“I don’t know,” she said.
That wasn’t true. She knew that she had found a modern dive knife. Maybe it wasn’t indicative of anything—perhaps a diver had lost it. But for some reason, she decided not to tell them all about the knife—just what was beneath it.
“The floor was uneven, and it was all crusted…I think it might have been what remained of a sword or a cutlass. I didn’t have time to try to figure it out—Barry was hit. But we can find out tomorrow. I know exactly where it is,” Vanessa said. She smiled. She was proud of this find. She hadn’t seen a ghostly figurehead in the water. She had found it on her own.
She saw that Bartholomew was standing just behind Liam and Sean; he watched her solemnly.
“It might have been German, or fairly modern,” she said. “It was impossible to tell.”
“We should go back down right now,” Jay said.
“No. Not today,” Sean said. “Today, we had a member of our crew injured. We’ll head back and let the others know what happened, and wait to hear about Barry’s condition.”
“Oh my God, you are worried he could die!” Zoe said.
“No. He just needs care. But this is it for the day,” Sean said. He headed to the helm. Vanessa came and curled up on the companion seat, hugging a throw around her shoulders—she hadn’t been able to shake the chill that had seized her as she had waved goodbye to Katie.
She was anxious to hear that the Claddagh had arrived safely in Bimini.
Liam was seated aft.
Watching, she thought.
Watching Zoe, Bill and Jake.
They didn’t have far to come in to the island, but she decided that the demand for a freshwater shower on the one boat might be high that night, and she slipped off the seat, telling Sean that she was going to take a quick shower. It was good, though quick. Zoe followed her lead while the guys washed off on the deck, using the equipment hose.
She felt better once she was dressed in jeans and a sweater. And in another few minutes, she heard Sean calling for the ties and the bumpers. They had returned to Haunt Island.
A fire had been built and the barbecue had been set to blaze and dinner put on in their absence. Jaden, busy flipping thin flank steaks, was horrified when she heard about Barry, and Ted had to take the barbecue fork from her hand to save a piece of meat.
“It was an accident,” Jay said, “nothing but an accident.” He set a hand gently on Zoe’s shoulders.
“And he’s going to be all right,” Vanessa added.
“They’ll call soon,” Sean said.
Vanessa felt she had to escape for a few moments at least. She murmured something about needing to put a few things away in her tent. She glanced at Sean, hoping that he would follow her.
She started entering the tent. Bartholomew had preceded her entry and was seated on the ground, Indian-style, hands folded prayer-fashion and tapping his lower jaw. He started to rise when he saw her, but she shook her head and sank down beside him.
“I’ve been thinking all day,” he said.
“And?”
“And your theory is right. It has to be. I told you—I knew them, Mad Miller and Kitty…and they weren’t evil or cruel. Mad Miller must have made a financial agreement with Dona Isabella. She traveled a lot—they could have met at several ports. He was…he was soft. Once he had stopped her ship, she took control. She insisted it be sunk, and she murdered Kitty. It all makes sense now.”
Vanessa shook her head. “It still doesn’t make sense. I kept seeing Dona Isabella’s face on a figurehead—she was the one leading me around.”
The tent flap opened and they started, but it was Sean, and evidently he had heard them.
Sean shook his head. “Whatever type of spirit she is, she’s been playing with you. She’s been leading you. She wanted you to find the pendant, because that lent credence to the tale. That would bring everyone aboard to follow this whole route again. And—just in case it didn’t—she then had you find the body. She probably didn’t realize that a forensic anthropologist would immediately realize that it was the wrong body.”
“But the body disappeared,” Vanessa said.
“She led you—and she’s leading someone else,” Sean said. Bartholomew nodded.
“Oh!” Vanessa said, and dug into her bag. “I did pick up something today, but no one led me to it. It was in the gap in the ship, on top of the object I was describing.” She produced the knife and showed it to Sean. He studied it, rolling it over in his hand and chipping at the crust on it.
“T-B-E,” Sean read. “Tom Essling,” he said.
“I’m sorry?” Vanessa asked.
“Tom Essling—he was captain of a boat that disappeared in that area just last year. If we further our search, I have a feeling we’ll find his boat, the Delphi, too,” he said grimly.
“So…someone has been pirating other vessels near here. Someone maybe using Haunt Island as their base, as if it’s their…their home fort,” Vanessa said.