085 Sea of Suspicion Read online

  As she listened to them talking, Nancy considered Zach's reaction to her questions about the scorpion attack. She had barely pressed him about it when he had turned angry. That was the reaction of someone with something to hide, she thought to herself.

  Sean was bent over the subbottom profiler. "I see something kind of unusual right down below us," he said. "Look at this, guys."

  Nancy and Zach checked the scanner. The screen was showing the outline of a series of some vaguely squarelike shapes on the ocean floor.

  "I've never seen anything quite like that before," Sean said slowly, "but I think it's definitely worth checking out."

  Bess wasn't certified for scuba diving, and they had no wet suit for Ned, so those two had to stay on the boat with Zach while Nancy, George, Sean, and Talia dove.

  "Should you be diving with that arm injury, Nancy?" Sean said doubtfully.

  "It's nothing more than a scrape now, Sean," Nancy assured him.

  Sean looked worried. "All right, but I'm going to keep a careful eye on you," he said, picking up a black specimen bag. "I don't want to lose anyone else to the treasure of the Ninfa Marina."

  Talia picked up a gadget that looked like a saucer stuck on the end of a stick. "This is an underwater metal detector," she explained. "Over the years, things get so encrusted that it's hard to know what you're looking at. This tells us what's metal and what isn't."

  The four divers double-checked their scuba gear. One by one, they plunged into the ocean.

  As Nancy descended she found that she was happy to be in the water even though her arm ached a little.

  She, George, and Talia followed Sean down toward a cluster of strange-looking mounds. At first the whitish formations looked like coral.

  Nancy was struck by the beauty of the undersea scene. Delicate, transparent jellyfish hovered above the white mounds like sea ghosts, Nancy thought.

  Sean increased his speed as he approached the mounds. Excitedly he motioned to Talia, and she nodded and swam over to him. Nancy watched as she clicked on the metal detector and passed it over one of the mounds. The metal detector emitted a loud screeching sound that made everyone jump.

  Following Sean's lead, Nancy started scraping back the surface of one of the white mounds. Then she gasped. Her scraping had revealed the unmistakable glitter of gold.

  Nancy soon realized that the mounds were actually stacks and stacks of gold and silver bars!

  Talia reached down and picked up one of the silver bars—it was as big as a loaf of bread.

  Nancy exchanged an excited look with George.

  All around them were at least fifty mounds like the one they'd just found—each one probably containing heaps of gold and silver bars.

  The discovery was staggering. Spread out on the sand was the long-lost treasure of the Ninfa Marina!

  Chapter Thirteen

  Nancy felt totally overwhelmed. The gold had to be worth millions of dollars.

  Sean and Talia hugged each other joyfully. There could be no doubt—the treasure of the Ninfa Marina had been found!

  Nancy felt a tingling rush as she took in the treasure lying before them. She reached down and picked up one of the golden bars. It was as long as her hand, and it felt smooth and heavy.

  Sean opened the specimen bag and loaded two gold bars into it. Then he signaled for everyone to return to the surface.

  As soon as Sean broke the surface, he yanked the regulator out of his mouth. Then he reached into his bag, pulled out a gold bar, and held it up.

  "We found it!" he shouted to Zach, Ned, and Bess, who were watching from the deck. "We found the treasure! It's right underneath us."

  "I don't believe it!" Bess exclaimed.

  Nancy, George, and Talia surfaced behind Sean, each carrying another gold bar. "I'm so happy for you, Sean," George said excitedly. He grabbed George and happily hugged her in the water.

  Zach's jaw was hanging open. He reached over the side of the boat and took the bar that Sean held in his outstretched hand. Then he sank weakly into a deck chair, staring at the bar.

  "I've been looking forward to this day for more than a year!" Sean crowed happily as he, Talia, Nancy, and George climbed from the water and slipped off their wet suits.

  Then everyone was hugging everyone. They all seemed awestruck by the discovery.

  As the celebrating continued, Nancy approached Sean and drew him aside. "I hate to be a wet blanket, Sean, but I think we should take some precautions right away."

  "Um—what precautions?" Sean responded in a slightly dazed manner. Nancy could see that he was having trouble focusing on anything other than the treasure.

  "We need to make sure that no one outside this ship finds out about the treasure tonight," Nancy said. "You could be in danger."

  Sean paused and took a deep breath. "You're probably right/' he agreed. "I got so caught up in the moment, I forgot that someone may be plotting to get his hands on it. I'll go down and put salvage flags around the treasure. That's the first step in making an official claim. I'll call Karen, my lawyer, tomorrow and have her file a claim with the state. In the meantime, I'd like to anchor here overnight. I want to bring up as much treasure as possible over the next day or so.

  "That sounds good," Nancy replied. Then she remembered Zach's interrupted conversation on the ship's radio. "I know this sounds drastic, but I think we should disable the radio for tonight," she said. "That way, nobody can relay our position to anyone off the boat."

  "All right," Sean said. "I'll take care of that myself. Anything else?"

  Nancy shook her head and checked to make sure no one was listening. "Just keep your eyes open tonight for any unusual behavior. If either Zach or Talia is going to make a move, they'll do it now that the treasure's been found."

  "I'll go remove the radio fuse." Sean nodded and then headed for the pilothouse.

  Nancy and Ned strolled toward the bow, talking about the treasure. Nancy watched as Talia loaded a vat of liquid plastic into the submersible.

  "We use this goop to coat some of the more delicate things we'll bring up from below," she explained. "It helps us keep the pieces as intact as possible."

  "Nancy, Ned—can we talk to you for a second?" Nancy saw George and Bess standing at her side.

  "Sure, let's go below," Nancy replied. They went downstairs through the galley and into a tiny bunk room. Nancy shut the door.

  "What's on your mind?" she asked her friends.

  George spoke first. "We saw you talking with Sean and figured you must be thinking about what's going to happen next. We wanted to know if we could help."

  "Thanks, guys," Nancy felt a warm rush of affection for her friends. "Actually, I'll need help staking out the pilothouse tonight. I have a feeling that either Zach or Talia will try to radio the news of the treasure to someone on shore— maybe the bearded guy."

  "All right," George said. "We can take turns guarding the radio."

  "Great." Nancy smiled.

  For the rest of the afternoon the crew of the Lady Jane worked to secure the treasure. Zach set out a floating ring of red-and-green salvage flags. Talia made several dives to the bottom with the submersible to help Sean photograph and tally the treasure mounds.

  By supper time everyone was exhausted from both the excitement and hard work. As soon as the sun sank below the horizon, Bess and George set out a meal they'd made from what was left in the galley.

  "Sailor's stew!" Sean exclaimed happily. "Thanks!" He smiled at George.

  "Bess gets most of the credit," George said, blushing. "But I did chop the vegetables."

  After dinner Nancy found Ned staking out the radio in the pilothouse. "Have you seen anyone yet?" she asked him.

  Ned nodded. "Talia came by a little while ago," Ned said. "She looked surprised to see me sitting in here. She said she wanted to check a chart in here. Zach came in at one point, too. He said he needed to check some instruments."

  Too bad there was no way to know which of them might have b
een planning to use the radio, Nancy thought.

  Next it was Nancy's turn to keep watch. By then it was almost ten o'clock. The ship was quiet as everyone retired to his or her bunk.

  Bess and George appeared at the door to the pilothouse. "Sean fixed up spare bunks for us," Bess said to Nancy, stifling a yawn. "We'd like to turn in."

  Ned, who was sitting next to Nancy in the pilothouse, stretched and rubbed his eyes. "I guess we're all pretty wiped out by all the excitement today," he said.

  "Get some sleep, Ned," Nancy said to him. "I'll stay on the stakeout."

  "Thanks." He leaned over and kissed her gently. "Call me when it's my turn to stand watch," he said, and headed out the door.

  Nancy made herself as comfortable as possible on the chair in the pilothouse. Her mind was focused on the treasure and their situation on board the Lady Jane. It's possible I was wrong in thinking that the bearded man was working with someone on board, Nancy reminded herself. Perhaps Rusty was his only accomplice. The bearded man could have killed Rusty over the gold ingot. But somehow Nancy was certain that someone else was involved.

  She could feel how tired she was all the way down to her bones. It was quiet except for the sound of waves lapping gently against the side of the boat. Despite her best efforts to stay awake, she finally fell into a deep but fitful sleep.

  Nancy awoke with a vague feeling that something was wrong. She pressed a tiny light on her wristwatch. It was 5:30 a.m.

  Getting up, she wandered out on deck. It was pitch-black, and she couldn't see a thing.

  "Ouch!" Nancy muttered as she stumbled over

  something on the deck. She looked down and recognized the Lady Jane's anchor line. "Wait a second, what's this?" Bending forward, Nancy saw that the metal links of the anchor line had been cut with a pair of metal clippers that were lying nearby. The boat must be adrift! she realized with a jolt.

  Alarm spread through her as she felt her way along the railing toward the bow. She searched the darkness, at last making out the outline of some black shapes looming in front of the boat.

  Nancy's heart leapt. The Lady Jane had drifted almost all the way back to shore. The boat was about to crash into some huge rocks!

  Chapter Fourteen

  Nancy could see the jagged boulders just a few yards ahead of the Lady Jane. Quick as a flash, she raced back to the pilothouse.

  She winced as she stumbled over something in the darkness and felt a twinge in her arm under her bandage. Picking herself up, she groped along the wall until she found the door to the pilothouse.

  The instrument panel gave off just enough of a glow for Nancy to see the control switches. She spotted a red alarm button and pressed it. A high-pitched siren began to sound throughout the ship.

  Please let me be able to get the engine started before we hit those rocks, Nancy thought. Adrenaline pumped through her as she twisted the

  ignition key, just as she had seen Zach and Sean do. To her relief, the engine sputtered, then roared to life. Nancy grabbed the steering wheel and threw the throttle into full reverse, bracing herself for the sudden lurch of the boat. The helm responded quickly, allowing her to back the boat away from the rocks.

  Then Sean burst into the pilothouse, with Ned close on his heels.

  "What's the problem?" Sean demanded. "Why are we moving?"

  "The anchor line's been cut," Nancy explained. "I'd say we've been drifting for quite a while. We narrowly missed hitting those rocks over there." She pointed through the window toward the shore, which was lit by the first streaks of dawn. Sean's and Ned's faces blanched when they saw how narrow their escape had been.

  Turning the helm over to Sean, Nancy went outside with Ned to look around. Bess, George, and Talia were huddled together, talking in anxious tones.

  Nancy checked to account for everyone on board. "Where's Zach?" Nancy asked Talia.

  "I'll look for him," George said, heading for the bow.

  "Maybe he slept through the alarm," Bess suggested. "I'll go below and look for him, too," she said.

  Following George toward the bow with Ned, Nancy suddenly realized that the Lady Jane's small, motorized dinghy was missing from its berth near the front deck.

  "Look, guys! The dinghy's gone—and I bet Zach's stolen it!" Nancy gasped.

  "Gone?" Ned echoed. "Where could he go in the middle of the night?"

  "I wouldn't be surprised if he left to contact the bearded guy," Nancy said grimly. "They must be working together."

  Bess returned from inside the ship. "Zach's locker is cleaned out," she said, "but I found these on the floor of the galley." She held out a pile of papers and photos. "He must have dropped this stuff on his way out."

  "Let me see it, Bess." Nancy took the pile of papers and sifted through them. A photo dropped to the floor.

  Nancy picked it up and peered at it. It was a picture of Zach standing next to Hank Morley and another, younger man.

  "The man in this picture looks familiar to me," Nancy said, staring at the tall, thin, brown-haired man next to Hank. Then she snapped her fingers. "He's clean-shaven in this photo, but that's definitely the bearded man!"

  Nancy headed to the pilothouse, followed by Ned, Bess, and George. Sean was at the helm. She showed him the photo. "Do you recognize the guy in the picture standing next to Hank Morley and Zach?" she asked him. "He's the guy who took a shot at me yesterday."

  Sean peered at the photo. "That's Hank Morley's son, Marcus," he said, handing the photo back to Nancy. "I haven't seen him around for a long time. He never had a beard, so I didn't connect him with your description."

  Nancy took in a sharp breath. "Then Hank's son probably killed Rusty, as well. It was his handwriting on the note that set you up for Rusty's murder."

  "I can't believe Hank's son and Zach have it in for me!" Sean shook his head. "Do you think Hank is involved in this scheme, too?" he asked her.

  Nancy nodded. "I remember the day I chased Hank's son—Marcus—into Hank's shop. Hank totally covered for him. I think that proves Hank is working with them. I'll bet anything Zach took the dinghy in order to contact the Morleys about the treasure."

  "Then we have to get back to the treasure before they do," Sean said anxiously.

  Nancy nodded. "Definitely."

  Talia came into the pilothouse. She looked shocked when Sean told her about Zach and the Morleys. "I always knew Zach and Morley were friends," she said. "But I can't believe he'd plot against you like that, Sean."

  Using ocean charts, Talia laid out a return course to the treasure. It turned out they'd drifted about three miles from their original location.

  Meanwhile, Nancy asked Sean to replace the radio fuse. "We may need to call the Coast Guard for help if we run into Zach and the Morleys," she explained. "But I hope that won't be necessary."

  While the Lady Jane pounded through the waves back to the treasure, Nancy headed to the lounge cabin with George, Ned, and Bess.

  "Do you really think Zach and the Morleys were behind Rusty Jones's murder, Nancy?" George asked.

  Nancy nodded. "I still don't know exactly why Rusty was murdered, but there's no doubt in my mind that they were in on it," she said. "Between the three of them, they could have rigged all of the sabotage incidents. They must have gotten access to Leif Dorning's boat somehow, too. We know that Leif's boat sank after he stopped to refuel at Hank's yesterday. My guess is that Hank sabotaged his boat on other occasions, as well."

  "I see." Ned's eyes lit up with understanding. "They rigged it so that Doming blamed Sean for the incidents on his ship, just as Sean blamed Doming for the sabotage on board the Lady Jane."

  "And Zach tried to confuse everything by talking about that ridiculous curse," Talia fumed.

  The sky was beginning to brighten with the new day. Nancy, George, Bess, and Ned went to the bow to look for the floating ring of salvage flags that they'd set out the day before. No other boats were on the horizon.

  George scanned the ocean with a pair of binocu
lars she'd borrowed from Sean. "There are the flags," she said excitedly.

  Sean maneuvered the Lady Jane into position alongside them. "We don't have an anchor, so we'll have to use the engine to keep the ship in one spot," he called forward to Nancy. "Talia's going to take the helm while I go below to make sure the treasure is still okay."

  Nancy, Ned, George, and Bess met up with Sean on the aft deck, where Sean was pulling on his wet suit. George helped him double-check his equipment before he fell into the sea. Nancy watched a pool of bubbles rise from the spot where he descended.

  Nancy scanned the horizon. "Hey, there's a boat!" she said, pointing west. "Lend me the binoculars, George," she said. When George handed them over, Nancy raised the glasses to her eyes. She could make out an old wooden boat. Three men were standing on its deck.

  Nancy felt her pulse quicken. "Oh, no, that's Hank Morley's boat," she announced in a tight voice. "And he's got his son and Zach with him,"

  "Looks like we're in for a showdown," Ned said grimly, squinting to see the other boat.

  "I'll say," Nancy said. She looked at the men again. "Ned, they're carrying guns."

  "Guns!" Bess's face turned white. "What are we going to do?"

  Nancy turned to Ned. "Ned, I want you to go to the pilothouse and tell Talia to radio the Coast Guard. Tell them it's an emergency!"

  "Okay," Ned said.

  Nancy watched nervously as Hank Morley pulled his boat within a few hundred feet of the Lady Jane. Then he stopped and dropped anchor.

  "What are they doing?" George asked. Morley and his son were unhooking a small, cigar-shaped craft that was tethered to the side of the boat. Zach stood behind them, wearing a wet suit.

  With a start, Nancy suddenly realized what the smaller craft was. "It's a submersible!" Nancy exclaimed, lowering the binoculars. "I saw it at Morley's shop the other day. So he was lying when he told me it belonged to one of his rich customers."