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Sheseemed to lack. Her own words slunk back to her.“I shouldn’t have thought I could do this. I believed something about myself that clearly isn’t true.”
Like that she could start over, become a woman who didn’t make terrible decisions that ended up hurting the people she loved.
“Here’s one from June 15, 1705. ‘Three years have woven me into the fabric of monastic life, a tapestry rich with contemplation and brotherhood. All the same, beneath this cloth of peace rests a weight, a shadow that haunts me. Rumors from occasional traders whisper that the pirate captain, thought drowned, yet lives. I shudder to think what pursuit might ensue should he learn of my refuge and the gold’s hiding place, now deep within the monastery’s seldom-used storerooms.’”
Ethan made a sound of triumph, looked at her. “I knew it.”
Tia shook her head. “Sorry, but the storerooms were redone after the earthquake. Refrigeration added, new shelving. I can guarantee that there is no eighteenth-century chest of gold in our pantry.”
“Listen to this,” Ethan said. “‘March 29, 1707. Curiosity led me today through an ancient, overgrown path the monks seldom wander, and I happened upon a hidden tunnel, its walls weeping with sulfur. With this discovery, I’ve moved the chest into the depths of the sulfur tunnel, secured in a narrow shaft.’”
Ethan looked at her, then out the window at the volcano, and he blinked, startled. “Of course. The sulfur mines. For years the island operated a sulfur-mining operation. It’s defunct now—but the mountain is cut with lava-made tunnels filled with sulfur.”
“Sulfur? Why mine sulfur?”
“Otherwise known as brimstone.” He was paging through the book. “Used for gunpowder, and today, fertilizer and rubber and even antibiotics. Here: ‘January 22, 1710. An earthquake last night, fierce as the wrath of God, has sealed the entrance to the sulfur tunnel and shaken our island to its core. The chest, with its bounty, is now entombed within, perhaps forever hidden from greedy hands. The abbey stands, but my heart feels the tremor of discovery. The pirate’s shadow looms larger in my restless dreams, and I sense it is time to leave this sanctuary. Alas, I must leave the treasure in its security, but I will take pieces with me to promise me an advantageous future. Tomorrow, I embark once more into the unknown, carrying with me the indelible mark of monastic peace, yet driven by the unresolved echoes of my past life.’”
Unresolved echoes. Yeah, she could relate to that.
Ethan closed the book. “It’s still in the sulfur mines.”
“It says the entrance was destroyed by the earthquake. And that was three hundred plus years ago. No way are we going to find it?—”
“O ye of little faith.” He reached for his phone and took a picture of the page. Then the previous one. “Let me take care of that.” He stood up and put the book back onto the shelf. Shut the glass and turned to her.
“I keep my promises, Tia. If I find this treasure and it’s on Hope House land, it’s partly yours.”
Oh.And the way his pale blue eyes landed on her, the smile—she wanted to believe him. She held out her hand. “Partners.”
He took it, his hand enveloping hers. “Partners. Now, why don’t you show me that medical clinic, and we’ll see what we can do to get you back up and running.”
She closed the library, Ethan walking out ahead of her, and she couldn’t help but spot Doyle, down in the yard. He was seated on the fountain, Jamal standing in front of him, and for a second, she was in the truck with him, holding on as they sped away from Sebold and the camp.
Yeah, she could have gotten them killed.
And Doyle had somehow yanked her out of disaster again. And then they’d gotten out of the truck, her job—her future—vanishing at the sight of Declan talking to the police, and he’d somehow kept her from unraveling. His blue eyes on hers, camaraderie in his gaze.“Just take a breath. Everything is going to be fine.”
Below, he held up his fist and Jamal bumped it. Then he reached out, and Jamal went into his arms, a quick hug.
“You coming, partner?”
She looked up.Oh,Ethan stood at the stairs.Right.
But as she followed him, she couldn’t dodge the strangest sense that somehow, she’d betrayed her real partner.
FIVE
Tia was up to something,and he didn’t like it.
Aw, loosen up, Doyle.He sat on a bench of the dive boat, near the front, trying not to shoot his gaze to the rear of the boat where Tia sat with blond Indiana Jones. Early forties, maybe, Indy wore a wet suit, unzipped to his waist, showing off a tan and buff body, pointing out something on the island of Mariposa.
The boat channeled through the waves, north along the shoreline. The reef and the sunken wreck hung just offshore, maybe a quarter mile from the harbor.
Tia wore a blue one-piece dive skin, also unzipped, with a halter top underneath, listening to Ethan Pine (yes, Doyle had asked Stein the man’s name), as if hanging on his words andaw...
Doyle didn’t care.
Did. not. care.