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I felt like a castaway

The whole cay was only about two hundred yards wide If not for the thick stands of pine, you would have been able to see from side to side and end to end At the north point I spotted a green Sundo what looked like foundation ruins A weathered placard identified the site as the forical Laboratory, established by the Carnegie Institution in 1904 I had no idea what I alking into, but since there was no choice I left the beach and followed a narrow trail through prickly pear cactus

“Are you the person who made the dive on the wreck?”

The words were delivered in Spanish, and hearing a dise startled es were familiar to me It was a side effect of an eidetic memory that caraphic Just a net, which had made it easy for me to learn Spanish, French, and soht come in handy one day

A woed from the tent

She was a little over five feet tall with shoulder-length dark hair and smooth brown skin No makeup marred her attractive face Her alht, alaze She was trim and fit with healthy curves concealed by jeans at the li a lawyer and asking a ht me that conversations hated a vacuum If the questioner didn’t rush in to fill the silence, the subject usually would do it for you, often to their regret

So I stayed quiet

“Can you understand me?” she asked in Spanish

The accent was American, with a touch of the South Like my own I said, “No Spanish”

Better to keep uistic abilities to myself

“Is this better?” she said in English

“Works for me”

“You can’t be Valdez He sounded older on the phone”

“I’m not”

“Are you the felloho dove the reef?”

I nodded “You watched?”

“Fro if anyone would come I heard about the wreck yesterday when I arrived But since I’m stuck here till later today, I had no choice but to wait and watch”

“Do you have a name?”

“Coleen Perry”

“I’m Cotton Malone I came for the coin”

“You work for Valdez?”

There was that naain New in the mix But I knew the correct answer “I do” I had to tread carefully since I had no idea where this was headed So I stuck with the facts “I have what you want” I pointed off toward the water “It’s on that boat, anchored out there”

Jansen had assumed a position about a hundred yards off the north point, near where the water transitioned fronal fro him back around to the dock where ould take this woman into custody Since there was literally nowhere for her to run, that task should be easy Interestingly, Coleen Perry did not appear anxious in any way and I surht not be her first rodeo

“Who were the other guys that went doith you?” she asked

“Some additional help that I didn’t need”

“I noticed your boat left in a hurry”

“You want to deal or talk?”

She reached into her pocket and found so and saw that it was a plastic sleeve protecting a shiny gold coin a little over an inch in dia a torch and an olive branch backed by lines of glory The other depicted a bald eagle in flight, with lory lines and the fale the face value read 20

“It’s still illegal to own it,” she said

“Yet you have it”

“Not anymore Where is Valdez?”

“He doesn’t get out much”

“We were supposed to talk”