LC 04 - Skeleton Crew (44 page)

In the morning Hurricane Harriette was moving northeast. The
south Florida coast was the most likely target for landfall. Lindsay
went to the dam to work, but her mind was on the murders. Were
they about the treasure ship? Had Keith found it? Is that where he
got the cross? But if he found it, why didn't he have more of its
treasure? Ramirez did tell her that he had found no evidence that
Keith had been trying to sell gold or gems on the local market.

What did Hardy Denton have to do with it? Keith didn't have
the equipment to go after the wreck himself? Maybe he brought
Denton and Jones into it. He'd tell where the wreck was and they
would help him bring it to the surface-but they double-crossed
him. Then why was Denton killed and why was Jones having the
Altmans steal information? Lindsay was getting a headache.

She wondered if she was wrong not to speak with Gretchen.
After all, she knew nothing about the woman. This could be a
crime of love gone wrong-certainly a more common motive than
fighting over Spanish treasure. But then, where did Denton fit in?
Did he witness it? But why would he be killed so long after Keith?
Maybe he was blackmailing Gretchen? Perhaps that was why
Mike and Tessa were stealing information for Denton and Jones.
That would mean that the three of them would be in on Keith's
murder.

"Lindsay, Lindsay! Are you in there?" It was Trey sitting on his
haunches beside her.

Lindsay rose to a sitting position. "Oh, hi. How is everything?
Did you get the bell bailed out of jail?"

"We heard from the lawyer this morning. The judge refused to
issue a warrant. The lawyer said we should have been there to witness Eva Jones in district court. He said the hurricane was nothing
compared to the whirlwind she caused."

"Aren't we lucky that Harper provided me the complete translation, so that I could recognize the bell for what it was?"

"Thanks, Lindsay. I needed you to remind me. Is Harper still
mad at me?"

"The flowers helped. So did the candy."

"What candy?"

"Oh, yes, I forgot. The candy was from Lewis."

"You're in a great mood this morning, aren't you?"

"Actually, I have a headache. How's Jeff? Have you heard?"

"He's doing well. I think they're letting him out of the hospital
today. The police are holding off on charging him. Seems you convinced Ramirez."

"I doubt it. They just didn't have enough corroborating evidence. At most, the DA probably thought that without other evidence, my testimony would ensure reasonable doubt in a jury's
mind. You can bet they still have their eye on him. Is Jeff coming
back here?"

"He's going to work with Carolyn in the lab for a while. I'm
sending several divers back home until the danger is over. That
will be fewer people to evacuate if it comes to that. Lewis is very
impressed with you, by the way."

"Good. Do you think this would be a good time to hit him up
for a raise? Look, Trey." Lindsay lowered her voice. "I'm not having very good feelings about the disposition of the contents of the
treasure ship if we find it."

Trey was silent for a long time, staring at the sandy mud and
the wooden form that Lindsay was excavating. "I know. We've had
long, hot conversations with him about it."

"What are you going to do?" asked Lindsay.

"I told him I'd fight to keep it together."

"So did I," she said. "He didn't seem to mind."

"No, I imagine not. Lewis is a man very sure of himself."

Lindsay wanted to ask Trey if he thought that Lewis could kill
anyone. But she felt as if she were plotting mutiny the way it was,
so she kept silent about that. She did ask Trey, "Is Lewis computer
literate?"

"You still skeptical about Nate's computer model?"

"Yes." Lindsay was skeptical, but that wasn't the reason she
was asking. Lewis had used the phrase "timed out" in talking
about artifacts. It was one of the phrases in the threatening computer message to her. It concerned her, yet for the life of her she
couldn't figure out why Lewis would be involved in murder.
Besides, everybody used that phrase these days. But she was glad
Trey misunderstood the intent of her question.

"Lewis doesn't know much about computers at all. But he is
into chaos theory, and he liked Nate's description of it in his
prospectus. And I've seen a printout of Nate's last couple of runs.
I'm impressed."

"Well, at least the two of you set Jones back a few squares."

"You did, really," Trey said.

"What's the weather like?"

"You worried?"

"I think we all are. It's heading this way, isn't it?"

"John has a lot of confidence that the dam will remain standing," Trey replied. "I don't have to tell you that putting it out in
the ocean was a very controversial affair. But his design got an
okay from all the engineers we submitted it to. At any rate, none
of us will be in it when the storm comes. It will fill up with
water." Trey smiled, trying to look optimistic. "What are you
excavating?"

"Another sea chest. Maybe we can hoist it up by the end of the
day."

After work Lindsay wanted nothing but to spend a quiet
evening with John. She sat beside him in a sheltered corner of his
barge.

"You cold?" he asked.

"Not really. I was just trying to see some stars in the sky, hoping for a clear opening." A white, orange, and black calico cat
jumped in her lap. "Who's this?" Lindsay stroked her long fur and
rubbed her head as the cat vibrated with a loud purr. "She has a
strong motor."

"That's Polly. Stan is here under my chair." Lindsay squinted her eyes, finally seeing the black tuxedo cat curled up beneath
John. "They keep the barge free of mice. Very good at it, too."

"I guess you heard about Eva Jones trying to take possession of
the ghost ship."

"I heard. I also read the diary pages. Bobbie showed them to
Luke and he showed them to me, so I guess the ship is an open
secret now. Good thing about the hurricane or we'd start having
more boaters out here to deal with."

"Lewis is determined to find it. From the account in the diary,
the Estrella was almost on top of it when the storm hit."

"But 440 years and thousands of storms later, no telling where
it is. They had to move several feet of silt and sediment off the
Estrella. No telling how deep the other one may be buried." John
yawned.

"You must be tired. Why don't I send you to bed?" At the word
bed, Polly jumped from her lap and ran down the passageway to
the cabin area.

"After this is finished and I dismantle the dam in a few months,
maybe we could go somewhere, take a trip."

"I'd like that. Someplace calm."

"Rabbit, I don't think you could take calm."

"Do you ride?"

"Ride what?"

"A horse."

"Not since I was a kid."

"There's a trail ride across Iceland I've always wanted to take."

"What? On a horse across Iceland? That's not what I had in
mind at all."

"It'd be fun."

"No, it wouldn't." He stood up and pulled her up with him.
Stan awoke, meowed, and followed the trail of Polly down into the
bowels of the ship. "This is what I had in mind." He kissed her.

"The two are not mutually exclusive."

"They are if we're on frozen tundra or a glacier or whatever's
up there."

"Well, where did you have in mind?"

"I've always wanted to go to Aruba."

"You mean with sand and beach and ocean? I think by the time
this is over, I'm going to want a change."

"You be thinking about a place. Somewhere that supports life."

John walked Lindsay to her barge and they kissed good night.
Over his shoulder Lindsay saw an opening in the clouds and a
patch of stars. She hoped that was a good omen.

Bobbie was already in bed when she returned, but not asleep.
"Jeff's out of the hospital. He's staying on the island," she said.

"How is he?"

"He looks a little pale, but I think he's all right. He's grateful not
to be in jail. Do you think you can solve all this mess?"

"I don't know. It's not really my job."

"Jeff hopes you do. He's really worried."

"I'm just out of ideas and people to interview. The FBI has more
resources. I'm sure they will come up with something."

"Well, everyone has faith that you are going to get to the bottom of it. It was impressive the way you described a man by just
seeing his toe print."

"That's not exactly what I did."

The morning brought bad news. Hurricane Harriette had been
upgraded to category two and was moving. The steering winds
had increased in strength; however, the meteorologists were not
sure where she would go. She was moving northward, closer to
their site, and she had been moving all through the night. The local
weather was deceptive. The winds had died down and there were
patches of sky among the clouds. But to the south the distant horizon looked dark gray.

Lindsay worked on excavating the sea chest. The night shift
had been suspended and the night crew were working with the
day crew. Many of the divers were helping with the excavation. It
was almost crowded in the well of the dam.

It gave some a sense of security to have all the people in the
dam. But it made Lindsay nervous. It radiated a sense of hysteria.

At noon the sky grew darker and the sound of the waves grew
louder. No one ate lunch. Lindsay was reminded of the Gordon
Lightfoot song "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald"-"boys, it's
too rough to feed you."

Lindsay looked up to see John's silhouette at the top of the dam.
She had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. He started down
the ladder. A wave sent a spray of water over the top, wetting them
all.

John came to the center of the site and stood with Trey on the
scaffolding. "The hurricane has changed directions. She is heading here," John announced. "And she is now a category three. When
the siren goes off, those who are not in the skeleton crew, evacuate.
The archaeology barge will take you away to safety. My barge will
take those who stay behind."

"I hate this," Gina said. "It's so scary. I wish I'd stayed on the
island today. I'll bet they are already evacuating."

"It'll be all right," Juliana assured her. "They won't let us stay
longer than is safe. Will they, Dr. Chamberlain?"

"No, they figured everything out ahead of time."

The excavation stopped and everything that could be was taken
up and stored on the barge. No one spoke except to give or
respond to orders. A few looked as if they might have tears in their
eyes. It was hard to tell, because everyone was covered with a fine
mist of salt water. Lindsay wanted to comfort John. She couldn't
imagine how he must be feeling.

That sea chantey, the sad one, the last one sailors sang while
working the pump before they left the ship, played in her mind
over and over.

Lindsay felt like crying. But every time she looked at John, up
on top of the dam working with his crew, he seemed calm, undisturbed. Maybe he welcomed a test of his dam.

A large, thick screen lay at the end of the dam, along with piles
of long spikes. The early afternoon was spent hoisting up the
heavy artifacts and packing the smaller ones. Lindsay was so
absorbed in work that when the siren came, she jumped. The
sound went on and on and on. More waves sent water raining
down into the dam.

Lindsay asked Trey if she could stay and help with the skeleton
crew. He nodded absently. She assisted in covering the wreck with
the screen. Her wet hands slipped on the wire and she almost cut
her hand. When the wire was laid out over the wreck, she helped
with pounding stakes into the ground using a wooden hammer
not unlike the one used on poor Lopez's head.

The sky grew darker. It was then she noticed that there were no
lights in the dam and the pumps were not running. They were going to let the dam fill up and simply pump the water out again.
It wouldn't matter to the waterlogged ship at all. Most of the
exposed wood had been removed anyway. The rest was under a
layer of sand and mud. It was all they could do, and it was time to
leave her to whatever Harriette had in mind.

Lindsay was wet and exhausted; the salt water chafed her
skin. Her sneakers were caked with mud and heavy on her feet
as she made her way in the dark to the stairs. Suddenly there was
nothing.

LINDSAY AWOKE CHOKING on muddy water. Her head hurt. It was
black, black like a cave, like THE cave. She panicked, punching
with her fists at something hitting her face. Plastic. She was under
plastic. She pulled it until she found an edge and gulped in several
lungfuls of air. The words leave her, leave her, leave her, kept running through her dulled brain. She pulled herself up on something-a metal bar?

Leave her.

She was in the dam and the water was almost to her knees. She
called out, but her voice was lost to her own ears under the rushing sound of the waves and wind and darkness. Lindsay felt
around the metal jungle gym-like object. The stairway. Working
her way around she found the steps and slowly climbed them to
the top of the dam. In the darkness, against a howling wind, with
ocean spray stinging her skin, she stepped from the stairway onto
the wall of the dam.