Page 21 of The Sunken Truth

Glimpsing panic in Ryan’s eyes, she swam right up to him and put a hand on his arm.

With hand signals, she asked if he was okay. He responded to say no and indicated they should surface.

While her brain tried to make sense of what was going on, she set off towards the surface with him. A moment later he motioned for Lily’s back up regulator. Her eyes widened as she registered that his wasn’t working.

He was holding his breath.

How on earth was he so calm when he was underwater with no air supply?

She gave him her octo without hesitation. He visibly relaxed as he took a breath, then kept hold of her regulator as they rose steadily.

“What the heck happened?” she asked as soon as they broke the surface.

He coughed and inhaled deeply. “My kit malfunctioned.”

“Seriously?” Lily breathed.

“Yeah.” He pushed his mask off his face. “I’m always telling people not to panic if they get into trouble… but it’s really hard not to.”

“You seemed totally calm to me,” Lily said.

“I reckon my heart rate tells a different story.” He shook his head. “I’ve never had that happen before.” Raising his hand, he looked at the regulator clutched in his fingers.

“Wait,” Lily said, running her fingers along the hose that attached to the tank on his back. “It didn’t malfunction,” she said, lifting the hose and bending it to reveal a slit. “It’s cut.”

Ryan stared at it for a moment. “I thought I’d just dropped it,” he mumbled. “But maybe someone took it out of my hand.”

“Took what?”

“Whatever I found… a small metal box.”

“Like a treasure chest?” Lily asked, not quite able to believe this was an actual conversation.

He frowned as though not quite believing it either. “Maybe,” he finally replied.

Chapter Eleven

By the timethey reached the boat, all the other divers had surfaced too. The two guys from Ryan’s team had come up close to the boat and had just boarded it.

“Are you guys okay?” the shorter of them called. “How come you came up so quickly?”

Lily exchanged a look with Seren, who bobbed beside the boat with Kit.

“We got a bit worried,” Seren said. “Suddenly visibility was zero, and you two were nowhere to be seen.”

“Someone tampered with my equipment,” Ryan said, throwing his flippers on board before hauling himself onto the boat.

“Someone did what?” the shorter guy on his crew asked.

“You heard me,” Ryan growled, setting his tank down before walking to the side of the boat. He stared out at the other boat where two divers were climbing aboard. “And I’ve a good idea who it was.”

Flynn took Lily’s oxygen tank. “What happened?”

“We were down near the ship,” she told him. “It was clear and you could see the wreck easily. Suddenly a load of sandgot stirred up and Ryan’s breathing equipment stopped working. The air hose had been cut.”

“Why would someone do that?” Kit demanded, halfway up the ladder while he waited for Seren to board ahead of him.

“Because I found something,” Ryan said. “A metal container of some sort. I had it in my hands, but then I suddenly couldn’t see anything and my regulator stopped working.”