A Whisper of Danger by Catherine Palmer Read Free Book Online

him and headed back down the driveway. Jess shook her head. Treasure hunters. If Splinter got wind of this . . .
    “You won’t mind us having a bit of breakfast before we go out on the water, will you?” Hunky called up to her. “Miriamu usually manages to boil us a few eggs and stir up a little posho .”
    “I suppose I don’t mind this morning, but—”
    “Good. We’ve got to wait for our government man, anyway. Karim’s gone to fetch him from town.” He tipped his head in the direction of the verandah. “Come on, chaps. Let’s go eat breakfast. It’ll give Karim time to round up McTaggart.”
    A bolt shot down Jess’s spine. “McTaggart?”
    “He works for the Ministry of Something-or-Other in Dar es Salaam. Ministry of Antiquities, is it? Or the Ministry of Historical Development? Something like that. At any rate, he’s been on my back for a month about this particular wreck. I’ll let him poke about for a bit. That should satisfy him.”
    Jess gripped the stone balcony rail. “Are you . . . are you talking about Rick . . . uh . . . Rick McTaggart?”
    “The very man.” He gave her an expansive grin. “Come down and join us for breakfast, won’t you, Ms. Thornton? I’ll introduce you to my crew, tell you a bit about our work, and allay all your fears. Within the hour, McTaggart will arrive, and we shall all begin the most exciting adventure of our lives!”

T HREE
    Rick McTaggart studied the ocean from behind dark sunglasses as he drove his motorcycle down the bumpy road that led away from Zanzibar town. Ahead, one of Wallace Diving’s two trucks led the way toward the site of a recently discovered shipwreck, a find Rick had been trying to document for several months.
    As usual, Hunky Wallace had been bragging in the local pubs about the wreck he’d found—an undated bark, possibly loaded with gold, and completely untouched. When it came to revealing the exact location of the find, however, the veteran treasure hunter had been as tight-lipped as a clam. The Scotsman wasn’t about to let any other scavengers at his prize. As for the government . . . well, Hunky always used the language of the sailor he was to describe how he felt about bureaucratic interference.
    Yesterday in Zanzibar, Rick had gone through yet another futile exercise. Earlier, he had scheduled a meeting with Wallace and crew. At his office downtown, Rick had shown them every official document he could find that set forth the rights of the Tanzanian government to investigate any excavation site on land or at sea. He had used his most persuasive arguments. He had even leveled a couple of well-formulated threats. No good. Hunky wouldn’t budge. In fact, the man denied he’d even found a wreck.
    Rick had been ready to board the hydrofoil for the mainland this morning when Hunky’s man, Karim, had appeared out of nowhere and instructed him to follow the truck to the wreck site. Bwana Wallace had decided to cooperate.
    In spite of his concerns about this sudden about-face, Rick felt a tingle of excitement as he turned the motorcycle onto a narrow trail at the remote northern end of the island. An undocumented shipwreck. The possibility of hidden treasure. The hope of a magnificent discovery. A familiar tightening in the pit of his stomach set his pulse racing.
    It was almost enough to quell the uncomfortable memory of the events of the previous day. Almost. Nothing could quite suppress the memory of when he’d walked around a corner with Wallace’s crew and had spotted the beautiful, long-legged brunette in the alley ahead. Tall, slender, almost ethereal in her blue blouse and denim skirt, the woman had seemed to float toward him through the shadows. He had experienced an instant of paralyzing reaction so intense he had felt light-headed. His mouth dried up, his heart rate went berserk, and a sweat broke out on his forehead. He hadn’t felt so off-balance in years.
    And then the woman had moved into a patch of sunlight. Her