page5 (1/2)

Yeah, good for us “A down to the wreck in this storm?”

“We have no choice The boat’s owner is on the way, and we have to get that waterproof case before he does”

“Where’s he co from?”

“Cuba Where else?”

Of course How silly of me to ask

A wave pounded the port side and the boat reeled I co I then caught Jansen’s eyes with my own His were deep-socketed, with a nervous blink, and I wondered what this man knew that I didn’t

A blast of air slapped ainst the windscreen

“This is nuts,” I said

“It’s the smart play Nobody will be out in this ers We should have an open-field run”

A , swirled overhead The entire ocean see

“If you were there when it sank, why didn’t you make the dive?”

“Do I look like Lloyd Bridges? It’s not inbuck”

“You don’t approve?”

“Not my call I’m just a volunteer”

“How ain

“I guess you deserve a little info”

That was the way I viewed it, too

“She was State Department, then moved over to Justice I remember that she worked close with the FBI when I ith the bureau Still does, I’h”

I heard his unspoken praise

A prosecutor Good people On the right team

As long as the , I tried, “She told le Seems like one special coin”

“It could be the last of a species”

Valuable enough that ere out in theabout any of this rang right A coin that shouldn’t exist A boat fro The owner, fro all of that to happen And all for a waterproof case that had to be retrieved intact

Unopened

I’d tried enough court-martials at JAG to be able to read juries and witnesses, and though Ibuck I was no fool

So stunk

Bad

CHAPTER FIVE

I spotted Fort Jefferson through the rain

The trip fro slow thanks to the stor us beyond Garden Cay and the fort, heading toward Loggerhead, the largest of the seven islands, which accoh the storm

“The boat broke anchor just over there, then drifted off the south point of Loggerhead,” Jansen said “That’s where the reefs on the other side got it”

The squall had eased, but the rain continued A couple of catamarans, sailboats, and a feer cruisers sat at anchor five hundred yards to our left We passed the south tip of Loggerhead and I spotted so with a piece of yellow rope attached to its neck