The Reef

untold riches and power—whatever their heart desires. If it controls them, they lose whatever’s most precious to them. Like I said,” he added, swallowing deep. “Bullshit. But VanDyke’s big on control.”
    “It’s fascinating.” And she made up her mind to do some research on the legend at the first opportunity. “I’ve never heard the story before.”
    “There’s not a lot of documentation. Bits and pieces. The necklace bounced around, wreaking havoc supposedly and gaining a rep.”
    “Like the Hope Diamond?”
    “Yeah, if you go for that stuff.” He eyed her. “You would.”
    “It’s interesting,” she said with some dignity. “Did VanDyke find it?”
    “No. He thought my father had. Got the idea in his head that my father was holding back on him. He was right.” Matthew took a long, cold drink. “Buck told me that my father had found some papers that made him think the necklace had been sold to this rich Spanish merchant or aristocrat or something. He spent a lot of time researching, really got into it. He decided it was on the Isabella, but kept it between him and Buck.”
    “Because he didn’t trust VanDyke.”
    “He should have trusted him less.” The memory glinted like a sword in Matthew’s eyes. “I heard them going at it the night before that last dive. VanDyke accused him of hiding the necklace. He still figured it was on the wreck they were digging. My father just laughed at him. Told him he was crazy. The next day, he was dead.”
    “You never told me how he died.”
    “He drowned. They said it was bad tanks, that the equipment hadn’t been properly rigged. That was a fucking lie. I was in charge of the equipment. There was nothing wrong with it when I checked it that morning. VanDyke sabotaged it. And when my father was eighty feet down, he was taking in too much nitrogen.”
    “Nitrogen narcosis. Rapture of the deep,” Tate murmured.
    “Yeah. VanDyke claimed he tried to get him up when he realized something was wrong, but my father fought him off. There was a struggle, he said. VanDyke’s story is he started up for help, but my father kept pulling him back. I went down right away once the bastard came up with the story, but he was already dead.”
    “It could have been an accident, Matthew. A terrible accident.”
    “It wasn’t an accident. And it wasn’t Angelique’s Curse the way Buck likes to think. It was murder. I saw that bastard’s face when I brought my father up.” His tensed fingers crushed the can in his hand. “He was smiling.”
    “Oh, Matthew.” To comfort, she cuddled against him. “How horrible for you.”
    “One day I’ll find the Isabella, and I’ll find the necklace. VanDyke will come looking for me. I’ll be waiting.”
    She shivered. “Don’t. Don’t think about it.”
    “I don’t very often.” Wanting to change the mood, he draped an arm over her shoulders. “Like I said, the past is past. And it’s too nice a day to think about it. Maybe we should take some time off later in the week. Rent some skis or try some parasailing.”
    “Parasailing.” She looked up at the sky, relieved that his voice was casual again. “Have you ever done it?”
    “Sure. The next best thing to being under the water is being over it.”
    “I’m game if you are. But if we’re going to talk the rest of this crew into a day off, we’d better get to work. Get your hammer, Lassiter. It’s back to the chain gang.”
    They’d barely begun to work on conglomerate, when they heard a shout over the port side. Tate brushed off her hands and strolled over.
    “Matthew,” she said in a thin voice. “Come here. Mom.” She cleared her throat. “Mom! Come out. Bring the camera. Oh, God. Hurry.”
    “For heaven’s sake, Tate, I’m frying shrimp.” Exasperated, Marla came on deck with the video camera swinging from her arm. “I don’t have time to take movies.”
    Tate, with her hand vised on Matthew’s, turned andgrinned idiotically. “I think you’ll want to take one of this.”
    Marla scooted to Tate’s other side, and the three of them looked over the rail.
    Both Buck and Ray bobbed in the water, faces beaming manically. Each gripped the side of a bucket that shimmered and dripped with gold doubloons.
    “Jesus Christ,” Matthew breathed. “Is that thing full?”
    “To the brim,” Ray called out. “And we’ve filled two more below.”
    “You ain’t seen nothing like it, boy. We’re rich as kings.” Water trickled down