SAMPLE THE STORY BY READING CHAPTER ONE

She did not see the shadow trailing her.

She swam swiftly, surely, deep beneath the surface of the ocean, her eyes watching the changing patterns just beneath her, where sea anemones swayed to invisible currents, where a fish darted from her path. Somewhere in these sands that spread far and wide beneath her was that one thing for which she searched: a hint of rotted wood or rusted metal. . . .

The shadow moved closer. As it did, some sixth sense alerted Kai Pierce. Her goggled head turned sideways and upward, and she saw the man with a knife in his hand, swimming strongly, right toward her.

Kai choked off a scream, kicked even more powerfully, aided by the Swimaster flippers on her feet. She shot upward, knowing her heart was hammering madly, wildly! That man was coming for her, to kill her. It was impossible to avoid him. He was too close! A single sweep of his arm would drive that length of sharp steel into her body.

To her amazement, nothing happened to her. She swam toward the surface, moving as fast as arms and flashing legs could take her. Yet that man would be behind her, seeking to bloody his knife in her flesh. She forgot everything in her desperate hurry, except swimming.

Kai popped to the surface, tore the air tube from her lips, breathing deeply of the fresh air, seeing the Dolphin where her brother stood.

Kai screamed.

Her brother came alive, jerking sharply and then leaning forward, hands on the gunwale. “What’s wrong? What is it?” he yelled.

She did not bother to answer him. Instead, she began swimming toward the boat, swiftly, with the fear of death still pounding in her flesh. Her brother was at the Dolphin’s wheel, swinging the boat about, heading right at her.

In moments, he was leaning over-side, a hand outstretched, catching her hand, lifting her up from the water, helping her over the side to stand dripping beside him. Concern was etched on his suntanned face, worry looked at her from his brown eyes.

“A man tried to—to k—kill me down there,” she panted.

Amazement and disbelief were in the face that looked into hers. “Kill you? But why? What did you see? The treasure? Did you find the Santa Maria Gloriosa?”

Kai stamped her bare foot. Tears leaped into her eyes. She was close to hysteria. “No, I didn’t find the Santa Maria Gloriosa! I didn’t see a damned thing except sand and fish and weeds! But there was a man down there with a knife, and he was trying to kill me!”

He put his arms around her. “Hey, easy! You’re safe now. Relax, will you? Nobody’s going to kill you.” He squeezed her harder. “See? You’re fine. Just excited and scared, that’s all.”

“That’s all?” she howled. “How would you have liked to be all alone down there with a madman coming for you with a knife in his hand?”

“Go dry off and put some warm clothes on. I’ll start up the engine and we’ll go back in. You’ve done enough for today. What you need is a good dinner and a long night’s sleep.”

She glared at him, pushed free. Trust a brother to think she was an hysterical female, filled with thoughts of murderers and hobgoblins! Ha! If he’d been down there instead of her, he wouldn’t be so calm.

She was turning away when she saw the other boat, moving steadily across the waves toward a swimming man. Kai froze, scarcely breathing.

“There he is—the guy that tried to kill me!”

Ken Pierce swung about, staring. Then he relaxed, grinning. “Hey, that’s the professor. That’s his boat, the Atlantis. Rod Grant wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

She eyed her brother incredulously. “Not a fly, maybe. But a girl—yes! I tell you he tried to stab me with a knife.” Kai stamped her foot. “Oh, why won’t you believe me?”

“Because I know the guy. He’s something else. Teaches underwater archaeology at the university. He’s a member of the Institute of Nautical Archaeology. He’s a very well-respected member of the community, Kai.” Her brother grinned. “He’s a woman hater, I know, but he doesn’t carry his hates to such an extent as you seem to think.”

Kai ignored him. What sense was there in talking to a brother who had his preconceived ideas? Her hands reached out for the powerful Fuginon binoculars resting on a hatch covering. Moving the lenses to her eyes, she stared hard.

She saw a man rising upward from the sea, a man with a heavy tan, with thick blond hair, muscles bunching in bulges all over his bare back as he clambered aboard the Atlantis. He stood a moment, shedding water, wearing a Jantzen swimsuit, sliding out of the straps that held his Swimaster aqualung. And—there was a belt about his middle, a belt that held a scabbard into which was thrust the knife she had last seen in his big right hand.

She lowered the binoculars. “I’m going to the police. I’m going to accuse him of attempted murder.”

Her brother gripped her arm hard. “You’re going to do no such thing. The police would only laugh at you. Rod’s best friends with a police lieutenant who knows him as well as I know you.”

Kai gaped at him. “I tell you it happened! He tried to kill me!”

“You made a mistake. I don’t know what happened down there, but I know—as surely as I know we’re standing here—that Rod Grant would never try to kill you.” He chuckled suddenly. “If he had been trying to, you wouldn’t be here now.

“Rod’s the finest swimmer I ever saw. He’s won medals for swimming. You couldn’t have escaped from him, not if he really wanted to catch you.”

Kai felt doubt touch her. If Rod Grant had wanted to kill her, why had he let her swim away? She was a good swimmer, but a man like this professor could have over-taken her very easily. He had been right above her, or almost, just about within touching distance. She scowled.

He tried to kill me. I know it. Nobody’s going to make me change my mind!

Mutinously, she went on staring at his boat. It was turning, swinging about, moving toward the Dolphin. The big man with the thick thatch of pale gold hair was at the rail, looking at them. After a moment he waved.

“She all right?” he called.

“Fine, Rod. Just shook up, that’s all.”

“It was a near thing, down there. I’m glad she’s safe, now.”

Ha! Soft soap to try and make her ignore that fact that he was a homicidal maniac! Well, she wouldn’t forget. Not her. She glared across the waves at this bronzed professor who didn’t look at all like any professor Kai had ever seen. He resembled a Viking with that spread of muscular shoulders and that deep chest, that thatch of thick, golden hair. His middle was lean and ridged with more muscles.

Kai sneered. She had his number. He might fool everybody else, but he didn’t fool her. He was a madman. She went on glowering, refusing to answer his friendly wave as the Atlantis turned westward.

She shivered suddenly as a breeze swept across the deck, chilling her damp flesh. She wasn’t going to dive any more today. She might even be through with diving forever. Those depths down there were dangerous. She turned away, lips quivering, brushing at the tears that came into her eyes.

Moving into the cabin as Ken went to the wheel, she began to slide out of her swimsuit. As her eyes caught the mirror on the door-back, she paused to stare at herself. Rich brown hair hung down to her shoulders, and dark brown eyes peered out of a suntanned face. Ripe red lips seemed almost to pout at her above a dimpled chin.

She had never before thought of how she might look to a man. She had been a tomboy in her early childhood, right into her teens. Always, she had tagged after her brother Ken, playing ball with him, swimming, diving, steering the boats they had owned. Even in college, she had scorned the dates the other girls had doted on, studying all she could, knowing even then that what she had wanted to do was go after buried treasure, along with Ken.

Kai straightened and pushed at her hair, thrusting it back from her face. Was she pretty? Attractive to a man? A faint flush touched her cheeks, barely visible through her tan. Why should she care how she looked? There was no man in her life.

And yet. . . .

She could see Rod Grant standing in that boat, massively muscled and lean. His face was handsome in a rugged sort of way, under that shock of yellow hair. He looked primordial, somehow, very masculine. Kai supposed his girl students fell for him in droves.

Ha! Did he fall for them? Did he have a new conquest every term? Some simpering student who gave him her body in exchange for good marks? It would be just like him. Maybe he really hated women. Maybe that was why he had sought to kill her down there in the ocean depths. Yes, that must be it. He hated women, and he had seen a good chance to hurt one of them, unseen.

She pulled on a dirty sweatshirt and then slid into even dirtier dungarees that had oil spots and grease smears on them. What did she care how she looked? There was only her brother to see her.

Kai went topside and sat on the stern cushions as the Dolphin chugged along toward port. Her eyes scanned the sea before her, saw the Atlantis as a mere dot, far ahead. At least he owns a good boat, she told herself. No wonder. If he went about killing females under the sea, he needed to be able to make a fast getaway!

Suddenly, she felt miserable.

“Hey, take the wheel,” her brother called.

She rose and moved forward, gripping the wheel, feeding more gas to the motor. She wanted to be off the waves and in the house for a nice warm bath. She needed to wash away all memory of this afternoon from her mind as she soaped away dirt from her body.

Kai used the Atlantis as a beacon, following in her wake. Oooooh! Would she like to come face to face with Roderick Grant! She would claw his eyes out! And slap that sun-bronzed face of his! Scowling, letting her thoughts run riot, she came after the boat ahead of her like an avenging fury.

He was still on the Atlantis, Kai saw as she maneuvered the Dolphin in against the quay. She drew a deep breath. It was now or never. He was stepping onto the quay, beginning his walk toward the land.

Kai lashed the wheel and all but ran to the gunwale, stepping up onto the wooden plankings. Behind her, she heard Ken say something, but she paid no attention. All her senses were concentrated on overtaking the big man ahead of her.

She ran, calling out, “Hey, you. I want a word with you!”

Rod turned just as her toe hit a plank that was somewhat warped and jutted upward above the others. Kai pitched forward, off balance. She was going to hit those planks and land on her front, right before this man she hated so much!

And then. . . .

Powerful hands caught her, lifted her upward as though she weighed nothing. Those hands raised her up off the quay so that she hung suspended in midair. Intensely blue eyes laughed down at her.

“Well, hello. You’re an impetuous little thing, aren’t you?”

Her tongue was frozen in her mouth. She could not speak. All she could do was hang there in midair. We—ell, she wasn’t entirely in midair, either. For he had used his big hands to bring her in closer, so that she found herself pressed up against his body. She could feel his muscles, now. They seemed to be all over the place.

And those arms of his had shifted position, to wrap themselves around her, clamping her right up against him. For a brief moment, it seemed he meant to crush her to death.

“You almost k—killed me,” she whispered.

What was wrong with her voice? She just couldn’t seem to talk properly. What was wrong with her? Why was she lying against this man and letting him do whatever he wanted with her?

“I’m sorry to have scared you,” he said softly. He had such a deep, resonant voice! It went right through her. “But I was late. For that, I apologize, very deeply.”

What was the big goon talking about?

Her mind was reeling, she just couldn’t think, not with her softness being pressed so firmly against his hardness.

He kissed the tip of her nose.

Kai opened her mouth to yell, but her brother was saying, “I’m glad you two have met. Rod, this is my silly sister, Kai. That’s K-a-i. Her real name is Catherine, but she likes the fancy spelling. Kai, this is Rod Grant. I hope you two become good friends.”

There was a pause, then Ken said, “For goodness sake, Kai. Stop shoving yourself at the man, will you?”

“She almost fell, Ken. I had to grab her to prevent her from hurting herself. These quay boards are old and dry. She might have run splinters into her hands.”

The arms were relaxing, easing her sneakered feet down onto the planks. Kai almost staggered when he let her go, but the hands came back to catch her, hold her. Those deep blue eyes were laughing at her again.

“Take care of yourself, now,” he was saying, then turning and moving away.

Ken asked, “Why’d you throw yourself into his arms? I thought you didn’t like him.”

She had never felt more like screaming. She wanted to lift up her face and howl at the sky. The utter injustice of it all! Kai eased some of the fury in her by stamping at the quay with both feet, in a crazy dance.

“I did not throw myself into his arms! I started to fall and he caught me! He is the biggest, most pompous fool I have ever encountered! Worse than that, he’s a born killer. A would-be murderer! And he kissed me. Do you hear that? He kissed the tip of my nose!”

Ken was laughing, leaning against the side of a piling, bent over and holding his stomach with both arms. Kai regarded him haughtily, eyebrows arched.

“You can see humor in this? Your sister is assaulted—this time, before your very eyes!—and you can do nothing more than lean there and laugh like the big jackass you are?”

“I never thought I’d see the day,” he managed to gasp.

“Day? What day?”

“The day you finally fell in love.”

Kai went rigid. “Have you gone insane? Has all the world gone nuts? Love that maniacal monster? I hate him. I hate his face. I hate his hair. I hate those blue eyes of his! I hate him all over!”

Ken was still helpless with laughter. Furious, Kai sniffed, turned her back, and marched away. She was so angry, she shook. Her brother was an idiot, an utter moron. She had always supposed him to be very level-headed, with both feet planted firmly on the ground. But to accuse her of having fallen in love! And with that homicidal maniac!

She moved to their somewhat battered old Ford. As she did so, she saw a sleek yellow Continental slide past. The man behind the wheel was Roderick Grant. Kai came close to gibbering.

She opened the Ford door, got in, and slammed the door. Almost at the same moment, Ken joined her, his face still creased with a grin, his eyes dancing.

“You could do worse,” he said as he started the motor.

They drove in silence for a few minutes, then Kai murmured icily, “I hope you are not referring to what it is I think you’re referring to.”

“Sure I am. Rod. He’s some catch, believe me. He has money he hardly knows about. He lives very simply. Banks all his paychecks, his dividends, his royalties. Man’s a hermit. Needs a loving wife.”

Kai gritted her teeth. “I would be dead within a week.”

Ken shook his head. “The man’s a pussycat, for all his size. He’d be a pushover for someone like you, a real go-getter.”

“The man’s a born killer.”

“It wasn’t Rod down there who tried to knife you. Someone else. I’ll bet on it. He drove off that other guy. You wait, you’ll see.”

Kai sneered. “I know what I saw.”

“So what did you see? You saw Rod with a knife in his hand, apparently coming toward you. Couldn’t he have been swimming toward whoever it was that was really out to get you?”

Kai told herself to keep calm. “Is there any reason you know why someone would want me dead?”

“We—ell, no.”

“There! You see?”

Ken shook his head in that slow, irritating—to Kai—way he had. “There’s no reason we know, or can think of, at the moment. But I’ll bet you there is a reason.”

She turned and stared at him. “Have you gone off your rocker?”

Her brother growled stubbornly, “Only crazy people try to kill others without a reason. Somebody tried to do you in. I have a hunch I know the way to find out.”

“How?”

Ken grinned at her. “I’ll tell you when I get around to it.”

Kai gritted her teeth. She hated it when her brother got secretive like this. She knew well enough that she could never cajole him into telling her, once his mind was set against it. The best thing to do was forget about it.

Instead of pulling into the driveway of their little house, Ken stopped at the curb. When Kai glanced at him inquiringly, he said, “Got to go see somebody. Be back in an hour or so.”

His eyes ran over her. “Put some decent clothes on, will you? All you ever wear are those jeans and that dirty sweatshirt. Try being a little feminine.”

Her jaw dropped and she stared after him as the car pulled away. It wasn’t like Ken to criticize her, either her clothes or her conduct. What was in his mind? She sniffed and moved toward the house. She was not going to change, she was not going to put on different clothing. Why should she? Just to cook some steak and onions and potatoes for dinner?

It was close to an hour and a half when her brother returned. Kai was scrunched up in a chair studying a map when he came in, grinning from ear to ear.

“Let’s go,” he yelled. “We’re going out to dinner.” He came to a stop and surveyed her. “Will you go put something clean on?”

“I’m happy as I am, thank you. And I do not intend to go out for dinner.”

“Lobster with all the trimmings at The Wharf.”

Kai glanced up from her study of the underwater currents around Sands Key, suspicion in her faint frown. “How come lobster in the middle of the week? How come lobster at all, now that I come to think of it?”

“We’ve been invited out.”

“By whom?”

“It’s a surprise. Now will you stop asking questions and go put on a dress?”

Kai shifted her position, folding the map. “Not until I learn who it is who’s playing good fairy.”

“Suit yourself.”

Ken walked away, and there was something about the manner of his walk that intrigued her. Ken knew something, something in which he took secret delight. Oh, she knew him well enough for that. She pondered, sitting there, balancing her laziness against the thoughts of a three-pound lobster and melted butter. The lobster won.

Kai walked toward her room, calling out, “Okay, okay. You win. I’ll go make myself gorgeous.”

She opened her closet door, and made a face. She didn’t have too many nice clothes; she had never cared much about her appearance, especially now that she was engaged in treasure hunting. Fancy clothes could come later, after she and Ken had found the remains of the Santa Maria Gloriosa and the jewels and gold bars it had held when it had gone down.

There was her Sunday-go-to-meeting dress, of course, the Enka casual in burgundy which she had splurged on a year or more ago. By rights, she ought to wear that. But an imp inside her made her pass it over to check on whatever else she might have here that looked reasonably decent. Ah, yes. This A-line, rib-knit skirt by Ami ought to do, along with the Bago bubble-stitch striped sweater. After all, The Wharf wasn’t the Waldorf.

She saw disapproval in her brother’s eyes as soon as he saw her.

“You could have worn something a little classier,” he muttered.

He himself was in a cotton corduroy sports jacket by Ralph Lauren, together with Halrin slacks. He looked quite the dashing young man about town, she thought morosely, and was tempted to go back and put on the Enka creation.

Oh, forget it. She was clothed well enough. Kai snatched up her worn handbag, eyeing its scuffed sides, noting a stain or two that she had always ignored. Who were they dining with, anyhow? Pierre Cardin? Setting her jaw firmly, she trailed Ken out to the Ford.

The Wharf was busier than usual, she noted as they pulled into the parking lot. Trust the summer visitors to know where to come to get good food! Ordinarily, there was no problem about parking, but Ken had to circle the area twice before he found an empty space.

As soon as they entered, the maitre d’ was beside them, smiling and bobbing his head, gesturing for them to follow. Kai glanced at her brother, eyebrows arched. In the past, that same maitre d’ had always ignored them, leaving them to find their own table. Now, however, they seemed to be people of importance.

The maitre d’ even held her chair, bowing and smiling. When he had gone, Kai leaned forward over the table. “Who are we dining with, the King of Florida?”

Ken merely smiled and shook his head. “He’ll be a little late, he’s doing some shopping.”

Kai raised her eyebrows. “Oh? Shopping for what?”

“Look at the menu, Sis.”

“I don’t have to. I know what I’m going to have. A three-pound lobster.” She hesitated, then asked, “Are you certain we’re his guests?”

Ken laughed. “Ask him. Here he comes now.”

Kai raised her eyes and froze.

A man in a Skye tweed jacket—by Southwick, Kai knew—was moving toward them. His slacks were Halrins, and the foulard tie that fitted neatly with his Pierre Cardin shirt made him seem something that had just stepped out of a men’s fashion magazine. Only after a swift survey of his clothes did Kai take notice of his face.

At first she did not know him. His thick blond hair was combed, his jaw freshly shaven. But the intensely blue eyes were the same: amused, yet faintly worried. He looked right at her, and his eyes asked a question.

Kai froze. She was not going to sit here with this killer! Her brother might, if he wanted. She was about to push back her chair and rise when Roderick Grant made her a little bow.

“I must apologize for being late,” he said softly, his eyes never leaving hers. “It isn’t easy to buy—what I had to buy. At least, for me it wasn’t.”

Curiosity made her sit down again. “And what is this mysterious something you had to buy?” she asked coldly.

Rod pulled back a chair, seating himself to Kai’s left. There was a faint fragrance about him that pleased her. Some after-shave, no doubt. All the time, he looked directly at her. Almost annoyingly so. Kai felt her heart pounding crazily.

“Clothes,” he said softly. “Female garments.”

“I understood you aren’t married.”

He smiled, and Kai told herself that he had a fascinating smile. It lighted up his face, making him seem almost boyish. “I’m not. It’s just—well, you might say I’m doing it to save a life.”

“For a killer, you have a strange way of going about things.”

He looked pained, and Kai felt a stab of guilt. Almost angrily, she told herself that this man deserved all the insults she could heap on him. Now he was turning away from her, toward her brother.

“It’s all set,” he said. “Not to worry.”

Ken nodded, smiling. “In that case, let’s eat.”

Kai ran her eyes from one man to the other. There was something funny going on here, between her brother and this maniac. She might as well stay to learn what it was. Besides, she was hungry, and that three-pound lobster made her mouth water.

She said, too sweetly, “I’ve decided I want lobster. A three-pounder. We who are about to die might as well get a good meal.”

Ken moved irritably, saying, “I explained what happened, Kai!”

“Sure you did. You said there was a man trying to kill me this afternoon. We’re eating with him, right now.”

Roderick Grant sighed. “I don’t suppose it will make you change your mind, but there was a man just above you with a knife in his hand, swimming right at you. I came in from the side, and frightened him off. That’s why you didn’t see him. He was above and behind you. You could only see me, when you turned your head.”

“It makes a good story, but it isn’t true.”

“Believe me,” he said softly.

There was the ring of truth in his voice, but Kai ignored it. She knew what she had seen. She eyed him a moment, challengingly. Then she said, “Prove it.”

“That’s why we’re here, among other things. You’re in danger and your brother and I mean to see that you stay alive. And safe.”

“This is ridiculous! There’s no reason in the world why anyone would want to kill me!”

“No reason that we know.”

Their eyes locked. His eyes were so gentle, so kind, so—so admiring!—that Kai felt as though she were another person. The strange thing was, she felt unable to tear her stare away. But she couldn’t just sit here staring at him like this.

The waiter came, then, and they gave their orders.

It was Ken who picked up the conversation when the waiter had gone. “Any luck in your own dives, Rod? It seems to me that Kai and I have a ninety to one chance of success compared to what you’re out to find.”

Rod chuckled. “It’s a way of spending a summer vacation, before I go back to lecturing at the university. I admit, it’s a fool’s dream, but then, I never laid claim to being anything but.”

Kai asked, “What is it you’re looking for?”

Rod said softly, “Atlantis.”

“Your boat? Have you lost it?”

“No, no. I mean the original Atlantis, the island empire Plato spoke about in his Timaeus and Critias. You must know the story of Atlantis, how it existed somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean about eleven thousand years ago and how it disappeared in a single day and a night, beneath the ocean forever.”

Kai stared. “You are nuts,” she declared.

“Probably,” he laughed. “But it gives me something to do with my time; it lets me swim about on the ocean bottom, looking for ruins. It also got me there at the right time to save your life.”

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