Phantom Prospect

“And he was down there all alone,” Annja said.

“We saw the shape moving—Jock didn’t show up on the sonar—and then it was gone. Someone screamed off the stern and when we went out, we saw an upwelling of blood break the surface of the water. We knew something was wrong so we went down.”

Annja leaned back. “You went down there knowing that the shark might still be around?”

“My man was down there,” Hunter said. “It’s my responsibility to get him back, even at risk.”

“What’d you find?”

“Two pieces of body. Shredded wet suit with these long tears. His air tanks were crushed. It was a horrible sight. His head was gone, too.”

Annja frowned. “You sure it’s him? The body, I mean.”

Hunter stared at her. “Why would you even ask that question? Of course we’re sure. Jock was the only one down there, then this big thing cruises by and then Jock’s remains are found. Seems like an easy equation to me.”

Annja held up her hand. “Just asking.”

“Well, it was a bad question,” Hunter said. “Jock was a good man and I don’t like the memory of him being questioned.”

“But you’ll lie in order to protect the salvage operation you’ve got going on here,” Annja said. “I get it.”

Hunter frowned and glanced at Cole. “Just who is this chick, bro?”

“This ‘chick,’ as you call her happens to be a pretty damned good archaeologist. You’d do well to remember that she’s not only pretty smart, but also a pretty tough woman.”

“Pretty tough?” Annja smirked. If only you had the first clue about that one.

Cole turned around. “I don’t want your ego getting out of check.”

“Thanks for the concern.” She looked at Hunter. “Look, I don’t want to get off on the wrong foot here, so let’s just agree that this is a real tragedy and that we will do everything we can to help you make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

Hunter paused and then nodded. “Yeah, okay.”

Cole pointed at the sign for Prospect. “Not much farther now, is it?”

“Five minutes or so to get down to the harbor and catch the dingy out to the boat. That shouldn’t take that long.”

Annja looked at the small town as they drove through. It didn’t look like there was a lot of traffic in the area. Small homes bordered streets and she could make out eateries and neighborhood taverns. It was a cozy town.

“There haven’t been other shark attacks here, have they?”

Hunter laughed. “You kidding? The Canadian Atlantic is considered to be one of the safest places to swim. I mean, the water temperatures are fairly cold year round, so that’s a major factor. Less people in the water, means less chance of interaction with sharks.”

“Yeah, but great whites swim these waters, too,” Cole said. “They can tolerate the cooler temps.”

“Last great white seen around these parts was five years ago,” Hunter said. “I checked.”

“Maybe they’re migrating north,” Cole said. “How’s the seal population?”

“Don’t know,” Hunter said. “They would like that, though, wouldn’t they? And Jock always did like his gray wet suit.”

Cole shrugged. “It could have been a case of mistaken identity, I suppose.” His voice trailed off.

“But you don’t think so,” Annja said.

Cole shook his head. “I don’t know. It just doesn’t feel like it. I could be completely wrong, of course. I’ve been wrong before. But a shark that big as what showed up on sonar, well, I don’t know.”

“A rogue shark hunting these waters would be unbelievable unusual,” Hunter said. “Like I said, it’s not like there’s a lot of people up here to sustain it.”

Cole nodded. “I know. I know.” He sighed. “Well, I suppose we’ll see when we get out there, won’t we?”

Annja felt the bump in the road as Hunter directed the van down on to the town dock. Small fishing charter boats bobbed in subtle tidal surge. The waters looked a deeper blue than the blue green of warmer climates.

Annja cast her glance farther out beyond the harbor. The sea stretched before them: mighty, massive, and unknown.

Just like the thing that killed Jock.

5

They boarded a smaller dinghy and sped out toward the main salvage ship, which from a distance looked nothing like it was equipped for any type of recovery operation. Annja pointed at it as they approached. “That doesn’t much look like a salvage ship, Hunter.”

“That’s the point.” Hunter smiled. “We’ve learned some hard lessons since we got started a number of years ago. The number one lesson is to not let your competition know what you’re up to.”

“There’s a lot?”

“Of rival treasure hunters? Oh yeah.” Surf spray washed over them all and Hunter wiped his face. “It’s mostly minor league stuff. No one’s taking out contracts on another company or anything. But if people know what you’re planning to do, they can get a head start on jumping the claim ahead of you.”

Annja could see some activity on the deck. “Can’t you just claim the site as belonging to you?”

“Not really. You have to jump through loopholes with the nation whose territorial waters you’re in. Then there’s the question of who might own the contents, and all that stuff. If enough time has passed, it’s not really an issue, but there are plenty of ways to get hung up in paperwork.”

“Which is why we have lawyers,” Cole said.

Hunter nodded. “Amen to the lawyers. At least this time.”

Annja grinned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means his ex-wife ran him through the cleaners,” Cole said. “And she was merciless.”

Hunter shook his head. “I won’t ever make that kind of mistake again. Mark my words.”

Hunter eased the throttle down on the dinghy motor and the little boat bobbed on the waves, closing the final distance down between them and the salvage ship. Annja noted that it was about a hundred feet long and had more of the appearance of a luxury yacht than anything else.

A ladder came over the side and Cole motioned for Annja to lead the way. She found the grips and went right up, finally stepping aboard the ship. Cole came up behind her, followed by Tom, and then at last Hunter stepped aboard.

“We would have come up from the stern, but I think we might have some work going on right now so I wanted to leave it clear. If people are in the water and that shark comes back, I want them able to exit quickly.”

Annja nodded. “Fair plan.”