Don't Tempt Me (29 page)

"That's a lie!"

"Then this morning, while we were waiting for you to get here, I heard a disturbing report from some of the students. They said when you were working the dredge, the screen blew off and you didn't even notice until one of them pointed it out."

"Is it my fault if those wet-behind-the-ears kids don't know how to fasten the screen right?"

"It is if you don't bother to check the equipment before using it." Carl shook his head in grave disappointment. "You're supposed to be one of the team leaders, yet you make an idiot mistake like that?"

"I'm telling you, that wasn't my fault."

"Danny" ---Carl rubbed his face ---"I have cut you too much slack as it is, but I can't let something like this slide. The dredge you were using yesterday was big enough that, without the screen on the exhaust, you could have sucked up any number of artifacts and blown them halfway across the cove where they may never be found."

"I didn't suck up anything. I know what I'm doing."

"Apparently you don't. I'm going to have to let you go."

"You can't do that!" Danny's skinny face turned dangerously red. "I have a contract."

"And I'm canceling it on the grounds of incompetence."

"We'll see about that when I sue your ass." Danny turned to stomp down the steps, but froze when he saw Jackie standing in the shadows. He flushed with embarrassment until his eyes lit with recognition and he sneered. "What are you doing here? Spying?"

"No. I ..." She glanced at Carl, catching his startled look. "I'm just walking."

Danny turned back to Carl. "Don't tell me you're going to hire her."

Carl's expression turned neutral. "Miss Taylor's presence here is not your concern. I think it best if you gather your gear and leave without making trouble."

Danny tossed one last contemptuous look at Jackie and stomped off down the trail. Apparently the man had less-than-fond memories of her father, but then, Buddy had left a trail of friends-turned-enemies in his wake. Carl turned to her with the calm patience she'd sensed in him before.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop."

He shrugged. "Actually, if someone's going to be that big an ass, they deserve a little embarrassment. Except now I'm short a diver."

"Oh." She started to volunteer, but stopped herself.

He studied her a long moment. "So. You still interested in doing some real archeology?"

"Yes!" Her heart thumped hard against her ribs. "I'll only be here a couple days a month, though."

"Are you available today?"

"I can be, but only until thirteen hundred hours."

"The first dive starts in thirty minutes."

"I'll be ready!" She held out both hands. "Just give me enough time to go over today's schedule with my first mate. Then I'll get into my wet suit and meet you on the dock." Feeling like a kid, she ran all the way to the ship. A few guests had already gathered to watch the activity on the pier where the divers were checking their equipment.

She hurried on board and met a startled Ti in the officers' lounge. After running over the duty roster, she slipped into her wet suit, grabbed her dive bag, and arrived breathless on the dock. Carl was waiting for her in the johnboat they used to ferry divers out to the work platform. She tried to act nonchalant, as if being included on such a project wasn't a dream come true, but the grin that flickered over Carl's rugged face told her she wasn't fooling him. She just prayed her excitement didn't make her clumsy.

When they climbed onto the platform, everyone looked at her.

"Danny won't be with us anymore," Carl said matter-of-factly and no one seemed the least surprised. "This is Jackie Taylor, the captain of the
Pirate's Pleasure
. She's agreed to fill in for him today. Jackie, this is Sam. He'll be your dive buddy."

A young man with sandy hair and friendly eyes stepped forward to shake her hand. "We've all been admiring your ship. I don't suppose you'd give us a tour?"

"Certainly." She flushed with pleasure. "Anytime."

"Okay, let's get down to business." Carl leaned over a chart of the dive area. "Jackie, since you weren't at the meeting this morning, let me go over our goals for today. We've uncovered enough of the stern to access the captain's cabin. Unfortunately, the powder horn wasn't in there, as we had hoped."

She looked at him sharply. "Have you told the St. Claires?"

"Only that we're broadening our search area. We're progressing with the theory that the blast from the explosion may have blown the powder horn from the ship." He ran his finger over the chart. "We've been following a trail of debris to determine the ship's course as she sank. Gunter and I will be working the dredge today."

One of the older members of the team, a large Nordic-looking man, nodded.

"Tony and Sandra will be working here on the platform. You and Sam will be working in the captain's cabin. The horn might not be there, but the cabin is a treasure trove from an historian's point of view."

"Oh?" Jackie asked.

"Everything that's been covered with mud is in such pristine condition, it's like finding a time capsule from the Civil War. Paper, leather, wood, cloth, all of it is intact. I want you to concentrate on going through the desk, cataloging the contents of each drawer before bringing the items to the surface."

"Yes, sir." She nodded.

"Besides" ---he smiled at her ---"I think it's fitting you be the one to go through the desk, considering Captain Kingsley was your ancestor."

"You're related to Jack Kingsley?" Sam asked.

Jackie nodded, and saw awe spark in several pairs of eyes.

"That's really cool," Sam said. "Wait till you see his cabin. Mr. Ryder's right. It's so intact, it's kind of spooky."

"Anyone have any questions?" Carl asked. They all shook their heads. "Okay then. Let's get wet."

Jackie and Sam were the last ones to go in since he had to show her their system for cataloging all the objects they brought up. Finally, they were in the water, swimming nearly straight down, since the platform was anchored so close to the wreck.

When the ship came into view, she stared in amazement at the amount of mud that had been removed. Following Sam, she swam over the main deck, waiting for the temperature to drop as it had the time before. Other than the expected chill at sixty feet, she felt nothing. Turning her head from side to side, she saw remnants of hemp still dangling from belaying pins along the rail. Gun ports lined the edges of the deck but no cannons. She assumed they'd already been raised.

Reaching the hatch that led to the officer's quarters, they swam down through it. Jackie's pulse raced as she realized this was where Jack had died. Surprisingly, the area showed little damage, although the louvered doors to the officers' cabins hung at crazy angles. Swinging her light back and forth, she saw they still had a lot of dredging to do in those rooms.

At the end of the passage, the door to the captain's cabin stood open, surprising her. She'd pictured it closed, as the first mate had described, with Jack's ghost trying to open it, only to have his transparent hand pass through the knob again and again.

Sam swam ahead of her into the cabin. She followed slowly, half afraid that the strange sensations from her last dive would return. All she felt, though, was wonder to be in Jack Kingsley's living quarters.

They'd been thorough in clearing the mud out in search of the powder horn, but a thick film still covered the floor, cabinets, and the framed pictures nailed to the walls. Her spine tingled as she watched the bed curtain sway gently in the current. A muddy lump on the floor beside the bed appeared to be an oil lamp. Had he sat up at night, reading by its light?

She turned toward the bank of windows. Carl and Gunter were working beyond it, and the beam of a light moved over the jagged panes of glass.

Are you really here, Jack?
she wondered, but felt no lingering emotion as she had before.

Again the light moved over the broken glass. She floated closer and looked beyond the ship into the dark waters of the cove. Had the excavation freed Jack's spirit from the ship? Was he out there, somewhere, searching for the horn?

A dolphin appeared suddenly before her, peeking through the windows. She jerked back, startled, then amused when it tilted its head as if smiling at her. Then it turned and darted off.

Laughing underwater was not an option, but she turned her head enough to share her wonder with Sam. He rolled his eyes as if to say the dolphin was an amusing pest, then motioned for them to get to work.

Chapter 21

At the end of her shift, Jackie headed back to the dock in the johnboat with Sam, grateful for the warm sunshine after an hour underwater. Going through Jack Kingsley's desk had left her feeling torn. Each discovery had thrilled her, but she hated turning it all over to the public. Didn't dead people have a right to privacy? Not that anything had been embarrassingly personal, but still, they'd been his private things.

The most significant finds from a historical standpoint were the manifests and ship's log, but she'd also found a beautifully detailed scrimshaw knife, an ink bottle and quill nibs, a brass button that must have come off one of his coats, and in the bottom locked drawer, stacks and stacks of money in several different currencies.

Running blockades may have been dangerous, but it apparently paid well.

"Jackie!" a female voice called, pulling her from her thoughts. She looked up to find Rory on the pier, waving madly.

"It's about time you came up!" Rory called. "I've been waiting forever."

Alarm skittered through her as the johnboat bumped against the dock opposite her ship. "Is something wrong?"

"No, but I have news!" A beaming smile lit Rory's face as Jackie climbed the ladder. "I hope you brought that champagne, because we have a whole new reason to celebrate. A huge reason!"

"What?" Jackie turned to accept the air tank that Sam lifted up to her.

"Last night, our aunt, Vivian, went to a premiere party for some new play on Broadway and the producer of the
Good Morning America
segment was there. Except she's not with them anymore. She works for one of the food channels now. They got to talking, Aunt Viv mentioned Adrian was her nephew, and the woman started raving about how wonderful he was in front of a camera. One thing led to another, and ---get this ---the woman wants to know if Adrian would be interested in having his own cooking show!"

"You're kidding." Jackie let her tank drop to the pier.

"He's been on the phone off and on with Aunt Viv all morning," Rory said. "She's already hooked him up with her agent."

"The one who saw him in the school play back in high school?"

"What?" Rory wrinkled her nose.

"Never mind," Jackie said, remembering that he'd never told his sisters about that.

"Nothing's settled, but Aunt Viv's agent thinks he can work a deal. Can you imagine? Adrian with his own cooking show? Isn't that great!"

"Great," she echoed numbly, wondering where that left their relationship, then instantly hating herself for even thinking that. She should be happy for him ---no matter how this affected her. Life had just handed him a second shot at his dream.

"Anyway," Rory said, "change clothes, grab that champagne, and come join the party. Everyone's waiting for you."

~ ~ ~

Sitting in the big armchair in the living room, Adrian pressed the phone to one ear and a finger to the other, trying to hear the woman on the other end. Even so, Sadie's bark rang through as the sheltie begged for treats. Allison shushed her dog as Lauren squealed for her dad to set her on the floor. Just the sort of background noise he needed to sound professional.

"I'll need to talk that over with my family," he said, dazed by how quickly things were moving. "Three weeks is a long time for me to be gone from the inn."

"Hi, Jackie!" he heard Allison say and looked up to see Jackie standing on the bottom step.

Warmth spread through him, relaxing his insides. He hadn't even realized he was tense until then. He waved for her to come closer as Eva Phillips continued talking about concepts for the show.

"Yes, I like the idea of focusing on brunch menus," he agreed. "It's a perfect tie-in to our B and B."

Jackie handed the bottle of champagne she'd brought to Rory and moved his way. When she tried to scoot past him and sit on the sofa, he caught her hand and pulled her back. Off balance, she fell in his lap.

"Adrian ..." she whispered, glancing toward his family. He saw his sisters exchange smiles as they continued preparing lunch.

Jackie tried to struggle up, but he anchored her with one arm. "Actually, I haven't decided about moving to L.A. I need to think about that."

Jackie's eyes bugged a bit at hearing that and she finally went still.

"Yes, I understand," he told the producer. "I just don't see why the show can't be shot here at the inn. You seemed to think the setting worked fine before."

The woman argued vehemently, and he pulled his attention away from Jackie long enough to finish his conversation. "I'll talk it over with my agent and have him give you a call." Hanging up, he framed Jackie's face with both hands and brought her mouth to his for a smacking kiss that was just long enough to get his blood pumping. "I've been needing to do that all morning. Where have you been?"