I put my hand in the water and splashed my face. I had to think of something to say to keep my cover and move the conversation from Oleg to the dive. I shouted over the sound of the motor to Antonio. “How many times have you made this dive?”
“Half a dozen. July’s a great month to dive these waters. You should be able to see quite a bit. Professor, why don’t you tell Kat what we’ll see today.”
The Professor explained we would be diving through ruins dating as far back as 200 BC. We would swim above the silted remains of Aenaria’s mosaic streets and through a garden of moss-covered broken statues. He warned us not to touch anything. We would see the remains of a foundry, where ancient bronze and silver statues and idols from the Hellenistic period were melted down and recycled for their material value and made into coins. But all of it, the entire city, now nothing more than a watery graveyard, had been destroyed by a sudden earthquake and swallowed up by a giant tsunami.
Carlo cut the pontoon’s engine. “Ready?”
The Professor stood up and, with the aid of the Doctor, began to assemble his gear onto his back. Chief Sully helped Marco while Antonio secured his own tank, then helped me with mine.
“Don’t worry, Kat, you’ve nothing to fear.” Antonio showed me how to hold my mask to my face and roll backward over the side of the pontoon and into the water.
I did exactly as shown. Closed my eyes and did a backward somersault into the sea. When I opened my eyes, I was surrounded by tiny bubbles. Like a fish in a pod, I followed Antonio and my fellow divers through a forest of wavy seagrass. At times, the grass was so thick I would lose sight of my dive team, only to follow the bubbles and find them waiting behind giant fronds with pods of plankton. I could still see the sunlight from the surface above when Antonio paused, nodded to me, and swept the sediment from what once had been a mosaic walkway. I felt as though I had been transported to a silent, watery graveyard laid flat by currents of sand and silt covering the ocean floor.
Antonio swam ahead while a school of colorful fish swam between us, some stopping long enough so that I could touch them before swimming on. The Professor joined me, tapped my arm, and signaled me to follow. I shook my head, hesitant to leave the group. But the Professor was insistent, taking me by the arm, pulling me through the thick seagrass, and pointing ahead as we swam. Seconds later, Marco appeared, swimming frantically toward us with his hands to his throat. Realizing Marco’s panic, the Professor let go of my arm and took Marco’s hands from his neck. I look around for help. Chief Sully had spotted us, and behind him was Doctor Jon. Both men swam toward Marco and pushed the Professor aside. The Doctor placed his hand on Marco’s chest and pantomimed for Marco to slow his breathing. Slowly, with the Doctor on one side and the Chief on the other, they rose to the surface with Marco between them. I followed, and moments later, treading water, Antonio joined us.
“What happened?” Antonio ripped his mask from his face. He looked angry.
“I don’t know.” I slipped my mask from my face to the top of my head. “Marco looked like he was in trouble.”
Spotting us in the water, Carlo shuttled the pontoon towards Marco, the Doctor, and the Chief while I paddled backward to avoid being hit.
“Marco, you okay?” Antonio hollered from the water as Marco boarded The Muse, then, with his back to us, gave us a thumbs up.
I waited until the Professor and Sully were aboard, then swam toward the pontoon and threw my mask inside.
Antonio waited for me to climb onboard, then followed and helped me to unleash the scuba tank from my back and placed it with his own at the rear of the pontoon.
“You sure you’re okay?” Antonio handed me a towel.
“I’m fine.” I toweled my wet shoulders and tied the towel around my waist.
“I apologize. I should have insisted Marco not join us—”
“It’s alright. Is Marco okay?”
“He’ll be fine. He panicked, that’s all.”
The Professor reached into an ice chest for a cola. “Like one? Or perhaps something stronger. With Vodka, perhaps?”
“No, thanks.” I hugged myself. I was shaking, not so much from the chill of the air but from what I thought might have been a close call, if not for Marco, then likely for me.
The Professor popped the top off a cola. “I’m sorry you didn’t see the foundry, Kat. I wanted to show you the carvings on the wall.”
“Is that where you were taking me?”
“Of course. I wanted you to see it for your story.”
I didn’t feel like that’s what the Professor had in mind when he grabbed my arm and tried to pull me from the group. I couldn’t help but think he had intended to lose me among the tall, wavy sea fronds where I’d be lost, and he could later claim I’d wandered off and they had searched but couldn’t find me. Or perhaps he had planned to yank my breathing tube from my mouth and make my death look like an accidental drowning. But I wasn’t about to let on.
“You’ve nothing to worry about,” I said. I pushed my wet hair from my face and met the Professor’s eyes straight on. “I’ve got everything I need.”
“Good. Then I can tell Neil you were pleased, and you will write a nice article.”
“Absolutely.” I feigned a smile. “And if I have any questions, I know who to ask.”
The Professor raised his soda in a mock salute, then sat next to Sully while I found a spot at the end of the boat next to Marco. I closed my eyes and sat back. I wanted to let the warm rays of sunshine drench my body when Marco leaned closer.
“Did you like the flowers I sent?”
Chapter Twenty
“The roses are from you?” I couldn’t believe what I had just heard.
Marco smirked, bowed his head to his shoulder, and whispered so only I could hear. “Did you think they were from the captain? Or you hoped they might be?”
I jerked my head. Was it obvious? “Who are you?”
I never would have imagined the flowers might have been from Marco, and I could not wait to hear what he had to say.
“Someone who wants to talk with you. Meet me for High Tea. The Ivy Café at four-fifteen, in the back. Corner table. None of these non-teetotalers will be there. They’ll be in the bar, so we can talk.” Marco leaned back and closed his eyes, and out of the side of his mouth, whispered, “And you can thank me later. I may have saved your life today.”
* * *
Had Marco not said he had saved my life, and if I didn’t think there might be an ounce of truth to it, I wouldn’t have given his invitation a second thought. I would have dismissed it and convinced myself that his request for tea was nothing more than that of an addle-brained old man who wanted attention. But, if Marco knew I was in danger and had risked his life to save mine, I needed to know what he knew and why. Anxious to learn what he knew, I returned to Dede’s apartment and changed quickly into a long, sweeping caftan. Something I thought more appropriate for speaking with a man who had a reputation for being both a klepto and nighttime nudist.
The Ivy Café was nearly empty. It was happy hour, and most residents were enjoying a drink at the bar outside on the Lido Deck. Marco was, as he said he would be, seated at a corner table with a tiered tray of cakes and cookies in front of him.
“You wanted to talk?” I took the chair opposite him and sat down.
