Going Down (Divemasters #1) (18 page)

It was blood red, the size of a golf ball.

“It coordinates well with this, I think.” Miguel was grinning then too as he revealed the fistfuls of gold coins he’d retrieved.

Holy shit.

They’d found it.

“It was right where I remembered.” Miguel hummed. “Just waiting for us to come back and do this right. Now we actually have the resources to retrieve what’s down there. Maybe sometimes things really do happen for a reason.”

Archer whooped. He tugged Waverly into his arms and spun her around. The whole time, he stared into her eyes. “You know, I think they’re right about that.”

“So do I.”

L
ater that night
Archer sat in a private nook on one of the upper decks with Tosin, Miguel, and Banks. They huddled around a table with tons of documents scattered across it. Who could have known it would require this much paperwork to set his plans in motion?

A bunch of empty beer bottles made perfect paperweights, warding off the breezes that kept getting stronger the longer they hung out. He did his part to help by draining another one then plunking it on top of the contract he’d just signed.

Away from city lights, the night sky sparkled as if it were littered with the diamonds they hoped to find when they could explore the shipwreck further. They’d spent the afternoon taking pictures and documenting the exact coordinates of the visible portions. Then they’d agreed it was best to take off, heading back to Bonaire for the end of their guests’ stay.

The last thing they wanted to do was tip anyone off about what was waiting beneath the waves. If they weren’t careful, treasure hunters would swarm the site, compromising the integrity of the find and cherry-picking valuable items.

They would have to keep the secret safe for the few weeks it would take to have the Banks Foundation file a claim, get any necessary permits, and organize an official salvage operation as one of its divisions. Now that most of their business was wrapped up, Archer couldn’t wait for Waverly to finish the massage he’d convinced her to get so that he could talk to the guys alone about their future.

Five more minutes, then he’d go search her out.

“I have one last thing I want to ask you all.” Archer scanned the face of each man around the table. “We’re joint owners here, so I don’t have the authority to give our shit away, but with my portion of the treasure proceeds, I’d like to buy our helicopter from the Divemaster Project.”

It wasn’t too hard to figure out what he might intend to do with one of those.

“Wow, that’s a hell of a Valentine’s Day gift. Are you in loooooove, Archie?” Tosin teased him as he had known the guy wouldn’t be able to resist doing.

“I—” Of course he loved Waverly. Loving someone and being in love with them were two different things, though. And he hadn’t said those words out loud to anyone yet. Not even himself.

Banks smiled at him.

“Yeah. Have been since I was eighteen, I think.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Here’s the thing. The same way I didn’t want you guys to feel stuck here, I’m having the same issue with her.”

“She doesn’t like working for her boyfriend?” Miguel asked. “I guess I can understand that.”

“Waverly doesn’t have a problem with it so much as I do.” He cleared his throat. “I was hoping I could give her the helicopter, then we could hire her as an independent company to run it. Fair market value on the contract.”

“You know, she could decide to take off.” Miguel pointed out the obvious. It didn’t make Archer’s leg stop jittering, either.

“Uh huh. But I’m hoping she won’t.” He shrugged.

Banks came to his rescue. “I’d say that’s a safe bet, Archie.”

“I haven’t said anything to her about it yet. So can we keep it on the down low until I find the right time?” He rubbed his hand over his mouth and chin. “She can be kind of stubborn about stuff like that sometimes.”

The guys laughed at his understatement.

“You know we’re happy for you, seriously.” Tosin slammed the rest of his beer, then said, “I just want you to be sure, Archer. This is a lot all at once. Our lives have completely changed and—”

“Thanks, but I’m positive.”

“If it’s the real thing, taking some more time to think things over isn’t going to change the outcome,” Miguel added.

Archer found himself grinding his teeth. He knew they meant well, but, what the hell? “She’s the perfect woman for me. The perfect
partner
. In every way.”

Okay, so that might have been a low blow. Both Miguel and Tosin winced.

Could they be jealous of Waverly and the extraordinary amount time he’d been spending with her lately?

“Boys, let it go for tonight,” Banks advised them. “Or someone’s going to end up with a black eye, and I’m fairly sure the doctor has already turned in for the night. Would hate to wake her up for an ice pack and some x-rays.”

“Is someone hurt?” Waverly asked then, making each of them jump. Even Banks.

Whew, that had been close.

In the background, Banks gathered the heap of paperwork and tucked it into an accordion folder that he placed discreetly beside his seat.

“No, Banks is just busting our balls,” Miguel answered for them.

“I don’t recommend that. I hear it’s painful.” Waverly smiled as she strolled to Archer and kissed him on the cheek. “Miss me?”

“Tons,” he admitted.

If the guys rolled their eyes, he chose to ignore it.

“You were right. That was heavenly. Vanessa is amazing with her hands.” Waverly sighed. “I didn’t realize how sore I was.”

If it wasn’t so dark out, he probably could have seen her blush. It wasn’t any secret that he’d contributed to her aches by using her so well, so often, lately. Hell, he could have benefited from a rubdown himself. It was a lot of work pleasing her. And he enjoyed every minute of it.

Archer grabbed her around the waist and tugged her into his lap.

“Oh, nice.” She squirmed, getting comfortable and putting him in danger of popping a boner at the same time. That’s what he got for enjoying her mild embarrassment. “My favorite seat in the house.”

“Be careful or he’ll put you over those knees next time you’re in the clubroom. Bet you won’t like that as much,” Miguel teased her.

“Huh? What’s the clubroom?” she asked, chuckling kind of uncomfortably as if she’d missed the punch line.

Oh, shit.

When she finally noticed the serious stares on the guys’ faces, she realized—for once—they weren’t joking. “Guys? What’d I miss?”

Miguel clammed up. He looked to Archer as if asking for help out of whatever hole he’d managed to dig for them both. Even Banks raised his brows, which was about as shocked as Archer had ever seen the guy before. Was it that big of a deal that he hadn’t felt the need to play in there with her?

Well…maybe.

“Archer?” She looked at him then.

“You’ve seriously never taken her there?” Tosin asked, making the whole thing worse. “What’s up with that? And your little speech earlier… It made it sound like she met
all
your needs. Are you sure, Archie?”

How dare they imply he was changing who he was to suit her? It just hadn’t come up yet. Plus, they’d had a lot to work through, given their past. Could
that
be why he had toned down that side of himself around her? Because he still felt guilty? Or like he had to hide those parts of himself?

Could the guys be right?

Damn it. He’d rather believe they were butthurt because he hadn’t participated in any late-night private parties, taking that aspect of their bond with him.

“Archer?” Waverly’s pitch went up and her volume increased as she repeated herself. She sprang up from his lap and propped her hand on her hip.

They might have had to excuse themselves then to have a very private discussion, and maybe their first serious fight since getting back together, except right then someone screamed.

The animalistic sound left no doubt that something was fucked to hell.

Archer and the rest of the guys shot to their feet, trying to figure out where the noise had come from. A few seconds later, a more controlled shout followed. It didn’t ease his anxiety in the least.

“Help! Someone please, help! Oh God, I think she’s dead!”

A
rcher sprinted
toward the hysterical guest, who begged for help.

By the time he arrived, a few other crewmembers and guests had gathered around. The head stewardess, Maria, a married couple from Denver, and one of the ship’s officers—Ted—were alternating between trying to calm the screaming person and staring at the pool.

Floating on the surface, face down, in a spreading maroon cloud, was the ship’s masseuse.

He skidded to a stop and tried to prevent Waverly from seeing the woman once he realized who it was.

Miguel didn’t bother. Though it was unlikely they could help the woman, he dove into the pool and checked for a pulse. He shook his head. No.

When he lifted her face out of the water, he grimaced then set her down gently before heading for the edge. He drew himself up and out, dripping bloody water onto the deck. “She’s gone.”

“Is that Vanessa?” Waverly flailed at Archer’s back. “Oh my God, how can that be? I was just with her a few minutes ago.”

Everyone turned to stare at her then.

“She was…not like this. Alive. Very alive.” Waverly paled.

Captain Alex began barking orders over his radio. “I need all hands on Deck Two. Bring any weapons you have. Be on the lookout for suspicious persons heading away from the pool area.”

He looked to his officer then. “Ted, grab the log book from the office. I want to verify every gun we have onboard against it. Immediately. Check each one to see if it’s been fired since last cleaning.”

They had several, for safety in sometimes dangerous parts of the world.

“While you’re in there, download the camera feeds for the past fifteen minutes. Put them in the officers’ shared folder and be prepared to forward them to the authorities when I have more information.”

“Yes, sir,” Ted answered before running toward the interior of the ship.

“Archer?” Waverly seemed dazed.

He faced her then, pressing her to his chest so she couldn’t keep staring at the dead body.

Tosin assigned himself to crowd control, corralling the guests away from the area while keeping them together for their safety. It also prevented anyone from leaving before they could be questioned.

Captain Alex approached the pool and knelt, carefully retrieving a two-liter bottle from its surface with gloved hands and setting it aside. “Whoever did this knew what they were doing. They silenced the shot with this.”

“Explains why we didn’t hear anything.” Banks grimaced. “We were right up there, though it is quite windy tonight.”

Archer thought back to how they’d had to pin down their papers.

“There’s a storm coming. I’m going to call this in.” Captain Alex frowned. “Closest port is Kralendijk. They’ll probably have us dock as planned so they can conduct an investigation.”

“Who would do this? Why?” Waverly trembled in Archer’s hold.

Those were very good questions. He wondered if she was also thinking about the fact that they were trapped onboard with a killer. No matter how much he rubbed her arms in an attempt to warm them, she shivered harder. Banks appeared with a blanket. Together they wrapped her up.

Miguel stood nearby, not saying anything. Quietly, he observed everything and everyone around them.

It wasn’t long before Ted returned carrying a binder. He set it on a nearby table, grabbed one of the four thousand tabs on the side, and opened it. Crew members lined up to present their weapons. He swabbed the inside of each one with a Q-tip before confirming it was clean and checking it off the list.

When everyone had made it through the line, he slapped his hand flat on the table. “Damn it. That’s all of them.”

“Well, it wasn’t a ghost that put a hole in that woman’s head.” Captain Alex turned an unhealthy shade of purple.

Archer thought he might only be a couple of hues behind.

“Excuse me…sir?” Ted seemed almost afraid. “I know of another weapon onboard. Not listed here.”

“Whose is it?” Captain Alex demanded.

Ted pointed. Directly at Waverly. “She had it in Caracas. When we ran from those thugs. And she damn well knew how to use it, too.”

Archer growled. Waverly flinched in his grip. “Of course she does. She’s a Navy veteran. Waverly had
nothing
to do with this!”

“It’s fine, Archer. Sorry, I should have thought of it myself.” She separated from him then and turned to the captain. “Yes, I have my weapon. It was cleared by Banks that I bring one.”

“Where is it?” the captain asked, not unkindly.

Good
, Archer thought.
I won’t have to fire his ass.
Ted, however, was on thin ice.

“He’s just doing his job.” Waverly patted Archer’s chest when she realized what he was fuming at. “The gun is in the safe in our room. It’s unloaded. Should I go get it?”

“Why don’t you stay here?” Miguel said both too quickly, and a little too loudly. “I’ll do it. Archer told me the combination earlier because that’s where we put…
stuff
.”

He’d almost mentioned their treasure.

Waverly nodded. “Thanks.”

Unfortunately, Archer didn’t think his friend was motivated entirely by kindness. He’d better knock that shit off fast.

“While we’re waiting, let’s pull up the camera feeds, Ted,” Captain Alex boomed.

The guy looked miserable. Like he’d rather have anything else to say other than, “When I went to download the footage, they weren’t running. Looks like they were shut off about an hour ago. Sorry, sir.”

“Fuck!” Archer couldn’t stand how everything was spiraling out of his control.

Little did he know, it was about to get a whole lot worse.

Miguel stomped back onto the deck. He shouted, “It’s gone!”

“My gun?” Waverly put her hand on her chest. Archer cupped her elbow, keeping her upright.

“That too.” He kicked a chair over, making a clatter that drew the attention of everyone in sight.

“Oh, shit.” Tosin put his head in his hands over where he sat with the guests.

“Does someone want to fill me in on what’s going on?” Captain Alex spoke quietly. It was so much more intimidating than if he’d yelled.

Banks shuffled close and spoke low enough that no one else could hear. The captain’s eyes grew wide. Then he released a string of curses that impressed Archer with its creativity and pure vileness.

His thoughts exactly.

“I didn’t do this!” Waverly wrestled with the blanket, shoving it off. “Swab my hands. Please.”

“No. You don’t have to do that.” Archer’s hackles rose.

“She does. We shouldn’t assume she’s innocent just because you’re fucking her,” Miguel spat.

Archer’s hands balled into fists and he advanced.

Banks stopped him in his tracks. “Let her do it. It will go a long way in clearing her name. We both know there’s nothing there.”

At least one of them was thinking straight.

Waverly held out her hands. He couldn’t help but notice they shook.

Ted zoomed in and used a bunch of the cotton swabs, then put them in a plastic bag and sealed it. At a loss for words, or what to try next, most everyone milled around. Captain Alex pulled Vanessa’s emergency contact sheet and passed it to Banks. Waverly groaned when she realized the phone call he’d have to make soon.

Captain Alex gave more orders. “We’re going to conduct a room search. Top to bottom of this boat. We’re looking for a handgun, or anything else out of place.”

Still, Miguel wasn’t satisfied. Against everyone’s cautioning, he edged nearer. He lowered his voice so only Archer, Banks, and Waverly could hear. “I’m worried for you, bro. You went from believing you raped this girl to chasing her like a puppy dog. She had you wrapped around her ring finger in a matter of days. It looks bad. Let them do this the right way so you don’t get any blowback. I know she’d have to be like the world’s greatest actress—a master manipulator—to have fooled us all, but…”

He stopped short of mentioning that it might run in her family.

Even that seed of doubt felt like a complete betrayal to Archer. How could his best friend be this disloyal? “She had
nothing
to do with this.”

Waverly stared blankly at the two men. She seemed overwhelmed and unable or unwilling to defend herself. So not like her. It infuriated him.

“How can you be so sure? Is this going to be like the time you forgot to mention you were Daddy Warbucks?” Miguel ripped out of Banks’s restraining grip on his biceps. “Are you telling us everything you know?”

“Shit! Yes. Guys, I swear. I don’t know what’s going on, but Waverly isn’t to blame.” Archer stood tall, wondering if they’d make it past their first destination before their entire future went to hell.

“I’m starting to feel like I don’t know who you are anymore,” Miguel sneered. “I hope you’re not being used. Blind faith doesn’t cut it for me. You’re already changing who you are for her, staying out of the clubroom. That’ll never last. The two of you won’t make it if you can’t be honest about who you are and what you like.”

The sound Waverly made then threatened to rip Archer’s heart out of his chest.

She tapped out. “That’s it. I’m done. I’ll be in our cabin if anyone wants to arrest me. Or make me walk the fucking plank for that matter.”

Then she took off. For her to show even a hint of weakness meant they’d really hurt her.

Archer roared, then lunged at Miguel. “Fuck you! She’s innocent!”

Before Miguel could take it back or say something to make it worse, Archer shut him up with a punch to the face. Tosin scrambled to Miguel’s side and helped him sit up, shaking him from his daze.

Archer and Miguel stared each other down like two groupers defending their territory.

“Enough!” Banks shouted as he smacked his palm on Archer’s chest, keeping him from pressing ahead. “What he said about Waverly was out of line. That girl isn’t capable of hurting anyone. I know it, same as you. So why don’t you go help her instead of making things worse? Captain Alex and I will handle this. In fact, everyone return to your rooms for the night. No one is to be wandering about until I say otherwise. We’ll assemble a small team to conduct the searches. Cooperate with all staff instructions. Use your intercoms if you need anything or see something suspicious.”

Archer blinked then, thinking about how he’d let Waverly go when there was still a murderer on the loose. He wanted nothing more than to take her into her arms and promise everything was going to be okay.

He spun on his heel. As he strode away, he heard Banks scolding Miguel, “What did I tell you about earning that black eye, huh?”

It might have been funny some other time.

Not with a corpse onboard, though.

Or his woman, falsely accused, nursing some stab wounds in the back.

He jogged the rest of the way to their cabin, ignoring the worried looks everyone shot at him as he passed. Only one person mattered at the moment. Banks and Captain Alex could handle the rest.

When Archer arrived, he found the door unlocked, which only pissed him off more. She should be taking better precautions. Someone had been here. Invaded their personal space once already. His anger transformed into something more desperate when he stood outside the door to the bathroom and heard the sound of weeping, nearly—though not entirely—disguised by the running shower.

It wasn’t like Waverly, though she’d softened some since she’d returned to the
Divemaster
. He was sure she would hate for him to see it. So he paced, waiting for her to emerge on her own terms.

He’d be there when she was ready for his open arms.

But it wasn’t easy.

In fact, it was one of the hardest things he’d ever done.

For her, he would manage.