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“If I’d rejected Garin, I know for certain I would be dead now.”

“Garin became your sword then,” Annja said.

“That’s one way of looking at it, I guess. He came along at just the right moment, much like the sword did with you. I guess that’s one of the great mysteries of life, how things seem to happen at just the right moment.”

“No coincidences,” Annja said. “That’s too easy an explanation. And I’ve seen enough to not believe in coincidence anymore.”

“It does seem to be the crutch for the unimaginative.” Sheila smiled. “Garin told me you were something else.”

Annja smirked. “That’s only because he’s been trying to seduce me for years.”

“There aren’t many who can resist him,” Sheila said.

“I never claimed it was easy,” Annja replied with a laugh.

“You’re honest,” Sheila said. “I appreciate that.”

“So the question now seems to be how do we deal with the shark terrorizing this boat and who would dive?”

“You’re going to have to deal with it, Annja. You’re going to have to kill the shark so we can get to the treasure.”

Phantom Prospect

Rogue Angel_™

Alex Archer

www.mirabooks.co.uk

THE LEGEND

…THE ENGLISH COMMANDER TOOK JOAN’S SWORD AND RAISED IT HIGH.

The broadsword, plain and unadorned, gleamed in the firelight. He put the tip against the ground and his foot at the center of the blade. The broadsword shattered, fragments falling into the mud. The crowd surged forward, peasant and soldier, and snatched the shards from the trampled mud. The commander tossed the hilt deep into the crowd. Smoke almost obscured Joan, but she continued praying till the end, until finally the flames climbed her body and she sagged against the restraints.

Joan of Arc died that fateful day in France, but her legend and sword are reborn….

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Epilogue

1

The waters off Montauk, New York, surged, frothing white as waves crashed into one another, spraying mist through the air. Annja Creed stood on the stern of a boat she thought seemed far too small for the job at hand. She watched as a sleek dark shadow glided just beneath the waves, its torpedo body reflecting the four hundred million years of evolution that had landed it atop the food chain of the ocean.

Cole Williams scooped another ladle of chum into the water. Annja swallowed and tried to ignore the sickly stench of pureed herring and tuna chunks mixed with an assortment of other matter designed to lure great white sharks to the boat.

“You sure you need to put so much of that into the water?” Annja asked.

Cole glanced at her and grinned, his cropped brown hair lightened by the sun beaming down. “You’re not nervous, are you? Not the bold adventurer Annja Creed,” he said.

Annja pointed at the water. “There’s already one down there.”

Cole nodded. “I’d like to see if we can get a few in the area. This study is all about how great whites interact with one another. Conventional science likes to paint them as solitary creatures but new research is proving they have a hierarchy when they encounter one another.”

“So, it’s not enough to have one proven killer in the water. You want as many as possible.”

“Yep.” Cole threw another scoop overboard. “You want to help me do this?”

Annja held up her hands. “I’m good here, thanks.” The journey out from Montauk had been anything but calm. Despite the sunshine, the ocean seemed angry today and the little boat that Cole had converted from a deep-sea fishing charter to his own personal research vessel bobbed relentlessly in the violent swells. Annja’s stomach wasn’t in a forgiving mood.

Cole pointed at the triangular fin slicing through the water. To Annja, it almost reminded her of a sword.

Her sword.

“Look at that one.”

Cole’s voice did little to soothe Annja’s nerves. In keeping with Cole’s twisted sense of humor, he’d insisted they watch the movie Jaws the previous night while they shared a bottle of wine. Recalling the giant great white devouring a bunch of people on film didn’t do much for Annja’s nerves just then.

She glanced at the steel shark cage strapped down on the deck. “Does that thing actually work?”

Cole smiled. “There’s nothing to worry about. I’ve done this loads of times and never had a problem.”

“I find the choice of location unsettling given what we watched last night,” she said.

Cole’s laughter at least made her smile. Then he shook his head. “They actually filmed that on Martha’s Vineyard, but I get your point.” He pointed at another shark that had silently cruised into the area. “Thing about this place is the Long Island Sound opens up into really deep water. The great whites out here are big. And that means we get a look at some healthy fish.”

“They got that way by being hungry,” Annja said. “I don’t want to end up on the business end of those teeth.” Cole had also insisted on showing her his shark tooth collection and Annja had marveled at how the great white’s teeth looked exactly like steak knives, serrated along the edges and designed for cutting through the thick fat of their favorite meal, seals.

Looking at Cole in his wet suit, Annja could understand why great whites mistook divers for seals. They looked similar, especially underwater.

Cole finished tossing the chum over the side of the boat and hailed the deckhand. “Time to get the cage in the water.”

They worked together. Annja unhooked the fastening cables and slowly they winched the cage over the side of the boat until the top of it sat at the waterline. The sea had calmed and the boat seemed to steady itself. Annja gave a silent prayer of thanks and felt her stomach stop lolling about.

Cole glanced at Annja. “Tom’s going to heave a few tuna chunks out on lines and he’ll drag them toward the cage.”

“You want the sharks coming at the cage?”

“Yep.”

Annja shook her head. “And this will help your research somehow?”

“We’ll be able to see how the sharks separate themselves and who seems to be the ruling class. What researchers have observed is the deference certain sharks will have for another. But why they do that is something we don’t know. Yet,” he explained.

“Have fun,” she said.

Cole smiled. “Time for you to get changed, Annja.”

“Excuse me?”

“There’s an extra wet suit in the cabin. I’ve got tanks all set for you. And there’s room for one more in the cage.”

Annja looked out at the sea. The dark shapes slid past the boat and surfaced, showing rows of jagged teeth as they sampled the chum line. Annja’s stomach heaved again. “I’m not sure about this.”

“I know how you feel. The first time I dived with great whites, I puked over the side of the boat.”

“And then what?”

“I got the hell in the cage and did my job.” He heaved the air tanks onto his back and checked his regulator. “You won’t regret it, Annja. I promise.”

Annja sighed and wandered back to the cabin. Cole had left the wet suit hanging on a door hook. She fingered the material and wondered what the sharks would see when she entered the water.

Dinner, most likely.

She took a deep breath. This was what she’d come out here for, she thought. When Cole had called and asked for her help, she’d had nothing pressing to do. And she’d always had a thing for sharks, even if they did scare the crap out of her.

This was her chance to try to put some of those fears to rest.

She took some calming breaths and stripped down, quickly climbing into the wet suit. The material clung to her skin and she noticed how much warmer she was inside of it. That was a good thing. The water temperature was fairly warm at this time of year, but it could still cause hypothermia if she was in it for too long.

She padded back out onto the deck and saw Cole sliding his mask over his face. He smiled when he saw her. “Glad you decided to come along.”

“If I get eaten, I’m coming back to haunt you.”

“I don’t doubt it.”

Annja pointed at the cage. “You sure those bars are strong enough to ward off any attacks.”

Cole nodded. “Relax, Annja. Cages these days are much stronger than they used to be. You’ve got nothing to worry about. Besides, I’ll be right there with you. Anything goes wrong, just follow my lead.”

“That’s comforting.”

Tom helped her get the air tanks on and she tightened her waist belt, and then checked her regulator. She took a couple of breaths and tried to consciously slow her pounding heart. Adrenaline pumped through her veins and she knew that her nerves would take over unless she stilled them.

“Give me a second,” she said.

Tom stepped away. While Annja busied herself with relaxing, Tom heaved a tuna carcass out into the water.

The surf exploded as a shark surged up from below and took the bait firmly in its mouth, ripping from side to side as chunks of flesh tore off in its mouth. Annja watched the grim spectacle and felt a strong desire to grow wings and fly home.

“Thanks for the help, Tom,” she muttered.

He glanced back at her. “You okay?”

“Fine. Just fine.”

“Let’s go, Annja,” Cole called. Annja watched him slide over the side of the boat and into the cage. She saw the splash and moved to make sure he’d made it into the cage.

Cole stuck his hand out and waved her on.

Annja took another deep breath and slid the regulator into her mouth. Tom handed her a mask and she settled it on over her hair. She tightened the straps and then nodded.

Tom helped her move to the side of the boat. The water seemed to be alive with sharks. Annja looked at Tom. He smiled. “There are only four of them down there.”

Only four, she thought. Great.

She braced herself. The opening of the cage was directly in front of her, but for some reason, it looked a lot farther away. One misstep would plunge Annja into the ocean, unprotected against the massive predators gliding through its depths.

Annja wanted to run. She wanted to puke like Cole had. But she steeled herself, took a breath and then stepped toward the cage opening, falling in through the open part with a splash.

White water bubbled up around her as she adjusted to the sudden change in her environment. She felt the reassurance of Cole’s body next to hers. She took a few breaths and settled herself down.

The water felt warmer than she expected. And she was almost calm when a giant mouth suddenly loomed open in front of her. Annja blinked, saw rows of jagged teeth and fell back against the bars of the cage.

The great white in front of her bit the bars separating them and then slid off into the deep.

Cole patted her on the shoulder and gave her the hand signal to make sure she was okay. Annja nodded and gave him the thumbs-up. She blew out a long line of bubbles and again tried to calm herself.

On the floor of the cage, her balance felt sure enough. But the ocean floor was at least thirty feet below them.

She heard a splash and turned to see that Tom had tossed another bait hook over the side of the boat. Annja saw it tracking through the water toward the top of the cage.

Like a missile being shot out of a submarine far below the surface, Annja saw a flashing streak arc right past the cage as a huge shark shot up from below them, lancing into the tuna chunk. Incredibly, Annja thought she could hear the rending tears of the mighty jaws clamping and sawing through the fresh meat.

She forgot her terror and was instead awed by the mastery of evolution sailing through the waters before her. The sharks slid through the depths with complete ease. Their bodies had long evolved into almost perfectly aerodynamic shapes that met minimal resistance as they swam.

As they bit into the bait hooks, Annja could see the protective membranes slide up over their eyes, shielding them from any danger that might lurk as they attacked. She noticed the incredible flexion as the viselike mandibles sank into the flesh, exerting almost two tons of pressure per square inch.

But even as the sharks fed seemingly without regard, Annja could discern something else about them. She knew they were incredibly intelligent. She could see there was a rhyme to their reason. Annja realized that they seemed to almost feel with their teeth, making sure that what they attacked was suitable food for them.

She marveled at how they operated. And she knew why great white shark attacks were usually so deadly. It wasn’t necessarily that the sharks sought out human beings to eat, but that they had no real way of probing something without committing to it fully. Their bites would naturally cause grievous wounds in anything, humans included. Blood loss and tissue damage would often cause death, even when the shark realized that the human victim wasn’t the seal it was supposed to be and broke off the attack.

There was a great deal of misunderstanding about the creatures, Annja thought. She spent the next half hour entranced as Tom brought the big fish in close to the cage. She looked into their eyes; she tried to fathom their souls.

When Cole finally tapped her on the shoulder and motioned for her to get back on to the boat, Annja was almost upset. Maybe Cole wasn’t crazy, after all. Maybe he just loved studying these fish so much that they took over his life.

Annja made her way back to the boat and spit out her mouthpiece. Tom beamed at her. “How’d you make out?”

“They’re incredible!”

He nodded. “Cole’s done some great research. Might even win himself some awards.”

“I was terrified before, but now…”

Tom nodded. “I know. You get to the point where you see them as something more.”

“I used to think Cole was crazy,” Annja said.

Tom frowned. “Oh, he’s definitely crazy,” he said.

“What do you mean?”

“Didn’t he tell you?”

“Tell me what?”

Tom pointed off the boat’s port side. “See?”

Annja looked and felt dizzy.

Cole was out of the cage, in the open water with the sharks.

2

“He’ll be killed!” Annja shrieked.

But Tom held up his hand and shook his head. “I know it certainly looks like that, but wait and see.”

Annja could hardly breathe. She watched as Cole, who must have left his oxygen tank in the cage, swam with just a mask and snorkel within feet of the cruising predators. And while the ocean still held streaks of red and bits of tuna, curiously the great whites seemed to be almost nonchalant about Cole’s presence.

After ten minutes of free swimming, Cole climbed over the side of the boat, his flippers touching the deck while a huge smile blossomed across his face. “That was an adrenaline rush.”

Annja watched him lean back, the smile growing wider by the second. “You really didn’t have to do that,” she said.

He shrugged. “Free diving with them is an important part of the research for me. Along with their hierarchy, I also need to know how they behave when there’s a human in the water with more than one of them.”

“Yes, but you had no speargun, no backup. If they had turned on you at any moment—”

As if underscoring that fact, one of the big fish suddenly slammed into the side of the boat, splashing the water with its tail. Cole caught a shower of spray and wiped his face. “I think that was Martha,” he said.

“You named them?”

“You get to know the distinctive shapes of their dorsal fins,” Cole said. “And for me, it helps to establish that bond so I don’t view them as mindless killing machines. Surely you noticed that, too?”

Annja grinned. “It was exhilarating, but I wouldn’t ever recommend doing what you just did to anyone.”

“Neither would I. But I have to control my own life. My destiny is always in my hands, not in the hands of someone else. That’s what I love about my life so much. I make my own decisions. I know you understand that.”

I used to, Annja thought. She watched one of the sharks break away from the boat suddenly and disappear into the depths.

Cole noticed, too. “They’re bored now that there’s nothing in the water.”

“No more food?”

Cole sighed. “Sometimes I think it’s not just about the food with them. I think they realize that we’re curious and want to know more about them. They’re active in the research as much as I am.”

“I don’t know,” Annja said. “I think that sounds sort of insane, but then again, I didn’t just swim naked with them like you did.”

Cole laughed. “Annja, if you swim naked with anything, you’ll get eaten right away.”

“Flattery will get you killed, Cole.”

He winked at her. “Well, maybe.”

They set about winching the cage back on board the boat and secured it to the deck. Cole patted it. “I told you that nothing would happen while you were inside. Didn’t you have a blast?”

“I hate to admit it, but I did. They were fascinating to watch. I could see how they tried to mouth the tuna first before chomping into it.”

Cole nodded. “Exactly—they’re smart. Not a lot of people give them credit for that. Oh, sure, scientists and researchers do, but the general public is still a long way from realizing how intelligent these fish are.”

“Can you blame them?”

“No, not when they’ve been exposed to so much fallacy. But if people knew how close they swim in proximity to these fish without ever being attacked, I think that would go far toward raising people’s consciousness.”

“You won’t change opinions overnight.”

“No, I suppose not. But we can expose people through research. Look at what we accomplished today, for instance. I got you to change your mind about them, didn’t I?”

“Somewhat. I’m still terrified,” Annja said.

Cole patted her arm. “No worries. We’ll have you free swimming with them soon enough.”

Annja shook her head. “There is no way in hell I will ever do that, pal. Put that one out of your mind right now.”

Cole laughed. “Okay, okay. Can’t blame a guy for trying.”

“Weren’t you scared?”

“Absolutely. But this is the fourth time I’ve done it. The first was really terrifying. But when you get out there and touch them—”

“Touch them!”

“I give them a pat every now and again. I can grab their dorsal fins for a ride once in a while, as well.”

“Good God.”

“Once you do that,” Cole said, “it just becomes this marvelous experience. I can’t explain it without you doing it.”

Annja nodded. “Yeah, well, that will have to be one experience I don’t go through.”

Tom called down from the wheelhouse. “We set to go?”

Cole nodded. “Fire ’er up.”

The engines on the boat kicked into gear and the water behind churned into a frothy white of sea and spray. Wind blew through Annja’s hair, drying it as she held on while the research vessel skipped over the waves back toward shore.

Cole busied himself jotting down notes on his observations. Annja went inside the cabin and changed back into her clothes. When she reemerged, Cole was still making notes. He glanced up at her.

“How about dinner tonight? I know a little Italian place with a fantastic wine selection and a veal cutlet to die for.”

Annja nodded. “I’m starving, actually.”

Cole finished his notes. “Great, I’ll go make the call.”

Annja followed him into the wheelhouse. Tom stood behind the wheel. He looked a lot younger than his twenty-four years. Fresh out of college with a degree in marine biology, Cole had scooped him up as his assistant and they’d been fast friends ever since. He smiled at Annja as she came in. “Feeling a bit more human again?”

“I need a shower to do that,” Annja said. “This salt water is probably not doing wonders for my hair.”

“Looks fine to me.”

Cole elbowed him. “Mind your manners, boy.”

Tom chuckled. “Why would I let the old guy have all the fun?”

“Old guy? I’ll have you know I don’t turn forty for another year yet.” Cole grabbed the ship phone and dialed into Montauk. He spoke for a moment and then hung up. “All set. Reservations for seven o’clock. That should give you enough time to grab a shower and change into something that will make me drool.”

Annja punched him in the stomach. “Watch it, pal. I might get the impression all of this was done just to woo me, instead of in the name of science and the betterment of humankind.”

Cole held up his hands. “Oh, hey, it’s definitely for the betterment of humankind. I’m just starting out with me first.”

Tom shook his head. “You know he’s incorrigible, right?”

“Apparently,” Annja said. She walked back into the main cabin and slid into the booth. Cole came in a second later and sat down across from her.

“I’m really glad you came out here, Annja.”

“Me, too.”

Cole leaned back. “The great whites we have access to here are among the largest in the world. They feed in the deep waters and it always astounds me how big they are.”

“What’s the biggest one ever caught?”

“You’d have to go back,” Cole said. “There have been claims of thirty to forty feet about a hundred years back. Nowadays, it’s rare you see one over twenty feet in length.”

“That’s still three times bigger than a full-grown man. Plenty of room to fit in the belly, huh?”

“That’s nothing compared to the long-lost ancestor of great whites, the megalodon. Now that was something to behold.”

“Why’s that?”

“It was at least forty feet long when it cruised the prehistoric seas. Its teeth were as big as your hand with the same deadly serrations as great whites. Terrifying in its destructive power.”

“Glad they’re not around anymore.”

Cole frowned. “I wouldn’t be too sure about that.”

Annja smirked. “C’mon. They died out ages ago. There’s no way they could survive in today’s oceans.”

“Why not?”

Annja stopped. “Wouldn’t someone have seen one by now?”

Cole shook his head. “Not necessarily. You know what’s amazing about the oceans? Every year we find new species of fish or rediscover species we thought had long since died out. The depths that we are able to gain access to through advances in technology are enormous. We can’t swim miles below the surface, but the robots we’ve built that have journeyed there have recorded a fascinating world.”

“But giant sharks?”

Cole leaned forward. “Take the giant squid. For years, people swore it couldn’t exist. We had corpses wash up on shores or sometimes get caught in fishing nets, but never found a live specimen. And then that Japanese team got the first video footage of it swimming in the silent depths. And we know that sperm whales love to eat those things.”

“And you think that somewhere out there a megalodon could be swimming around?”

“Why not? We don’t know everything and, sometimes, even the most implausible ideas turn out to be true.”

Annja shrugged. “I guess. I just can’t see it. I mean, a meg swimming out there would need to feast on a lot to sustain it, wouldn’t it? So, I guess my question would be, if it’s not extinct, then what is it eating?”

“I don’t know,” Cole said. “Perhaps it dines on the sperm whales that dive after giant squid. Maybe it’s taken to living down far below the ocean surface where it can remain unseen except in its native habitat. All I’m saying is, we can’t discount its existence merely because we haven’t see one.”

Annja shivered. “The idea of something that large and dangerous doesn’t exactly make me all warm inside.”

Cole laughed. “If it makes you feel any better, I wouldn’t try to free swim with it, either.”

“Well, there’s a brilliant decision.”

Cole smiled. Annja glanced around. “Are we close to the harbor? Sounds like Tom’s throttled down.”

Cole slid out of the booth and looked outside. “Yep. We’re coming in through the outer channel now.”

Annja followed and she and Cole joined Tom in the wheelhouse. She could see the other boats lined up at the wharves. A few fishing charters meandered their way back into dock.

Tom pointed. “Hey, isn’t that Sandy?”

Cole peered through the window and nodded. “What’s she doing at the dock? She ought to have knocked off by now.”

“Who’s Sandy?” Annja asked.

“She works with us, handling calls in the office,” Cole said. “She never goes out on the boats, though. She’s terrified of the water. Her brother drowned when she was just six years old and she never goes near the water.”

“That’s horrible,” Annja said. “And she’s waiting down at the docks? That seems a bit odd.”

“Sure does,” Cole said. “Something must be up.”

He and Annja went out on deck so they could secure the boat as they docked. Tom eased the engines down even further as they approached their mooring. He reversed, and then as the side of the boat touched the dock, Cole leaped on to the platform and Annja tossed him the lines. Cole tied the knots and Tom cut the engines.

Annja stepped off the boat and looked up at Sandy. She had a short blond haircut that fell just by her ears. But what made Annja stare was the expression on her face. She looked intensely worried.

Cole led the way up the gangplank and nodded at Sandy. “I didn’t expect to see you here. Everything okay?”

Sandy shook her head. “No.”

“What’s the matter?”

“I just got a call from your brother. There’s trouble up at the dive site.”

“What kind of trouble?”

Sandy laid a hand on Cole’s arm. “There’s been a death, Cole.”

3

Cole’s face went ashen. “Not my brother—?”

Sandy shook her head. “No, but someone else on the dive went missing. This afternoon, they recovered a body. Well, part of it, anyway.”

Annja frowned. “Part of it?”

Sandy looked her over. “There wasn’t much left.”

Cole shook his head. “Let’s get back to the office and talk some more. I don’t like discussing my business out in public.”

Sandy led them back up the gangplank and toward the row of small wooden buildings scattered along the dock. At a pale blue row house, Annja saw the brass nameplate of Cole Williams Research and they entered. The narrow staircase up to the second floor seemed to be warped and it creaked underfoot as they climbed. But at the top Annja smelled coffee brewing and suddenly realized how much she wanted a cup.

Sandy pointed to the small coffeemaker. “Figured you all might be in the mood after being on the water.”

Cole got himself and Annja each a cup and then sat down at an old table that must have served as a conference table by the look of it. He smiled at Annja. “It’s not fancy here, but we make do.”

Annja sipped the coffee and found it was a good roast. She smiled at Sandy. “This is delicious.”

“Peruvian blend.” Sandy glanced at Cole. “You didn’t mention you had a visitor coming out.”

Cole shrugged. “Annja’s a good friend. Known her for years.” He sipped his coffee. “And since I’m the boss, I don’t think it’s necessary that I keep you in the loop on everything that happens in my life.”

Annja looked down into her coffee and wondered what sort of history Sandy and Cole had. Whatever might have once been, it certainly didn’t appear to be intact any longer.

Sandy brushed off Cole’s comment. “It would have been nice for me to know so I could make sure she’s set up in town.”

“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 awfully modest of you,” Annja said with a laugh. She took a sip of her coffee and put her cup back down on the table. “Clearly, she thinks I’m a threat. Just make sure she doesn’t throw me overboard to the shark.”

“Sure thing.” He looked at Tom. “I suppose we’d better get the charts out and study up on the site if we’re going to be a de facto replacement crew.”

Tom walked to the nearby metal file cabinets and yanked one of the drawers open. With a sheaf of charts and papers, he laid them out on the table and spread them around. Annja could make out pictures of the ship itself, lists of what its inventory was rumored to have been, and even notes form an old journal.

“Where’s it supposed to have gone down?”

Cole sighed. “That was always the problem. The ship sank near Prospect, but attempts to find it so far have proven futile. It was 1814, after all, so maybe the location was wrong. Back then there was no Coast Guard to help fix a position. It always amazes me to think of what people must have thought about when they cast off from dock. There was no guarantee that you’d ever make it home alive. Between storms, dangerous shoals, prowling marauders, you had a slim chance of completing a journey.”

“And yet they did it,” Annja said. “And they opened up the world to exploration.”

Cole jabbed his finger at the east coast of Nova Scotia. “Hunter always thought the ship went down here. In about a hundred feet of water. But the currents are strong and there’s no telling where the remains of the ship might have been dragged to since that time.”

“Almost two hundred years have passed,” said Tom. “That ship could be scattered halfway between Nova Scotia and Greenland.”

Cole frowned. “Hunter has always based his hunts largely on his intuition. Until he learned to trust it, he never hit it big. The first time he went with his gut, he struck gold, literally. It’s something he tries to abide by to this day. And he seemed pretty convinced he knew where he’d find the wreck.”

“You believe him?” Annja asked.

“I’d better,” Cole said. “I’m sinking two million dollars into the hunt for the Fantome. I expect to make that back and then some. The treasure on board would be worth tens of millions of dollars.”

“If not more,” said Tom. “Remember that a lot of it was taken right form the White House. There’d be gifts and such from all the powerful world leaders at the time in the wake of the Revolutionary War. That stuff today would be an incredible draw for collectors.”

“Good point.” Cole studied the maps. “I wonder where Hunter is right now and whether he thinks that he knows where he’ll find the largest stock of loot.”

Annja studied a picture of the Fantome. “So this is the ship?”

“Loaded down with all that booty, she must have weighed tons,” Cole said. “Imagine setting off bound for England and running into the storm they took the brunt of? No thanks.”

“After weathering the strong ocean today en route to the sharks, I don’t even want to think about that,” Annja said. “I doubt I would have been a very good sailor.”

“You get used to it,” said Tom. “But even still, there’s nothing like a strong storm at sea to turn anyone into a true believer in the power of Mother Nature.”

Annja pored over the pictures and notes. “And to think, now there might be a prowling shark in their midst.”

“Nothing like the promise of death in an already dangerous job,” Cole said. “I’m sure Hunter is stalking around his boat furious at the sea for the delay this is causing.”

“What about the body?” Annja asked. “Are they flying it home?”

“It was a local guy,” Sandy said coming back into the room. “Luckily, they didn’t have far to transport him. Although, with the ceremony being a closed casket, I’m not so sure those he left behind wouldn’t just as soon see him buried at sea.”

Annja looked up at her. Sandy’s expression didn’t betray a hint of emotion. But she locked eyes with Annja and then broke away long enough to look at Cole. “You’re all set for departure tomorrow morning.”

Then she glanced back at Annja. “Have a safe trip.”

4

Annja, Cole, and Tom flew into Halifax International Airport the next morning. Annja hadn’t slept much the night before, trying to use her laptop to dig up information on the infamous Megalodon that Cole raved about. What she found didn’t cheer her up much. With teeth the better part of six inches long, Meg, as it was more affectionately know, could chomp through whales with ease. And humans were much softer than whales.

But most scientists agreed the species was long extinct.

Except for Cole.

A couple of authors had written some novels about a few remaining species swimming in the vast depths of the oceans, but otherwise, there’d been nothing to ever confirm or even hint at the suggestion there might be others still lurking in the waves.

She’d eventually fallen asleep with images of giant teeth running through her head.

Storm clouds blew in as they were making their final approach to the airport and the plane jumped a few times before its wheels finally gripped the tarmac. Annja gave a silent prayer of thanks for having her feet back on terra firma.

In the terminal, she saw a man standing by himself wearing a Dive the Marianas Trench T-shirt. She elbowed Cole. “That him?”

Cole smirked. “He always did have a twisted sense of humor.”

“At least he doesn’t free swim with great whites, huh?”

“Annja—”

The man came over and hugged Cole. Annja looked him up and down. He was a few inches taller than Cole and maybe a few pounds lighter. His lean build started with his close-cropped hair and chiseled face that bore a few interesting scars.

“Hey, bro.”

Cole hugged him back. “When Sandy told me—”

Hunter nodded. “Yeah, I know, man. But I’m still here. Don’t have any plans of shoving off any time soon, either.” He turned and faced Annja. “Hi. I’m Hunter.”

“Annja.”

He shook her hand and Annja felt the rough sandpaper texture of it. Hunter was used to working hard. “Nice to meet you.”

Hunter shook hands with Tom. “I see my brother’s still got you working for him, huh?”

“At least until that other job offer comes through.”

“Yeah, right.” Hunter led them across the terminal. “We’ll get your bags and then head down. I’ll fill you in on the way. Less chance of being heard, if you catch my meaning.”

Annja frowned. How come Hunter didn’t want to talk about the attack now? She assumed the local media would have the story all over the wires now. A shark attack in Nova Scotia was a rare thing indeed.

At the baggage terminal, they got their gear and checked through the customs line quickly. The customs official gave Annja’s passport a whistle as he flipped through it. “You’re quite the world traveler, Miss.”

Annja smiled at him. “Sometimes, I don’t even know what day it is.”

Hunter guided them outside and Annja found the temperature pleasant with a warm breeze blowing in. In the parking lot, she spotted a van and Hunter pointed. “That’s our ride. We shouldn’t be on the road all that long.”

“How far’s Prospect from here?” Cole asked.

“About twenty three kilometers to the southwest. We’ll just hop on the 333 and be there in no time. If the traffic’s decent.”

Tom stowed the gear in back and then they all climbed aboard. Cole took shotgun and Annja and Tom slid into the back. Annja leaned forward as Hunter eased the van out of the parking space. “You mind me asking why you wanted to wait until we’re outside before we started talking about the shark attack?’

Hunter shrugged. “No surprise. But we managed to keep the attack out of the local media.”

“How the hell did you manage that?” Cole asked.

“I paid off the local police chief.” He glanced at Cole. “By the way, bro, I’m going to need some more money.”

“What a surprise.”

“You paid off the local police chief? To do what?”

“To say that the death was an accident.”

“But why?”

Hunter put his hands on the wheel and steered them on to the highway. “Look, the thing is, we know where the wreck is. If we all of a sudden start blabbering about shark attacks, then the place will start crawling with media and fishermen, and even rival treasure hunters. That’s a lot of publicity that we don’t need right now. If we can get in, do our thing and then get gone, we’ll be so much the better.”

“And if it turns out there really is a shark up here?”

Hunter grinned. “Oh, there’s definitely a shark in the water. I have no doubt of that. Even saw the damned thing register on the sonar.”

Cole looked at him. “How big?”

“Big. Like, real big. Over thirty feet.”

Annja put a hand on Cole’s shoulder. “Don’t get your hopes up about a Meg. What if it’s a basking shark?”

Hunter laughed. “I’ve seen basking sharks before. Plankton eaters like the whale shark. Let me tell you something: this was no plankton eater did that to my man. Chomped him into two pieces and then some.”

“A great white of that size would be an enormous specimen,” Cole said. “I’d need to document it.”

“Document it all you want, bro,” Hunter said. “Just keep everything under wraps until we’re done here.”

“And how long will that take?”

Hunter shrugged. “Could take us two weeks to excavate everything from the site. Maybe longer if the currents have strewn it all over the place.”

“You found the main wreck site?”

Hunter nodded. “Hull’s intact. Parts of the ship aren’t there, but the main hold is. I think we’ve got a big one here, bro.”

“Why’s that?”

Hunter shrugged. “A lot of people over the years claimed that the Fantome wasn’t carrying loot from the White House simply because it wasn’t involved in the raid on Washington. Some thought it might just be carrying goods from parts of Maine that the British controlled to Nova Scotia. But if that was the case, then why was it in convoy? A simple customs run wouldn’t dictate such elaborate security.”

“You never bought into that theory?” Annja asked.

“Nope. The Fantome was originally a French privateer that the British took possession of in 1810 and commissioned directly into the British Navy as a brig sloop with eighteen guns on her. She had a good kick in terms of firepower and she had a hold that could handle a large quantity of booty.” He shook his head. “Nah, she was hauling some serious stuff when she went down.”

“And it’s off Prospect as the records claim?”

Hunter nodded. “That was the benefit of survivors from the wreck. They were able to confirm where they went down. Of course, that was over two hundred years ago, and the shifting tide can change things a lot underwater.”

“Not exactly easy to explore when there’s a shark cruising nearby,” Annja said. “Why don’t you tell us about what happened?”

Hunter nodded. “Yeah, sure. We were out just the other day. Good day for salvage work. Sunny, not strong surf. We made it out to the next grid on our search string and one of my guys, by the name of Jock, went down to lead the way for the rest of the team.”

“He always go first?” Cole asked.

“Yeah, kinda like that. He’s from the UK, former Special Forces guy. They lead that way, you know. Likes to be in the water and all that stuff.”

“So, he went down…”

Hunter shrugged. “The rest of us were a little slow getting into wet suits. I was nursing an awful headache that I woke up with and the team was a bit slow. All of a sudden, the captain calls me on to the bridge and jabs a finger at the sonar. I thought it was a submarine at first, you know? This big thing just moving along.”

“You think about radioing down to Jock?” Cole asked.

“Would have if he’d gone down with a radio unit. But Jock didn’t like them. Said they didn’t allow him the freedom he liked underwater. He used to rely on hand signals only.”

“And he was down there all alone,” Annja said.

“We saw the shape moving—Jock didn’t show up on the sonar—and then it was gone. Someone screamed off the stern and when we went out, we saw an upwelling of blood break the surface of the water. We knew something was wrong so we went down.”

Annja leaned back. “You went down there knowing that the shark might still be around?”

“My man was down there,” Hunter said. “It’s my responsibility to get him back, even at risk.”

“What’d you find?”

“Two pieces of body. Shredded wet suit with these long tears. His air tanks were crushed. It was a horrible sight. His head was gone, too.”

Annja frowned. “You sure it’s him? The body, I mean.”

Hunter stared at her. “Why would you even ask that question? Of course we’re sure. Jock was the only one down there, then this big thing cruises by and then Jock’s remains are found. Seems like an easy equation to me.”

Annja held up her hand. “Just asking.”

“Well, it was a bad question,” Hunter said. “Jock was a good man and I don’t like the memory of him being questioned.”

“But you’ll lie in order to protect the salvage operation you’ve got going on here,” Annja said. “I get it.”

Hunter frowned and glanced at Cole. “Just who is this chick, bro?”

“This ‘chick,’ as you call her happens to be a pretty damned good archaeologist. You’d do well to remember that she’s not only pretty smart, but also a pretty tough woman.”

“Pretty tough?” Annja smirked. If only you had the first clue about that one.

Cole turned around. “I don’t want your ego getting out of check.”

“Thanks for the concern.” She looked at Hunter. “Look, I don’t want to get off on the wrong foot here, so let’s just agree that this is a real tragedy and that we will do everything we can to help you make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

Hunter paused and then nodded. “Yeah, okay.”

Cole pointed at the sign for Prospect. “Not much farther now, is it?”

“Five minutes or so to get down to the harbor and catch the dingy out to the boat. That shouldn’t take that long.”

Annja looked at the small town as they drove through. It didn’t look like there was a lot of traffic in the area. Small homes bordered streets and she could make out eateries and neighborhood taverns. It was a cozy town.

“There haven’t been other shark attacks here, have they?”

Hunter laughed. “You kidding? The Canadian Atlantic is considered to be one of the safest places to swim. I mean, the water temperatures are fairly cold year round, so that’s a major factor. Less people in the water, means less chance of interaction with sharks.”

“Yeah, but great whites swim these waters, too,” Cole said. “They can tolerate the cooler temps.”

“Last great white seen around these parts was five years ago,” Hunter said. “I checked.”

“Maybe they’re migrating north,” Cole said. “How’s the seal population?”

“Don’t know,” Hunter said. “They would like that, though, wouldn’t they? And Jock always did like his gray wet suit.”

Cole shrugged. “It could have been a case of mistaken identity, I suppose.” His voice trailed off.

“But you don’t think so,” Annja said.

Cole shook his head. “I don’t know. It just doesn’t feel like it. I could be completely wrong, of course. I’ve been wrong before. But a shark that big as what showed up on sonar, well, I don’t know.”

“A rogue shark hunting these waters would be unbelievable unusual,” Hunter said. “Like I said, it’s not like there’s a lot of people up here to sustain it.”

Cole nodded. “I know. I know.” He sighed. “Well, I suppose we’ll see when we get out there, won’t we?”

Annja felt the bump in the road as Hunter directed the van down on to the town dock. Small fishing charter boats bobbed in subtle tidal surge. The waters looked a deeper blue than the blue green of warmer climates.

Annja cast her glance farther out beyond the harbor. The sea stretched before them: mighty, massive, and unknown.

Just like the thing that killed Jock.