Even in the state-of-the art wet suit, he thought he was going to solidify before he could catch up to them. Move! he told himself. Moving generated body heat. The flippers he’d chosen were designed for speed, and he shot through the water, following the sound of the motor.
Just as they reached the last channel marker, after which he knew he would never be able to keep up, Zach surfaced and caught hold of the anchor ring. He was so exhausted from the cold that he was afraid he wouldn’t have the power to drag himself up, but adrenaline could do amazing things. Fear—for the others as well as for himself—was a potent impetus. Straining, he pulled himself up, checking to make sure he wouldn’t be seen before hauling himself to the deck.
He made it over the rail just as the boat picked up speed and began to streak across the water.
When Amanda screamed, Marni streaked over like a bolt from the blue, and Caer had a moment of truly appreciating physical pain. Marni hit her, and she saw stars.
“She’s not out!” Amanda cried, shaking. “I laced that whiskey with plenty of Seconal. Plenty! She should be out cold.”
“It’s all right,” Marni said. “It might even save us some time. There’s something about her, anyway. I think she knows something.” She reached down and drew Caer to her feet.
In seconds, Caer, her head still reeling, felt a knife at her throat.
“You know where Eddie hid the treasure, don’t you?” Amanda asked.
“What do you need with the treasure? You’ll be inheriting all the O’Riley money.”
Amanda shook her head. “I want it all. I earned it.”
“Save it for later, honey,” Marni said. “We need to get out of here first.”
She dragged Caer with her to the helm, keeping the knife against her jugular as she forced her down on her knees and took the wheel.
“You do know where Eddie left the treasure, don’t you?” Marni said.
“No, actually, I don’t. I do know there’s a clue somewhere on the boat, so you might not want to blow it up,” Caer lied desperately.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Marni demanded harshly.
“She’ll cut you if you won’t tell,” Amanda taunted. “Stupid Irish bitch. You could have stayed over there, but no. You’re just as greedy as anyone else. You used Sean to come here, and then you went after Zach. You’re trying to find the treasure yourself now.”
“Shut up, Amanda,” Marni said wearily.
“Be careful, Marni,” Caer said coolly. “Amanda inherits the fortune, not you.”
Marni’s hand twitched, and Caer felt a trickle of blood slide along her flesh.
“Shut up about Amanda and tell me where the treasure is,” Marni said. “Or we’ll just drag sweet little Kat back up here and start ripping her apart. That will make you talk.”
“You’re going to kill her anyway,” Caer said with a shrug. What the hell was she going to do? She could stall them, but what was the point? There was no hope on the horizon.
“Aren’t you a smart little potato?” Marni said. “There’s killing, and then there’s killing. I can let her die as she is now, totally unconscious. Or I can wait ’til she comes to and make sure she dies slowly and in agony. Trust me, I know how to kill.”
“I believe you,” Caer said. “But do me a favor, since you’re going to kill me anyway. Fill me in, tell me how all this happened…. The plans—the sacrifices. I mean, you two are obviously in love, so it must have been hard pretending to care about your husbands.”
“Not so hard, given the payoff,” Marni told her, amused. “Things just kind of fell in together once we met Eddie. I had to arrange to meet Cal, make him fall in love with me—which wasn’t hard. Men are so easy. Then I played matchmaker, introduced Sean to Amanda. It was easy, really. The hard part was waiting for that idiot Eddie to actually find the treasure. Too bad you didn’t figure it out a bit earlier.”
“You were good, I have to admit,” Caer said. “You pretending to flirt with Sean to make Amanda jealous, and Amanda, you pretending to hate Marni. And you, Marni, always siding with Kat in any argument. Brilliant. I tip my hat to you both.”
“That’s enough. What do you know about the treasure? If you don’t start talking now, I will bring Kat up here and dice her into fish food.”
“‘The clue is left, the clue is right, follow the North Star tonight,’” Caer quoted.
“What?” Amanda said.
“Keep going,” Marni said.
“There’s nothing more. It’s Eddie’s poem, and that’s what it says.”
“She’s playing us, Marni,” Amanda said.
“No, I’m not,” Caer assured her.
Marni stared at her with narrowed eyes.
“That’s the clue. It’s Eddie’s poem, and his clue to where you can find the treasure.”
Zach could hear voices from the stern, so he shed and hid his tank, mask and flippers, then slipped down the back steps to the cabin, hoping that neither Amanda nor Marni would be there.
They weren’t.
But what greeted his eyes, once they had adjusted to the dim light, caused his heart to skip a beat and then slam like a jackhammer against his ribs.
Bodies.