Roxanne St. Claire - Make Her Pay

At least he knew now that Lizzie wasn’t the thief… or not the only one, anyway. While he was busy trying to screw the truth out of her, someone else had screwed him. He blew out another curse, just as Paxton powered in.

“Get out of here, Alita,” he said. “I need to talk to Con privately.”

She speared him with a look, and left.

“There’s a thief on board,” Flynn said.

No shit. “Whoever it is, they’re still on board, and so is that medallion,” Con replied. “We need to search every room, every hold, every bag, every corner until we find it.”

“Do we ?” Paxton practically spit out the words.

“As you may recall, you gave me the assignment to secure the treasure this afternoon.”

“And you failed.”

Had he been set up? “Who on this ship has this kind of capability?”

“Plenty of people,” he said. “And if we don’t find that medallion soon, you’re going down as the one who took it.”

Con shot him a look. “You know damn well I didn’t take it.”

“I don’t know anything.” He turned to leave, then paused. “I don’t even know how you got this job.”

He disappeared into the hall, leaving Con to examine the broken cabinet and search for clues that a second-rate thief might leave behind. There were none. An hour later, he’d finished reattaching the cabinet and headed to his own cabin, not bothering to lock the lab.

Paxton had taken all the treasure that day to the mainland, and the medallion was gone. He stepped out into the hall and stopped when he saw Lizzie sitting on the floor outside of his bunk.

She put down something she was reading. “You have a minute?”

He nodded, noticing that she’d showered, changed into a loose, blousy top, and looked even fresher and prettier than when he’d left her.

Standing, she held out a brown notebook he knew he wasn’t supposed to recognize but did. “I want to share something with you.”

Part of him was disappointed. The part that wanted to seduce the answers he wanted out of her.

“Come on in,” he said, unlocking his cabin. “Your reputation’s probably pretty trashed by now anyway.”

“Like I care.”

He shot her an appreciative smile. “Tough girl.”

“Seriously, I don’t care about these people.”

“One of whom is a fairly skilled thief.”

“At least now you know it’s not me.”

“Unless you’re working with someone,” he shot back.

“That was a pretty thorough distraction technique you employed up in your cabin.”

“You think that I planned that?”

“No,” he admitted. “You’re not quite that devious.”

She took the chair, her posture stiff and awkward. Was she nervous? “Don’t be so sure.”

He gave her a quizzical look and indicated the notebook. “What’s that?”

“My father’s journal.”

Lowering himself to the bunk, he leaned his elbows on his knees. “I’ve already got a good book going, so I guess you must have a reason for bringing this in here.”

She took a breath and nodded. “I was going to sleep with you.”

“Did you change your mind?” And what did it have to do with that journal?

“I changed my mind about you. I think you’re… one of the good guys.”

He laughed softly. “That’s what you call them now?”

“I mean, you can be trusted.”

That must have been some make-out session for her. It left him hard as a rock, but trustworthy? He was better at this than he thought.

“Con, I need some help.”

Her tone was dead serious, so he matched it. “For what?”

She held up the notebook. “Have you ever heard of a legendary ship called El Falcone ?”

Whoa. He was much better than he thought. “I’ve heard the folklore.”

“Do you know the captain’s name?”

He searched his memory banks and the little information he’d read. Nowhere had a captain’s name been mentioned.

“His name was Aramis Dare,” she said, a look of absolute expectation on her face. When he didn’t respond, she leaned forward.

“Aramis Dare .”

“A relative of yours, I take it.”

“Yes, I am a direct descendant of Aramis, who was my great-times-something grandfather. His name isn’t known to many people in history, but those who do know it, and believe the legend of El Falcone, also believe him to be a pirate and a thief.”

“Was he?”

“I don’t know. I’d like to find out. More specifically, my father wanted to find out, and he was very close to doing just that when he died.” She handed him the notebook. “Quite a bit of it is in here. The information about El Falcone, a ship that carried two of the most spectacular diamonds ever mined, set atop matching royal scepters that were commissioned as a gift for King Luis I of Portugal and his bride, Maria Pia.”

He just listened, taking in the gleam in her topaz eyes.

“A few months before my father died, he went to Havana and scoured the libraries and manifests and old documents and found many answers, and plenty of questions. It was his lifelong mission to find out the truth, to salvage El Falcone, and, mostly, to clear Aramis Dare’s name and prove that he was no pirate; he was a merchant.”

“Okay. And… how are you fulfilling this mission?” He knew, of course, but wanted to hear her say it.

“My dad’s theory was that El Falcone wasn’t lost in a storm. It was shot by cannon fire, taken down by a man who was Aramis’s sworn enemy, a man who tried to renege on paying for the very scepters and diamonds he’d commissioned artisans to make.”

Con leaned back, considering what he should say.

She stared at him, that look of expectation brightening her eyes again. But she wasn’t going to say it. He’d have to.

“You think we’re salvaging El Falcone .”

“I know we are. And you know what else? Judd Paxton knows it. That’s why all the secrecy. I don’t know if he knows all that my father knew, but he knows enough. And he’s going to rip this wreck apart piece by piece, selling all of the treasures to his high-bidding private collectors. A tiny portion of it will be in a museum, if any, and no one is going to look for the truth about what happened to the ship, leaving the world to think Aramis Dare stole everything because every item on the ship was sin registrada .”

“Not registered.”

“Exactly. No official manifest exists. Aramis was selling the goods to private buyers. He bought the treasures himself, and didn’t officially register the ship. That’s why he was considered a pirate. But he was just a shrewd businessman.”

Kind of like Judd himself.

“Paxton’s already stripping up the treasure,” she said, slapping her hand on her thigh with anger. “Don’t you see that? He’s stealing treasure he found on the bottom of the ocean and selling it. Aramis Dare paid for his treasures and was selling them to a third party for profit, which is perfectly legal. If he didn’t get paid for them, then he kept them himself. And according to what my father found, he didn’t get paid for them. Therefore…” She stood. “I own everything we find on this dive.”

Con just stared at her. “You want to keep all the treasure?”

“Not all of it, and not for profit or glory,” she shot back. “I want to do what’s right with the treasure. Display it. Exhibit it. Share it. Tell Aramis’s story and make it a testament to him.”

Really?

She leaned forward, her golden brown eyes wide and sincere, searching his face. “I can trust you, right, Con?” She reached for his hand. “I don’t know you well, so this is a huge risk, but I have this powerful gut instinct about you that I can trust you.”