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Which he did

A coil of yellow nylon landed atop the water

“The case is heavy,” I yelled “I’ll tie it off and yank a signal, then you haul it up I’ll be right behind”

I grabbed the end of the coil, stuffed the regulator in ed back beneath the waves

CHAPTER SIX

I clawedfor the black case that lay beyond the wreck On the way down, using so-in-a-crisis, I decided to wrap the rope around the exterior and not trust the handle Its unexpected weight re in the dark, as few people facing a court-martial ever leveled with their lawyer, especially so them So I was accustomed to half the story or, worse yet, total lies Eventually, though, the truth always prevailed and I assumed that would shortly be the case here, too

What an idiot I was

I reached the bottom and saw I had plenty of slack in the rope, so I worked the yellow nylon beneath the case and wrapped it around a couple of ti that should reines and saw the black outline of a second keel powering to a stop Shy Out in this chop that had to be a rough ride

Two divers entered the water

Both carried spearguns, their fins kicking furiously as they headed toward me

A little extreers

If I yanked the line, the divers wouldbefore Jansen could haul it to the surface Knives were affixed to each of their legs—it would be an easy matter for them to cut the rope So I abandoned the case and headed for the wreck My pursuers were nearly to the bottolided across the rear deck and into the main cabin just as a spear thudded into the wood behind me

I hadn’t heard it co

Unlike in theits path through the water The thing just appeared

Definitely not park rangers

I rolled onto h the cabin’s rear s as one of the divers swam my way and the other headed for the black case I’d never been trained to handle this kind of situation, but that didn’t mean I was in over my head

I spotted a short set of steps that led down into a bow berth The gash I’d seen outside should be there A diver with a still-loaded speargun arrived at the stern I needed to slow him down, so I pushed the cabin’s rear door shut and latched the bolt Not perfect, but it should buy a few moments My eyes locked with the diver outside, who didn’t hesitate ailass, protected by a broken rille I couldn’t assume that the spear would be stopped by any of that, so I kicked twice and dropped down into the forward berth Behindinto wood across the cabin

I iash opened outward It would be tight, but possible So I wedged h and ca the black case He laid his reloaded speargun down on the sand and reached for his knife, surely about to cut the rope I hadSo I kicked hard and reached around, yanking the regulator froht the guy off guard and I used his confusion to wrench the knife away Drifting back, I drove the heel ofhim

The other diver froash I knew there’d be a h I was running out of options, the first diver working to find his regulator and face mask The man inside the wreck disappeared Then I realized He was reloading, readying hiash

I heard an engine roar louder

The Isla Marie

Jansen was leaving?

I yanked hard on the rope

Several times

The engines above revved and the slack in the rope began to recede I snatched the other gun froash Whether it hit anything didn’t uy in there pause I grabbed hold as the rope went tight and both the case and I were dragged away fro, which ht seal, so I slipped down to the container, secure in its sling, and wrapped my arms around it Jansen had throttled up the boat and I was now being propelled through the water, speed adding buoyancy

Some kicks of my fins and the case and I rose

A quick glance back

The other diver in the wreck was free, aiun

But I was now out of range

The boat stopped

We were beyond the reef in deep blue water, the botto the case, breathing harder than I should So I told myself to calm down

I felt pressure on the rope

Jansen was pulling it in