Page 71 of Visions of You

I exhaled sharply, more a growl than a sigh. April was a professional.

And she’s not doing anything advanced divers aren’t fully capable of. She’ll be fine.

Shark Baitwas moored to one of several buoys attached to the wreck, this one midway down the three-hundred-foot ship. I watched the bubbles as Wyatt’s group moved along the hull, traveling at a measured, slow pace. I tried to concentrate on the tropical morning. The sun was out, soft, fluffy clouds bounded across the sky, and a soft breeze caressed my face. The morning was perfect, but I couldn’t appreciate it.

When I crossed to the starboard side and searched the surface, this time I saw a second group of bubbles. We were the only boat diving the wreck this morning, so I relaxed at last. Several minutes passed before the first divers popped to the surface, but they were still earlier than usual. Though with a deep dive, that wasn’t unusual—air didn’t last as long at depth.

I did a quick head count. Five divers. The group was seven total.

I worried my bottom lip between my teeth as I searched for April’s blond head and didn’t see it. She often stayed down with divers who had better air consumption and sent the heavy breathers up first. So I wasn’t too worried. Yet.

The group’s divemaster, Rick, swam to the stern platform and I moved to meet him.

“We might have a problem,” he called.

Those were the last words I wanted to hear right now, and my stomach clenched tight. “What kind of problem?”

“Ted didn’t come out of the wreck. April went in after him and had me bring the rest of the group to the surface.”

“Shit!”

I ran to one of the side benches and grabbed a lead scuba weightbefore returning and kneeling on the platform. Rick was gesturing for the other divers to get back on the boat.

“Can you get everybody on board?” I hollered to him. “I’m going to recall the other group.”

Rick nodded as I leaned over the side with the weight in my right hand. Ducking it beneath the surface, I rhythmically pounded it against the boat’s hull. Sound traveled much farther through water than air, and I had no doubt Wyatt would hear the recall message.

I kept up a steady rhythm and Rick was the last to board. Standing on the platform, he frowned at the surface. “I’m worried. I was thinking about jumping back in to check on them.”

Still pounding, I made eye contact with him and shook my head. “I’ll send Wyatt down when he gets here.”

Rick eyed me, then nodded before stepping fully onto the boat. He might be a dive professional, but he was a guest here. And he knew that. I didn’t want anyone but Calypso Key people in the water if we had to perform a rescue.

A rescue of April.

Hot bile rose from my stomach at the thought, and I swallowed hard.

A few minutes later, Wyatt’s group’s bubbles returned. One diver separated from the rest and headed toward me, and I stopped banging.

A moment later, Wyatt popped up. “What’s up? I left my group doing their safety stop.”

“April had to go after someone inside the wreck. Can you go down and see if you can find them?”

Wyatt licked his lips and nodded. “Sure. I’ll send my group up on the way down.”

He disappeared, and soon I was busy getting his group back on board. Several divers clustered toward the stern, asking what was going on. I had to resist the urge to rip their heads off.

Instead, I took a long breath. “We’ve got one diver unaccounted for. We’re just initiating our standard procedures—there’s noemergency.”God, I hope not.“Help yourself to some soft drinks and snacks.”

And get the hell out of my hair, I thought as I spun back around.

Definitely not the way to think about guests who kept the resort in business, but I was beyond caring. I resisted the urge to pace, sweat breaking out on my palms.

Seeing something in the gentle waves, I lifted my sunglasses. But that made the glare worse, so I replaced them. Bubbles were headed back to the boat, but my heart sank. I couldn’t tell exactly how many were in a group by the amount of bubbles, but I could tell the difference between a lone diver and a group of three. Someone was coming back.

Alone.

Soon Wyatt popped up. “I descended to fifty feet, but I couldn’t go any lower without violating my computer and going into deco.”

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