The Reef

often a result of that contract, and heirs could be used against a man.
    Instead, he chose his companions with care, treated them with the same respect and courtesy as he would treat any employee. And when a woman ceased to entertain him, she was generously dispatched.
    Few complained.
    The little Italian socialite he had recently grown weary of had been a bit of a problem. The icy diamonds he’d offered as a parting gift hadn’t cooled her hot temper. She’d actually threatened him. With some regret, he’d arranged for her to be taught a lesson. But he’d given strict orders that there were to be no visible scars.
    After all, she’d had a lovely face and body that had given him a great deal of pleasure.
    It seemed to him that violence, well-skilled violence, was a tool no successful man could afford to ignore. In the last few years, he had used it often, and he thought, quite well.
    The oddest thing was that it gave him so much more pleasure than he had expected. A kind of cheap, emotional profit, he decided. Privately, he could admit that by paying for it, he often soothed those black tempers that raged over him.
    So many men he knew. Men who, like him, controlled great wealth and managed responsibilities, lost their edge by accepting certain failures, making too many concessions. Or they simply burned themselves out by fightingto stay on top. Frustrations, he thought, unreleased, festered. A wise man took his relief and always, always, counted the profit.
    Now he had business to attend to, business to entertain him. At the moment, his priority was the Nomad, its crew, and its brilliant find.
    As he’d ordered, the reports were on his desk. He’d handpicked the team for his expedition, from the scientists to the technicians and down to the galley staff. It pleased him to know that once again, his instincts had been on target. They hadn’t failed him. When the expedition was complete, VanDyke would see to it that each and every member of the Nomad team received a bonus.
    He admired scientists tremendously, their logic and discipline, their vision. He was more than satisfied with Frank Litz, both as a biologist and as a spy. The man kept him up to date on the personal dynamics and intimacies of the Nomad ’s crew.
    Yes, he thought Litz a happy find, particularly after the disappointment of Piper. The young archeologist had had potential, VanDyke mused. But that one little flaw had made him sloppy.
    Addictions led to a lack of order. Why, he himself had given up smoking years before simply to make a point. Inner strength equaled power over personal environment. A pity Piper had lacked inner strength. In the end, VanDyke had harbored no regrets in offering him the uncut cocaine that had killed him.
    In truth, it had been rather thrilling. The ultimate termination of an employee.
    Settling back, he studied the reports from Litz and his team of marine biologists on the ecosystem, the plants and animals that had colonized the wreck of the Justine. Sponges, gold coral, worms. Nothing was beneath VanDyke’s interest.
    What was there could be harvested and used.
    With the same respect and interest, he studied the reports of the geologists, the chemist, those of the representatives he had sent to observe the operation and its results.
    Like a child with a treat, he saved the archeologist’sreport for last. It was meticulously organized, thorough and clear as new glass. No detail was omitted, down to the last shard of crockery. Each artifact was described, dated and photographed, each item catalogued according to the date and time it was discovered. There was a cross-reference with the chemist’s report as to how the article was treated, tested, cleaned.
    A father’s pride swept through VanDyke as he read the carefully typed pages. He was glowingly pleased with Tate Beaumont, considered her a protégée.
    She would make a fine replacement for the unfortunate Piper.
    Perhaps it had been impulse that had urged him to have her education monitored over the years. But the impulse had more than paid off. The way she had faced him onboard the Triumphant with fury and intelligence firing her eyes. Oh, he admired that. Courage was a valuable asset, when tempered with a well-ordered mind.
    Tate Beaumont possessed both.
    Professionally, she had more than exceeded his early expectations of her. She’d graduated third in her class, publishing her first paper in her sophomore year. Her postgraduate work had simply been