Unfathomed Page 6

  Working together, guns up, she and Dec cleared the main deck. There was no sign of the crew or their team members.

  “Zach, stay here with your team and do not move,” Dec said. “We’ll find the others.”

  Zach nodded, his gaze meeting Morgan’s. “Be careful.”

  She took point, heading through the empty galley. With weapons up, they cleared the room, along with the empty cabins and labs.

  The entire boat was eerily quiet.

  She pointed up the stairs to the bridge, and Dec nodded. They moved silently upward, pausing at the door. A quick glance inside, and she saw bodies on the floor.

  Fuck. She didn’t spot any hostiles. She gave the signal to move.

  Dec went in high, Morgan low. It took them seconds to clear the small space. They found Diego tied to his chair, beaten and bleeding, his chin on his chest. He was unconscious.

  Marc and his son were huddled together in a corner, gagged and their hands tied. Hale and Coop were sprawled on the floor.

  The bridge was a mess. Maps were torn up and in disarray. Blood splattered one window and the control panel.

  Dec went straight to check Hale and Coop. Morgan quickly freed Marc and Turner.

  “There you go. Take it easy.” She moved to Diego, checking his pulse. Strong and steady.

  She lifted his head. He was still out, and one eye was swollen.

  Then she heard Hale groan. She released a breath, looking back over her shoulder. He was alive. Sitting up and cradling his head. Dec was helping Coop to sit up.

  “What happened?” Dec asked.

  “Boarded,” Coop bit out. “Four of them. They came out of nowhere, like fucking ghosts.” Not many people got the drop on Ronin Cooper, and Morgan could tell he wasn’t very happy about it.

  “Hale and Coop fought really hard,” Marc said with a shake of his head. “They took two of the attackers down.” He glanced at the blood. “I think one of them was dead.”

  “They said Dr. Duncan and Jasmin were tied up in their cabins,” Hale added.

  “We’ll find them,” Dec said.

  “They took Marc and Turner hostage next,” Hale said. “So we had to comply. They knocked Coop and me out.”

  Take the most dangerous hostages out of action. Morgan nodded. It was what she would have done.

  “They wanted all the information on the Soleil d’Orient,” Marc added. “The captain refused to give it to them. They wanted to access the computer and pull data,” Marc said with a cold smile. “He told them to go fuck themselves.”

  “Come on, Torres.” Morgan patted the man’s face. “Rise and shine.”

  Diego groaned, and opened one eye. “Fuck. Ward, you’d better give me a good bonus after this.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” Dec said wryly, but Morgan noticed relief in his voice. “What did they get?”

  “Paper maps and notes only.” Diego groaned again, probing his swollen eye. “No electronic data.”

  Dec patted his shoulder. “Good man. You shouldn’t have risked your life, though.”

  Diego’s reply was a snort. “This is my dive too, now.”

  Morgan cupped his stubbled jaw. “How’s the head feel?”

  “My head is throbbing like a son of a bitch.” He shot her a smile. “You want to play nurse with me, lovely Morgan?”

  She landed a not-very-gentle punch to his shoulder. “I think you’re fine.”

  Dec looked at Morgan. “Hale and I will clear the ship and check on Taye and Jasmin. Coop, you stay here. Morgan, check on Zach and his team, and give them an update. Bring Zach up, along with a first aid kit.”

  When she came back out on deck, the archeologists were all waiting nervously.

  “What’s happened?” Zach asked, concerned.

  “The ship was boarded by a team. A good team. They were after all your data on the shipwreck.”

  Zach cursed, and behind him, his team gasped.

  “Dec and Hale are clearing the ship,” she said. “But whoever it was, it looks like they’ve left. For now, everyone wait here.” She looked at Zach. “We need you on the bridge.”

  He nodded. “Okay.”

  Morgan strode into the galley and pulled out the first aid kit. She saw Zach’s eyes widen. “Is someone hurt?”

  “They’re all a bit battered. Diego copped the worst of it. He refused to give them access to the computer system.” She headed back to the bridge, a grim-faced Zach following her.

  They met Dec and Hale on the stairs, followed by Taye and Jasmin. Both looked fine, but a little shaken.

  “Ship’s clear,” Dec said.

  “Taye, can you round up the others?” Zach asked. “Secure the artifacts and then send everyone off to shower and change.”

  The archeologist nodded. “Consider it done.”

  On the bridge, Morgan moved straight to Diego, popped the kit open, and grabbed a quick-cool icepack. She snapped it, and once it was cold, pressed it to his swelling eye.

  “Knew you wanted to play nurse with me,” Diego drawled.

  Morgan ignored him, getting out some antiseptic wipes. Behind her, she heard a sound that was an awful lot like a growl. She glanced back and saw Zach scowling at Diego.

  She swiped the blood off Diego’s face, then stood and patted him on the head. He groaned. “There’s a good patient.”

  “You have a terrible bedside manner.”

  She walked over to Zach and Dec.

  “The intruders got paper maps and notes, but nothing electronic,” Dec said.

  Zach blew out a breath, his hands on his hips. “Who would be this brazen? It must be unscrupulous treasure hunters. Thieves.”

  Morgan shared a look with Dec. “Probably.” She hoped that was all it was.

  “My team will change our tactics to ensure we don’t get surprised again. Coop and Hale managed to take two of the four down. They know we aren’t a soft target.” A grim smile appeared on Dec’s face. “Besides, they won’t catch Coop so easily again.”

  “There is one possibility we should discuss,” Morgan said, with a glance at Dec, Coop, and Hale. “Silk Road.”

  Zach straightened. “Silk Road? The antiquities thieves?”

  She nodded. “We’ve had a few run-ins with them before. This smells like them.”

  “Is there something on the Soleil d’Orient that would interest them?” Dec asked.

  “They like fancy artifacts, with long, legendary histories,” Morgan said. “Regular treasure might interest them, but it’s the truly priceless stuff they usually go after.”

  “Like the lost treasures of Zerzura, or the Cintamani stone,” Zach suggested.

  Morgan nodded, memories of those past missions flashing through her head. “Yes, just like that.”

  “I can’t think of anything. You’ve seen the list of treasures that were on the Soleil d’Orient. Unless those Japanese plates have some mystical legend attached to them that I don’t know about.”

  But again, Morgan thought she saw the faintest hint of something cross Zach’s face. For a second, she thought he was going to add something else, then he closed his mouth.

  Dec nodded. “All right. Go and get cleaned up. I’m sure your team needs some reassurance. Warn them to stay cautious and bring up anything they notice that seems out of the ordinary, or that concerns them.”

  With a nod, Zach left the bridge. Morgan walked to the window, watching him carefully as he descended the stairs. He was tense, not moving with his usual smooth stride.

  The sexy archeologist was worried. That was understandable. But Morgan’s gut was telling her the doctor knew more than he was telling them. And she wanted to know what the man was hiding.

  Chapter Seven

  Zach leaned over the tray that held one of the porcelain vases they’d brought up from the wreck.

  He gently cleaned away the soluble salts in fresh water. Next up, he’d have to scrape off the encrusted deposits with scalpels
and an ultrasonic chisel. The afternoon dive had gone well, with Taye leading it. They’d found several more vases, and a few other artifacts.

  But as thrilling as working on a new artifact was, he couldn’t stop thinking about the attack. He was damned grateful that Hale, Coop, and Diego only had minor injuries. What if his students or archeologists had been attacked? What if Morgan had been hurt?

  Then his thoughts turned to Silk Road. Air whistled through his teeth as he hissed out a breath. There wasn’t a shred of evidence out there that any sort of important artifact was aboard the Soleil d’Orient. Sure, he had his own theories and suspicions…

  What if Silk Road had pieced together the same fantastic clues he had, and come up with their own theory? Maybe he should just tell Dec and Morgan.

  No, it just wasn’t possible that Silk Road knew anything. And Zach would be risking not only his career, but his team’s, if unsubstantiated rumors and theories were spread with their names attached to them. He needed evidence and facts, first.

  Something made him look up. He saw Morgan leaning against the door frame, watching him.

  “When did you come in? I didn’t hear you.”

  She shrugged. “I only make a sound when I want someone to know I’m there. You have a very serious look on your face, Dr. James.”

  He motioned to the vase in the tray. “Cleaning and caring for artifacts is a serious business.”

  “What have you discovered?”

  “It’ll take a while to get the vases clean, but my guess is we have some Chinese porcelain under here.” He only had hints of the pattern, but once it was clean, he’d be able to tell more.

  “That’s promising.” She walked toward him, studying him.

  He felt like an artifact under heavy scrutiny. “What?”

  “Dinner’s ready,” she said.

  He nodded. The vase would wait. He washed his hands, and then followed Morgan to the galley. Everyone was already in there, clustered around the tables and eating. His team looked happy, and he could hear their conversation about the dives.

  They’d shaken off the attack pretty easily. He glanced over at the Treasure Hunter Security crew, who looked somber and thoughtful. They had not.

  He grabbed a plate and filled it from the food laid out in trays. Turned out Marc was quite the chef. There was also a tray of beers, and Morgan snagged a bottle and held it out to him.

  “Are you having one?” he asked.

  She nodded. “Dec and Coop are on watch tonight.”

  They sat down at an empty table. She nodded toward his team. “They look happy.”

  He nodded. “Today’s discoveries are exciting. Some digs and dives turn up nothing, so to find something so soon is always a thrill.” He speared some chicken with his fork. “But we still need to find the main part of the ship.”

  She took a sip of her beer. “We’ll find it.” She cocked her head. “I read the list of treasure that was on the ship again. There was a fair bit of detail, except for one line listed as a gift from M. Constance. Who was that?”

  “Monsieur Constance. That’s what the French called Constantine Phaulkon.”

  “The mysterious Mr. Phaulkon again. Tell me more about him?”

  “Like I said before, he was a Greek adventurer. He ran away at eleven, and got his start as a cabin boy on a ship. He worked his way up to clerk for the British East India Company in Java. He clearly had a knack for languages, and spoke Greek, English, French, Portuguese, Malay, and Thai.”

  “Smart guy.”

  “I read a description of him that said ‘a fire burned inside him.’ He was clearly ambitious, but everything changed when he moved to Siam. He quickly became a favorite of the king, and was given important positions at court. A French ambassador said ‘he was one of those in the world who have the most wit, liberality, magnificence, intrepidity, and was full of great projects.’ In Siam, he was a charismatic guy who wielded a lot of influence.”

  “So what was this gift he put on the ship?”

  Zach shrugged. “No one knows.”

  They finished their meal, and Morgan headed over to the tray of desserts. She came back with a plate loaded high with anything and everything chocolate, topped by chocolate syrup.

  He winced as he thought of the sugar content. “How the hell do you stay in shape if you eat chocolate in that quantity?”

  She took a bite of cake, chewed, swallowed. “Good metabolism.” She took another bite and made a small humming noise of pleasure.

  That noise went straight to Zach’s cock, making it twitch. Damn. He shifted in his seat to relieve the pressure.

  For him, being with a woman was always fun. Good times, with no commitments. Easy, and over. He was dedicated to his work, and he’d come from parents who were extremely inept at relationships, so he knew that anything long-term just wasn’t for him.

  Morgan, on the other hand… He knew there was nothing easy about her, but she made him think about things he’d never thought of before. He hadn’t had her in his bed, hadn’t even kissed her properly, but he thought about things like waking up curled around her, listening to her laugh, and watching her eat chocolate with obvious enjoyment.

  Maybe he was coming down with something.

  Finally, she sat back, her plate empty except for a tell-tale smear of syrup. “Diego had his guys bring a foosball table out on deck. Want to play?”

  “Sure.” Zach stood, snagging his bottle of beer. Morgan was being nice to him, and that made him nervous. He preferred it when he felt the sharp edge of her teeth.

  When they headed out onto the deck, the evening had cooled off, but it was still pleasant. The sun was long gone, the moon high in the night sky, and with the lights on the ship, the deck was illuminated. They made their way over to a battered foosball table.

  “I have to warn you, I’m pretty good at this.” Her teeth flashed in the darkness.

  “Let’s see what you’ve got, Kincaid.”

  As they played, she muttered under her breath, her hands moving over the controls. She was beautiful in the moonlight, which was a distraction, and she was also ultracompetitive.

  When she won the game, she threw her hands in the air. “I win!”

  “I should’ve guessed you’d be cutthroat.”

  “I completed BUD/S training. That should have warned you.”

  “True.”

  “Best of three?” she asked.

  He tilted his head. “And if I win? What do I get?”

  She watched him steadily. “What do you want?”

  “A kiss.” The words were out of him before he realized. They stared at each other.

  After a minute that hummed between them, she nodded. “Okay, Dr. James. You’re on.”

  Her words were a jolt to his system. His gaze dropped to her lips. “And if you win?”

  She smiled and it was sharp. Warning bells rang in his head.

  “You tell me what you think Constantine Phaulkon put on the Soleil d’Orient.”

  ***

  Zach frowned. “I don’t know what you—”

  “Don’t lie to me.” Morgan’s tone was sharper than she’d intended. “Flirt. Banter all you want. But don’t lie to me.”

  His smile dissolved, his face turning serious. “Okay.”

  “So you do suspect he put more than gold on the ship.”

  “Maybe. But there is no way Silk Road could know that. It can’t be them after the wreck.”

  He didn’t know Silk Road like she did. She focused her attention on the table, and they played.

  Morgan pressed her hip against the table, moving her fingers fast, jerking her players to kick the ball. When Zach won the game, she fought back a scowl. “You’re competitive, too.”

  “When you grow up with nothing, you learn to fight for what you want.”

  There was a dark edge to his voice that didn’t jive with the Zach James she knew. “Rough childhood?”

&n
bsp; “Takes one to know one.”

  “I had a great childhood. Sure, my mom died, but my dad was awesome.” She wrinkled her nose. “My teens may have been a little rough, having a father who was completely perplexed by his little girl growing into a woman. But it wasn’t bad.” Until he was ripped away from her in the most horrible way.

  “Well, there was nothing great about mine.” He shrugged. “Let’s just say I like winning.”

  “So do I.”

  They started the third and final game. They played hard, and Morgan found herself ramming her hip against the table with each move. Zach’s focus was laser-sharp. Morgan didn’t take her gaze off the players, and felt a trickle of sweat down her spine. She had to win. She always won.

  The ball flew into the goal.

  Zach had won.

  Shit. Morgan stepped back. She never lost at foosball.

  She looked over at him, expecting to see one of those sexy grins of his spread across his face. Instead, his green eyes were intense, his expression stark.

  He circled the table with intent and she felt herself stiffen.

  “I still want to know what you aren’t telling me.”

  He stopped an inch from her. “You tell me a secret about you, and I’ll tell you one about me.”

  She lifted one shoulder. “Some secrets are best left in the dark.”

  He pinned her against the table. The two of them were completely alone, the only sounds their quiet breathing and the gentle lap of water against the hull of the boat.

  “I’ll be careful with your secrets, Morgan,” he said quietly.

  She lifted her chin. “You? Mr. Adventuring Archeologist?”

  Zach cupped her chin. “I know when something needs taking care of.”

  A frisson of heat ran through her, but she managed a snort. “I’m not delicate.”

  His finger stroked against her jawline, the touch making goose bumps break out on her skin. “Maybe not this tough, sexy exterior, but what about what’s beneath it?”

  Morgan couldn’t take all this gentle wooing. She wanted hard, rough heat. She wrapped her hands around his biceps, and yanked him closer, so that her breasts pressed hard against his chest. “Don’t worry about what’s on the inside. This is about physical attraction, Dr. James, that’s it.”