“Have you met Sam before?” she asked Crystal, hoping to all things holy that she was not in for another sobering clout.
“No. No, never met him before,” Crystal smiled. “Do you know him well?”
Nina could not believe the incredibly well-placed question she childishly answered, "I do, indeed." She knew she was acting like a juvenile, but sometimes adults indulged in the smallest of infantile pleasures to feel better about themselves — even professional ones.
The Bentley pulled into the driveway in front of the main doors of the mansion while the two ladies descended the stairs to meet Purdue and Sam in the foyer. Nina still had her pad and the ravaged pen in her hand. When the door opened, and the two men came in, she felt a rush of intrigue of unknown origin overcome her. It was a curious sensation, that of seeing an old friend at a school camp, but at the same time she could not deny feeling an impression of apprehension surrounding Sam’s presence.
He looked dashing, she thought, in a wild way. The last time he had sported this look had been when the two of them had shared the adventure with the motorcycle gang that guarded Valhalla. Nina could not help but notice before she even greeted him. With arms outstretched she said, “Shall we get you some rum and a tricorn hat, eh, Laddie?” Sam wrapped his strong arms around her and whispered, “Aye, don’t make me throw you in my brig, wench. I tend to do my worst.”
“Great to see you again, Nina,” he said out loud as he let go of her. His eyes fell on the beautiful woman next to her, and he looked spellbound. "And you must be the priceless gem Purdue told me about, Miss Meyer,” he charmed her. Nina bit her lip at the sight of Crystal’s perfectly groomed fingers mingling with Sam’s big, strong hand. Irately she made for the dining room to get a whisky without a word and in passing caught Purdue’s stare. He looked sympathetic to her obvious disgruntlement, but he did not follow her.
In Nina’s opinion, it was time for a stiff drink. Her last hope of being the “meat of choice” had squibbed at Sam’s obvious attraction to the tall lawyer. Suddenly the morose feeling in her chest grew stronger than ever, and she felt that something about the whole expedition was amiss, but, of course, she could not make such a ludicrous claim until she knew more about it.
Purdue silently kept his eye on Nina. He could see the hurt Sam’s attention toward Crystal had inflicted. In his own selfish way, it amused him because this would present the perfect opportunity to win Nina back from Sam, no matter how adamant both were in denying their obvious love. If Sam kept flirting or even engaged with the admittedly beautiful, promiscuous lawyer, it was bound to send Nina straight into the arms of the playboy who had lost her once and vowed never to stop trying to reverse the unfortunate turn. If not, Purdue still had Crystal to own. With their past and his exuberant lifestyle, she would be easy to annex like an uncharted island for the taking.
Crystal was instantly taken with Sam. The fact that he was an investigative journalist, a Pulitzer Prize winner, and pretty renowned author turned her on. After all, she spent her spare time in perilous seas, capturing the treasures of the past from the claws of oblivion, storms, and ruthless treasure hunters.
His black hair fell on his collar and tousled strands fell into his handsome face. Evidence of at least two days of shaving tardiness colored his jaw and chin with a coarse shadow that starkly contrasted his big, gentle dark eyes.
"Where did you get the tan, Sam?" Nina asked, tumbler in hand while her eyes rivaled the fire in the hearth.
“A week in Malta and two days after that chasing a tale for a client in Milan. Do you like the bronze?” he winked.
“Looks like sunburn,” she remarked flatly, evoking a chuckle from Purdue, who had just entered the room with a few folders in hand. That tone and look were all too familiar, and Sam knew right away that once again he had done something wrong. What it was would probably transpire as soon as they were in trouble again, Nina’s favorite time to disclose her feelings.
“Right, people, have a seat. Let’s arrange this excursion in the correct manner to make everything run smoothly. We don’t have much time on this one, not until we get it into international waters undetected,” he revealed. Nina and Crystal exchanged glances of equal confusion.
“It is an illegal salvage?” Nina asked.
Purdue and Sam looked at each other, acutely aware of the sense of right and wrong both women possessed.
“Look, it’s not the first time we’ll do something a little south of proper," Purdue explained. "This find is of tremendous significance; we just can’t pass this one up.”
“How much do you know about this wreck, Dave?” Crystal asked. “Nina was barely able to find anything about it, apart from two, maybe three lines somewhere in a historical article about the naval town of Simonstad that mentioned something about a vessel, but not more.”
Nina nodded in agreement.
“My client, my… an old friend has assured me that he has seen the wreck and that he is fairly certain that it is the Admiral Graf Spee,” Sam said. “I trust his judgment. As archeologist and anthropologist, he knows what he is talking about. Billy Malgas is no fool.”
Nina shifted forward to lean her elbows on the table, “The article says that the Admiral Graf Spee was a Nazi pocket battleship that passed the Cape of Good Hope toward the east and sank several Allied ships without getting hit at all. It says that not one single shot was fired at it, but that’s all it says about it. There is no mention of where it sank, or even if it did.”
“Well, now we have reason to investigate. And since Crystal is both a salvor and a lawyer, she is indispensable as legal advisor on Maritime Law and as a master diver,” Purdue clarified.
Sam looked at Crystal with admiration, “Then she’ll know how we can get the vessel out of territorial waters first.”
“She does not. That is Dave’s side of things,” Crystal corrected Sam.
That meant only one thing — it was going to be a clandestine project, utilizing only the best and slightly less legally sound personnel. It had to be kept a secret.
Chapter 9 — Cheryl’s Deal
“So we are waiting for Sam Cleave and his associates to meet us at the harbor,” Dr. Malgas told Cheryl. “Would you be interested in helping out, perhaps? You know, since you said you are between jobs right now?”
“What kind of work? Cataloguing?” she asked.
“I think so. We will need to mark whatever we pull out of the wreck and the other members of the assignment will probably be too busy working on the wreck itself assessing its historical significance; Sam and I will study the vessel’s history and have Mieke Badenhorst help us deal with the PR-side of things. She is my current assistant,” he explained. “Would you be interested in joining us?”
Cheryl shifted in her seat. What she had to clarify now was the difficult part of the conversation. Telling Dr. Malgas that she had to drag two shady looking men with her had to be handled with great sensitivity. However she was going to convey her condition, it would have to happen soon. She was beginning to feel anxiety, and she knew the next symptoms of withdrawal would be visible perspiration and tremors
“Billy, I… don’t work anymore alone these days,” she smiled shyly. “I too, have an assistant and an associate who helps out on our various projects, you see? And I have to include them. Would that be alright?”
Billy Malgas cleared his throat at the revelation, which made him a bit reluctant. He had not intended to include this many people in the hoax, especially since only he and Mieke knew that the whole thing was a complete and utter lie. He was afraid that adding more people would increase their risk of getting caught lying, but to keep up appearances that he had faith in his claim he could not refuse. What would his reasons be?