Page 69 of False Flag

Felix joined them and captured the creature on film before signaling for them to move on. A few minutes later, they reached the wreck. Jake was no longer cold. Didn’t even think about the temperature as he explored the wreck Lloyd had picked out for them.

He should be here. All at once, Jake regretted that he hadn’t insisted Lloyd be included.

That was probably why Lloyd was so bitter. It wasn’t just about jealousy. Jake had influence with Gerard and didn’t use it to protect his brother.

They’d been regular dive partners for ten years before Lloyd’s resentment came between them. He missed his brother. Or rather, the brother Lloyd had once been. The new Lloyd left a lot to be desired.

He pushed those thoughts aside. Time to compartmentalize. Live in the moment. No past. No future. Right now, his world was this deep, dark sea and the two people who explored it with him.

After forty-five minutes, Jake called an end to the dive. They’d never dropped below fifteen meters, so no decompression was necessary beyond the safety stop. They swam back to the anchor line and ascended, moving more slowly than their bubbles to the surface.

The boat was large—eighty-six feet—plenty of space for the eleven people, including the expedition team and three-person boat crew, who’d remained aboard when Jake, Staci, and Felix entered the water. When they’d left, it had been a hive of activity as the passengers enjoyed a morning cruise on a crisp, sunny, early June morning.

When their small dive team surfaced a few meters from the boat fifty-five minutes later, however, the boat looked…empty.

Staci removed her mask and regulator, her face streaked with lines from the tight fit. She looked exuberant—she’d enjoyed the dive as much as he had—until she, too, spotted the oddly quiet boat.

Her brow furrowed. “What’s going on?”

“Don’t know.”

Felix kept the camera running. “It’s odd. No one’s on the rear platform waiting for us. They knew we’d be surfacing about now.”

Two decks up, a man stepped to the rail and waved. His uniform indicated he was one of the boat crew. As quickly as he’d appeared, he dropped out of sight, presumably as he hurried down the stairs.

With a few swift strokes, Jake reached the platform. He yanked off his fins in annoyance and tossed them onto the platform, then climbed the ladder. The crewman appeared at the rail.

“What’s going on?” Jake asked.

Staci climbed onto the platform beside him.

“There was a medical emergency. We had no way to communicate with you, so the captain and I stayed, while the others took a tender to a hospital in Victoria.”

“What do you mean you couldn’t signal us? This is a dive boat. You should have sounded the underwater alert.”

“It’s broken.”

That actually wasn’t all that uncommon in his experience with commercial dive boats.

“You could have banged on a scuba tank underwater. Lloyd knows that trick—we used it all the time…” His voice trailed off, and his chest squeezed. “What exactly happened?”

“Not sure. One of the research team was found unconscious belowdecks.”

No. This couldn’t be happening. Not today. Not now. “Who?” he demanded.

The boat’s captain stepped up behind his mate. “Thank you, Mr. Kelvin. I’ll take over from here.” He met Jake’s gaze. “I’m sorry, Mr. Burns, it was your brother. They departed about fifteen minutes ago. They won’t have reached the hospital yet, but Gerard is expecting your call.”

He held out a cell phone.

Jake launched himself up the short ladder to the deck above the platform. He still wore his weight belt and scuba tank on his back, but didn’t feel the extra pounds.

He took the phone. Seeing Gerard’s number at the top of the screen, he tapped the name.

Gerard answered immediately. “Jake?”

“Yes.”

“I’m sorry, Jake. So sorry.”