Pirate

He drew her toward him. “I can use your sharp eye,” he said.

They sat next to each other, and Remi tried to concentrate on the sonar readings, feeling as if they’d been out there all day with nothing to show for it. Eventually the wind picked up and, with it, the water got rougher. She was about to suggest they call it a day when Sam pointed to the screen. “I think we’ve found it.”

Sixteen

The area Sam had indicated looked like the remnants of a rockslide, as though some long-ago earthquake had turned the rocky southern end of the island into a pile of rubble that had swept down to the ocean floor. A few feet away was another long, narrow stretch of rubble that seemed far too neat to have been caused by any landslide. Undoubtedly ballast from a ship. The fact it wasn’t scattered meant the ship went down right there either because it was too badly damaged or it was scuttled to prevent it from being captured.

Remi leaned in closer for a better look. “Do you think the rockslide came after the wreck?”

“Possibly,” Sam replied. “Either way, that vessel was too close to navigate safely. Too many underwater rocks that could have done it in, especially in a storm.”

“Maybe they did it on purpose. Keep it from falling into the wrong hands.”

“Makes you wonder what that cipher wheel leads to.”

After final instructions to Nuno, they gathered their metal detectors, put on their diving gear, and dropped into the water.

They descended into the depths. As always, the tranquillity and beauty of the sea amazed Remi. It didn’t matter how many dives they made, each one was like a new world to be discovered, as the tropical fish scurried away and the bright colors muted into blues and greens the farther down they went.

The ballast pile she’d seen in the monitor seemed to be all that was left to indicate that a ship once rested there, a mere twenty-five feet below the surface, most of it having disintegrated long ago.

Before they explored what was left of the wreck, they scanned the water around them. The coast of Brazil was known for its higher-than-average fatal shark attacks. Granted, the majority occurred in the northeast coastal region around Recife. But the state of São Paolo due west of them had the second-highest concentration. For the most part, the victims had been swimmers and surfers, probably attacked by the aggressive bull sharks known to frequent the shallower waters off the beaches and estuaries. But the warmer equatorial coastal waters were also home to the equally dangerous and much larger tiger shark, but not as likely — Remi hoped — here in the shallows off Snake Island.

As she and Sam circled about back-to-back, they saw several barracuda, but no sharks, and so they started at the far end of the ballast pile, working their way inland toward the rockslide, moving their metal detectors along the ocean floor. Neither expected to find anything — although there was always hope — and the silence of their equipment confirmed their suspicions. The wreck’s location was well documented and had undoubtedly been searched numerous times. Even so, as Remi and Sam well knew, the ocean floor was constantly shifting, revealing secrets one day, hiding them the next.

They examined the ballast stones. Sam moved a few, tossing them aside, each one raising a cloud of silt as it landed. The next one he picked up was different. Sharp, triangular, and yellow. He shined his light on the stones, and she saw more of the same. Broken pieces of yellow brick. Not your typical ballast. Maybe something that could be traced. She held open the dive bag, he dropped the piece in, and they continued their search.

After several minutes, he tapped her shoulder, pointing to his right, where a moray eel slithered out of its home in the rocks. For a moment, she thought he was teasing her about it being a seafaring pit viper, but then he shook his head and pointed back toward the dark enclosure where the sea snake had emerged in a cloud of silt and shined his light across the space. It was several seconds before the silt settled, but then she saw what caught his attention. Whether it was the way those large rocks landed or the eel that had enhanced the opening for a home, there was a shallow hollowing beneath it. Sam swam over and used his hand to fan the silt, revealing a barnacle-encrusted rib from the ship on the ocean floor that hadn’t been visible before.

That confirmed that the rockslide had probably occurred after the ship went down, possibly covering part of the wreck.

Which meant that there could very well be something beneath those rocks. He signaled for her to check. She inserted her metal detector into the space, hearing nothing near the entrance, but a definite ping as she moved it farther in. She handed the metal detector to him, then aimed her light into the space, waving her hand over the floor, lifting the silt.