The Reef

bottle down and rose slowly until they were toe to toe. Until he could smell her hair. Until his fingers throbbed with the memory of how her skin felt under them. “I still get to you, don’t I?”
    “Your ego’s still in the same place.” She schooled her features to mild disdain. “Just below the button of your jeans. Tell you what, Lassiter, if things get a little tedious and I’m desperate enough to try anything to break the monotony, I’ll let you know. But until that unlikely event, try not to embarrass yourself.”
    “I’m not embarrassed.” He grinned at her. “Just curious.” Hoping to loosen some of the knots in his gut, he sat again. “Any more rules, Red?”
    She needed a minute before she could trust her voice. Somehow her heart had lodged in her throat. “If, by some miracle, we find the Isabella, I will, as marine archeologist, catalogue and assess and preserve all the artifacts. Everything gets logged, down to the last nail.”
    “Fine. Might as well put those degrees to use.”
    She bristled at his obvious lack of respect for her field.
    “That’s just what I intend to do. Twenty percent of whatever we find will go to the government of Saint Kitts and Nevis. And though it’s only fair that it be put to a vote, I’ll set aside what artifacts I find appropriate to donate.”
    “Twenty percent’s hefty, Red.”
    “Try a little fame along with your fortune, Lassiter. If things work out as we hope, I’m going to negotiate with the government to establish a museum. The Beaumont-Lassiter Museum. If the wreck’s as rich as reputed, you can spare ten percent of your share and still not have to work another day in your life. It’ll keep you in shrimp and beer.”
    Again he flashed a grin. “Still stewing over that sword. You surprise me.”
    “As long as we keep our cards on the table, there won’t be any surprises. Those are my terms.”
    “I can live with them.”
    She nodded. “There’s one more. If we do find Angelique’s Curse, it goes to the museum.”
    He picked up his beer, drained it. “No. You’ve had your terms, Tate. I’ve only got one of my own. The amulet’s mine.”
    “Yours?” She would have laughed if her teeth hadn’t been clenched together. “You don’t have any stronger claim on it than the rest of us. Its potential value is tremendous.”
    “Then you can assess it, catalogue it and deduct it from the rest of my take. But it’s mine.”
    “For what?”
    “To pay off a debt.” He rose, and the look in his eyes had her backing up a step before she could stop herself. “I’m going to wrap it around VanDyke’s neck, and strangle him with it.”
    “That’s foolish.” Her voice shook. “Crazy.”
    “That’s a fact. You live with that one, Tate, because that’s how it’s going to be. You’ve got your rules.” He cupped her chin in his hand and made her tremble. Not from the touch, not this time, but from the hot-blooded murder boiling in his eyes. “I’ve got mine.”
    “You can’t expect any of us to stand by while you plan to kill someone.”
    “I don’t expect anything.” He’d stopped expecting long ago. “It just wouldn’t be smart to get in my way. Now you’d better get some sleep. We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us.”
    He was lost in the shadows of the trees almost immediately. To ward off the chill, Tate wrapped her arms tight around her body.
    He’d meant it. She couldn’t pretend otherwise. But she could tell herself that he’d lose this thirst for revenge in the hunt.
    The odds were they’d never find the Isabella. And if they did, the odds were even higher against finding the amulet.
    For the first time, she prepared to go on an expedition hoping for failure.

C HAPTER 16
    I T WAS BLISSFULLY easy to fall back into the old routine. Tate found herself pushing the purpose of the voyage to the back of her mind and simply enjoying the ride.
    They left Hatteras Island behind on a bright spring morning with the seas at a light chop. The wind was just brisk enough for a jacket and she’d pulled her hair through the hole in the back of a Durham Bulls baseball cap. At her father’s insistence, she had first shift at the wheel. And took the Atlantic.
    They sailed toward Ocracoke with its pirate ghosts, waving at passengers on a passing ferry as seagulls swooped and called in their wake. Then land became a shadow to the west, and there was only sea.
    “How’s it feel, Skipper?” Ray slipped in behind her, hugging