He reached for the dive knife in the sheath at his ankle, snapped it out and scraped carefully at the piece. He looked up as the black coat of time, oxidation and sea growth slowly gave way.
She was staring at him, waiting. Dead calm, perfectly buoyant, as if she were floating in air. Those eyes of hers, behind the mask….
She knew.
He looked at her and nodded slowly.
Gold.
“I don’t understand,” Bethany said, seriously confused. She untangled a length of her freshly washed hair with her fingers. “You should be on cloud nine. That was a Spanish gold piece you found. Minted in Cuba, Marshall thinks, though he admits he isn’t sure yet. But if so…then it has to have come from the Marie Josephine.
Genevieve nodded, brushing her own hair out before the mirror. “I am delighted.” Delighted? Did she dare tell the truth, even to Bethany?
“Well, Thor picked it up, right?”
“What?”
“He’s the one who actually found the piece.”
“Like hell!”
“Don’t bite my head off. You two were together. The first discovery goes to you as a team. That will teach them to rib you! As if you could possibly be crazy in any way. They’ll be sorry.” She giggled. “I’ll bet you Victor is sorry right now. I mean, you are his diving partner, really. I’ll bet he’s kicking himself right now for what he said.”
Genevieve’s brush paused halfway through the length of her hair. She turned and studied Bethany. “What if I told you I saw her again?”
Bethany laughed, flinging herself back on the bed. Then she realized Genevieve wasn’t laughing and sat up soberly. “You’re kidding. Please tell me you’re kidding.”
“If you repeat this, I will call you the worst liar in the world,” Genevieve said forcefully, taking a seat on the edge of her bed. Bethany was staring at her with worry in her eyes.
“Oh, Genevieve…you are teasing me, right?”
“No.”
Bethany closed her eyes. “I don’t think I want to hear this.”
“Then…then I won’t say any more.”
“No! You have to talk to me…. I just don’t think I want to hear it.” She hesitated. “Please, Gen, go ahead.”
Genevieve sighed. “I was down there with Thor. He was moving a little ahead. I felt as if I were being called, so I looked back, and…there she was. Exactly where I saw her before.”
Bethany frowned. “I…wow. I don’t even know what to say.”
“Here’s the thing. Have you ever seen one of those movies with…astral projection, except that it wouldn’t be exactly that…or heard about people who died on the operating table and were floating above themselves, looking down at their own bodies?”
“Now you’re seriously scaring me. What are you talking about?”
“It seemed as if her…her ghost left her where she was weighted down. And led me—pointing exactly to the place where I should look.”
Bethany just stared at her.
“Did Thor see her?”
“No.”
“Gen…”
“It’s the honest to God truth.”
“You saw the woman again? A dead woman. Then her…ghost pointed out the exact spot where you found the coin.”
“Exactly.”
Bethany just stared at her again.
“Say something.”
“Oh, God, what do you want me to say?”
“That you believe me!”
“Uh…”
“Oh, never mind. Just don’t repeat anything I’ve said. He’d have me locked up.”
“Who?”
“You know who. Thor Thompson.”
“Oh, Gen, I don’t think—”
“He’d manage to get me thrown off the dive, I guarantee you.”
Bethany walked over to her, setting a hand on her arm. “I think you’re right. I think…I think you’d better not talk about any of this.”
“I swear to you, everything I’m saying is true.”
“True in your own mind,” Bethany whispered gently.
“I saw her. I promise you, what I saw was real.”
“But Thor…?”
“No, you’re right. Thor didn’t see her.”
“And today you weren’t…scared?” Bethany asked.
“No. Yes. I was terrified at first. And then I had to pretend I wasn’t seeing anything.”
“I’m confused. The first day you nearly choked and drowned, it shook you up so much. And then…today…it’s become your friend?”
“I don’t exactly know. Maybe today I gave her a chance because I was more afraid of Thor than I was of seeing a ghost. Bethany, I know this will sound strange, but I think she wants us to find the ship.”
“Great,” Bethany murmured. “I want us to find the ship, too.” She stared at Genevieve anxiously. “So this is…”
“I guess.”
Genevieve hesitated. She was still afraid. And not just of what had happened in the water.
She was afraid of what had happened this morning.
Waking up soaking wet, wearing seaweed.
“I’m going to slip out during dinner and see Jay Gonzalez.”
Bethany sighed. “Oh, good move. Like Jay doesn’t think you’re crazy, too. You talked to him, remember? He wanted to help. He couldn’t find anything.”
“He can try again. Some poor woman is snatched somewhere every week, maybe every day. And there are always runaways who end up dead and unidentified,” Genevieve reminded Bethany.
“Genevieve…if you’re seeing a body, a…ghost who seems to want to help you find a lost ship, don’t you think the ghost should be someone from that era? I don’t believe this. We’re talking about a ghost. As if it’s…real.”
“She is real,” Genevieve said, wincing. “I swear, Bethany. I don’t think Thor Thompson would admit to seeing a ghost—even to himself—if one smacked him in the head. I don’t understand what’s going on, and why I should be seeing this…her, but I am. And it…it has to mean something.”
“Actually, I know who you should see,” Bethany murmured.
“Who?”
“Audrey Lynley,” Bethany said.
“Audrey? The We-went-to-school-with-her Audrey Lynley?” Genevieve said. It was her opportunity to stare at Bethany as if she were completely mad.
“Yes,” Bethany said firmly.
Genevieve shook her head. “Oh, come on, Bethany. She doesn’t even pretend that anything she does is real.”
“Excuse me, but aren’t you the one telling me you’re seeing a ghost?” Bethany demanded belligerently.
“She