“No way.” Dane Maddock stifled a grin as he took the craft into a steep dive. “Tam just gave us this new toy. We’re not getting it taken away after our first test run.”
Down below, the barnacle encrusted hulk of a sunken ship grew ever closer as they approached. Dane slowed the craft and drifted toward the gaping tear in its hull. The two former Navy SEALs turned treasure hunters, along with their crew, had recently agreed to work for a clandestine branch of the CIA that sought to root out the Dominion, a powerful group of religious extremists that had given Dane and his partner, Bones Bonebrake, more trouble than they cared to count. This submarine, which Bones christened Remora after the suckerfish that attached itself to a larger host for transportation, protection, and food, was just one of the benefits.
“I don’t think we can make it through that gap,” Bones said from his seat behind Dane. “How about I make that hole bigger?”
“Fine, but no torpedoes. What do we have in our arsenal?”
“How about this?”
Dane watched as a mechanical arm extended from the sub and, with a flash of white light, began slicing through the hull. A cloud of silt and debris engulfed the sub. When it cleared, Bones had carved out a semicircular section of hull large enough to pass through.
“Laser cutter, baby!” Bones sounded like a kid on Christmas morning. “Hey, you know that riverboat casino my Uncle Charlie’s all worked up about? With this, we could send that thing to the bottom of the river in no time.”
“You know something? I was kind of hoping you wouldn’t be able to fit inside here. Being at close quarters with you gets old fast.” It seemed something of a miracle that the hulking Cherokee had managed to squeeze his broad-shouldered, six foot-plus frame, into the tiny sub.
“Always hating. I can’t help it if you need a gallon of hair gel to get to six feet tall.”
Dane shook his head. It wasn’t only the contrast between the blue-eyed, blond haired Maddock and the dark-skinned, long-haired Cherokee that made them an odd pair. Bones was brash and aggressive, while Dane was prone to think twice before taking action. They hadn’t cared for one another in the early stages of SEAL training but, over time, found that their strengths complemented each other. Now, though they still managed to annoy one another, they were closer than brothers.
Dane poked Remora’s nose into the ship’s open cargo hold. The hull had collapsed in places, leaving insufficient room for the craft to make it all the way in. He shone the light around, revealing indistinguishable piles of silt and rubble. Nothing to see here. “Why don’t you try out the retrieval arms and then we’ll head back?’
Two more mechanical arms extended from the bottom of the sub. Dane followed their progress on a video display. Bones used them to lift and move items of various sizes. Finally, one of the arms came up with a thin chain hooked on its grip. Bones raised the arm so they could examine at the object through the transparent bubble that topped the pilot’s area.
“A necklace. That’ll clean up nice,” Bones said. “Hard to believe it didn’t break. I am good.”
“What are going to do with it? Give it to Avery?” Avery Halsey was Dane’s sister whom his father had kept a secret from him. They’d met a few months before and now she was dating Bones.
“Yeah, Maddock, I need to talk to you about that.” Bones stowed the necklace in the sub’s tiny hold and retracted the arms while Dane reversed the craft and turned back toward shore. “She says she’s found a job and is moving down here so she can be closer to us.”
“From Nova Scotia to the Keys? That’s quite a change, but that’s cool. Wonder why she didn’t tell me.” Dane paused. “Hold on. Are you two moving in together? If so, you’re moving out of my guest room.”
“Hell no! I broke up with her. That’s what I wanted to tell you.” Bones hurried on. “I just hope it doesn’t make it weird between us.”
“Why would that be weird?” Dane rolled his eyes. He wasn’t entirely surprised that the relationship hadn’t lasted. A few months was actually a long time for Bones, who sometimes referred to himself as “Pollinator in Chief,” considering it his duty to expose as many women to his charms as humanly possible.
“You know what was weird?” Bones ignored the sarcasm. “Each of us dating the other’s sister. That was messed up.”
Bones’ sister Angel, a model and professional mixed martial arts fighter, was Dane’s girlfriend. Unlike Bones and Avery, they were still together. She had joined them on a couple of their adventures, but was currently in North Carolina training for a championship fight. The very thought of her made him smile. After years of forcing himself to think of her as a friend, she’d finally broken through the wall he’d constructed between them.
“What is this, a pajama party? Cut the relationship talk and take over.” Dane chuckled at Bones’ triumphant shout as he took control of the craft and they surged forward, climbing up toward the light.
“Let’s see if we can find a military ship and try out the cloaking on the baby.”
Dane’s good-natured groan died in his throat as the power in their sub flickered. When it returned, all the displays went crazy for a split second before returning to normal.
“Looks like we’ve found our first bug,” Dane said. “What did you do? Turn on the cloaking?”
“No, I was kidding about that.” Bones sounded puzzled. “I was taking us in, holding steady, when everything went on the fritz for a second, if that long.”
“Everything looks normal now. Let’s take it back to shore and give Tam our report.”
“Aye aye. Let’s hope this thing doesn’t crap out on us before we get there.”
“I hope they’re enjoying themselves.” Willis Sanders cast an angry look at the dancing blue waters of the Gulf of Mexico. “Me and Matt are getting that sub tomorrow. I don’t care what Maddock says.”
“I’m the boss, not Maddock,” Tam reminded him for what felt like the hundredth time. “I said you two can take it out tomorrow and that’s final. Now shut up before I change my mind.”
She’d recently brought Maddock and his crew onto her team, and Willis, in particular, found adjusting to the new power structure difficult.
“Girl, you’re grouchy. Is the Key West humidity getting to you?” He grinned down at her. He was a handsome man, tall, and well-sculpted, with skin just dark enough to lend him a hint of mystery, but even if he wasn’t her subordinate, he got under her skin way too often for her to take an interest in him.
“What have I told you about calling me girl? I used to think you were too arrogant to stop, but now I think you’re just a slow learner.” She would never admit it, but there was some truth in his words. She felt as if she was in a steam room most of the time, and the humidity played hell with her hair. More and more, she found herself in a foul mood, and she was putting far too many dollar bills into her cussing jar. She mopped the sweat from her damp brow and attempted to maintain her stern expression.
Willis hung his head and attempted to look chastened, but failed badly. His mischievous grin seemed permanently fixed in place.
For a moment, Tam considered shoving him off the pier, but he’d probably find that funny, too.
“It’s your fault for hiring a bunch of SEALs.” Matt Barnaby, a sturdily built man with brown hair and a fresh beard that he couldn’t stop scratching, gazed out at the water. “The Army actually teaches discipline.” He was a former Army ranger, which led to plenty of good natured ribbing amongst the crew members.
“Crazy talk.” Willis shook his head.
“One word: Bones.”