. ‘But the risk of doing nothing is that we fail. I don’t want that on my record.’

‘I don’t like failure,’ Susan said.

Neither did I, but this sounded like a crazy scheme. ‘So you want me to what, stay on the boat and monitor you? Or go to the relay point? The problem is I haven’t been trained in how to use the communication mask, so I won’t know if you’re having problems.’

‘No, that’s not what we want,’ Jack said. He and Susan exchanged glances. ‘We’re going to dive without a monitor. We’ll have to stick close together and be ready to help each other if there’s a problem.’

‘Then you want me to dive with you? Why?’

‘Two things. First, we know we can trust you. Things started going wrong before you got here, so we know you are safe.’

‘And the second?’

Neither of them wanted to reply. Finally Jack said, ‘You’re the smallest member of the team. I don’t know if you were there long enough to notice, but the inside of the plane is really small and we think it would be easier for you to get in there and investigate the interior.’

‘Wait …’ I wasn’t used to being afraid, but that sent a shiver of fear up my spine. They’d really thought this out. I remembered their whispered communication this evening at the dinner, and although I hadn’t thought much about it at the time, I remembered that neither of them drank any wine. I’d only had one glass, so if I decided to do this … I left the thought unfinished.

‘I’m trying to think how that would work,’ I said. ‘I mean, the area behind the pilot looked really cramped. I’m not sure I can get inside with the tank on my back.’

Jack shook his head. ‘We’d take the tank off you. You’d be free diving for the time it took you to look around back there. It wouldn’t be long. And we’d be right there with you.’

I tried to picture it. How long would it take? I could hold my breath for a few minutes close to the surface, but what would it be like to do that down below?’

‘I don’t know, Jack. I want to help. I want the mission to succeed, but without knowing what I’m looking for, it could be a bust.’

‘OK,’ Jack said. ‘Suppose you don’t find anything? We’d be no worse off than we are now.’

‘I still think we need another person to monitor us,’ I said.

‘Who? Gretchen?’ Susan said. ‘I don’t think so. Alvin?’

‘Or Dallas?’

Susan hesitated. ‘Don’t get me wrong. I love Dallas. He’s a great guy. But he’s really a straight arrow. I don’t think he’d go for this at all.’

‘I’m not sure he’s wrong,’ I said.

Although I was protesting, part of me was already thinking of how the venture would work. I’d been down a few times now, so it wasn’t a total unknown. The big problem was the plane itself. It was somewhat stable with the cable attached, but …

‘I thought of something else,’ I said. ‘Are we sure the cable is attached securely? I mean, this plane has had a long time to rust out. Suppose it starts to slide and whatever the cable is attached to breaks off?’

There was silence for a few seconds. ‘OK, here’s what we do,’ Jack said. ‘We attach a rope to you, too, so if the plane starts to go, we pull you out fast.’

Nick’s words kept echoing in my head – John Farrell had told him I tended to be impulsive. I’d been fighting that ever since. Impulsive. Dangerous? Even stupid? I didn’t want to be any of those things, and it struck me that if I said yes, that’s exactly what I’d be. But Susan and Jack were right. I had a feeling that no matter how important our task was, it could either be delayed or scrubbed. This team was a first attempt, so whoever was in charge of it at headquarters may decide there were other, better ways to succeed. But if our mission was scrubbed, it gave whoever was sabotaging it more time to make sure the plane would be inaccessible – to push it over the side. Or even to steal the container.

‘Does it have to be tonight?’ I asked. ‘Can I think about it?’

Jack shrugged. ‘I suppose if we heard tomorrow that Alvin was being pulled off, we’d still be able to do it tomorrow night.’

‘But if it’s going to be aborted, or taken over to accomplish it a different way, they’ll send someone out immediately to shut it down,’ Susan said.

‘You know as well as I do that no matter how fast they’ll want to do it, it isn’t easy getting here in one day,’ Jack said.

‘But suppose as soon as the investigators got back, they made the decision and they set it up so we wouldn’t know until someone got here,’ Susan said. ‘They could arrive tomorrow for all we know.’

I looked at my watch. It was almost three. If we left in the next thirty minutes, and the operation took an hour, with an hour to get back, it would be five o’clock when we returned.

‘OK, say we do find something. What do we do with it? Turn it over to Alvin? Call headquarters? Take it to Palermo without telling anyone we have it?’ I asked.

‘We discussed that,’ Susan said. ‘For sure we wouldn’t turn it over to Alvin. We think it would be best to take it to the consulate in Palermo for safekeeping, and call whoever is in charge to tell them we have it and ask what to do.’

‘Do you know who that is?’ I asked.

‘I heard the investigators talking to Alvin,’ Jack said. ‘They referred to a guy named Carl Freeman. I’ve actually heard of him. He’s one of the directors of the dive projects.’

I remembered the name from my interview with Farrell. ‘Look, you two,’ I said. ‘I’m not saying I don’t want to do this, but we had a really tough day today. I’m not at peak tonight. I think we should wait one more day. Or rather I should say I need a day to make a decision.’

Susan sighed. ‘OK, I get it. You’re right. We’re asking a lot and we’ll have to hope that another day won’t matter.’

Jack groaned. ‘I hate inaction.’

So did I, but I knew I was right. This wasn’t something we should barge into.

TWENTY-EIGHT

All night I was restless, waking up and obsessing over what could go wrong if we actually followed through with the plan. I woke up late and was grumpy, but so was everyone else.

‘Anybody want to do a dive today at another site?’ Alvin asked at breakfast.

I said I felt like staying aboard today and Susan said she had a headache after being in the sun yesterday. Only Dallas expressed any interest, and Gretchen was sulking and didn’t respond. In the end they bagged the idea.

Everyone was on tenterhooks, sniping at little things that normally wouldn’t bother them, brooding and mostly staying to themselves. Which was fine with me. I considered whether I ought to try to reach Nick, and I soon got the chance. At eleven, Alvin received a call from Marcus saying the doctor had said he had a minor concussion, but had cleared him to leave the clinic, and he was ready to come back to the boat. I volunteered to go along to pick him up. No one else wanted to go, for which I was grateful. The vibes were getting to me.

When we docked the dinghy and went out onto the dock, I said, ‘Alvin, before we go to the hospital, I need to tell you something.’

‘What now?’ he said. He sounded so weary!

I told him about the thread I’d found behind the steps in the engine room. ‘It was heavy thread and could have been rigged across the steps to trip someone.’

Alvin’s shoulder slumped. ‘For FBI agents we haven’t been great at ferreting out what’s going on.’ He looked off in the distance, thinking. ‘I wonder if it was rigged specifically for Marcus, or if whoever did it didn’t care, they just wanted someone to get hurt?’

‘I’m inclined to think the latter,’ I said. ‘I mean, nobody could guarantee that Marcus would go into the engine room.’

‘Unless they managed to board the boat while we were gone and hid in the engine room and made some kind of noise to lure him down.’

So I wasn’t the only one thinking someone could have come alongside and boarded the boat. There was no way to know, unless Marcus remembered more of what had happened. ‘I’ve got to find out what the hell is going on,’ Alvin said, so quietly he could have been talking to himself.

‘Agreed.’ Which piled on one more reason why I liked the idea of going down with Susan and Jack tonight. I didn’t like going rogue, but I liked the alternative even less. If we completed the task, then the team could be disbanded at no further risk. Whoever had tried to sabotage the operation would have failed. The worst part was that if we succeeded it would also mean letting the saboteur get off free.

I stayed with the dinghy while Alvin went off to fetch Marcus. As soon as he was gone, I dialed Nick’s number.

His message came on. ‘I’ll be out of reach for a couple of days. Leave a message.’ What did that mean – ‘out of reach’? I fumed. I left a message, but there was really nothing urgent to tell him, so I said, ‘Just giving you a call. Contact me when you get back to civilization.’ Then I texted him in case he’d be available that way. But the same message popped up.

I groaned. What would I have said to him anyway? ‘Should I go on a secret midnight dive with two people I don’t even know if I can fully trust? Am I being too impulsive? Too arrogant?’ I didn’t really need his advice. Yes, it was a bad idea. Yes, it was too impulsive. But by now I knew I was going to do the dive. I just wanted to hear his voice.

As further self-punishment, I called my mother. It was nine o’clock there. ‘Well! It’s about time!’ my mother said, her tone scathing. ‘I was wondering if you were going to acknowledge it.’

I searched my mind frantically. It wasn’t my mother’s birthday. Or my sister’s. So what was I supposed to acknowledge? ‘Um, yeah, it’s been a crazy time. I’ve been busy,’ I stalled.

‘Your sister got here a few hours ago and she looks good. She’s like a new person. She wants to talk to you.’

Of course. My sister’s rehab program was done. She’d stuck it out this time. That’s what I was supposed to be ‘celebrating.’ But did I want to talk to the sister who had betrayed me so profoundly? Not really.

‘Tell her I’ll talk to her soon. I’m not where I can easily have a conversation right now.’

‘What’s so important that you can’t talk?’

‘I’m waiting for someone to get out of the hospital.’ That ought to hold her off.

‘One of your friends is more important than your own flesh and blood?’

‘Mom, it isn’t like that. I’m just not where I can talk easily.’

A group of people walked by chattering and laughing.

‘Oh, I can hear your friends in the background. Are you having a party?’

‘No, Mom, those aren’t people I know. I’m outside, and they happened to be walking by. Like I said, I’m waiting for someone to get out of the hospital. I’ll call you in a day or two.’

I hung up, wanting to scream. Why did I even bother? I got off the dinghy onto the dock and paced, fighting the guilt that was never far from the surface where my sister was concerned. No matter how much I had done for my sister, it was never enough. I had failed to keep her safe. She was a drug addict, and I had little or no faith that a full stint in rehab had really changed that.

It was another half hour before Alvin returned, getting out of a taxi with Marcus, who still walked gingerly.

I asked how he was feeling. ‘I have a headache, but I’ll live.’

He said he needed to get his bearings for a few minutes before we headed back, ‘And I could use a good cup of coffee.’ So we went to a café nearby. Alvin went to the counter to order while Marcus and I nabbed a small table outside.

‘Marcus, do you remember anything of what happened?’ I asked when we sat down.

‘I wish I did. It was strange waking up in the hospital not knowing how I got there.’

‘Do you remember why you went down to the engine room?’

He shook his head, a look of distress crossing his face. I decided not to press him. I was sure Alvin would question him in due time. ‘Have you spoken with your wife?’

He raised his eyebrows. ‘More like has she spoken to me. And yeah. She had a lot to say. She wasn’t too happy when I told her why I was in hospital.’

Alvin came back with our coffees and heard what Marcus said. He grinned. ‘I can just hear Carrie reading you the riot act about being more careful.’

‘You know her?’ I asked.

The two men chuckled. ‘As a matter of fact, I was responsible for them getting together,’ Alvin said, smirking.

‘Hold it,’ Marcus said. ‘Not exactly responsible.’

‘Hey, if you hadn’t both been in my class, you two wouldn’t have met.’

I saw that the conversation was cheering Marcus up, so I said, ‘Details, please.’

‘I was giving a class in the training program on … what was it, Marcus? Surveillance?’

‘No. Something to do with legal stuff.’

‘Oh, good, so I made a big impression.’

‘Why would you know about legal issues?’ I asked.

‘I went to law school. Can you believe I actually have a law degree? I didn’t take the bar. But by the time I realized I wasn’t cut out to be a lawyer, I was in my third year, so I figured I might as well finish up.’ When he mentioned it, I did remember seeing that on the short bios in my briefing information. I wondered what else I might have forgotten from those pages. I wondered what other kinds of hidden accomplishments my teammates had.

‘Anyway,’ Alvin said, ‘they invited me to their wedding and we’ve kept up.’

‘Is Carrie still with the FBI?’ I asked.

‘Oh yeah. She’s a lawyer and works in administration, so no dangerous stuff. We have a couple of kids, so that works out well.’

Administration. Interesting. I wondered if she knew more about the assignment than we did.

‘How are you feeling?’ Alvin asked Marcus. ‘You ready to get back?’

‘Yeah, I want my own bunk.’

When we arrived back at the boat, Marcus was greeted like a conquering hero. ‘You guys must be really bored,’ he said.

‘No kidding,’ Dallas said. ‘Have you had lunch?’

No one had eaten. They’d been waiting for us to get back with Marcus. I helped Dallas put out some leftover soup and make grilled cheese sandwiches.

While the others were talking to Marcus, Dallas said quietly to me, ‘How does he seem? Does he remember anything?’

‘Not so far.’

He nodded. ‘Makes sense. With head injuries, there’s often amnesia surrounding events leading up to the injury, and sometimes it takes a while for memories to come back – if they come back at all.’

‘I hope it does. I’d like to know what happened.’

‘Do you know if Alvin has gotten word from the investigators?’

‘We didn’t talk about it.’

While we ate, we kept the conversation light. I mentioned Alvin’s law degree. ‘What other hidden accomplishments do you all have?’ I asked.

‘I’m a hell of a good whistler,’ Jack said.

Everyone laughed and threw in their own dubious achievements: Susan had once been in a pie-eating contest and came in last. Even Gretchen joined in, saying she once won a contest for prettiest feet in high school. ‘To be fair it was at a pajama party when I was thirteen, with only eight girls and the girl’s dad was the judge.’

Marcus said he could play endless games of hide and seek with his two children.

‘What’s yours?’ Dallas asked me.

‘No, you first,’ I said, ‘because I guarantee I’ve got everyone else beat.’

‘Oh, you’re on! Ladies and gentlemen, I can say the alphabet backwards in ten seconds.’ He demonstrated. By now everyone was in a good mood. ‘So, Miss Smarty, can you beat that?’ Dallas said.

‘I am a champion at limbo,’ I said. I got up and bowed.

‘This we’ve got to see,’ Dallas said. ‘And in fact, it sounds like a challenge.’

‘I’m out,’ Marcus said. ‘Head injury,’ he said, pointing to his bandage.

‘Chicken,’ Dallas said. ‘Who else is out?’

‘I’m too old,’ Alvin said. ‘And besides, somebody has got to be the judge.’

Dallas and Jack set up a makeshift limbo bar with a broom and two stacks of books. Fifteen minutes later, I was hooting and parading around wearing a crown Dallas had made of a piece of rope intertwined with parsley. ‘I am the queen. I am the queen,’ I chanted.

Before we disbanded, Alvin saw that he had a text. He looked at it and his face grew sober. ‘OK, that was from Director Freeman, director of the dive teams. He said he’ll be sending the report tomorrow.’

‘Oh,’ Susan groaned. ‘Why not now?’

‘You know how that goes,’ Marcus said, his former gloom settling back over his features. ‘It’s always hurry up and wait.’

The rest of the afternoon, a few people went swimming, we played poker, and generally felt like we were in prison.

Dinner was not nearly as cheerful as lunch had been. Marcus had gone to his room and asked if someone could bring him something to eat there rather than coming out to join everyone. ‘I’m tired and my head still aches.’

‘If no one minds, I’m going to bunk in Laila’s room for tonight,’ Jack said. ‘That way I won’t disturb you, Marcus.’ And that way, I knew, he would be able to sneak out without Marcus being aware. So how was Susan planning to evade Gretchen?

TWENTY-NINE

My watch alarm went off at two a.m. Doubts kept me glued to the bed for a few minutes. The other two divers were more experienced than me. Not only in diving, but in the FBI world. They’d been agents, they were knowledgeable on matters of security, potential spies, potential danger. I was a novice. Finally I got up. The worst that could happen was that I couldn’t find what we were looking for. Unless, of course, the tiger shark decided it was time to take us on.

In case we didn’t find what we were looking for, or even if we did, I had already decided that if I went into that plane, I was going to take something from it to identify the pilot, like a bone for DNA testing. I shuddered at the idea. Another thought was that I vaguely remembered that GIs wore dog tags to identify them if they were killed. Was this pilot wearing dog tags? Or had they corroded beyond recovery?

I met Susan and Jack in the gear room. At this point, there was no need for further discussion. We were in, and ready to go.

Being careful to minimize our noise, we meticulously checked all our gear – our masks, regulators, and tank valves. We checked our headlights and inspected our suits for tears. We made sure the tanks were full. It would be too awful to go on this clandestine quest and have it fouled up because of a malfunction.

At one point Jack whispered to me, ‘Are you nervous?’

‘Of course I am. I’d be an idiot if I wasn’t.’

He grinned and touched fists with me.

Finally, we zipped into drysuits. We remembered to take a strong cord to attach to my pack in case they had to pull me out of the plane fast. We also took an extra headlight. At the last minute, Jack brandished a pry bar. ‘Found it in the tool chest in the engine room,’ he said quietly. ‘I don’t know what we might need it for, but just in case.’ He tucked it under his belt.

We had decided not to wear communication masks, and instead use regular masks. Comm masks made it difficult in case we had to buddy-breathe. If I was going into the cockpit without my breathing apparatus, I wanted it to be easy to buddy-breathe.

‘Suppose I get swept over the ledge with the plane,’ I whispered. ‘It might take you with me.’ I asked in a matter-of-fact tone, determined not to let the possible reality of such an idea take root in my head.

Jack held up his knife. ‘We cut the cord. But Jessie, we’re not going to let that happen.’

I nodded. In an odd moment, we joined hands and gripped tightly, as if assuring each other of our decision.

Preparing to dive was usually a noisy affair, but we couldn’t afford to be caught. We strained to be utterly quiet. On the platform at the rear of the boat, we sat down and put on our fins, then one by one slipped over the side.

I had psyched myself up for it to be dark, but I hadn’t been prepared for how dark it would be even a few feet under the water. Even with our headlights, we could barely see each other. Right away, I wondered if this was a bad idea. Could I even see inside the plane when I got into the cockpit?

Down, down we went, slowly, holding hands. Oddly, as we got farther down, the visibility seemed lighter. Maybe because we were getting used to the dark, or maybe there was more reflection from our headlights. Whatever the reason, I began to feel less edgy. I reminded myself that this was a voluntary act, and I could always bail if I didn’t like the way things were going.

We were at 100 feet when a sudden current grabbed us and wrenched us sideways. I was reminded of Jack’s practical joke in the cave, but a look at the alarm in his eyes told me that this one was unplanned. Jack pointed forty-five degrees to our right, and we finned as hard as we could in that direction. He’d been right. The current eased and we were able to get back on track, descending.

Jack checked his compass and his computer to make sure we were in the right spot, and he corrected our course. A few minutes later, there it was. The airplane. If it had been spooky before, now it was downright scary. It looked like a ghost of an airplane, dark and treacherous, as if it was beckoning for us. How had I let myself get talked into this stupid idea?

I chided myself for being melodramatic. It was an airplane. An old airplane. This was our goal. We were here and it was time to complete what we’d started. It wouldn’t take long.

Jack went to the area where the heavy wire had been attached to the plane and inspected it. He nodded and gave it a tug. It appeared to be held fast.

The three of us moved to the cockpit, Jack in the lead. He gave a thumbs-up and a nod of his head to me. Ready?

I nodded. My heart speeded up. Calm down, you don’t want to use extra air.

Even though I knew a pilot and a gunner usually rode in the cockpit, it looked awfully small. Now that the time had arrived, though, I wanted to get it over with. No dithering. If it worked, it worked. If I couldn’t find anything, so be it. I pointed to the rope that Susan had attached to her weight belt. Susan nodded and took the rope off, ready to hand it in to me if I needed it.

I swallowed, took a few deep breaths, and turned so that Jack could remove the tank from my back. The last thing was to remove my regulator mouthpiece. When I did that, my nerve almost failed, but I gritted my teeth and yanked it out. Now I had to move fast.

I went in headfirst, wiggling past the front seat and into the back area, ignoring the heap of matter in the pilot’s seat. I realized I didn’t have to bring my feet and fins inside to get to the back area. I moved my head around to spot anything that looked like it didn’t belong, and I spied something that looked out of place, tucked behind the pilot’s seat. Even though it was covered with sea growth, I could tell it had once been a small rectangular object. It was no larger than a briefcase. Could this be what we were after? I felt around the top trying to pull away some of the ropy seaweed, but it was thick with barnacles. I couldn’t tell if there was a handle. I hoped it wasn’t wedged in too tight. I tugged at its sides, and it didn’t move. I pulled harder. It gave an inch or so but I saw that the barnacles had wedged in tight. I needed the pry bar.

I turned onto my back so that I could point to the pry bar. Jack understood at once and thrust it into my gloved hand. I flipped back around and started jamming the pry bar around the sides.

Suddenly, when I gave one particularly heavy thrust with the bar, the plane gave a subtle lurch. Fuck! I glanced out and saw the look of alarm on Susan’s face. I froze for a few seconds, ready to abandon the plane if it moved further. I couldn’t risk anymore heavy jabs at the object. I’d have to chip away slowly. It was going to take longer than I hoped. I kept poking at the sides, then yanking to see if it was free, then repeating the action until I realized I was going to have to take a few breaths off my regulator.

Turning back over, I pointed to my mouth. Jack understood. He took his own mouthpiece out and handed it to me. I took a few breaths, trying to steady my pulse as well as my breathing. I handed it back and went to work again. Slowly, the object began to yield. If only it didn’t crumble when I got it out. I pictured the bottom falling out and the contents scattered and disintegrating.

I went back to work. After a few minutes, I had to breathe again. Jack gave me two thumbs-up, and Susan reached out and squeezed my leg for encouragement. A glance at her told me she was excited.

Back to the job. This time, the object came free after only a few more pokes with the pry bar. I handed Jack the bar, then pulled it up, holding it from the bottom. It was some kind of container, but no way to know what it was made of. I began wiggling sideways, holding it so that I didn’t have purchase. Jack saw what I was doing, and he pulled me out. I turned the object over to him. He handed back my regulator and slipped my tank back on. I could have wept with relief. Could it really be that easy?

Jack examined all sides of the container and shrugged. It had to be some kind of corrosion-resistant material. Heavy plastic maybe. Jack held it aloft. The three of us wiggled around in a victory dance.

I looked back into the interior of the plane, and signaled that I was going back in. Jack frowned and shook his head no. I ignored him and swam to the pilot’s seat. Doing so didn’t require me to take off my gear. Swallowing my aversion at what I planned to do, I thrust my hand into the pile. Disturbed, the sea growth tore away, and I saw that it was in fact what I had thought – bones from the pilot who had gone down with the plane. I found one of the smaller ones and slipped it into my fanny pack. Dog tags? They should be close to the top of the heap if he was wearing them. I swirled my hand around. Suddenly I felt something tug at one of my fins. I jerked my head and saw Jack, motioning for me to get out. I waved him away and groped around some more. I brought my hand up and sifted through the detritus. Nothing. I continued to do it another few times, and all at once I saw it. A corroded piece of metal. If it wasn’t a dog tag, it might be something identifiable. I stuck it in my fanny pack with the bone.

This time the tug was harder. I signaled one more minute and sifted again a couple of times. This time I came up with something that jolted me. A finger knuckle bone. On it was wedged something. Could it be a ring? It could be. That went into the pack, too.

I gave a last thought, a sort of homage, to the pilot. With our job complete, he’d be lost forever to the ocean, as he had been for eighty years. It would have been nice to bring him back up to face justice or to reunite with his family, depending on what his aim had been, but that was not our job.

Finally I wiggled out to see Jack glaring at me. Clearly he didn’t like that I had defied him and gone back inside the plane. What was the big hurry?

Jack had brought a net bag and I saw that he stashed the object we’d retrieved into it. Only then did I relax. The contents were contained and safe.

Suddenly I was aware of movement in the water above us. Was it that damned tiger shark, attracted by the underwater activity? It wasn’t unknown for tiger sharks to be aggressive. The three of us looked up and I saw fins. Someone was diving down to join us. We’d been caught.

It was so dark that at first I could barely see the person, but I was horrified to see that it was Gretchen. Unlike us she was wearing a communication mask, and I saw her speak to someone. Her face in the mask was unreadable, but she reached out, pointed to the bag that held the box, and made a gesture to hand it to her. Jack shook his head. Susan and I positioned ourselves next to him. It looked like Gretchen had been the saboteur all along. If Jack turned it over, she would jettison the bag into the abyss.

With the three of us aligned against her, Gretchen lunged for the bag that held the container. Jack pushed her away.

In the dim light I saw what I thought was Jack untying the line that attached him to Susan and me. He must be planning to start for the surface, to get away from Gretchen. There was really no need for that. It was three against one.

But instead of starting to ascend, Jack swam toward the airplane, towing the bag. What was he doing?

Gretchen swam after him. She grabbed hold of the bag, and a tug of war ensued. Susan swam to Jack’s aid and pushed Gretchen.

To my surprise, Gretchen turned toward me, still maintaining a hold on the bag, and I was sure Gretchen was saying, ‘Help me.’

I was flummoxed. Why would Gretchen think I’d help her?

Before I could make another move, another diver plunged into our midst. A man. I couldn’t see who it was, but he was not as bulky as Alvin, and not as tall as Dallas. He kicked off and rocketed toward Gretchen and Jack, turning toward me enough so that I could see his face. It was the man who I had seen with Gretchen boarding the ferry when Gretchen was supposed to be in Palermo. Angelo. If that really was his name. They were going to take control of the container we’d retrieved! On one side was Susan and Jack, the other Gretchen and Angelo. I had to act. But something held me back. The look Gretchen had given me when she asked for help was totally unexpected. Determined, but also pleading. Not the look of a person who was planning destruction of our mission.

While I hesitated, Jack managed to wrest the bag out of Gretchen’s hand. Angelo grabbed for it, but Jack was too fast. And then Jack took off – toward the edge.

Then I knew. By agreeing to retrieve the box I had played right into Jack’s hands. He had convinced me by saying I was the only one of us small enough to retrieve it. He was right. But his reason for getting the container had been a lie. He was planning to get rid of it, sending it plummeting where no one could ever find it. It seemed crazy that he was willing to put himself at risk of being charged as a traitor. Whatever was in the container must be incendiary to either someone close to him or who had paid him enough to turn him.

I took off swimming, determined to pursue him. But Susan grabbed at me as I swam by, and caught hold of my hand to hold me back. Whatever the reason for Jack wanting to get rid of the box, he had Susan’s complicity.

I kicked out at Susan’s midsection, but kicking underwater didn’t carry the kind of force it did on land. I barely landed a blow.

Meanwhile, Gretchen and her companion were going after Jack. At least I could keep Susan out of the fight. I grabbed her wrist and held on. I watched as the stronger man caught up with Jack and grabbed one of his fins and pulled, arresting his forward motion long enough for Gretchen to catch up at the edge of the abyss. There was another scrabble for the bag containing the prize they were after.

The three swam out over the edge, fighting for the bag. Suddenly all three were swept sideways. It was clear that a heavy current had caught them. Gretchen and Jack still both had hold of the bag. The other man was stronger, and managed to grab at it as well. All three were being swept away.

With his free hand, Jack grabbed Gretchen’s mask and pulled it off. Gretchen recoiled and the man quickly took full hold of the bag. Then Jack grabbed for the other man’s mask, and the man had to let go of the bag to fight him off. Jack had control of it again.

There was only one way this was going to end. Jack would let go of the bag and it would be lost. I wrenched myself away from Susan and took off, determined to be there to catch it.

THIRTY

I was quickly over the abyss. When the current that had grabbed the other three swimmers took hold of me, I was terrified by its raw power. There was no way to fight it, so I had to try to get under it. I dove, knowing I was going past the limits I should be diving, but desperately hoping I could go under the worst of the current. I was right, the power lessened. I looked up and saw Jack fighting the current, but then he let go of the bag. I was under it and caught it. Had Jack seen me? It was dark, but I had my light on like everyone else. I saw the man he’d been fighting with grab and hold onto him. They were both looking down at me. I had gone at least another fifteen feet down.

I was clutching the bag, and at least for now, the guy was restraining Jack from diving to me. How would I get back? The current was still strong and as soon as I tried to ascend, it began tossing me around. I saw that the others were in the same position, helpless against its force. I kicked hard, trying to swim upwards, but the bag was heavy and it was all I could do to maintain the depth I was at. I saw Susan swimming toward me, but Susan got caught, too.

Maintain, I told myself. Everyone said the currents were capricious. It would die down. You just have to maintain. But would my air hold up? I couldn’t even take the energy to look at my gauges. It was taking all my strength to stay where I was. If only there was an outcropping I could grab! There might even be one close by, but in the dark it was impossible to see.

I knew I was losing strength. I had to figure something out. Drop the bag? That would give me a little less weight to contend with. But it also meant defeat. I wasn’t ready for that. Not yet.

There would be no one to rescue me. I was on my own. It was a risk, but there was only one thing I could do to try to get away from the current’s grip. Go deeper. I glanced at my depth meter. I was already at 140 feet. I knew divers did go deeper, but it was perilous. I was already starting to feel the pressure of the depth. Another ten feet was the most I could risk. I headed down. And the current lessened. But if I tried to swim up, I knew it would still be a fight. I swam sideways, in what I hoped was the direction of the ledge we’d come from. Was it? Down here, I was totally disoriented. I could be going away, instead of toward the shelf. Jack had done the GPS reckoning, so I had no point of reference. I vowed that if I managed to get out of this, I would never again depend on someone else for positioning.

After swimming a minute, I decided to try to ascend a few feet. I went back to 140 feet and did not feel the effects of the current. Wherever I’d gone, it was out of the current. Wherever I’d gone. Which was where? Had I actually swum in the right direction, or had I gone farther away from the ledge? A wave of panic grabbed me. But I tamped it down. All I had to do was ascend, gradually. I could go all the way to the surface if need be. Even if I was far off the ledge, when I surfaced, I’d be able to know where I was. I had a locator in my fanny pack, and I could turn it on so someone on the boat would hear it and send the dinghy for me. I ascended another few feet. Now I was at 130 feet. Still no current.

Then, from my left I saw another diver. I ascended a few more feet. Now that I was out of depth and current danger, I could take a few seconds to secure the bag to my belt. When I did so, I realized how much it was dragging me down. I took a few weights out of my weight belt and let go of them.

The other diver was moving toward me. I tensed. If it was Jack, I had no way of fighting him off. He was bigger and stronger. Alert, ready to dart away, I ascended another few feet. And saw that it wasn’t Jack, but Gretchen. I wondered where the others were. I would have expected to see them by now. If they didn’t start up soon, they’d run out of air. Gretchen pointed to me and then upward, and then pointed to herself and back toward the abyss, where we’d last seen her companion with Susan and Jack.

I splayed out my hands in a questioning gesture, and nodded toward the abyss. Gretchen shook her head and pointed to the bag that was affixed to my belt. Clearly, whatever had happened to the other three, Gretchen was saying that the important thing was to get that container aboard. Then she indicated her comm mask and upwards, and I understood that she was in communication with someone on the boat.

I nodded, but I was worried because I couldn’t see any of the others. I realized Jack could be waiting for me, above. So as Gretchen swam away, I turned off my headlight. The dark swooped in on me and I was immediately panicky. Initially there was no way to know if I was actually going up or sideways. I swam for several seconds and then consulted my depth gauge. OK, at least I was going up. My ascent was excruciatingly slow because I kept stopping to make sure I was actually moving upward. Taking extra time was good because I’d gone farther down than was recommended. But I saw that my air was running low. I had to monitor it closely. At 100 feet I felt my tension ease. Another fifty feet up and I’d be in free-dive territory, which meant if I ran out of air, I’d still have plenty of time to reach the surface. The trick was to keep my breath even and slow. Zen time.

I consulted my compass, and saw that I was off, so I angled northeast.

I was hyperaware of occasional movement in the water near me and hoped it was a fish, and not Jack. At fifty feet I still couldn’t see anything, and I wanted desperately to see what was around me. I knew someone on the boat would be watching for me, so even if I was attacked, the movement would alert the watcher. Was it Alvin or Dallas? It didn’t matter. At thirty feet I turned my light on so when I surfaced they could see me.

The water was murky and the few fish that appeared loomed out of the dark like ghosts. I couldn’t shake the knowledge that somewhere out there was the tiger shark, and it made me antsy, although I wouldn’t have admitted it to anyone. As if I had conjured it, the massive shark appeared suddenly coming straight toward me. Head on, it was terrifying, its teeth as big as an auto grill, its dead eyes seeming to zero in on me. I froze for a second, and then angled my head so that my headlight shone directly into its left eye. The shark veered sharply up and away, its long body cruising past me like a wall.

The encounter left me shaken, and then as if to comfort me, a huge grouper approached, its gloomy visage looking for all the world as if it commiserated with me. I swallowed and kicked up a few more feet. At twenty feet, I knew I was home free. I made myself stay down a few extra minutes. The last thing I needed was to end up like my predecessor, with too much CO₂ in my system and unable to dive for weeks, maybe months.

Finally, I surfaced. My head popping up out of the water into the night air was almost as disorienting as being in the deep dark. For a moment all I saw was water, but when I turned, I saw the boat lying fifty yards away. I swam, each stroke a slog. I was painfully aware how depleted my body was.

I was thirty feet from the boat when something struck my legs, hard. For a moment I thought the shark had returned and this time meant business. Did I even have legs left? But I kicked, and at least my legs worked. Whatever had grabbed me struck again. When it wrapped its arms around my legs, I knew it was a person – it had to be Jack. And he was pulling me down. With my legs wrapped up, I couldn’t kick out at him.

I banged my fist down onto his head, and then taking a tip from his earlier move, I reached down and clawed his mask off, ripping the regulator out of his mouth. I aimed for his face, trying to gouge an eye or twist his nose. He moved up so that he could wrap one arm around my waist, leaving his other hand free to grab the bag that was attached to my belt. He began making some kind of movement with it. I realized he had pulled his knife and was trying to slit the bag open to get the container out.

Knife. Every diver carried a knife. I fumbled for mine, the flap of my knife sheath held down by the bag. I slipped my hand under the bag and frantically pulled at the flap. Any moment Jack could succeed in releasing the bag. I pummeled his arm with my free fist, while trying to wrestle my knife out of its sheath.

With a jerk, the knife came free. Without hesitation, I drove it into Jack’s hand. I pulled it out and sank it again and again. It flashed through my mind that the blood in the water might attract the tiger shark.

Jack hit me, snapping my head back. He still had a strong grip on the bag at my waist, and was pulling at it.

Something struck me, hard, on the side of my leg. Was it Susan? Had she come to help Jack? Instinctively I kicked at her, but my fin snagged on something much, much bigger. It wasn’t Susan. I felt the massive body of a sea creature next to me. And then I heard Jack give a strangled cry, and he loosened his grip on me. I moved my head so that my headlight shone on the scene. Jack was thrashing in the water and then I could see the teeth of the tiger shark as it struck for the second time. The sight of the shark’s pitiless eyes and enormous head assaulted me and I almost vomited with terror. Jack screamed and disappeared under the water.

I had to get away. It would take no time for the creature to be done with Jack and turn its attention to me. I started to swim, terrified that the motion would attract the shark, but I stopped when I heard a sound. The dinghy motor, revved high. I saw the dinghy roaring toward me.

It came alongside me. ‘Gretchen said you might need help,’ Alvin said.

‘Shark!’ I yelped.

‘What? Let’s get you in.’ He hoisted the tank off my back and threw it in the bottom of the boat, then grabbed me under the arms and pulled. With one strong stroke of my fins I heaved upwards and over the side of the dinghy. I sprawled into the bottom and lay gasping as Alvin sped back up and headed toward the boat. I was trembling with the adrenaline coursing through me and the unrelenting vision of that huge head and the memory of Jack’s anguished cry.

When we got to the boat, Dallas tied up the dinghy.

I untied the bag from my belt and flung it up onto the platform. ‘Get that secured,’ I said to Dallas.

He took it and headed toward the saloon.

‘What is that?’ Alvin asked. ‘What were you doing? All Gretchen said was that you were on your way up. She didn’t tell me anything else.’

‘Give me a minute,’ I said. ‘I’ll explain everything.’ I took off my fins and threw them on the deck. Creeping out of the dinghy on all fours, I scrambled onto the platform. I felt as if my arms were made of lead. I yanked off my mask and regulator and tried to stand, but I was too shaky. I flopped down onto my back and lay like a stunned carp for several seconds, unable to believe that I was finally safe.

The noise had brought Marcus out onto the deck, turning lights on as he came out. ‘What the hell is going on here?’ he snapped. He surveyed the scene, slack-jawed. ‘Jessie, why are you in dive gear?’

I reached out my hand so Marcus could haul me to my feet. ‘I’ll tell you everything as soon as you get me out of this drysuit,’ I said.

Dallas came to my side. ‘Let me help you,’ he said.

‘Wait,’ Alvin snapped. ‘Where is Gretchen? She said you were with Jack and Susan. Where are they? And what were you doing down there?’

I stilled my trembling breath. ‘You’re not going to like this. Jack, Susan, and I went down and retrieved the container the team was looking for.’

‘You shouldn’t have done that,’ he snarled.

‘Susan and Jack persuaded me to go with them. I thought we were doing the right thing. What I didn’t realize is that they wanted to get it so they could get rid of it. It turned out Jack was the one trying to sabotage the mission. I managed to get the container away from him, but when I came back up, he followed me. We fought and I had to stab him. And then …’ I faltered.

‘Then what? Where is he?’

I shut my eyes, trying to block out the vision of Jack being pulled under. I was trembling. ‘A shark got him,’ I said. ‘The tiger shark.’

‘Jesus,’ he breathed. ‘Are you sure?’

I nodded. ‘It was horrible.’ My voice broke. Dallas put his arm around me.

‘What happened to Gretchen? Why was she with you?’ Alvin said, ignoring my distress.

‘I don’t know how she knew what they were up to, but she and someone else – a guy I’d seen her with before – came to stop them.’

‘What guy?’

‘Gretchen called him Angelo, but I don’t know who he is. All I know is he was helping her. When we were down there, Gretchen, Susan, Jack, the other guy, and I all got swept up in a really violent current. Gretchen and I managed to get out of the current and she sent me up with the bag. Then she went back to see if she could help the others. The current was deadly.’

‘I’d better go down and see if she needs help.’

‘Honestly, Alvin, I think the fewer people down there, the better.’

He looked out at the water and I could see that he was torn, deciding whether to stay aboard or go on a rescue mission.

‘Let’s get you out of this,’ Dallas said. He unzipped the back of my suit and peeled it off me. There was none of the sexy feel to it that had gone on between us the last time.

As soon as I was out of my suit, I started shaking, either from the sudden chill on my skin, from adrenaline depletion, or fear. I could barely stand. ‘Let’s get you downstairs,’ Dallas said. ‘I’ll get you a blanket and something hot to drink.’

As I tottered toward the gangway with Dallas, I heard Alvin speaking into the comm unit. ‘Gretchen, where are you? Talk to me.’

Before I went below I heard him say urgently, ‘She’s not answering. I’m going down.’

‘Bad idea,’ Marcus said.

I paused and went back to him. ‘Alvin, wait.’ I was shivering so hard my teeth were chattering.

Marcus took his jacket off and draped it around my shoulders.

‘That current we were in was out in the abyss. Jack had taken the container out there and planned to ditch it – that’s why we followed him. I was swimming below Jack, so when he dropped the bag, I managed to grab it. Gretchen and I got out of the current, but I don’t know what happened to Susan and the guy who was with Gretchen. The current was absolutely deadly. When I started up with the container, Gretchen went back to help them. Obviously Jack managed to get out because he followed me.’ I looked out over the water. It was now undisturbed.

Dallas had come back with a blanket which he draped around me. He handed me a hot cup of coffee, but I was shaking too hard to hold it.

Alvin looked uncertain again.

‘Look, Alvin, it’s possible they didn’t make it,’ I said. ‘The current was the worst I’ve experienced.’

At that moment there was an earsplitting alarm coming from the navigation station. ‘That’s them!’ Alvin said. The three of us ran to the gangway. Dallas was down in the saloon at the nav station. He pushed a button that turned off the alarm. ‘That lets them know we received it,’ he said.

On the screen there was a pulsing signal. ‘They’re a mile away,’ Dallas said. ‘How the hell did they get so far?’

Alvin scrabbled around in a drawer next to the nav station and came out with walkie-talkies. He tested the batteries and said, ‘I’ll take one of these. I’m going after them in the dinghy. I’ve got the coordinates, but we’ll talk in case something changes.’

THIRTY-ONE

Alvin leaped into the dinghy, fired it up, and took off. With Dallas’s help I took a couple of sips of hot coffee and my shivering eased. I went to my cabin and pulled on sweat pants and a sweatshirt. When I came back out, I saw the sky to the east was becoming the color of a bruise. It was five a.m.

Marcus was standing at the back of the boat, peering off as if he ought to be able to see the dinghy, but it was no longer visible. I returned his jacket. He looked dazed. ‘You should go inside,’ I said.

He shook his head.

I took a cup of coffee to Marcus, and then joined Dallas at the nav station. His attention was trained on the screen where the dive beacon locator was pulsing.

The sky was growing lighter. I paced back and forth to get warm and to shed some of my nervous energy. My mind was in chaos. Now that I’d had a chance to settle down after the diving drama, I felt the weight of my complicity in almost losing the prize that was the focus of the mission. How could I have been so blind as to trust Jack? At least it hadn’t been an impulsive move. I’d taken my time making the decision to join him and Susan. Was there something I could have done to investigate him before I agreed to go with them? I had to admit that part of the answer was that I was excited by the idea of retrieving the container. It wasn’t glory I was after. I didn’t care if anyone praised me for wrangling it out of the plane. No, it was the satisfaction of getting the job done. And, if I was honest, I had wanted to outsmart whoever was sabotaging our efforts. It had seemed increasingly dangerous to continue, and I wanted to get it over with. And there was one more thing. I knew deep down that I had hoped if I succeeded it would make my chances of becoming a certified FBI agent more attainable. But in the cold light of reality, I wondered if going ‘rogue’ with Susan and Jack might have done the opposite.

Dallas called to me to come and relieve him. I went down to the nav station. ‘It’s mindless. Just watch that pulsing light. I want to go up and change clothes.’

I realized he had thrown on whatever had been handy, which consisted of a pair of shorts and a T-shirt that had seen better days. ‘I don’t know,’ I said. ‘That’s a pretty fetching outfit.’

He slapped me playfully on the back of the head. I sat down to watch the signal.

Now that I had time to really realize how lucky I was that Gretchen had appeared at the right time, my cheeks flamed. I’d been wrong all along about her. Gretchen had been secretly monitoring the situation. She knew I wasn’t part of the sabotage effort, because it had started before I joined the team. So why had she strung me along, making me think she was the guilty one? Perhaps she needed to keep her position completely secret. She couldn’t afford any leaks. Thank God, she’d come along at the right time tonight. If she hadn’t, at the very least the box would be gone, and I might possibly have been murdered.

Suddenly, the beacon disappeared.

‘Dallas,’ I yelled. ‘The beacon is gone.’

He came to the top of the gangway and said, ‘Alvin probably reached them and turned it off. I’ll call him on the walkie-talkie.’

A minute later he said, ‘He’s with them.’

‘All of them?’ I asked.

‘Alvin didn’t say. You can come up, though. If they need to turn it back on, we’ll hear it.’

Dallas, Marcus, and I stood aft and watched while the dinghy grew from a dot on the horizon to a shape, and then finally until it got close enough to see that there were only three people on the dinghy. One of them hadn’t made it.

Dallas tied up the dinghy and lent a hand to take the divers’ tanks and their gear. First Alvin climbed out, then Susan, followed by Gretchen. Susan collapsed on the platform and hid her face in her hands. Gretchen stood over her, hands on her hips. ‘Get up and take off your suit.’

Susan struggled to her feet. No one moved to help her.

Gretchen stripped off her drysuit, her movements jerky.

I stepped over to her. ‘What happened to the guy who was with you? Did he make it out OK?’

Gretchen looked gutted, her face pale and angry. ‘Angelo’s fine.’ Her voice was clipped. ‘On the way back, we dropped him off at the dock in Lipari.’

I wanted to ask who he was, but that would have to come later. First would come the recriminations.

‘Alvin told me what happened to Jack,’ she said. ‘I mean, I wanted the guy punished, but that …’

Susan had managed to wiggle out of her drysuit, and was sitting on the deck shivering and sobbing. She kept saying, ‘Poor Jack. I’m so sorry.’

When Gretchen came back, having changed clothes, she said, ‘Listen up, everyone. We need to have a meeting. In the saloon.’ She looked to the east. ‘Sun will be up soon. It’s going to be a long day. Jessie, maybe you and Dallas can put out some breakfast.’ Interesting that she seemed to be in charge now.

I headed below and found Dallas and told him what Gretchen said.

‘Scrambled eggs,’ he said. ‘Fast and filling.’

I took out eggs and started cracking them into a bowl. A lot of them. I was ravenous. Dallas made more coffee and the two of us chopped up peppers and onions for the eggs. Twenty minutes later, we all gathered around the table. Everyone except Susan, whom Gretchen had sent to her room. Dallas took a plate to her and I heard him saying soothing words to her. I felt like I was as guilty as she was – after all, I’d agreed to go with her and Jack – but for some reason it hadn’t hit me as hard. Not that I didn’t feel the horror of the way Jack had died, but it was mitigated by my anger at his actions. Maybe Susan had been closer to Jack than I thought.

Questions were swarming in my head, and I suspected in everyone else’s too, but first we ate. I couldn’t seem to cram food in fast enough. Eventually, we settled back. Dallas and I cleared the dishes and poured more coffee and sat down. We looked toward Gretchen.

‘First of all, we need to thank Jessie,’ she said. ‘Her quick thinking, not to mention her decision to put her safety on the line, saved the mission.’

Everyone started to clap, but I stopped them. ‘No. If I hadn’t gone along with Jack, this would never have happened,’ I said. ‘We could have gotten the container out without all this danger.’

‘Not necessarily,’ Gretchen said. ‘If you had refused to go with Jack, he would have done it on his own, and it would have been lost.’

‘How did you know to come after us?’ I asked. ‘Did you know all along what was happening?’

Gretchen sighed. ‘I owe all of you an explanation. Headquarters knew someone was trying to sabotage the operation and they charged me with trying to figure out who it was.’

‘Why you?’ Dallas asked.

‘Because I’ve worked with Carl Freeman before. He’s one of the directors of the team. He knew he could trust me.’ She turned to Alvin. ‘He considered asking you, Alvin, but as head of this team you were too visible.’

I wondered if she was trying to soothe Alvin’s ego.

‘So how did you figure out what Jack was planning?’ I asked. I was still smarting from the idea that I’d gone along with his scheme – and that he had almost succeeded.

‘I figured whoever was the saboteur would try to persuade you to search the plane, because you’re the smallest in the group and you could wiggle into small spaces. So all I really had to do was keep an eye on you.’

‘That means you knew I’d be easy to sucker into it?’ I couldn’t keep bitterness from my voice.

‘That’s not really the way it happened,’ Gretchen said quietly. ‘I’m the one who suckered you – but not only you. It was everyone. I didn’t know who was guilty, so I had to smoke them out. I don’t know if you remember, but I told everyone that there was a chance the job would be shut down. I knew that whoever was doing this couldn’t risk having another group assigned to it. So they’d have to make a move. And that meant trying to get you to go along with it. That didn’t make you a sucker – it made you an eager beaver.’ She smiled and the others laughed.

‘How did you know it was Jack, and not Susan?’

‘I didn’t. Not until we got down there.’

‘Speaking of we, who was that guy that came with you?’

‘He’s with the Italian government. Most countries assign someone to keep an eye on any US operation and he was the guy. He’s an experienced diver who knows these waters well, so he was the best person for the job. It was bad luck that he happened to be at the ferry dock when you arrived that night. He was waiting for a colleague and saw you and thought you were cute. I could have killed him when I found out he had given you the eye and that you suspected him of spying on you.’

I buried my face in my hands. ‘I was so wrong,’ I said. ‘I’m not sure I have what it takes to be an FBI agent,’ I said. ‘Much less on the dive team. I feel like I’ve been a fool.’

‘That’s because you’re exhausted,’ Marcus said. ‘Tomorrow you’ll feel better. Trust me, you did well.’

‘Maybe. But I still don’t understand one thing,’ I said. ‘Why did they need me to go into the plane? All Jack and Susan had to do was tip the plane over the edge and that would have been the end of it.’

‘You’d think so,’ Alvin piped up, ‘but early on we realized that the plane was nestled in pretty tight. Nevertheless, we worried that if someone went inside it might jostle the plane enough to tip it, so we wanted to get it secured. And things kept happening to prevent that. But as soon as the cord was attached a few days ago, that ended the possibility of it being hoisted over the edge.’

‘But he could have done it before the line was attached.’

‘No,’ he said. ‘Every time we went down, there were at least three of us, which meant no one had the opportunity to jettison it without the others seeing who did it. But also, I’m pretty sure that until the last couple of days Jack was on his own. There’s no way he could have tipped the plane by himself. He needed help. He persuaded Susan, and then the last thing was to get her to help him enlist you in the scheme.’

I sighed, my stomach flipping at the realization of how close I had come to becoming a liability to Jack. ‘Gretchen, I’m just glad you were alert enough to know what he was up to.’

‘I didn’t know! There simply weren’t enough clues. Sorry Alvin and Dallas, I even wondered if it was one of you. I figured it wasn’t Marcus, because he’d been attacked.’

‘So when did you figure it out?’ Alvin asked.

‘I was alert for anything, and I woke up when Susan sneaked out night before last, and then I knew something was going to happen. I even thought it might have been that night. When it didn’t happen, Jessie, I wondered if you had refused. But I knew when Susan sneaked out last night, the plan was a go. I waited until I heard a splash, then I went down to the gear room and checked whose suits were missing. So I knew who was down there. I knew you weren’t the saboteur, Jessie, but until I found out who was with you and Susan tonight I had no way of knowing who it was.’

‘How did you get your Italian friend to come with you so fast?’

‘I had alerted Angelo to be ready. As soon as I heard Susan leave, I called him and asked him to come out. He had a friend bring him out and leave him here.’

‘Did you let him know it was dangerous?’

‘Of course I did, but that didn’t seem to faze him. He said it’s always dangerous diving these waters, and he could take care of himself. I had him checked out, and from all accounts, it sounded like he could.’

‘It’s a good thing, too. That current …’ I shuddered. I was pretty sure I was done diving in these waters.

‘Jessie, Angelo and I managed to get Susan back to safety, but we almost didn’t make it. The current was fierce. How did you manage to swim out of it?’

I smiled. ‘Remember? Limbo legs.’

‘Limbo legs?’

‘My legs are really strong.’ I momentarily relived that moment when I’d thought the current would win, and I shuddered. ‘I also swam down, hoping to get under the worst of the current, and it worked.’ I shuddered. ‘Oddly enough, it’s Jack who helped me with that. He had told me that sometimes the currents were temporary and you could swim below or above them.’

‘It was a big risk,’ Gretchen said.

‘I’ve been told I’m impulsive, and I don’t want to consider what would have happened if I’d been wrong.’

‘We all had a little good luck. Except for Jack, of course,’ she added dryly.

‘He made his own luck,’ I said. I still couldn’t think about how he had died without feeling queasy. I shuddered again. The shark could have gone after me as easily. But Jack’s legs had been dangling below me, making him the easy mark.

‘Enough of this,’ Dallas said. ‘Are we ever going to know what’s in that container?’

Gretchen shrugged and looked toward Alvin. He grunted. ‘Probably not. Our task was to bring it in, not to open and examine its contents.’

‘Damn it!’ I said. ‘I risked my life for something and I’m never going to know why?’

The others all chuckled. ‘Join the FBI Dive Team,’ Dallas said, grinning. ‘Half the time we don’t know what we’re looking for, much less why. It’s part of the job.’

I groaned. ‘Anybody have any wild guesses?’ I knew more than they did because of what Nick had told me, but I couldn’t tell them.

‘Could be a US citizen, or a company was working with the Nazis during the war and there was a record of it. And whoever it was has a famous relative that doesn’t want that information to come out.’ That was Marcus.

‘Probably something like that,’ Alvin said.

‘OK,’ I said, ‘so we aren’t allowed to know what was in the container, but did Jack know?’

There was a thoughtful silence. We all knew the answer, but no one wanted to voice it because it truly meant Jack was a traitor. Marcus finally spoke. ‘Jack must have been working for whoever knew the truth about the contents. We’d all like to know who that was, and what Jack had to gain by his involvement. Money? Family reputation? Anyway, that’s up to someone else to investigate. We’ve done our part by retrieving the evidence.’

‘What happens to Susan?’ I asked.

We all looked to Alvin, since he was the lawyer in the group. He rubbed his face. He looked drained. ‘Jack would have been in serious trouble,’ he said. ‘He would have gotten a long prison sentence. Obstruction of justice, at least.’

‘And murder. He tried to kill both Jessie and me,’ Gretchen said. She was right. Jack had torn Gretchen’s mask off. That alone was a murderous act, not to mention his attack on me that led to his own death.

‘As for Susan, I’m not sure what happens to her,’ Alvin said quietly. ‘I guess it depends on what she has to say. How far in deep she was with the scheme.’

‘Deep enough to try to help Jack,’ Gretchen said. ‘But the question is whether she knew what he planned to do with the container.’

‘And whether they both thought some of their team members were expendable,’ Marcus said grimly.

THIRTY-TWO

‘Hello?’ Susan’s tremulous voice called out. ‘Can I come out to use the head?’

‘Of course,’ Gretchen got up and opened the door for Susan, who scurried toward the head.

Alvin looked around. ‘I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m ready for this fiasco to be done.’ He stood up. ‘I’m going to my cabin to take a nap.’

It was now mid-morning and the temperature had warmed, so I went to my cabin to get out of my warm clothes and into shorts and a T-shirt. With the mission no longer operational, everything looked different. The water was more inviting, but I’d had enough water for one day. The shoreline beckoned. Maybe a hike. I wondered who might be going into town. There was no need for everyone to stay on board. Only a couple of people to keep an eye on Susan.

In my cabin I texted Nick: A lot has happened. Where are you?

What happened? he texted back.

I replied: Can’t say much. But all OK now. Where are you?

No reply. Where the hell was he? I waited, and finally wrote: Hello? But no reply.

I walked out onto the deck. Dallas ambled over. He looked more serious than I’d ever seen him. In fact, everyone looked older than they had yesterday.

‘Do you know anything that would explain Jack’s action?’ I asked.

Dallas’s expression hardened. ‘No, and I don’t want to know,’ he said. ‘The guy is dead to me. He put everybody in danger.’

‘He had to be working for somebody,’ I said.

‘Maybe, but like I said, I don’t really care.’ He straightened and look toward shore. ‘Interested in going into town?’

‘I should get some sleep.’ But would I be able to sleep? ‘How long are you going to be gone?’

‘Couple of hours.’

‘Sure, I’ll go.’

He went below to ask Alvin if it was OK. He came back with Marcus behind him. ‘Marcus wants to go, too.’

‘I can’t stay here,’ Marcus said. ‘I’m too antsy. My head hurts and I’m really bummed. Besides, I’d like to call my wife.’

We spent a couple of hours in town, me playing tourist and this time actually buying a few items of clothing to supplement my sparse wardrobe. My heart wasn’t in it, but it was better than being on the boat.

We made it back a little after one. Dallas had picked up pizza and beer. ‘I think we all need cheering up,’ he said.

We found Alvin and Gretchen sitting out on the deck, looking glum.

‘What’s up?’ Dallas asked. ‘When can we turn over everything and get out of here?’

Gretchen said, ‘I called headquarters in New York. It was one in the morning, so they had to roust somebody out to talk to me. It took a while. And then of course the guy I talked to said he has to arrange to send a team out to take Susan back to the US. He said she’d be taken to Washington, not New York.’

‘I assume they want her kept in her cabin,’ Dallas said. ‘Seems kind of pointless. Where is she going to go?’

‘Pointless or not, that’s what they said. To make sure she’s secured,’ Gretchen said.

‘What happens to the container?’

‘Thought you’d never ask,’ she said, grinning. ‘They want us to open it to see what’s inside. We waited until you got back.’

‘No way!’ I pumped my fist. Everyone was grinning.

The five of us gathered in the saloon, with the container sitting on the table. Someone had chipped off enough barnacles to find that it was a heavy plastic box, sealed shut. Now that it had had time to dry out, the plastic was cracking.

Gretchen said, ‘Alvin, you want to do the honors?’

‘It’s like some scene out of a Raiders of the Lost Ark movie,’ Dallas said.

Alvin inserted the pry bar and the plastic creaked as the lid cracked open. Alvin grabbed the lid and pulled. He peeked in and whistled. ‘Look at this. Not papers.’

He tilted it so we could all see. It was a film cannister. The container was barely big enough to hold it.

Marcus stood up. ‘We need to get this film into a container we can seal. It’s been preserved by being in the cold and not exposed to light. As soon as it’s exposed, it may start to deteriorate.’

‘Do we have anything like that aboard?’ Dallas asked.

‘If nothing else, we wrap it up.’ Marcus went to his room and came back with a duffle bag and a towel. ‘This will work for now. We can call tech people and find out the best way to handle it.’

There was a palpable sense of excitement. I was sure everyone wanted to know what was on the film as much as I did.

‘I wonder who the pilot was?’ Dallas asked.

‘We’ll never know unless we go back to the plane and get some of the pilot’s bones for DNA purposes,’ Alvin said.

‘Um, guys, that’s not necessary,’ I said.

‘Why not?’ Gretchen asked.

‘I’ll be right back.’ In the flurry of activity I’d forgotten the pilot’s souvenirs I’d gathered. I hustled up the steps and went to the gear room and from my fanny pack retrieved the items I’d taken. I had been in such a hurry when I took them that I hadn’t been careful with them, had simply stuffed them in the pack. Now I took them out gingerly. The ring was fine. It must have had a fair amount of gold in it. The bone was intact but the dog tag was as delicate as lace.

Back at the table with the others, I laid them down on the table. ‘I took these when we retrieved the container. The pilot’s ring, his dog tag, and a finger bone,’ I said.

‘Oh, wow,’ Dallas said. His voice was reverent. A dog tag from eighty years ago. It was badly corroded, but even without cleaning it up you could see letters and a few numbers. ‘This will identify him.’

‘Unless he stole the dog tags,’ Alvin said wryly. ‘This mission has been so screwed up I can imagine that happening.’

‘But the ring,’ Gretchen said. ‘That’s something personal. And the bone must have his DNA. Jessie, it’s amazing that you thought to retrieve these.’

‘So now what?’ I asked.

‘I could call Freeman back and tell him what we have,’ Gretchen said. ‘We’ll have to wait to find out if they want to send someone to depose us since Jack died. And to take charge of Susan.’

‘We have to go back down to detach the line from the airplane,’ Alvin said. ‘I’ll do that tomorrow and I need one of you to go with me.’

‘I’ll stay up here to keep strict control of the line,’ Gretchen said. ‘We don’t want any repetition of what happened with Laila.’

‘I’d like to go with you, Alvin,’ I said. ‘I feel like I barely got enough deep diving experience. I could use all the experience I can get.’

‘You’re on,’ Alvin said. ‘We’ll do it first thing, go down by nine and get it done. That way we’ll have the rest of the day to pack up and wait for instructions.’

Full of pizza and having drunk a beer, exhaustion overtook me and as soon as the dishes were done, I crashed in my cabin.

When I woke it was late afternoon. I had a headache from the sun and the beer. I went out and found people sprawled on the deck, looking as groggy as I felt.

I went below and found Gretchen sitting at the table at her laptop. ‘I have a thousand emails to catch up on,’ Gretchen said. She stretched, and closed the computer.

I got a bottle of water and sat down across from her. ‘Have you talked to Susan?’ I said. ‘To find out what Jack may have told her?’

She shook her head. ‘No, I’m not going to try to talk to her unless Freeman tells me to. I suspect he’ll want a neutral party to interrogate her, though.’

‘I wonder if someone from headquarters was involved in directing Jack?’ I knew from Nick that he was being directed by a company, but was it possible someone in the government was involved as well?

She looked at me, blinking. ‘I don’t have a clue. But we’ll be out of the loop. If I know this agency at all, they’ll wrap it up tight and no one will ever know outside of a few people.’ She stretched. ‘I’m going to have Susan sleep in Laila’s room tonight. I can’t stand the thought of being in the same room with her.’

I thought of how distressed she’d been. ‘Is there any way to lock Laila’s room?’

‘All the cabins can be locked.’ She sighed. ‘But even being in that room that I shared with her irritates me.’

‘You could sleep on the bridge. It’s nice out there at night.’

‘As long as Dallas leaves me alone. He’s such a hound dog.’

I flinched.

‘Did he make moves on you?’ she asked, her eyes gleeful.

‘Sort of,’ I said. ‘It was mutual.’

She laughed out loud, the first time I’d heard her really laugh. It transformed her whole being. Then she stopped. She shifted in her seat and gave me a strange look. ‘Jessie, I want to apologize for lying to you and making you think I was sabotaging the effort here. I realize it put you in danger.’

I shook my head. ‘No apologies. I’m just glad you showed up when you did.’

‘I cut it awfully close, waiting for Angelo to show up. I guess I didn’t actually think Jack would kill you. But now, I wonder. I should have told you in advance that I was waiting for someone to make a move, and didn’t know who it was.’

I sipped my coffee and took a good look at Gretchen. The woman was only a few years older than me, but she had the sort of confidence I hoped to have eventually, confidence born of competence and experience, not just dependence on her physical ability. ‘You did what you thought would work. And it did.’

THIRTY-THREE

‘You couldn’t leave well enough alone, could you?’ The whisper woke me from a deep sleep. That and the feel of a thin blade at my throat. I stirred and a hand clamped over my mouth. ‘Not a sound.’

I swallowed and felt the knife dig in. I didn’t know who was in my cabin. It was pitch black. I remained still, poised, waiting to spring if I had the chance.

‘You understand that if you make a sound I’ll slit your throat, don’t you?’ It was Susan.

I nodded as much as I could with the blade threatening.

She removed her hand from my mouth.

‘Susan, what are you doing?’ I whispered. I had to stall while I tried to reconcile the new information, that Susan had been as involved in the scheme to sabotage the project as Jack had been.

‘Don’t play dumb,’ she spit out.

‘How did you get out of Laila’s room?’ I asked. ‘You were locked in.’

‘Those locks are worthless. Any agent worth a damn could pick the lock.’

Of course they could. Obviously we should have had a guard on the door. The only reason no one had thought too much about it is that we had all believed it was Jack who was the guilty party and that Susan had been a pawn. Seeing the transformation in Susan now, I knew it had been the other way round.

My thoughts were becoming organized and I registered the first words she’d said. ‘What did I do that I should have left alone?’

‘You rescued the container. And stole information to identify the pilot.’

‘The pilot,’ I breathed softly. ‘Why is he important?’

‘It doesn’t matter. Here’s what we’re going to do. You’re going to get the container, the dog tags, the ring, and bone and bring them to me, and then you’re going to take me to Lipari on the dinghy.’

Clearly she didn’t know that we had moved the film from the container to Marcus’s duffle. If I could bring her the container, she’d think it was what she wanted. But as for the pilot’s information, Alvin had it. There was no way to get it without waking him. But it hardly mattered. No way would she let me live even if I managed to get what she wanted. I had to keep her talking while I frantically considered my options. ‘Somebody will hear us if we start the motor.’

She snorted. ‘We’ll paddle until we’re out of earshot.’ She held the knife closer so that the blade nicked me. I felt a trickle of blood run down my neck. ‘So let’s get a move on.’

I knew one thing. I couldn’t obey her order. ‘No,’ I said.

‘What do you mean, no? I have no problem killing you. You understand that, right?’

‘Which is why I’m not going to do as you say. If I hand over those things, you’ll kill me and take off in the dinghy. Either way, I’m dead. But at least if I don’t get the things for you, you won’t have them.’

‘Oh, for Christ’s sake,’ she muttered. She was quiet for a few seconds, during which I sought frantically for a way out. If I moved, before I could do anything to save myself, she’d slash my throat. What would she do then? Would she go down the list, killing each crew member until she either found what she was after or found someone who would comply?

I had to keep her talking, hoping for some brilliant idea to save myself. ‘So it was you all along?’ I said. ‘How did you persuade Jack to help you?’

‘Seduced him. Men are so easy.’ Her voice held a sneer.

‘Seduced him? It can’t have been just that. Was he paid?’

She was quiet for a few seconds. Precious seconds for me to calm my brain and think logically. ‘Paid? In a way.’

‘What way? Did you promise him something? Did you know him before?’

‘You’re quite the chatterbox, aren’t you? I know what you’re doing. You’re stalling. Hoping somebody will rescue you.’

‘If you’re going to kill me anyway, at least give me the satisfaction of answering my questions. What was your real relationship with Jack?’ And then, I knew. When I’d asked if they knew each other in college, Jack had said they didn’t, that he wished they had. And Susan had chimed in that he was too young for her. ‘You dated him in college, didn’t you? Was it serious? Did you somehow arrange to be on this trip together so you’d—’

‘Oh, shut up,’ she said. ‘You think you’re so clever. Yes, we dated in college, but it wasn’t like that. He wanted more than I did. And no, we didn’t arrange to be together on this mission. I arranged to be on it, but I had no idea Jack would be here. It was actually good luck that he was. He was so determined to get back together that he’d do anything for me.’

The glee in her voice made me nauseous. She didn’t care that he’d been killed by a shark. Whatever her motive was, it superseded her humanity. ‘It doesn’t bother you that he died helping you?’

‘Of course it bothers me. He was cute. And I appreciated what he did for me. Just like I appreciated what you did for me. It’s a pity you have to die, too.’

‘You realize that if you kill me, everyone will know it was you and you’ll never have a safe moment again.’

‘I’ll take my chances. Disappearing isn’t all that hard.’

‘I’ve heard it’s harder than you think. Who was the pilot? Why was he important to you?’ Maybe I could ask the right question to distract her, get her to make a mistake. It was a slim chance, but slim was better than nothing. I had to find a weak spot and push.

‘He was a thief who wanted to destroy my family.’

I wracked my brain to recall exactly what Nick had said. ‘He stole information that proves that a company that belongs to your family conspired with the Nazis, and he was trying to get it to the US, is that right?’

‘Where did you hear that?’

‘It doesn’t matter. But I don’t understand why anybody would care so many years later.’

‘Believe me, people care,’ she said. ‘People are still knee-jerk about Nazi collaboration.’

‘Someone in your family collaborated?’ I asked. ‘Who was it? Must have been a grandfather. On your mother’s side or your father’s?’

She made a sound of distress and for a second, I thought the knife was pulled back a little bit. I tensed my muscles, ready to grab her arm and at least try to fend her off, but she must have felt my movement because she pressed the knife harder again. ‘My grandfather was a hero,’ she said, her voice passionate. ‘He risked everything for our family. We owe him.’

‘You think he’ll be proud of what you’ve done?’

‘Of course he would.’

The way she phrased it, I knew he must be dead. ‘He’s not still alive though, so what harm could the discovery do? How did you even know he was connected to the plane down there?’

‘My father knew. He’s been searching for the plane for years. He’s with that group Jack mentioned. He joined it to try to find the plane. When he heard it had been found he knew exactly what it was.’

‘And he asked you to sabotage the mission. Don’t you think that was asking a lot of you?’

‘Of course not. It’s my family. Besides, you have no idea the amount of money involved. He was afraid the company would be ruined.’

‘What company is it?’

She snickered. ‘I can guarantee you won’t have heard of it. We supply the US military with aircraft parts. Ironic, no?’

‘Wait. One more question. You owe me that. How did you get assigned to the mission? Is somebody at headquarters connected to your family?’

‘Money can get you all kinds of cooperation. That, and old friends. Anyway, we’re done here. No more questions.’

I had run out of ways to keep her talking. ‘Listen,’ I said. ‘If you leave now, I swear I’ll keep quiet while you get away. You don’t have to kill me. You know if you kill me and disappear your family will never know what you did for them.’

She made a hissing noise. I’d wounded her pride. She wanted to be a hero. Whatever her family was worried about, she wanted to be the one who saved them. I frantically cast around for other questions to keep her talking.

‘Did you kill Laila?’

‘What? Of course not. How could I have done that? It was a freak accident.’

‘When we all got sick? Did you do that?’

‘Again, no. I wish I had thought of that.’

‘So, the fire, Taylor’s dive accident, the empty oxygen tanks, the wire that tripped Marcus … that was all you?’

‘Yes,’ she snarled. ‘But none of it was enough to stop this damned team. If they hadn’t been so determined to get that container, Jack would still be alive. And you would be, too.’

Ice shot through my veins. I was out of time. Her concentration hadn’t wavered. Then I had one last inspiration.

‘What time is it?’ I asked.

As I had hoped, she reacted automatically, bringing her watch up and taking her attention away from me for a second. Long enough for me to lunge.

I lashed out, striking at where I had envisioned her head to be from the sound of her voice. My fist connected. Although the knife went in deeper into my neck for a second, the blow took her by surprise, and she fell back with a thump. I screamed as loud as I’d ever screamed, and felt the knife jab my leg. I kicked out and connected to her midsection. She grunted.

I kept hollering, meanwhile, kicking and hitting out. She got in a couple more slashes, but none of them felt deep.

Within seconds there was pounding on my door. I jumped up onto my bunk into the corner to keep as far from her as possible. I couldn’t see her, but she couldn’t see me, either.

‘Jessie, what’s wrong?’ Dallas yelled. I heard running footsteps as more people approached.

‘Help me!’ I screamed. He rattled the door. Susan had locked it from inside. I yelled again.

The doors were not strong, and Dallas threw himself against it. The wood splintered. He hit it again, and the whole thing collapsed.

He reached in and flipped on the light. ‘What’s …? Susan, what the fuck?’

Susan was on the floor propped up against the wall, knife still in her hand. She glared at me with hatred.

‘It wasn’t Jack,’ I said. ‘It was this piece of shit. She just tried to kill me.’

The next morning dawned bright and clear, but I was not so bright and clear. Little nicks on my legs and throat were sore, and somehow one of Susan’s blows when we were fighting had landed on my knee and it throbbed.

First thing after breakfast we had a sober meeting; everyone felt at fault because we’d let our guard down with Susan. ‘All that crying,’ Gretchen said, disgusted. ‘Crocodile tears.’

They wanted me to describe every detail of what had happened and Gretchen recorded it. ‘I want to get it all down while it’s fresh,’ she said. ‘Even though the people who come to investigate will want to interview you again.’

I told them everything the way I recalled it. ‘Before, I didn’t care so much, but now I’d like to know who is behind this,’ I said.

‘Somebody will know,’ Alvin said. ‘We’ll start by finding out who made sure she was assigned to our team.’ He was as grim as I’d seen him.

‘Maybe we’ll even be able to get it out of Susan,’ Marcus said.

‘Not us,’ Alvin said firmly. ‘This is going to be turned over to the investigative team.’

‘I called headquarters last night before I went back to bed,’ Gretchen said. ‘They said a team will be here later today. Needless to say, this time we’ll be sure she stays locked up.’ She shot me a chagrined look.

As if on cue, there was a banging on the door of the cabin where Susan was being held. ‘I need the head,’ she yelled.

Alvin and Gretchen escorted her to the head and I threw some granola and yogurt in a bowl for her and poured her a cup of coffee.

‘You know she hates yogurt,’ Dallas said, eyeing the bowl.

‘Good,’ I said.

He laughed.

Because of the wounds I’d received, Dallas insisted I couldn’t go in the water. ‘You know, Jessie, there are too many opportunistic bacteria in seawater. You’d be risking a serious infection.’

‘But you’re giving me antibiotics.’

‘That’s not enough,’ he said firmly. ‘And you know it.’

I did know it, but I was still disappointed. I had wanted one more look at the plane, but he was right; it wasn’t a good idea.

Alvin and Dallas went down to unhook the wire from the plane and they came back to report that the operation went smoothly. Alvin said, ‘This is the way the whole mission would have gone if Susan hadn’t been determined to destroy it.’

At lunch I asked what would happen to everyone once Susan had been turned over and we were released. ‘Will the rest of you be reassigned right away?’ I hoped that my participation in the mission would convince the FBI that I deserved a chance to complete my training to become an agent, with the idea of eventually being included in the USERT program, but there was nothing to keep them from simply thanking me for my involvement and sending me on my way. I’d be back in Newport News, back to investigating my father’s murder. In one sense, I wanted to do that, but it paled by comparison with my desire to be on the dive program.

‘Eventually we’ll be assigned to other teams,’ Gretchen said. ‘But first, we’re all expected in Washington for a briefing.’

‘Have any of you been on an assignment like this before?’ I asked. ‘A mission being sabotaged?’

No one had.

In the afternoon, I got a text from Nick, asking if it was all over and if I’d be going back to Palermo soon. I could meet you somewhere.

Nick seemed very far away now. I felt bonded with the members of the team, even though I knew we’d be breaking up soon and going our separate ways. I had no idea if the team would even have any time in Palermo. We might get there and be put straight on an airplane for Washington. I hesitated over my reply, but in the end, I knew I had to see him. An idea had been tugging at the back of my mind and I needed to confront him about it.

I decided to go to Lipari so I could call him. Dallas and Marcus wanted to go with me. Gretchen and Alvin said they weren’t going anywhere until Susan was bound over. ‘Bring us back some pasta,’ Gretchen said.

‘And roast pork,’ Alvin said, which made Gretchen grimace.

As soon as we arrived, I called Nick, and when I heard his voice, I knew I had to see him. In person.

‘I have a lot to tell you,’ I said. ‘I don’t know how much time we’ll have. We’re packing up and being sent straight to Washington. Where are you? Can you come to Lipari? We can at least have a night together.’

‘I’ll make it happen,’ he said. He said he’d be on the last ferry from Palermo.

When I rejoined Dallas and Marcus, they had arranged a trip to a hiking area along the coast and I went with them. While we hiked, I asked if they thought it would be OK with Alvin if I spent the night in Lipari. ‘I have a friend coming in,’ I said.

‘Special friend?’ Dallas asked.

‘Yes.’ My hookup with him seemed like weeks ago, and there had been no more sparks between us. I wondered if I would ever tell Nick about the night I’d spent with him.

‘I don’t see why that would be a problem,’ Marcus said.

We went back to the boat, and Gretchen and Alvin said I was free to spend the night in Lipari if I wanted, but that I had to stay alert for texts telling them when investigators would be arriving and taking over the prisoner and the evidence from the plane. As soon as that happened, we’d pack up the boat and turn it over to the owners before we headed to Washington.

I packed a few things for overnight and Alvin took me to Lipari.

While I waited for Nick I sat at a café and had a glass of wine, feeling like a high school girl with a prom date. When I saw people pouring off the ferry, I walked over to see if I could spot him, and when I did I knew the magic was still there.

After all I’d been through, all I wanted to do was hole up in a hotel room with Nick and make love. We had a lot to discuss, too, some of it sober talk. I was aware that I had to be discreet, but I could tell him I worried that I may not be prepared for such intense operations as this one. ‘Everyone else had a lot of experience, including experience as agents. I always felt I wasn’t quite up to their standards.’

He laughed. ‘Aren’t you the one who saved the container?’

‘How do you know these things?’ I asked. By now I was pretty sure I knew the answer.

‘Grapevine,’ he said. ‘It was you, right?’

‘Nick … I don’t want to talk about this. Not yet.’ It wasn’t that I didn’t trust him, but that the chaos at the end felt too personal, too painful to dredge up. Also, I didn’t yet know the final outcome of my impulsive decision to save the container when Jack tried to jettison it. Would I be deemed too reckless to be an agent?

Nick didn’t press me, and we decided to plan a real vacation together as soon as I knew my schedule. ‘Where would you like to go?’ he asked.

We kicked around the idea of Asia, since he’d never been there, mostly being stationed in Europe. It all seemed exotic to me. We decided that Japan sounded appealing to both of us and Nick said he had a friend there who would show us around.

There was no room service, so at some point Nick went out and brought back a feast – grilled, marinated sardines, marinated vegetables and bread salad.

While we ate, I finally broached the subject that had been nagging me. ‘When I tried to reach you and you weren’t available, where were you?’

He shrugged. ‘I had a job to do.’

‘What kind of job?’

A smile played around his mouth. ‘Why are you asking?’

‘Hmm, I’ve put a couple of things together during the last few weeks and I want to know if I’m right.’

‘Like what things?’

‘Like how you’re able to find out so easily where I am at any given time. And how you knew so much about what my mission here consisted of.’

He watched me steadily.

‘You aren’t really connected to the Jeweler’s Security Alliance, are you?’

He smiled. ‘I actually am.’

‘But that’s not all.’

‘Maybe.’ He leaned over and kissed me.

I put my hand on his chest and pushed him back. ‘Don’t try to distract me,’ I said. ‘I deserve to know. I’m right, aren’t I? There’s no other way Farrell would tell you what I was up to, or where I’d be, unless you had connections. What is it? CIA? Some equivalent in France?’

His grin was impish. ‘Something like that. But that’s all you’re getting out of me.’ This time he wouldn’t be deterred and we ended up giggling like children.

We actually got a second night, time to explore the town and have a leisurely dinner, but Monday morning there was a text saying Alvin would pick me up at nine to bring me back to the boat. Nick got an early ferry back to Palermo, and I was waiting for Alvin when he arrived to pick me up. ‘I’m bringing you to the boat and then coming back at noon to get the two agents who will escort the prisoner,’ he said.

The next two days were a blur of activity. The agents who arrived were all business. To our surprise, they asked no questions of us. They simply took charge of Susan and immediately headed back. They had brought with them a special pouch in which to seal the microfilm and the pilot’s artifacts and they took that with them, too.

Susan hardly looked at us and said not a word. It left all of us with a sour taste, but we had too much work to do to dwell on it. We needed to pack our dive gear, our personal gear, and clean up the boat. Wednesday night we were exhausted, but ready to hand over the boat and head for Washington.

The next morning a burly Italian man came with two deckhands to take charge of the boat. He took us to the ferry dock in two groups. By noon we were on our way to Palermo, and caught a late-night flight to Washington.

This time there was no private plane to take me. We flew commercial, in the cheap seats, crammed in with each other. It hardly mattered. Most of us slept the whole time. Only Dallas said he couldn’t get any sleep.

The next morning, with no concern for how groggy we were after an overnight flight, and how scruffy we were in clothing we’d worn on the boat, we were summoned to headquarters. There, in a featureless room with five senior people, one by one we were quizzed about the details of what had happened. The questions were one-way. I tried a couple of probes, but they were deflected.

That night, the team went out for a farewell dinner that included plenty of drinks. Alvin said that his few attempts to find out from his superiors who might have worked with Susan at headquarters had been unsuccessful. ‘I don’t know how Susan got on the team, but someone knows. And there will be big consequences.’

‘I’m just glad it’s over,’ Dallas said. ‘I need a vacation. As far from the water as possible.’

‘No vacation for me,’ Alvin said. ‘I’ve already been reassigned. There’s a boat that sank off the California coast last year.’

‘I’ll be headed there, too,’ Marcus said.

Gretchen said she’d be going home for a few days and then expected to be reassigned. ‘And what about you, Jessie, have you heard anything?’

‘John Farrell wants to see me. That’s all I know for now.’

‘If you need a good word, we’re all in,’ she said.

The next morning I prepared to go back to Quantico. While I was packing, Nick called.

I told him that Farrell had called me to headquarters and I was nervous.

‘I wish I could update you, but Farrell wouldn’t talk to me about it.’

‘For once,’ I grumbled.

‘But I do have news you’ll appreciate. If you watch the news over the next few weeks, you’ll figure out what company was involved. I don’t know who it is yet, but I’m not sure it even matters as long as Susan Vance’s family gets what it deserves. There will be a resignation or a national company reorganizing. You’ll know it when you see it.’

I didn’t even care that much which company it was. I had a greater concern. ‘Do you know if they’ve found out who the contact was at FBI headquarters?’

‘No,’ he said. ‘But believe me, they’ll ferret it out.’

After the call, I headed for the lobby. It was only a forty-minute drive to Quantico, and someone was picking me up. By two o’clock this afternoon, I’d know what the FBI had in store for me, or if I was starting back from zero.

THIRTY-FOUR

‘Well, if it isn’t sleeping beauty.’ My mother’s snarky voice greeted me when I went into the kitchen to ply myself with coffee. I’d been home for only three days and already I was ready to flee her acerbic tongue. My new assignment couldn’t come soon enough.

‘Sorry, I’m still catching up on sleep,’ I said.

I hadn’t told her the details of what I’d been doing the last couple of months. Even if the dive mission hadn’t been classified, she wouldn’t have understood the terror of the ordeal. And she most certainly wouldn’t have commiserated with my month-long endurance trial in Quantico following the mission.

Thank goodness Farrell hadn’t insisted that I go back to the beginning of FBI training. Instead, he slotted me into the current class, which was one month from being completed. Physically, it was no stretch, but it meant getting back up to speed on the classroom portion of the training, never my strong suit. I’d pushed through, and graduated with the class last week.

Now I had a week off to recover and wait to hear what I’d be doing next. Would they place me into the USERT program right away? I doubted it. Members of that team were supposed to have three years’ experience as a field agent in preparation. I didn’t hate the idea of being a field agent, but not being near the water would be a hardship. I needed to keep up my dive skills.

‘You going to just lay around the house again today?’ she asked.

‘Not sure,’ I mumbled. ‘Do you have something you want me to do?’

‘Far be it from me to ask something of the princess,’ she said. She poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down at the kitchen table. My mother was barely fifty, but alcohol had ravaged her looks. Yesterday, at my urging, we’d gone to a salon and gotten her hair cut.

I ignored her petulant comment. ‘I like your hair. She did a good job.’

Her hand went up to touch the feathery curls that framed her face. ‘She does OK, I guess.’

‘Remember, she said you had great hair.’ She shrugged.

I looked nothing like my mother. She was rounded where I was wiry, like my father. Her hair was curly and she had gold-brown eyes. My hair was straight. When I looked at her I could see the fleeting memory of her ready laugh before my father was murdered.

My cell phone buzzed. I retrieved it from the pocket of my shorts. It was text from a number I didn’t recognize. It said, Watch CNN. NOW.

I charged into the living room and switched on the TV, leaving behind the strains of my mother’s complaint that I was always rushing away. I turned it on and stood watching. The news anchor was jabbering about a bill that had been introduced into Congress. Meanwhile, across the bottom of the screen there unfolded a brief alert: Oscar Vance, Vancapel Aerospace Corporation CEO steps down, cites health issues. Oscar Vance. Susan Vance’s father.

Vancapel was one of the biggest Aerospace organizations in the US. Whatever had been in the microfilm we retrieved on our dive must have been revealed by now, and clearly it was a huge threat to them. Enough so that the CEO had felt compelled to step down. I wondered if there would be more explanation. I kept waiting for more information to scrawl across the screen, but that was it.

My mother wandered into the living room. She stared at the screen. ‘Why are you watching this?’ The anchor now had a team parsing the details of the bill in Congress.

I switched off the TV. ‘No reason. I thought something else was going to be on.’

‘Well hand me the remote. My program is coming on soon.’

I was relieved. I wanted to phone whoever had alerted me to watch the news. I went into the kitchen and put a couple of slices of bread into the toaster and sat down at the tiny kitchen table. I dialed the number of the text had come from.

‘Hey. Did you watch it?’

‘Gretchen? Yeah. That was Susan’s dad, I guess.’

‘Yep. Where are you?’

‘My mother’s house.’

My heart was doing double-time. ‘What can you tell me?’

‘Nothing on the phone. Can we meet? I can be in Newport News by lunchtime.’

‘I thought you had been reassigned.’

‘I was, but it was short mission. I’m back in Quantico, about to go off again, but I have a few days off.’

We arranged to meet at a local hamburger place.

The morning dragged by. When I came home, I had intended to continue investigating my father’s murder, but so far I hadn’t mustered the energy. And no way could I concentrate on it now. So I scrubbed the kitchen down, to my mother’s astonishment.

It was strange to see Gretchen in a different setting. She looked more relaxed and was wearing a skirt and jacket. I’d only ever seen her in boat clothing and dive gear. I was happy to see her. She gave me a hug. ‘I guess you realize now how close you get to other team members. We go through a lot together.’

We sat down and as soon as we ordered beer and burgers, she asked me how the training had gone.

‘It was fine. I’m glad it’s over. Now I just have to wait. But please, don’t keep me waiting! Tell me everything.’

She grinned. ‘You know how we said we sometimes didn’t learn the results of a mission? Well, not this time. And that’s down to Alvin. He insisted that we deserved to know what had put us at such risk. He and Marcus were briefed and they told the rest of us. Because you weren’t technically on USERT, he wasn’t sure we could tell you, but Farrell said you were a full-fledged agent now and it would be okay to let you in.’

‘So?’

‘It was really hard developing the microfilm and took some finesse, but it was worth it.’ She told me that the microfilm held explosive material. ‘You saw on the CNN report that Susan’s dad was CEO of Vancapel Aerospace. His grandfather had immigrated from Germany. He founded the company during World War I as an airplane manufacturing company. But somehow, during World War II he became a Nazi sympathizer. The information that the pilot was carrying was a copy of a contract in which Vancapel was going to provide airplane parts for the German Air Force.’

‘Oh, my God,’ I breathed. ‘No wonder somebody wanted to destroy it. How did the pilot get hold of the contract?’

Gretchen sighed. ‘It’s sad. He was a spy sent to Germany because there was suspicion that something like that was going on. He found the proof he needed and apparently stole a German plane and was attempting to get to North Africa. From there he could get back to the US.’

‘Was he shot down?’

‘The plane was too damaged. They don’t know if he had engine trouble or got shot down or what.’

‘So how did Susan’s father know about this before the plane was found?’

‘Oscar’s father knew about the contract and had warned him that there was a possibility that the pilot had escaped with the proof and been shot down. So Oscar kept up online with an organization that finds and recovers World War II planes. Someone mentioned in a blog post that a German plane which sounded similar to the one the US pilot stole was found, but then the information disappeared. So Oscar contacted them and they said the government had commandeered the site. That’s when he knew it might be the plane they were worried about.’

‘It’s amazing that he persevered all those years.’

‘And Susan knew about it from the time she was just a kid. That’s actually why she became a diver. So that story she told us about being recruited was only half right. She figured being a member of the FBI USERT program would give her the best chance of dealing with the plane if it was ever discovered.’

‘Wow! That’s dedication.’

‘Turns out she has sort of a fixation about her father and her family.’

I took a bite of my hamburger and thought about what she had told me. ‘What’s going to happen to Susan?’

She shook her head. ‘She’s going to Federal prison. Some kind of plea deal.’ She shuddered. ‘As much as I despise what she did, it’s hard to think of her being shut up all those years. She loved the water.’

‘You’re nicer than I am. She got your friend Taylor injured and got Jack killed. And put the rest of us in real danger.’

She nodded. ‘You’re right. But I’m happy to say Taylor is much improved. He’s been on a couple of trial dives and it looks like he’ll be ready to come back before long.’

I liked seeing Gretchen so happy. ‘One more question. How did Susan manage to get on the team? Somebody had to pull strings.’

She grimaced. ‘That wasn’t part of our briefing. Alvin said he asked the same thing and they shut him down. I expect someone will be reassigned as if it’s a normal course of things.’

‘And with the CEO gone, the company probably won’t suffer.’

She sighed. ‘True. But Susan’s father will go to jail. There won’t be a trial. It was all part of that plea deal. That way the company will be allowed to stay out of it.’

‘I suspect the government wouldn’t want to damage such big aerospace company.’

‘Exactly.’ She drank down the last of her beer. ‘I don’t know about you, but I’m glad we know what happened. Like I said, we don’t always get the satisfaction.’

We talked a little more before she had to go, gossiping about where the other members of the team had landed since we left Italy.

‘I hope we get to work together again,’ Gretchen said. ‘And I’m sorry I—’

‘No. You don’t need to apologize. We got the job done.’

I asked if she could drop me at my mother’s place. When we got there, as I was getting out of the car, she said, ‘Let me know when you find out your assignment.’

‘Will do.’