“Why don’t you tell me about what’s going on at the dive site?” Cole said. “Then I can figure out where to go from there.”
“What dive site?” Annja asked.
“It’s off the coast of Nova Scotia,” Cole said. “My brother is up there heading the expedition to discover where the HMS Fantome went down back in 1814.”
“Fantome?” Annja frowned. “You mean the ship that was supposedly carrying treasure looted from the White House during the War of 1812?”
“The same. My brother has been after it for years. Guess you could say that the love of the ocean runs deep in my family.”
Annja sighed. “Great pun.”
“Sorry.” Cole shrugged. “But whereas I want to study the ocean and its wildlife, my brother is a bit more fixated on the economic aspects of it. He’s been a treasure hunter for years.”
“After all the time we’ve known each other,” Annja said, “I never knew that.”
Cole sipped his coffee. “Yeah, well, it’s been a bone of contention between us for a while. Neither of us approves of the other’s work. My brother thinks I’m a fruitcake for swimming with sharks and not making a buck off of my research. I think he’s a money-grubber after fame and fortune.”
“And never the two shall meet?”
Cole smiled. “Only during the holidays at my mother’s house. She usually starts the visits by telling us that if we fight she’ll smack us around.”
“Smart woman,” Annja said. “What’s your brother’s name?”
“Hunter,” Cole said. “How tragically fitting, huh?”
“The problem is the death of one of his guys,” Sandy said. “Hunter told me that they’ve spotted a big shark in the area.”
Annja leaned back. “Sharks off Nova Scotia? Isn’t that a little far north for any of the dangerous species?”
“Not at all,” Cole said. “Great whites can regulate their internal body temperature and keep it higher than the surrounding water. They’ve adapted so they can hunt the seals that prefer to stay in the cooler waters. It’s not uncommon to find great whites that far north.” He took a breath. “Now, whether one is attacking divers at the dive site, that would be another matter entirely.”
“Would it?”
He looked at Annja. “As you’ve seen, just because a great white is around doesn’t automatically mean that someone’s going to die. If that was the case, there’d be bodies everywhere.”
Sandy laid her hands on the table. “It’s pretty apparent from the evidence on the body that something large, with huge teeth, killed the diver.”
“Huge teeth?”
“The bite radius was enormous. Hunter says the body was cut in two.”
Cole frowned. “That would mean a great white of huge proportions. Something like that would be pretty unusual.”
“Larger than a twenty-footer?” Annja asked.
“Sharks that large don’t usually bother coming in close to shore. They’re more deep-water fish. Hardly ever seen. That sort of thing. But if one is stalking the dive site, then that would be unusual behavior as well. It would mean it was a rogue shark. And unlike in the movies, that just doesn’t happen all that often,” Cole said.
Tom had been silent at the other end of the table, but he looked up and smiled. “Well, we could always offer to go and check things out. If Hunter’s worried about his team and knows there’s a shark in the area, that might be why he decided to call you.”
Cole grinned. “Well, he needs to keep me in the loop anyway: I’m financing the operation.”
Annja frowned. “I thought you said Hunter was always riding you because you don’t make any money.”
“He is,” Cole said. “And he’s right to some extent. I don’t make much money. But I have money left over form a trust fund set up by my father.”
“Didn’t Hunter have one?”
“Absolutely. But he blew through it years ago financing his own dives. It was only after he went bankrupt that I staked him and he ended up striking a good find down in the Caribbean. Now, we work together with me fronting the money on his expeditions and reaping a decent return on my investment.”
“Interesting.”
“Well, it enables me to keep the research going,” Cole said. “And that’s the most important thing to me.”
Sandy cleared her throat. “Thing is, with a shark in the area, the dive crew isn’t exactly excited about getting back into the waters.”
“Understandable,” Annja said. “I wouldn’t be crazy about it, either.”
Cole looked pained. “It kills me to say it, but we’ve got to do something about it, then. Time is money on these things.”
Sandy nodded. “That’s why he called. He wanted you to know that there was some chaos up there.”
“And?”
“He wants you to come up.”
Cole took a long sip of his coffee and swallowed. “I don’t know. I’ve got a lot to do around here.”
“Like swim with more great whites?” Annja grinned at him.
“You know the plan, Annja.”
“Yes, but this is something you should look into. If there is a shark hunting through the dive site, then maybe you can figure out why it’s there and why it’s attacked a diver already. That research could prove just as useful as what you’re doing here.”
“I’ve always tried to keep my business investments separate from my love of the ocean.”
“Not always possible,” Annja said.
Cole nodded. “I’ve been somewhat idealistic in that regard.” He smirked. “Possibly naïve as well.”
Sandy got up from the table. “I can make the flight arrangements if you’d like. Get you up there for first thing tomorrow.”
Cole glanced at Tom. “Interested in coming along for the ride?”
Tom fixed him with a gaze. “Now, why would you even ask that question? Of course I am.”
Cole smiled. “I don’t like to assume things.”
“Yeah, well assume all you want. I’m not going to miss the chance to see what’s going on up there.” He shrugged. “Besides, it’s a hunt for treasure. What guy didn’t dream of doing that when he first heard about Treasure Island?”
Cole turned to Annja. “I know you’ve got plans to fly out soon, so I won’t bother asking—”
Annja held up her hand. “The dive site actually sounds like something I’d enjoy. And like Tom said, it does involve the search for relics and treasure. That’s something I’m always interested in, in case you didn’t know.”
Cole looked at Sandy. “Flight arrangements for three, if you please.”
Sandy nodded and left the room. Cole watched her go for a moment and then, noticing the silence that hung in the room, turned back. “She’s a good worker. Knows everything I need to keep up with.”
Annja eyed him. “She didn’t seem too thrilled with me being around here.”
“Ah, that’s just Sandy. She’s had a thing for me ever since she started working here.”
“That’s