Treasure of Love (2 page)

“No shit,” Jack whispered through a smile.

“Yep, and the really impressive thing is that he stayed on board until everyone was safely rescued, barely escaping with his own life.”

“The captain always goes down with his ship,” Jack said. “Not a new concept.”

“I still think it’s pretty impressive,” Mac added. “But once he was finally aboard the rescue boat, he swore, on camera, that he would get a new boat and he would continue his research until he found the wreck of the
Sarah Maria
.”

“Did he now?” Jack asked as his mind started to wander again.
Did Powers want him to help them find the
Sarah Maria
?

Mac spoke again, “I know this is a stupid question after all that, but what’s this all about?”

“He just called me and wants to talk to me tomorrow morning about chartering the
Lindsey C
for as long as three months. And that’s who I thought was calling me back when you called.”

“No shit?” Mac said. “Certainly he doesn’t want you to take the
Lindsey C
to Cape Horn?”

“Who knows what the arrogant bastard wants?” Jack admitted.

“Wow, I can see that he really made an impression on you,” Mac said. “What did he do that has you in such a tizzy?”

Jack explained how their earlier conversation had started and abruptly ended.

Mac laughed and said, “They hinted in the documentary that he can be a little arrogant and somewhat difficult to work with.”

“We’ll just see how difficult he’ll be when he hears my price. The
Lindsey C
is
my
boat and
I’m
the captain, not Daxston Powers. And what in the hell kind of a name is Daxston anyway?” Jack asked.

Mac laughed. “Oh man, he’s in for it now. Give him hell, Jackie,” he urged.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Jack said.

“Okay, Jack. Gotta run, Brad’s waiting for me in the truck, but please give me a call after your meeting tomorrow morning. I’m dying to know what he has in mind.”

“Will do, Mac, and give my best to Brad.”

“I’ll do it. Bye, Jack.”

M
AC
hooked his phone back to his belt as he wondered if he should have mentioned to Jack that Dax was openly gay.
Nah
,
he’ll figure it out sooner or later, and this could prove to be interesting.

He thought back to the many conversations he and Lindsey had had before she died, about how they thought Jack might be gay. He’d been married for a few months some fifteen years ago and would never talk about what went wrong. Since then, he’d not had anything close to a serious relationship, nothing more than a date here or there, and when he’d found out about Mac and Brad, he’d thrown a fit and threatened to never talk to Mac again. Eventually he’d come around, but not without some major coaxing. At the time, Mac was new to the lifestyle as well, and didn’t know the signs like he did now, but Brad’s gaydar was on high alert from the start, and Jack’s homophobia had only added to Mac and Brad’s speculations about his sexuality.

Yep, this could prove to be very interesting.

Chapter 2

T
HE
next morning, Jack was up and moving around by eight o’clock. He’d had a pretty restless night’s sleep, so he’d slept in an hour or so longer than he usually did when he was in port. He poured himself his first cup of coffee and then walked out onto the deck and sat in his favorite spot on the bowsprit. He looked back over the
Lindsey C
, as he did every morning, and admired her sleek lines. Her dark-blue hull and highly polished teak trim against her bright white deck complemented the long, slim, tinted windows and high-tech bridge. His mind drifted back to his mysterious phone call yesterday and his conversation with Mac.
Dax Powers must be on a pretty hot trail if he can’t wait until his new boat is ready. That could mean some serious money for me, and having a little nest egg put away could make my time off a little less stressful.

He sipped his coffee while he anticipated what the day would bring. When his third cup was empty, he showered and made another pot for his guest. By nine fifty-five he was standing on the fly bridge, sipping his fourth cup, when a taxi pulled up to the dock. A tall man of over six feet, possibly in his late twenties, with dark brown hair cut short on the sides but a bit longer on top, unfolded out of the back of the small taxi. Jack watched who he assumed was Dax Powers stand, stretch, and lean his head into the driver’s-side window. As he appeared to give the driver further instructions, the other door opened, and a tall, thin female, about the same age and with the same features, got out of the taxi as well.

Jack observed the two as they spotted the boat and made eye contact with him. Jack instinctively waved and smiled, and the woman acknowledged him and quickly waved back. Dax simply started walking toward the boat, glaring at him, never breaking eye contact. Jack noticed that, as they walked toward the boat, the woman appeared nervous and kept looking around like she thought they were being followed. The longer Jack watched, and the closer they got to the boat, the more obvious their resemblance became.
I’ll be damned
,
they’re twins.

Jack reached the gangplank as his guests approached the boat, and stopped. He gave them the once-over, and they were indeed a beautiful pair. Jack wasn’t in the habit of ogling men, but damn if Dax wasn’t a strikingly handsome guy. He had full, pouty lips and the sexiest hazel eyes he’d ever seen—sultry and lazy, in a way that reminded him of a young Elvis Presley. Jack was mesmerized by Dax’s eyes. The color was a mixture of brown, green, and amber, and they were sheltered by thick, long, dark lashes. Jack couldn’t remember ever seeing eyes that color or eyelashes that long, especially on a guy, and he stared into them way too long for his own comfort. He broke away and turned to the woman accompanying Dax. She was just as strikingly beautiful, and although her eyes appeared to be more on the green side than brown or amber, there was no mistaking the fact that they were brother and sister. In addition, they both appeared to be very fit and looked so damn healthy, he made a mental note that he needed to increase his workouts.

He was startled when the woman said, “Permission to come aboard, Captain?”

“Permission granted,” Jack responded with a smile.

“Captain Cameron?” she asked.

“In the flesh,” Jack responded. “But please, call me Jack.”

She stuck her hand out and said, “Okay, Jack, I’m Donatella Powers, and this is my brother Dax.”

Jack shook and released her hand. “Nice to meet you, Donatella.”

“Everyone calls me Dona.”

Jack nodded, looked at Dax, and stuck his hand in his direction.

“Pleased to meet you, Dax,” Jack said.

Dax looked at the outstretched hand, but didn’t move. Dona sent a quick jab to his ribs with her elbow that seemed to startle him, and he hesitantly took Jack’s hand in a very firm handshake. The kind of handshake Jack liked to call the “my dick is bigger than your dick” handshake.

“Welcome aboard the
Lindsey C
,” Jack said.

“Thanks,” Dona replied. “Is there somewhere private we can talk?”

“Let’s head down to the salon, and we can talk there,” Jack suggested.

Both Dona and Dax continued nervously looking around the dock as they made their way below deck.

He led them through the companionway and into a well-appointed, mahogany-lined salon with a black leather couch and two upholstered side chairs. There were built-in bookcases above the windows, port and starboard, and a flat-panel television on the wall above the navigation desk. Midship was a banquette across from the galley, and in between was a set of stairs leading to four forward sleeping cabins. Aft was another set of steps that went down to the master cabin.

They settled on the couch, and Jack asked, “Can I get you anything?”

“No thank you, I’m fine,” Dona said. “You, Dax?” she continued. Dax shook his head no, so Jack sat down across from them.

“So what’s this all about?” Jack asked.

“We are about to give you some very private information,” Dona said as she reached into her backpack and pulled out a folder containing a stack of papers. She sorted through the papers until she found what she was looking for. She handed Jack a stapled document and said, “You’ll need to sign this before we can really get into details.”

Jack quickly scanned the two-page document titled “Nondisclosure Agreement.” It was a simple, straightforward document stating that he could not disclose any information shared between them during this meeting or he would be held legally responsible. Dona held a pen in his direction, which he took and used to sign the agreement. He handed the document back to Dona, and she placed it back into the folder. Only then did Dax speak.

“Jack, I’m not sure if you are aware of this, but Dona and I recently lost our vessel while searching for the wreck of the
Sarah Maria
off the coast of Cape Horn.”

Jack nodded. “Yeah, I heard about that. That was really a tough break.”

The look on Dax’s face tightened considerably, but he kept his composure as he continued.

“While doing further research on the
Sarah Maria
, we stumbled upon some documents that allude to the final resting place of a wreck here in Alaska called the
Anna Wyoming
.”

“Why does that ring a bell?” Jack asked.

“She went down in the Lynn Canal, heading for Skagway, during the 1898 Klondike Gold Rush,” Dax said.

“Oh yeah, I’ve heard of that wreck,” Jack said. “Around here, that ship is old folklore. No one’s been able to locate her in over a hundred years.”

“Until now,” Dax said.

Jack tilted his head and studied Dax’s expression before Dax continued.

“Legend has it the boilers exploded, and she went down fast, carrying a shitload of gold,” Dax explained. “But no one’s been able to find her to prove that theory. And trust me, many have tried. We now have reason to believe that we have the approximate location of the wreck and have uncovered paperwork that proves that the gold was on that ship.”

“How much gold?” Jack asked.

Dona and Dax looked at each other, and Dona said, “We’re not one hundred percent certain, but it could be as much as ten million dollars in today’s market.”

Jack whistled. “That’s a lot of money. So how do I fit into the picture?” he asked.

“We need your boat,” Dax replied.

“Okay,” Jack said. “What’s in it for me?”

“Half a million when we recover the gold,” Dax offered.

“Interesting,” Jack said. “And if we don’t recover the gold and this expedition turns out to be a bust like your last one?” he asked while staring at Dax.

Jack could see the anger building as the blood rushed to Dax’s face. Dona touched Dax’s arm—Jack assumed to keep him calm and remind him to keep his cool.

“No gold, no payout,” Dax said.

Jack stood. “I’m sorry you wasted your time coming all the way out here,” Jack said. “But your terms won’t work for me.”

“Okay, Jack. But just so we’ll know… what terms
will
work for you?” Dona asked.

“A quarter of the take,” Jack responded.

“Damn it!” Dax yelled as he slammed his fist on the table, stood, and looked at Dona. “I told you this was a bad idea.”

Dona pulled Dax back down to his seat and looked at Jack. “Mr. Cameron.”

“Please call me Jack,” he said.

“Okay, Jack,” Dona said. “Thank you for your time. You’re the first captain we’ve talked to, so we’ll just keep looking.”

Jack stood. “Suit yourself,” he said. “But I’m sure you’ve done your homework and already know that there’s only one other charter boat within a two-hundred-mile radius, and he just got to Skagway last year. I’ve been navigating the Lynn Canal for the last ten years and know her waters well. So the way I see it, your options are very limited.”

Dona looked at Dax, who seemed to have steam blowing out of his ears, then back to Jack. “Can you give us a minute alone?”

“Sure thing,” Jack said as he walked out of the salon.

He climbed the stairs to the deck and released his breath. He couldn’t believe he’d just negotiated his way into—he quickly did the math—two and a half million dollars.

Before he could revel in his victory, Dona and Dax were standing in front of him.

“Okay, Jack, we have a deal,” she said.

Jack stuck out his hand to shake on it.

“Not so fast,” Dax said. “We have a deal, under one condition.”

Stunned, Jack pulled his hand back and said, “There’s always a condition, isn’t there?”

“You incur all the up-front expenses, such as fuel, provisions, and crew,” he said. “And in the event we don’t find the wreck at the end of our contract, we’ll pay you for half of the incurred expenses and call it even.”

“Half,” Jack said.

“Yes, Jack, half. If you want a portion of the purse, you have to share some of the risk. It’s only fair.”

“I’ll need some time to think about this,” Jack said.

Dona looked at Dax. “We’ll give you until six o’clock this evening. If we don’t hear from you by six, we’ll either look for another captain or bring in a boat from elsewhere.”