The Last Treasure

“
The Last Treasure
is a true gift, delivering delicious romantic tension balanced with serious emotional depth. Erika Marks has written an exhilarating tale of passion reignited.”

—Kathleen Grissom,
New York Times
bestselling author of
The Kitchen House
and
Glory over Everything

“Powerful, intimate, and beautifully written. A treasure of a story peopled with complex and compelling characters. I loved this book!”

—Wendy Wax,
USA Today
bestselling author of
Sunshine Beach

PRAISE FOR THE OTHER NOVELS OF ERIKA MARKS

“Erika Marks creates an intoxicating blend of love, lost and found, and confronting the ghosts that lurk in our pasts. I highly recommend this beautiful story of growing up, growing older, building up walls, and knocking them down.”

—Karen White,
New York Times
bestselling author of
Flight Patterns

“A deftly woven tapestry of love, loss, and family loyalties. Erika Marks's modern-day
Romeo and Juliet
is pitch-perfect.”

—
USA Today
bestselling author Wendy Wax

“The plot is heartwarming and engaging, stirring up a depth of emotion that makes this novel the perfect summer read.”

—
RT Book Reviews
(4½ stars)

“An elegant and enchanting story about rescuing ourselves by saving each other, and a beautiful reminder of the magic and mystery we hold in our hearts.”

—Eleanor Brown,
New York Times
bestselling author of
The Weird Sisters

“A fascinating novel about the love and loss of relationships. . . . With Marks exercising great skills as a writer, you can feel the sand between your toes as you explore the beach and its byways, peopled by enjoyable and interesting characters.”

—The Huffington Post

“An awesome story of love, forgiveness, and letting go of the past . . . filled with secrets and heartbreak.”

—Fresh Fiction

“Magical!
The Mermaid Collector
had me immediately transported to the windswept cove at Cradle Harbor, feeling the mist on my face and the sand under my feet—and looking for mermaids at every turn.”

—Sarah Jio,
New York Times
bestselling author of
Goodnight June

“Spicy, delicious, and filled with surprises,
Little Gale Gumbo
is a wonderful stew, a debut novel that will fill you with joy. Put it on your reading menu and enjoy!”

—Adriana Trigiani,
New York Times
bestselling author of
All the Stars in the Heavens

“Women's fiction to be savored . . . a winner.”

—
Library Journal
(starred review)

It Comes in Waves

The Guest House

The Mermaid Collector

Little Gale
Gumbo

NEW AMERICAN LIBRARY

Published by the Berkley Group,

an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC

375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014

This book is an original publication of New American Library.

Copyright © Erika Marks, 2016

Conversation Guide copyright © Penguin Random House LLC, 2016

Penguin Random House supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin Random House to continue to publish books for every reader.

New American Library and the New American Library colophon are registered trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC.

For more information about Penguin Random House, visit
penguin.com
.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA:

Names: Marks, Erika, author.

Title: The last treasure/Erika Marks.

Description: New York: New American Library, [2016]

Identifiers: LCCN 2016008847 (print) | LCCN 2016015910 (ebook) |

ISBN 9781101990841 (softcover) | ISBN 9781101990858 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Triangles (Interpersonal relations)—Fiction. | Man-woman

Relationships—Fiction. | Underwater exploration—Fiction. |

Shipwrecks—Fiction. | Salvage—Fiction. | Domestic fiction. | BISAC:

FICTION / Contemporary Women. | FICTION/Family Life. | FICTION/Sea

Stories. | GSAFD: Love stories. | Sea stories.

Classification: LCC PS3613.A754525 L37 2016 (print) | LCC PS3613.A754525

(ebook) | DDC 813/.6—dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/201608847

Cover art: Evening at Kalahari © plainpicture/KNSY Bande; sunset © Craig Aurness/Fuse/Thinkstock Images

Cover design by Sarah Oberrender

PUBLISHER'S NOTE

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author's use of names of historical figures, places or events is not intended to change the entirely fictional character of the work. In all other respects, any resemblance to persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.

To my mother, a poet at heart,
who gave me my love for words and
waves.

A woman knows the face of the man she loves as a sailor knows the open sea.

—HONORÉ DE BALZAC

Each man makes his own shipwreck.

—MARCUS ANNAEUS
LUCANUS

TO:
Sam Felder
FROM:
Beth Henson

Sam:

I hope this e-mail finds you, and finds you well.

Last week, our curator discovered a logbook in the home of a Buxton collector. It appears the last few entries were written by Theodosia Burr Alston in the months following the
Patriot
's disappearance, so of course I thought of you right away.

I don't know if you are still entertaining your investigation of the mystery, but I did want to let you know in the event you might wish to come to the museum to have a look. If you do, I'll gladly reserve any announcements to the press until you've had a chance to see the journal for yourself. We are, as you can imagine, excited beyond words at this acquisition.

Also, I have an extra bedroom if you need a place to stay.

It would be lovely to catch up.

Fondly,
Beth

BETHANY HENSON
DIRECTOR, OUTER BANKS SHIPWRECK MUSEUM
NAGS HEAD
,
NC

S
he descends through the mist, the weight of her tank rolling along her spine, the smooth motor of her fins cutting silently through the water.

She is looking for the wreck's debris field, the pieces of its battered puzzle emerging through the murky haze, and the clouds of sand and silt that have kept the ship's bones hidden for so long will part like smoke.

But something is wrong.

The strange color of the water is her first warning—a purplish black, bearing no resemblance to any ocean she has ever dived beneath. When she slides her hands through this water, it feels thick and warm, which the sea never is at such depths. She swims on, diving deeper, her weight belt fighting her body's natural buoyancy. Where is the bottom? She should have reached it by now. Her bearings lost, she looks the only way she can, side to side, her vision restricted by the small window of her mask. She is desperate for some marker to ground her, the towline to the
boat or telltale humps to signal the ocean floor. It is as if she has been set adrift in space, an eternity of nothingness around her, no edges, no corners, just endless dark and the curdling certainty that she is alone in the universe.

She reaches for her gauge to check her oxygen and sees the impossible—only a hundred pounds left; just a few minutes in the water and the tank is nearly drained. Blood rushes to her scalp; panic surges. She has to turn around, go back, go up.

Rising, she is relieved for a glorious second to feel her body obey; then fear returns. She swims harder, hands clawing as they race toward the glowing surface, as if she is buried in dirt and trying to dig out.

But she knows she swims too fast. Her joints ache. She has to slow down, but still her arms and legs continue to fight, even as excruciating pain tears through her elbows and wrists.

If she can just get back to the boat, back to the top.

If she can just
breathe
.