Page 151 of Hard Luck (Blackstone House)

“No, but that’s to be expected. Firstly, they prefer to spoon out the good news when it works best for them—to distract from a scandal or whatever—and secondly, they’ll want to recover everything before they breathe a word to the public about treasure. There’s already been one idiot from the coastguard agency who took a diving trip with his brother and a buddy.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yup, and when he got caught by a boatload of his colleagues, he tried to bribe them into keeping their mouths shut.”

“Damn. Then I guess that makes sense to stay quiet about the discovery.”

“And don’t forget that in the San Gallician Treasure Trove Act, it’s forbidden to search for treasure, but if you stumble over it accidentally and turn it over to the government, you get a finder’s fee. Only a small percentage, but there’s a lot of gold down there.”

“Technically, we didn’t find it; Witt, Clint, and Jon did.”

“We’re the ones who reported it. Anyhow, it’s beingtalked about. Maybe we’ll get something, but because of the circumstances, they might just donate it to charity.”

“That’s…” Therewasa lot of gold down there, and even a small percentage would be a life-changing sum. Cole sure needed the cash, but it would feel like blood money. A man had died for it. “Do you think they’ll let us pick the charities?”

“Probably.”

“I’d split mine between conservation and domestic violence.”

“Domestic violence?”

“My father wasn’t a nice man. He beat my mom, and when she found out she was pregnant, she left to save me. That’s why I have her surname and not his. Uncle Mike paid our rent until I turned eighteen, but I only met him a handful of times. We had to stay away from Vegas. When my father died three years ago, I was living in San Gallicano, and Uncle Mike told me about the funeral, but I didn’t go. Maybe I should have? Not for my father, but for my uncle.” The guilt would always eat at Cole. He should have made more effort to see the man who’d supported his mom. “We spoke from time to time, but I had no idea I was in his will.”

“I’m sure he was proud of you.”

“I hope he was.” Cole took a moment to compose himself. “Dr. Blaylock emailed me today.”

His phone had pinged at lunch, but he hadn’t been able to read the message until he was in a car with Priest. Not a cab or an Uber—Priest was playing the part of a rich businessman with too much time on his hands, so they’d ridden in a black Mercedes with a uniformed driver. How big was the Choir’s budget? Or was Priest independently wealthy?

“How’s he doing?” Bella asked. “Wonder how his ex-wife took the news?”

“He didn’t mention her. Just apologised and asked if there was any way he could make things right.”

“It wasn’t his fault. Echo took a look at the ex, and it seems she was a bit of a gold-digger. Guess Clint took after her, quite literally.”

“I think I’m going to offer to do the survey with him next year—if he wants to, that is. Do you think that’s crazy?”

“No. But if he takes you up on the offer, I’m bringing more ammo next time.”

“You’d come?”

“I’d need plenty of notice, but the big boss is always telling me I need a better work-life balance.”

Cole dragged Bella into his arms and reached for the tie behind her neck. The bikini had to go, and the bulwarks protected them from any prying eyes. The other girls had taken the car to go shopping—Barbie, Tulsa, and Storm by choice, Dice under duress by the look of things. Priest said he had a call to make.

Cole tossed Bella’s top aside, but before he could make a start on the bottoms, she shook her head and pointed at the sky.

“Unless you want my colleagues scoring your performance, we should head below decks.” She arched her back and stretched like a cat. “You’re definitely a ten, by the way.”

Cole scooped her up and headed for the stairs. Hey, Uncle Mike’s shamrock had turned out to be lucky after all.

“You’re an eleven, Jezebel.”

CHAPTER 53

JEZEBEL

“Braxton Vale. Good to meet you.”

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