PREDATOR ISLAND (Sea Lab Book 2)

CHAPTER 13

The colossal great white skimmed over their heads within ten feet, and for a few intense seconds, the shark made them think they might be worth an investigative bite. Based on the hammerheads, Jake estimated the size of the predator at fifteen feet long with a hefty girth to make it even more intimidating. But fortunately, the shark continued its patrol of the subsurface perimeter of the island without looking back.

After the great white wandered along its way, Jake, Sarah, and Dylan performed a required decompression stop, and then ascended to the surface. Once Jake was free of his scuba tank, he climbed up on the dive platform, and shot a wary glance at Sarah as she came aboard. She replied with a serious nod. Then he said to Dylan, "So, what's the real reason you wanted to come to Cocos?"

"I'm not sure what you mean."

"Come on man, I saw the way your eyes lit up when I found the gold coin. You were on top of us in seconds. Given Savannah's family tree, and you being a close acquaintance of the family, I wouldn't put a little treasure hunt past you two. Seemed like you were having a hard time snapping pictures when we were opening the chest."

Dylan snorted and rolled his shoulders. "That was Sarah who opened the chest. You didn't have a thing to do with it. Besides, it was a moment of discovery. You don't think a treasure find would make a good side note in our magazine story? It'd make everyone forget about what happened with Ocean Blue."

"I've said it before and I'll say it again," Sarah said. "We're not talking about Ocean Blue."

"And as I've said before, we have no plans to go there. That's the truth. But, I think the fact that there's a treasure chest on the bottom of the ocean floor warrants an investigation of the island."

Savannah exited the sliding door that faced the stern of the yacht. "What's all the fuss about?"

Tony stuck his head out behind Savannah. "Yeah, did I hear Dylan say, treasure?"

"That's right," Dylan replied. "Your friend, Jake here, found a gold coin and an empty chest during our dive. Seems like our trip to Cocos just got more interesting."

Rachel appeared from the luxury cabin area and closed the sliding door behind her. "You were saying?"

Jake tossed the coin to Dylan, who caught it on the fly. His eyes sparkled under the sunlight as he inspected the rare find.

"Spanish gold," Dylan said, brandishing the shiny piece, holding it with his thumb and forefinger. "An image of a shield on one side and a cross on the other. Worn, but visible. Several hundred years old. Could have originally belonged to Spanish conquistadors? And I suspect there's more gold coins like this on the island."

"Why do you think that?" Jake started to say more, but stalled after a disconcerting look from Sarah. Maybe she was thinking he shouldn't reveal the fact that they knew about the map? He hated to keep their knowledge of it a secret, but it might be beneficial to play dumb. Maybe then, Dylan or Savannah might offer up a tantalizing nugget of information? If they felt like they needed to share what they knew to convince them to go to the island.

"Just a hunch," Dylan replied.

"You want us to go ashore on a hunch," Sarah said. She passed the same look she gave to Jake on to Tony and Rachel. Jake beheld her like a mystery novel he'd already finished. She wanted them to cool their jets. "The Costa Rican government evacuates Cocos and puts a complete ban on the island, and you want us to ignore it and go looking for gold?"

"I never said anything about going ashore, but now that you mention it." Dylan grinned. "Why not?"

"Because...what if there's a legitimate reason for the ban?" Rachel spoke up. She swallowed an apparent lump in her throat and cast a questioning gaze for all to see. "There could be a virus that drove them to close the park ranger station. A pathogen of some kind."