Chapter 1

The fishing vessel Isabella bobbed languidly on the surface of the Atlantic, in the vast
space between Bermuda and the Bahamas.  This range of ocean is not quite as empty
as it looks on most maps.  It’s dotted here and there with globs of rock and earth that
pass for islands—like the worthless hunk of real estate several miles from where the
boat was floating.
Watching from the comfort of a chaise lounge chair, Shelly West studied the nameless
island while fanning her face with a straw hat bought in the Bahamas.  “Any number of
palm trees along the shore,” she chirped in her usual clipped British manner.  “Wouldn’
t it be fabulous if they were abounding with coconuts!   I can’t wait till we pull into
shore.  Is there truly a pirate’s cove there, Edward dear?”
“Oh yes, and a pier to go along with it.” A chubby, balding man in Bermuda shorts and
a striped beach shirt leaned his hands on the starboard bulwarks, staring down into
the water lapping against the hull.  “But we won’t be heading ashore till our young
hero returns from the deep.”
Swinging dainty sandaled feet to the deck, Sally rose from the chair, smoothing out
her colorful sarong.  Her raven-black, shoulder length hair swayed as she strolled over
to Edward.  “He’s been down there far too long, don’t you think?”  Sally’s  child-like
face grimaced.  “There’s so many nasty creatures under the surface!  Sharks,
barracudas—giant clams!   How could you let him dive by himself?”
Edward shrugged.  “I’m no diver—and he insisted on it.”  He chuckled, leaning an
elbow on the bulwark.  “You’ve been very concerned about his welfare since the
voyage began.”
Grinning, Sally adjusted the straw hat back on her head.  “He’s the reason I hired this
boat for your expedition.  You knew that from the start, bucko.”
“I would have been blind not to see you’re…eh…real interest in our project.”  He
shook his head sadly.  “I hoped you’d get over that infatuation.  Rick’s a one-woman
man.  You ought to realize that by now.”
“He’s only engaged,” Sally said confidently.  “And you know for how long?  Since
1977!  That was three years ago, Edward.  Three years!  It’s the eighties now, and he’
s  still not married.  Any engagement that goes on that long is downright criminal.  
Perhaps it’s time Rick learned to check out the competition…”  Her hazel eyes caught
bubbles rising to the ocean surface.  “Look!  It’s Rick—he’s coming up at last.”
“Yeah, that’s your golden boy,” snarled a tall man in jeans coming from the cabin,
sweat showing through the white undershirt that covered his bulging chest.  “He just
sent a transmission through that contraption of his.  He’ll be up soon enough.  He
better have found something too!”  His surly, ill-shaven face seemed better suited for
an ox.  “I could be makin’ more money sailin’ tourists out for fishin’.  Instead I got my
boat floatin’ around the middle of nowhere on some fool’s errand.”
Edward sighed in annoyance.  “If we’re right about the treasure, you’ll be able to buy a
fleet of boats—and better quality than this tug.”
“Yes, Martin,” added Sally.  “We’re all partners in this enterprise.  We split the profits
four ways.”
“If there is treasure,” grumped the big man.  “When it comes to gold I’m from Missouri—
you gotta show me!”
There was a clink at his feet as a round object was tossed to the deck from the side.  
They all looked to behold a man in a frogman  suit, air tanks on his back, clambering
over the side.  Flipper-covered feet flopped on the deck and he straightened up,
yanking off  his face mask, exposing lavender eyes.  “Better move back to Missouri if
that doesn’t convince you!”  He unhooked his tanks. “Help me out of this shark suit,
Professor.”
Sally smiled wryly, watching as Edward aided the young Rick.  He took off the tanks
while Rick unzipped the rubbery shirt of his suit and peeled it off his skin, exposing
trim, magnificent abs and a torso lined with muscles.
Martin had his own eyes on the gold coin by his boots.    Reaching down, he took it
between two fingers.  Holding it up to the sky, he watched the sun gleam off the
doubloon’s golden surface.  “It’s real!” he proclaimed hoarsely, revealing a filthy mouth
missing several teeth.  “I can see the date on it—1522!”
Rick pulled off the scuba suit hood, and brushed down his scruffy blonde hair.  “The
year poor old Juan Carbolos vanished into the Bermuda Triangle—along with all his
gold.”  He placed both hands on his slim hips.  “Ten boxes full—all sitting down in the
hold of his wrecked ship.”
Martin lowered the coin and approached Rick excitedly.  “Then what are we waitin’
for?  I got my own scuba gear.  I can help you bring it up!”
“Pull in your line, sailor!” Rick snapped.  “It’s not that simple.  We need to get the
treasure videotaped.  We have to verify its surroundings before we even think of
bringing the gold to the surface.”
“That’s why he brought me into this,” said Edward.  “As a pro archeologist, I can
establish the credibility of this remarkable find.”
“Verify—credibility!  Ten dollar words!” huffed Martin.  “The gold’s there, we all know
where it came from.  All we need to do is go down and hoist it up!”
“Do that and you’ll automatically reduce its value,” Rick continued.  “Without proof of
where it came from, it’s nothing but regular gold.  Prove it’s part of a historical find, and
you quadruple its worth.”
“Right now we’re all good as millionaires,” Edward added.  “But with proof of its
historical significance, we’ll become multi-millionaires.  And the videotapes alone  will
be worth their weight in gold.  We’ll make a documentary out of it—the National
Geographic Society will put it on television.  We’ll all become famous!”
“Besides, that wreck’s too dangerous for us to bumble around in without planning,”
Rick said.  “I should never have gone down alone in the first place.”
“I get it.” Martin grinned maliciously.  “You’re  scared to dive a second time.  I figured
you for a pansy.  You act too educated to be tough as folks say you are.”
“You shouldn’t say that, dear boy.”  Sally folded her arms together huffishly.  “Rick
Osborne is known all over the world for his valor.  He’s brought down many dangerous
men. Or haven’t you heard of his exploits in South America, the Middle East, and—”
“Listen!”  Rick shut them up.  Above their heads was a loud buzzing, in the distance
but getting closer.  “An airplane engine!”      
They all looked skyward in time to see an old twin-engine propeller plane zoom down
out of the sky.  
“It’s heading straight for us!” Sally shrieked, jumping behind Rick, as if hiding would do
any good.
The greasy gray plane swooped directly above the boat, turned and roared toward the
island.  The wind generated from its props blew against them in the still heat.
“Someone else is wise to us!”  said Martin.  “They know about the treasure!”
For some strange reason, Rick’s boyish face lit up with a smile.  “There’s only one
person who knows where I am!”  He looked at Martin.  “Fire up the engines, Captain.
We’re heading for shore!”
Martin grunted.  “Then you haul in the anchor, and your pal can help me with the
instruments!”  He and Edward headed into the cabin.   “Damned fools and your
secrecy!  Wouldn’t let me hire a crew…”
With his powerfully built arms, Rick pulled on the anchor chain.  Sally tiptoed up
behind him gingerly, watching in awe as his biceps strained, the sweaty muscles
glistening under the sun. Groaning, Rick had some trouble with the anchor, getting on
his knees to drag it over the transom and let it fall clanging on deck.  With a yelp, Sally
scurried back a step or two.
Annoyed that she came close enough to get hurt, Rick wiped his brow the with a rag
off the deck.  “Can I help you, Miss West?”
Sally smiled sweetly.  “Come now,  Rick.  You and I have known each other long
enough to drop the social conventions.  Most people just call me Sally.  By the way, is
your full name Richard, by any chance?”
Rick rubbed the rag across his admirably hairy chest as he stood up.  “Miss West, I’m
only your employee.  You’re the one financing this expedition.”
“Does that mean we can’t get friendly?”  To Rick’s dismay, she slowly unbuttoned the
top of her blouse.  
“Wait just a minute—” he sputtered.     
Sally drew out a pair of glasses from where she’d left them hanging on her bra.  “I only
wanted to give you this,” she crooned, holding the glasses out to him.  “I’ve been
keeping them for you while you went diving.”
“Oh…Thank you…”  Rick nervously put them over his eyes and started to walk away.  
“You’ll excuse me please…”
“But Rick…”  Sally reached out for him but he proceeded on toward the bow, leaving
her behind as the engines kicked into gear.
He stayed at the tip of the prow, watching intently while the boat headed for the
island.  At this speed they’d reach it in minutes.  The plane was going around in circles
above the island’s northern end.  Then all of a sudden a side hatch opened and
someone plunged out into the air.  As the plane drew up and sped away into the
cloudless distance, a parachute opened beneath it.  
“I knew it!” Rick cried out joyfully. He waved to Martin, who could see him through the
cabin windshield.  Rick signaled  to hurry up and  get close to where the chute rider
was landing.  Martin scowled but humored him,  wheeling the boat around the island to
the northern side, where a huge beach extended from a palm tree forest right up to the
sea.  Just as Rick figured, the parachute was floating its rider down to the direct center
of the beach.
Sally approached from behind him.  “What’s going on?” she inquired.  “Who is this
maniac?”
“Oh…glad you’re here.”  Rick took off his glasses, handing them to the befuddled
Sally.  “Take care of these again, will you please?’
“But…but…”
“Thanks a million!”  
Not waiting for the boat to reach the cove that lay up ahead, Rick stood on the edge of
the prow and launched himself into the water.  Swimming furiously, he didn’t hear Sally’
s cries from the deck, as she watched him head for shore.  “Rick!  Rick have you gone
mad!”
The chute’s descent quickened, its rider coming down in short swinging motions.  Rick
reached the beach and got on his feet in time to see the chute rider land gracefully,
feet first, with expert skill.  
“Loretta!”  Rick called out as he raced forward, watching as the rider unbuckled the
crumbling parachute.  “Loretta honey!”
The rider, all bare feet and long legs in her blue shorts suit, scooted out of a backpack
and dropped it to the ground.  She removed her crash helmet, shaking loose a full,
fluffy head of striking red hair above a tanned face with straight, aquiline nose and
curvy red lips.   Tossing the helmet aside, she jogged out to meet Rick halfway, ample,
well-rounded bosom bouncing with each stride.
Before they could collide into each other, Rick reached out, grabbed a slim hip in each
hand and held Loretta up above his head.  With her hands on his shoulders, she
gazed down upon him with  eyes as strikingly blue as her outfit, eyes filled with a
longing and a hunger.    
Rick swung her around in circles.   “You crazy dame!”  He sat her down and pulled her
right up against his chest.  “Crazy, red-headed dame!” Rick rubbed his nose on hers.  
“You sure know how to make an entrance!”
“Hello, four-eyes…”  Loretta snaked her hands from his shoulders up to his hair, her
long fingers cherishing his brawny muscles and thick neck.  “Can you see me without
those goggles you normally wear?”
“I’m nearsighted, baby.  I can see you good enough for this…”  His lips enveloped her
own, wetting them with his desire. She pulled his head closer, so his mouth could lock
tighter and his tongue thrust into her mouth, going down, down, down…
They were practically exhausted by the time they finally broke off the smooching.  
“What you doin’ here,” Rick gasped out.  “Where’d you get the money for a plane
ride?”
Still clutching his neck, Loretta shrugged.  “I sent the bill to the Alpha News Agency.  It’
s on my expense account.  The main office pays real money for a good news scoop.”
Rick looked concerned.  “You didn’t tell them about the treasure?”
Loretta batted her curly eyelashes at him.  “Nawwww…You know me better than that.  
All I had to do was tell ’em I was chasin’ you.  They know how you’re always good for
a story.  Hell, I’m practically your publicity agent!”  Stroking his hair, she nodded
toward the backpack on the ground.  “Be a sweetie-pie and get my grip for me, would
you please?”
Snickering, Rick picked up the pack by one strap.  “What you need is a butler, not a
boyfriend!”
“I was raised rich, don’t forget. Had servants for everything.”  Taking his free hand in
hers, she swung it between them as they walked ahead.  “But it’s been fun roughing it
the last few years--long as I got you to do the heavy work.”  She glanced at the trees
ahead. “Where we headed, a coconut farm?”
“Better than that—a pirate’s cove, m’lady!  Secret hiding place where Juan Carbolos
hid all his loot.  He was transporting the treasure to his castle when  the ship sank with
him and the gold in it.”
Loretta’s smile dropped, and she cast a wary glance to the sea.  “How far are we from
Carbolos Island?”
“Far enough away!”  He stopped and looked at her.  “That was three years ago,
babe.  It’s old history now.”
“Yeah…”   She glanced down sadly.  “I don’t like to remember it anymore than you
do.”  Loretta looked up at him.  “Just seems like anything with the name Carbolos  is
unlucky for us.”
“Not this time.”  Rick held his chin up proudly.  “Those records I found in the castle will
pay for all the misery we went through on that crummy island.  It’s taken me  long
enough,  but I’ve  tracked the treasure down.”
Tilting her head, Loretta grinned.  “So you really found it, eh?”  She laughed.  “You
know, they erected a statue of us on Carbolos Island.”
“Oh yeah?  After we got rid of that dictator for them, that’s the least the island people
could do.”  He smiled, jokingly cuffing her chin.  “How’d they make us?  Good
likeness?”
“Aw, your statue’s okay.”  She frowned.  “They could have done a better job with me,
though.  Made me look frumpy.”
Rick rubbed a hand across her soft cheek.  “No artist could do justice to beauty like
yours…”
“You and your big words…”  She lowered her eyes, leaning forward.  “So full of
flattery…”
They were about to kiss again when Sally suddenly emerged from the woods, with
Martin following behind her.  “Rick!” she called out, stomping in their direction.
Interrupted, Loretta saw them coming. “Who’s the reception committee—Little Bo Peep
and Frankenstein?”
Rick groaned.  “Be nice to them, honey.  They’re two of my partners.”
“I’ll try—but they sure don’t look on the friendly side.”
Without a word, Sally marched in front of them, putting a cigarette in her mouth and
lighting it.  Surprised at her silence, Rick fumbled with an introduction.  
“Emmm…Sweetheart, this is Sally West, the lady I wrote you about.  She’s the one me
and the Professor met in the Bahamas.”
Smiling, Loretta extended her hand.  “How do you do. I heard about your generosity—
getting a boat for Rick and everything…”  When Sally just snapped shut the lighter
and glared at the girl, Loretta let her hand drop back down. This meant real trouble…
Rick cleared his throat.  “Miss West, this is my fiancée—”
“I know who she is.”   One arm folded across her front, Sally rested her other elbow on
it with her hand upright, the cigarette held between two fingers, French style.  “So you’
re the great Loretta Trask.  I’ve read all your news articles for the past three years.”  
Her vehement eyes scanned her up and down.  “You dress more fashionably on
television.” Taking another drag off her cigarette, she blew out a line of smoke.  “I
never knew there were red headed Arabs.”
Blue eyes flashing like sharp steel, Loretta straightened her back.  “Oh, it’s the latest
thing in the desert—hair dye made out of camel blood.”  She motioned toward her
hair.  “We just stick our head under the animal’s neck and slit it’s throat.  The blood
covers the whole scalp and the color never comes off.  You ought to try it.”
“Eeek!” Sally squealed, drawing back with her face twisted in nausea.
Loretta walked past Sally, snatching the cigarette out of her hand.  “You shouldn’t
smoke if you can’t handle it,” she said, puffing on the cigarette herself.  “Don’t you
know it’s bad for your health?”
“Hahh-hahhh!” chortled Martin.  “Women in competition!”
Rick glowered, tossing the backpack at him.  He laughed when the startled Martin
caught it awkwardly.  “Great catch,  sailor.  You ought to try out for the Minnesota
Vikings.”   Rick walked ahead, going for Loretta.  “Bring the lady’s belongings to the
boat when you have time.”
Martin scowled down at Sally.  “He’s not gonna go for you. Might as well give up.”
Watching Rick leave, Sally looked determined.  “I’m not beaten yet…”
Loretta kept marching ahead through the forest, taking long strides and puffing on the
stolen cigarette. Not caring for its flavor she ground it out on the trunk of a palm tree,
then tossed its remains away. Through the  trees ahead, she observed a power boat,  
bigger than a cabin cruiser, tied up at a dock in what looked like a small cove…
“Hey!”  Two super strong hands seized her hips from behind and hoisted Loretta up.  
Before she could react, her butt was plopped unceremoniously on Rick’s broad
shoulder.  His right arm clamped hard across both thighs, locking Loretta down, and  
he placed his free hand on her left thigh to balance her.  Rick strolled forward with the
girl sitting on him  as if she weighed nothing.  Red-faced with rage, Loretta struggled
fiercely, shrieking out in protest.  “What do you think you’re doing!  Put me down!”
Bare legs and feet flailing, Loretta’s hands darted all over the enclosing forearm,
pushing and prying, prying and pushing.  All to no avail as the amused Rick just
strolled toward the cove, calm and pleased with himself.  “Sorry, babe.  I ordered you
to quit smoking, remember?  And you know darn well I’m not afraid to punish you.”
“No!”  Wriggling hard, Loretta went on pushing and straining against that vice of an
arm, but it wouldn’t move, it just would not budge.   “Put me down, man!”  
“You know what’s in store for you, young lady,” Rick announced, nodding in the
direction of the water around the boat.
Loretta’s eyes widened in horror. “Oh my Lord, don’t do this!  This is a brand new  
suit!  It cost me a whole paycheck!  Please don’t do this!”  When it became obvious he
wasn’t about to halt, her struggling became wilder than ever, but no more effective.  In
frustration she screamed out as loud and hard as she could, frightening  some nearby
seagulls into taking  flight.  Maybe a dunking was inevitable, but she wasn’t about to
make it easy for him. “Put me down, you musclehead!”!”
Thrilled by those feminine hands shoving in vain against his  sinewy forearm, Rick
kept his gait slow.  He wanted to prolong her punishment as long as possible.  The  
girl’s smooth thighs squirming and twisting under his unbreakable  grasp, both legs
swinging around helplessly, filled him with endless delight.  God, how he loved this
woman!  Even her shrill cries and angry defiance only made his heart beat faster with
love for her.  Here was a woman who made a man’s heart sing!
But all good things must come to an end, and Rick finally reached the pier, with his
shapely captive still perched and fighting on his shoulder.  Aroused by all her
screeching, Edward came up from below, and observed the spectacle from the aft
deck.   He’d figured it was Loretta who’d dropped down from that plane. And since he’
d seen these two play this way before, he just took their antics in his stride  “Well,
well, well, what have we here?   Looks like you’ve caught a trespasser on our tropical
paradise!”
Rick halted midway down the dock.  “Yeah, one that needs to cool off!”  
“I will not!”  Seething, Loretta shook her fists in the air.  “Rick Osborn, I’ve never hit
you before, but I swear I will if you don’t put me down!”
“Your call, darlin’!  Down you go to Davy Jones’ locker—say!”  Before he could toss
her, the rotting timbers under Rick’s feet broke apart.  Both screaming, the two of them
plunged together into the waters of the cove.
Edward laughed as their thunderous splash sent up a shower of  sprinkles across the
dock.  He climbed out and looked down at them from the pier’s edge.  “You should
have known better, lad!  This pier’s almost five hundred years old.  It couldn’t take the
additional weight.”
The lovers were floating on the blue surface, strands of seaweed on their heads and
shoulders.  “Just goes to show she needs to lose a few pounds!” Rick jibed.
“Why you—you half-wit Hercules!”  With both hands the grinning  Loretta shoved his
head underwater, then turned and started swimming.   With a laugh he reemerged a
second later and swam after her as she headed toward the cove’s deep end.
From the shore Sally observed them carefully.  She’d been watching their horseplay
from the start, her scheming mind swirling with plans…

                                                 Chapter 2

That night Rick changed into casual beach wear before coming to the galley for
dinner.  He was surprised to find Sally flipping steaks on the ship’s grill, an apron
covering her sarong.
“Well, hello dearie,” she said cheerfully.  “Sit down and prepare to sample my cuisine.”
“Yeah, I could smell the aroma all the way down below.”  He noted the central table
was decked out with a tablecloth, plates and utensils. Baked potatoes, butter and
salad were  already assembled there in wooden bowls next to bottles of refreshment.  
“You certainly prepare a nice table, Miss West.”
“Oh, being wealthy doesn’t mean I’m not handy around the house.  I wasn’t raised
spoiled like…eh…like certain  people…”
Rick grimaced, knowing this was another put-down of Loretta, but he let it pass.  
Sitting on one of the benches around the table, he reached over to what he thought
was a bottle of soda pop. Reading the label, he was shocked.  “Rum?  What’s the
idea?  I didn’t want alcoholic beverages on this voyage!”
Sally looked puzzled.  “I stowed a few bottles away before we left port.” She saw he
meant business.  “Come now, Rick. Surely we’re going to celebrate  our glorious find
today.”
“I don’t drink.”  He held the bottle out to her.  “And I don’t need someone like Martin
getting sloppy drunk on us.”
“Oh I’m so sorry.”  She took the bottle.  “I never dreamed you were an abstainer.  I’ll  
put them all away.”
“Please do,” grunted Rick as she gathered together the bottles.
She smiled at him.  “Anything to make you happy.”  After putting the rum in a
cupboard, she flipped over some steaks.  “Luckily there’s chilled ice tea in the
refrigerator…”    She  gazed at him doe  eyed while placing the steaks on a platter.   
“You
neither drink nor smoke…And I’ve seen you exercise daily.  No wonder you have such
a stunning physique.”
Embarrassed, Rick nervously adjusted his glasses. “I used to be a movie stuntman…”  
“I know.”  Sally garnished the platter with tomato slices.  “I read all about you.”  She
was all smiles while bringing the platter to the table’s middle. “Your adventures have
been in the news for the past three years.”
Rick chuckled.  “Loretta tends to exaggerate her  stories—she always puts me center
stage.  Fact is, she’s been as much a part of the action as I have.”
This didn’t amuse Sally one bit.  “Of course…”  She went to pull bottles of ice tea from
the fridge.  “Where is our unexpected house guest, anyway?”
“Changing into something cool.”  Rick’s eyes lit up.  “She brought some really nice
clothes with her.  Wait till you see my girl!”
Sally smacked the bottles down, one to each plate.  “I’m sure she’ll be simply
smashing!” Frowning, she sat at the head of the table.
Martin charged in from outdoors, Edward coming behind him.  “Okay, we searched the
whole damn island,” proclaimed the sea captain, tossing his hat on a peg.  “There’s no
other gold anywhere in sight, unless it’s buried someplace.”
Edward sat at the table’s other side.  “This squares with those log books Rick
uncovered on Carbolos Island.  I’m afraid Juan Carbolos  wasn’t into burying treasure.  
He preferred stashing gold in caves. Since there’s only one cavern here, and it’s
empty, rest assured the whole of his wealth lies in that sunken wreck.”
Sitting next to the Professor, Martin jabbed a fork into a steak and brought it to his
plate.  “I radioed the Bahamas like you told me, Osborn.  There’s a helicopter flyin’
here tomorrow with that crazy video equipment you wanted. Should arrive by noon.”
With the others helping themselves to  food, Rick filled his own plate. “Good.  After
everything’s checked out we can dive down and take some pictures.  You’ll  get to see
the wreck, Captain.”
“Oh, so you’ll  finally let me dive with you, eh?”  Martin shoveled a hunk  of steak into
his mouth.
“Provided you watch what you’re doing!” Rick proceeded to eat.
“Ahhh!”  Martin popped open his bottle’s top, took a drink and gagged.  “Hey!  What
kind of sissy crap is this?  Your idea, whiz kid?  It sure ain’t  a man’s drink!”
“Tea,” Rick said strongly.  “My orders—and I run the show here.”
“Better listen to him, Frankenstein,” said a female voice.  “I can tell you how bossy
Rick gets.”  Loretta emerged from below decks, curvaceous hips swaying.  One leg
bent at the knee, she paused to let Rick feast his eyes on her low cut, aqua-green
mini-dress with ruffles on the hem, drawn in at the waist by a thin cord.  She smiled at
the way his mouth was practically watering at the sight of her.  “Why, he can be
downright physical if you disobey him!”
She’d fixed her hair and made up her face.  You’d never have known she’d been
dunked in the cove mere hours ago.  She sauntered over next to her man, the scent of
Loretta’s perfume overwhelming the food’s aroma.
Sally stiffened.  “It took you that long to put on such skimpy attire?”
Rick stared at her angrily, but Loretta signaled him to take it easy.  “I can handle
this…”  She turned to Sally.  “Hemlines have gone up again—or don’t you read the
fashion pages?”  She defiantly swung her legs over the bench  and sat beside Rick.  
“The seventies are over, we’re in the eighties now.”  
“Indeed.”  Sally pecked at her meal.  “You have a reputation for staying in style.”
“Well, I for one can live in gear like this.  I was tired of  all those ‘potato sack’ dresses
the fashion shops have been selling us.”  Seeing how Rick was fixing a plate for her,
Loretta ruffled his hair.  “Thanks, honey.”
Sally sipped some ice tea.  “I trust your steak isn’t too well done.”
“If it is, I’ve come prepared.”  Loretta produced something that had been clipped to her
waist cord.  She pressed a button and out popped a two-edged, pointed blade.
“My word!” exclaimed Sally.  “A stiletto!”
Rick laughed. “Loretta’s seldom without her pet switchblade.”
Loretta used it to slice her steak. “Comes in handy around danger.”
“Naturally.”  Propping both elbows on the table top, Sally clasped her delicate hands
together and leaned her chin upon them.  “You’ve become accustomed to trouble.  
That’s why they call you the Alpha Girl.   No matter how dangerous the assignment,
you’ll do anything to get a scoop for your news agency.”
“Oh yeah?”  His mouth full of potatoes, Martin squinted at Loretta suspiciously.  “That
why you tracked us down?  Lookin’ for a story in our treasure hunt?”
Chewing her steak, Loretta draped an arm around Rick’s shoulders.  “I only used that
as an excuse to see my baby.  If he was going to disappear I wanted to be with him.”
Martin looked startled.  “What do you mean, disappear?”
Loretta laughed.  “Why, we’re right smack in the middle of the Bermuda Triangle.  Ain’t
this  where boats and ships vanish, never to be seen again?”
Edward had already finished his food and was gulping tea.  “Surely you know that’s all
poppycock, Loretta.”
The girl ate some salad.  “I’m not so sure. After all, planes have flown into this zone,
and never returned.  Almost like the air swallowed them up.  There’s been speculation
this area’s a home base for UFOs from another planet.  Space aliens might be
kidnappin’ people for experiments and all that.”  Loretta’s imagination got the better of
her.  “Or…or maybe there’s a dimensional wall, sort of like a black hole.  Ships sail
through it, and wind up in another world.”
“Superstition!” proclaimed Martin.  “Fairy tales!  I been sailin’ the Triangle for years.  
Ain’t seen no damn space aliens yet.  This region has the worst weather this side of
the equator.  Atmosphere goes crazy here if conditions are right.  Storms come out of
nowhere, right in the middle of a clear day.  Their winds are strong enough to wreck
any vessel.”
Loretta remained persistent.  “Storms can’t account for all these disappearances.  You
tellin’ me they can bring down a jumbo jet?”
Martin’s big eyes grew huge,  his voice booming..  “I’ve seen Triangle storms suck
planes out of the sky!”  The others went silent, listening raptly to his guttural  
monolog.  “You always know trouble’s brewin’ if it gets so hot you can’t breathe, and
everything goes   still.    When   the   heat   hits   the   water,   and   the   water   rises  
to  the air,  first
there’s wind where there was no wind.  Then clouds where there where there were no
clouds!  Next comes lightning and thunder, and waves taller than mountains!  
Whirlpools, waterspouts!”  Seeing how the others were badly shaken, he settled
down.  “If you ever look into a Triangle storm, you won’t need no space aliens or black
holes to be scared.”
There was silence as Martin wolfed down the remains of his meal.  Sally cleared her
throat.  “My word!  How frightening!”
Loretta let out a long breath.  “You folks certainly are a cheerful bunch!”
“You asked how people disappear around here.” Martin tossed his utensils into an
empty plate. “If the storms don’t get ’em, the pirates do!”
This took Edward by surprise.  “Pirates?  In this day and age?”
“Aw, not the old style,” Martin replied.  “Not the yo-heave-ho type.  The new kind.  
They hijack yachts from rich people, steal their valuables.  Then they shoot everybody
on board and scuttle the boat.”
Sally shivered.  “How ghastly!”  Then looking at Rick, she thought of something.  “But
we have nothing to fear so long as Rick’s with us.  He’s dealt with troublemakers
before.  Killed many roughnecks in his day—”
Rick dropped his fork and knife, which hit his plate with a clang.  Eyes dropping, he bit
at his lip.
“Oh no…” Loretta placed a comforting hand on his arm.  “It’s okay, sweet thing.  She
didn’t mean anything by it.”
“Why, whatever did I say?” Sally purred.  “I only spoke the truth.  By your own
accounts,  your fiancé has killed over a dozen men.”
“I only killed in self defense…” Rick murmured, head hanging down.  “I always tried to
avoid killing.  I don’t believe in violence.  I’m a man of peace.”
“You’ve got to be joking!”  Sally poured it on.  “Look at  the adventures you’ve had in
the last three years.”  She counted them on her fingers.  “You overthrew a dictator on
Carbolos Island…You rescued a family of refugees from North Africa…And all those
smugglers and terrorists you’ve hauled off to prison.   None of these sound like the
work of a pacifist.”
“Have a heart, lady!” Loretta spat out.  “Give the kid a break!  Can’t you tell this is
bothering him?”
Sally smirked at how Loretta rose to her bait.  “Perhaps if you didn’t follow him around,
he wouldn’t get into so many conflicts.”
Those fierce blue eyes flashed again, and Loretta gritted her teeth.  “What do you
mean by that?”
Sally pulled a celery stick from her salad.  “Shall we say, I suspect Rick isn’t the one
who’s always starting trouble.”
Loretta exerted all her self control, but it wasn’t easy.   “You’re so snide.  You think
you can act snotty without gettin’ punched in the nose.  But I ain’t that tolerant of
stupidity!”
Sally munched on the celery. “Why don’t you learn to lighten up?”
Slamming both fists on the table top, Loretta bounded to her feet. Towering over  
Sally,  she  leaned  down  till  their  faces  almost  touched.    With  Sally  cowering
under
her hate-filled stare, Loretta roared out some phrase in a foreign language.   Sally’s
eyebrows arched,  but she just looked away timidly.  
“Arab scum…” Sally muttered, fingering her celery stick.
Rick snapped out of his gloom and got up.   Holding Loretta by her bare shoulders, he
led her toward the outer door.  “Let’s get out of here…”  He stopped and looked at
Sally.  “I don’t like the company of bigots.”
With them gone, Edward coughed and excused himself.  “Think I’ll turn in.  There’s a
big day ahead of us tomorrow.”
“Sure, get out of here,” grumbled Martin.  Once Edward was down in the berthing
area, Martin got up and looked through the refrigerator.  “Okay, where’s the rum?  I
know you got it hid someplace.”
“In the cupboard.”   Sally answered, rising to clear off the table.
Finding a bottle, Martin started for below.  “Gonna go down in the hold and drink
myself to sleep.”
Sally stopped him.  “Is that supply helicopter really coming tomorrow?”
“Sure it is, at high noon.”
“Good…”  She looked like she was plotting again.  “If I play my cards right, Miss
Loretta will be leaving with it.”
“If you can convince her to go…”  Martin brushed past her, going below.  “And I have
my doubts about that!”
Outside, Loretta sat down on the transom, her feet spread apart.  Resting both elbows
on her trim, round knees, she picked at her fingernails, occasionally looking up  at the
quarter moon in the sky’s starlit canopy.
Standing above her, Rick folded his arms across his chest and smiled.  “You’re the
only Irish-American I know who can speak Arabic fluently.  What did you say to her?”
Loretta grinned mischievously.  “I told Sally to eat camel dung.”  She glanced  at him.  
“She understood me too.  Did you see the way she reacted?”
Rick shrugged.  “She’s an educated woman…though lacking in the common sense
department.”  He sat down beside her.  “Since she’s so prejudiced, why not tell her
the truth?   Admit you’re white and Sally might leave you alone.”
Loretta shook her head.  “Naw…Everybody thinks I’m Arabian just because I have a
wealthy Arab godfather.  I got sick of denying it.  Let people believe what they want…”  
Brightening, she sat up straight. “Speaking of my godfather, King wants to see you
next time you’re in Detroit.  Has a job he’d like to offer.”
Rick was amazed.  “What kind of  job?”
“Any kind!  You know how fond he is of you. He’ll make up a job just to suit your
talents.”  She leaned an elbow on Rick’s shoulder.  “You understand the movie
business.  Maybe you could produce commercials for him. King Haroon’s the richest
Arab in Detroit, man.  He’s got shops all over Michigan.  There ain’t nothin’ he can’t do
for you.”
Rick cupped a hand on her knee, squeezing it affectionately.  “Kitten, no one likes
your godfather better than I do.  And Lord knows King’s been generous to a fault with
us.  But with this treasure, we won’t need his help anymore.   You should see it—a
fortune in gold just lying there for the taking. Now we’ll finally have enough money to
get married.  You’ll be able to live in luxury again, just the way you did before.”
Loretta’s smile fell.  “Honey-bun, if you’re doing this for me, it’s not necessary
anymore.”  She sighed.  “Maybe I’ve encouraged you to think this way in the past.  But
I ain’t the same girl I was three years ago.  Since my Dad’s business went belly-up, I’
ve learned to live without luxury.”  Loretta softly rubbed a hand down the side of his
face.  “Babe, we been tryin’ to make it on our own for three years, and it just ain’t
worked.  Is there any harm in askin’ someone older and wiser to lend us a hand?”
Rick stiffened suddenly.  “No, I won’t do it.  I’ll make my own fortune, my own way!  No
one’s going to say Rick Osborn took charity from anybody!”
Loretta laughed.  “You look so handsome when you act manly!”  She playfully
punched him on the arm.  “Let’s fight some more.  What do you say?”
Rick squinted.  “Now?”
“No, we’ll get up in the morning before the others do. Then we’ll sneak to the beach
and fight.  The two of us need to let off some steam.  How about it?”  Smiling slyly, she
tickled the bottom of his chin.  “You’ll get to toss me around…I’ll kick and I’ll fuss…”
“Okay, okay…”  Smiling, Rick wagged a finger at her.  “But you better start toughening
up. This morning I must have lugged you on my shoulder for at least fifteen minutes.  
You were helpless as a lamb in my arms.”
Hands on hips, Loretta scowled.  “I was fightin’ hard as I could, wise guy!  You don’t
know your own strength, man.”
“There’s your problem.   You always pit your strength against mine, which never
works.    Then you lose your temper and forget the judo tricks I’ve taught you.”  He
tapped her forehead.  “Start learning to use your brains, baby-doll.”
“Hey, I  ain’t forgot all your tricks.  Let me show you.”  She snatched up a roll of line off
the deck by her foot.  “Here.  Tie up my hands the way the bad guys do.”
“I get it.  The old Houdini trick.”  He wrapped the line around her wrists and secured it
with sailor’s knots.  “This I got to see. You never could break loose before.   I’m going
to laugh if you make a fool of yourself.”
“I been practicing…”  With a turn of her hands, Loretta slipped them right out of the
cords, untied the rope and tossed  it aside.  “See?  It’s all in the wrist action!”
“You surprising little minx!”  He took her in his arms.  “You have brains as well as
beauty.  But you’ll never get lose from this hold!”
She licked her tongue across her mouth.  “I don’t need to, when your lips are this
close…”
They kissed till they ran out of breath.  “Loving you is more exhausting than judo…”
Rick panted.  They stood up together.  He gave her butt a whack, sending her towards
the cabin. “Go on down and hit the sack, Alpha Girl.”      
Grimacing, she rubbed her bottom.  “Where you sleepin’, tough stuff?”
He stretched out on the chaise lounge chair.  “I’ll sack out here.  It’s warm enough to
stay outdoors.”
“Warm isn’t the word…” Loretta checked a barometer on the hull.  “Temperature’s
gone up since this morning…”  She noted something peculiar.  “What happened to all
the insects?  I don’t hear a single fly buzzin’ around.”
“That’s okay by me…”  Rick closed his eyes and turned on his side, yawning.  “I don’t
care for bug bites…”
Loretta smiled again. “Rest good, big guy.  You’ll need it to take me on tomorrow!”
Inside the cabin, Sally was putting the dirty dishes into the scullery.  “You left your play
toy behind,” she snarled as Loretta came in.
Seeing her switchblade on the table, Loretta picked it up.  “Didn’t bother to clean it for
me, did you?”  She wiped the blade off with a napkin.
“Where’s Rick?” Sally asked, glancing at the door.
Retracting the blade, Loretta clipped the knife back on her side cord.  “He’s stayin’
outdoors tonight.”
“Oh…”  Wiping a plate with a towel, Sally grinned haughtily.  “So you don’t sleep
together.”
Loretta’s face jerked in her direction.  “No!  We never have, if you must know.  Rick’s
religious—and I respect that.”
“How quaint.”  Sally tilted her head self-righteously.  “What excuse do you make for
not being married after so long?”
Lips twisting  in rage, Loretta marched right over to Sally.  Reaching for her knife
again, Loretta stood staring at her, the quivering Sally holding the plate up as if it was
a shield.
Pulling herself together, Loretta looked back at the open door.  She thought of Rick
and all he’d taught her through the years.  Then she just gave Sally one more foul look
and tramped down below.

                                                    Chapter 3

The next morning Loretta wore simple ragged shorts and a halter-top shirt for her duel
with Rick, who only dressed in beach shorts.  Once again it was a one-sided contest,
with her constantly charging at him and him throwing her to and fro with judo throws.  
Yet she kept rising up and coming back at him.  She put him in a headlock, but he
easily flipped her up and over his shoulders, with her landing on her back a couple of
feet away.  
Stalking over to her with a confident laugh, she took him by surprise.  Whirling around
in the sand, her legs swung under Rick’s feet  and tripped him.  This time he was the
one to fall on his back, plopping in front of a sand dune.  
He couldn’t believe it—she’d actually used a countermove for a change!  But he didn’t
let his astonishment overcome him.  Loretta was slow rising to her knees.  Rick’s beefy
nude legs snapped around her waist, pulling her against him, and trapping the girl in a
scissor hold.  
“Ohhhhhhhhh!” Loretta gasped, finding herself sitting with her back to Rick, his
knobby knees crossed in front of her stomach.    A hand to each thigh, she pushed
and squirmed, looking for all the world like a bug-eyed hand-puppet.  “Let me go!  Let
me go!”
Clasping hands behind his head, the smiling Rick relaxed, leaning his back into the
dune.   “You sure are a wiggle-worm,” he chuckled.  “Don’t know when you’re beaten.”
“Not yet I ain’t!”  Loretta went on shoving and writhing, her face dripping with sweat.  
“You’re staying right where you are, girl.  True enough, you’re starting to learn some
moves.  But you still lost—and to the victor goes the spoils!”
“Oh shut up and let me go!”
This leg lock was surprising gentle, but firm as a steel clamp.  She was straining with
all her strength, but the massive thighs just stayed still as rocks.  Rick had ways of
holding Loretta without hurting her, but that didn’t make this any less humiliating.
As always in these battles, Loretta’s mind and feelings were locked in conflict.  She
was outraged at Rick’s treatment of her, yet her body reveled in the power and
strength of his enclosing legs.  Her pushing hands relished the warmth of her captor’s  
flesh, even as she strove with all her might to escape him.  Such inner turmoil caused
blood to rush feverishly  up into her head.  And the more she struggled, the better the
rush…
Dizzy with pleasure, she dropped back against Rick’s soft chest, closing her eyes and
resting her head upon his left shoulder.  Stroking both hands up and down those
adorable thighs, she exalted in their comforting embrace.  “Why must I always lose to
you?”  she murmured hoarsely.
Rick showered her cheek with tender kisses.  “It’s the battle of the sexes…The girl’s
supposed to lose…”
Lips curling to a smile, Loretta reached an arm backwards and embraced his neck,
rubbing her cheek against his.  “Us gals may lose the battles…but in time we win the
war…”  
“Cawwww—Cawww!”  From off a nearby palm tree, a tropical bird with a colored beak
flew off into the sky as if in a hurry to leave.
“First bird I’ve seen all morning…” mumbled Loretta.
“All the others are gone,” said Rick.  “And look at this one.  He’s heading out to sea
too.”
“Can’t blame him…It’s getting so hot around here…”  Grinning, she patted his thigh.  
“Let me loose for a little bit, sweetheart.  I want to go get us a coconut.”
“Since you asked so nicely, I guess it’s safe to set you free.”  He released her and she
got on her feet.  
“I’m free!” she sang out, flapping her arms.  “I’m free as a bird in flight!  Free!”
Rick laughed at her as she jogged to the shortest tree in the area.  Wrapping her arms
and legs around its trunk, she pulled herself up inch by inch.
Rising, he found his beach shirt lying in the sand where he left  it.  Shaking it out, he
removed his glasses from the upper pocket.   He’d just put them on when a woman’s
voice spoke up behind him.  
“My, my, don’t you like to act the caveman!”
Taken aback, he spun around to see Sally looking at him from the top of the dune.  
“What are you doing  here?”   
“Trying my best to figure you out.  I mean, it’s puzzling how a lad so  refined and shy
has such a taste for violent love!”
“Oh, give me a break!”  Rick exploded.  “This wasn’t violent!  We were just horsing
around!”   He  shoved  his  arms  into  shirt sleeves.    “My fiancée needs to be
disciplined,  or she’ll never learn self-control.  I make a game out of it so she doesn’t
get hurt.   She’s not the sort of girl you can pamper with kid gloves.”  He buttoned up
his shirt.  “Loretta’s kind of on the wild side…”
“Anyone with eyes can see that!  The trouble is, you’re so blind you can’t see what
she’s doing to you.”
“What are you babbling about now?” Risk said dismissively.
Sally came down the dune, heading for him. “Someone has to tell you the truth!  
Loretta’s wrecking your life, and she’s turning you into the same kind of monster she
is!”
He grabbed her arm and shook her.  “That’s enough!  I’m fed up with you picking on
Loretta!  I don’t care if you paid for this trip—leave us both alone!”
Martin blundered over from the forest, cleaning what was left of his teeth with a
toothpick.  “So there you are! I wondered where you went, Miss West.  Had to fix my
own breakfast.”
Rick shoved Sally toward him.  “Here!  Take that woman out of my sight!  She’s been
making passes at me  since this project started.”
“Hahhhh-hahhhh!” gurgled Martin.  “The way I  saw it just now, it was you makin’ the
passes!”
Loretta came back, bearing a coconut.  “What’s your problem, snaggletooth?”
Martin motioned to Rick.  “Just caught your boy cheatin’ on you. Was puttin’ the
moves on Miss West.”
“Don’t make me laugh!”  Loretta tossed the coconut up and down in her hands like  a
basketball.   “He has better taste than that.  Mealy-mouthed nit-wits ain’t his style.”
Winking at Sally, Martin faced Loretta.  “Better a society dame than red-haired gutter
trash!”
Face hardening, Loretta hurled the coconut at Martin, bouncing it off his stomach.  He
shouted and grabbed for his gut.  Before he could get his wind back, Loretta dug into
her shorts, yanked out the knife and snapped open the switchblade.  “Don’t try nothin’,
Frankenstein.  I’ll use this toothpick on your ugly mug!”
Ignoring the warning, Martin charged ahead like a bull.  Rick seized his arm and threw
him face down into the sand.  He twisted the arm behind Martin’s  back.  “Give in!”
“All right, you win!”  Released, Martin rose and stretched his sore arm.  “Not bad for a
nerd…” he grumbled, slinking back to the forest.
“You see, Rick?” spouted Sally.  “It’s always Loretta who stirs up trouble—“
“Shut up!”  he snapped. “Now beat it!  And keep your distance from me!”  
Sally threw out a parting shot before leaving.  “You certainly have taught her excellent
self-control!”
Putting the knife away, Loretta stuck her tongue out at Sally as she left.  Once she
was gone, Rick gestured to Loretta.  “Come this way.  We have to talk something
over.”
Together they walked into the forest, with Rick in front, Loretta following behind
dejectedly, troubled over his somber mood.  “Okay, I flew off the handle again.  I’m
sorry, love.  I shouldn’t have thrown that dumb coconut.” She gulped.  “If you’re going
to punish me, I’m ready to take my medicine.”
“Forget that!” Rick said gruffly as they tramped past the palm trees.  “What good does
it do?  You like getting punished—it’s become a joke to you.”
“That’s not true!  Just because I have fun doesn’t mean I don’t learn  from it. I’m a
better girl than I was three years ago, ain’t I?” Trotting up to him, she hugged at his
arm, smiling fondly.  “Dad never corrected me.  He spoiled me rotten.  It took a he-man
like you to get me on the straight and narrow—”
“Don’t say that!”  He yanked his arm away from her.   “I’m not some kind of he-man!
And I’m nobody’s hero!  That’s not what I was born to be!”  They came to an
outcropping of rock in the middle of the woods.  Rick sat on it, studying the forlorn-
looking Loretta.  “I never intended to become some globe-trotting macho man.  Since I
met you in Hollywood, I’ve gone from one bad scrape to the next.  In South America,
the Middle East, North Africa—how much longer is this going to go on?   How often
must I fight your battles for you?”
Loretta’s face tightened as her temper flared.  “That’s a load of crap!  I’ve saved your
neck as often as you have mine!”
“After getting me in danger in the first place.  I’m not cut out for this sort of thing. I grew
up in a small town in Wisconsin.  There I never got into any fights.  I always walked
away from trouble.  Turned the other cheek, like the Bible says.  But for the last three
years I’ve done nothing but fight!   Must I spend the rest of my life proving I’m a man to
you?”
“Oh let’s not go through this again!”  Loretta turned her back to him, walking a few
steps away, waving her arms angrily.  “We’re past that phase!  Do we have to go
through the same rotten argument, over and over and over?”  She wheeled around,
waving a finger at him.  “I have never, not once, demanded that you prove yourself to
me.  You tell me one time I ever said, hey, go beat up someone to make me happy!”  
She thumped a fist on her breast. “I can fight my own battles, thank you, if you’re so
chicken-hearted—”
Eyes bulging, she clamped both hands over her own mouth and backed up with a
gasp.
Rick slowly rose off the rock, his boyish face in shock as he stared blankly at Loretta.
“I didn’t mean it, honey!”  Loretta reached for him.  “I just spit it out—didn’t know what I
was saying.  You have to believe me—”
Rick turned his back to her.  “Miss West may be stupid, but she made a good point.  
You’ve only been among us one day, and already the whole crew’s in conflict.  There’
s too much money at stake for us to fight among ourselves.  In a couple of hours the
supply helicopter will be here with video equipment.  I want you to be packed and
ready to leave with it.”
Loretta opened her mouth to say something, but Rick went marching  toward the cove,
stubborn resolution written in  his body language.    
Sitting on the rock,  she bent her head down, covering her arms over her head as if to
hide her face.  She never liked anyone to see her weep.  But only the sun looked
down through the tree tops, getting hotter with each passing minute…
                                                                  

                                               Chapter 4

Rick needed something to occupy his mind fast, so he decided to move his special
communication device from the boat’s bridge to the aft deck.  This square hunk of
machinery was the size of a small file cabinet, and weighed as much as a safe.  He
had to enlist Edward’s aid to  haul it outside, then commenced bracing it to the deck.
Edward panted from the exertion.  “Couldn’t we just use a regular radio to speak with
you while you’re underwater?”
“This is my own invention.”  Rick used a power drill to apply heavy-duty screws to the
braces.  “Got all kinds of gizmos on it, sonar screen, the works.  Besides, somebody
might pick up our transmissions from an ordinary radio.  With this, the communication
signals go nowhere else but straight to our box.”  He patted the machine. “Me and
Martin can talk to you from underwater and no one else in the world will hear us.  With
all those pirates lurking around the Triangle,  we need such secrecy to protect our
loot.”
The older man sighed.  “I fear you’re becoming obsessed with the treasure.”
Rick found Martin’s scuba mask by some tanks strapped to the bulwark.  Picking it up,
he used a screwdriver to attach a small two-way radio inside it.  “Treasure is what we
came here for.”
Uncomfortable in the increasing heat, Edward rubbed  perspiration off his neck.  
“Instead of dreaming about gold, you should fix your mind on a certain young lassie.”
Rick knew what he was driving at. He paused uneasily, leaning his butt on the bulwark’
s edge.  “How’s Loretta doing?”
“Well as can be expected, I suppose.  She’s changing clothes below deck.  If you ask
me, Loretta’s not the one who needs to leave.  If we must send someone home, it
ought to be that bird with the English accent.”
Rick half-smiled.  “You’re English yourself, aren’t you?”
“I’m a Scot, lad!  There’s a difference in our genetic make-up.”
Even the Professor’s jokes couldn’t lighten  Rick’s low spirits.  “It’s for the best.  We
need to spend some time apart…to think things over…”
“Stuff and nonsense,” Edward blustered.  “You kids were apart for three whole weeks
while we prepared this voyage.  Yet you were on the phone with Loretta almost every
night, driving up our hotel bills!  And if we saw an attractive  woman on the television,
you’d say to me, ‘My girl is better looking.’  Bah!  The two of you don’t know how to
stay separated!”
Tired of having his conscience needled, Rick thought of an excuse to get rid of
Edward.  “I need some more tools...Could you hunt up my  kit from below?”
The Professor heard the weariness in Rick’s lame words.  “Certainly, lad…”  He
started to go, then turned and looked back.  “The two of you should quit trying to strike
it rich and just get married.  You’re perfectly suited for one another.  Neither of you can
handle money worth a damn, and you don’t get along with other people.”  Grinning, he
pointed a thumb at himself.  “Except for crackpots like me, naturally.”   
Once Edward was out of sight, Rick finished his work on the face mask, draping it
limply back on the air tanks.   He couldn’t let the Professor’s words sink in; he had to
keep working and stop thinking.   He had to find something to do.
Squatting beside the machine, Rick slid back a panel, studying the circuitry inside.
Rubbing his chin, he located a minor problem that might become serious later.  Then
he heard  footsteps, and  automatically thought of Edward.  “Back so soon,
Professor?” Rick asked, not looking up.  “Hand over the kit, would you?  I need the
soldering gun…”
Reaching to his side, his fingers closed on something round and hard, yet soft to the
touch.  Swallowing, he turned his head, and found that he was holding to a woman’s
knee.  
Loretta  stood beside him, her nude legs jutting out of a trim, dark blue mini-skirt, feet
in simple white shoes.  Her pullover blouse was a lighter blue, sky color, with sleeves
that ended almost at the elbows. Dropping his hand down, Rick’s fingers skimmed like
a feather across the sleek calf.
Shaking himself back to reality, Rick stood quickly.  “Sorry…”
“You’re blushing,” Loretta teased lightly.  She dropped her eyes, clutching a small
satchel in her hands.  “Funny, to see you blush at touching me.”  She laughed faintly.  
“It’s not as if you haven’t done it before, right?”
“True…”  Rick noted the satchel.  “What happened to your backpack?”
“I’m leaving it here. I’d rather travel light on the way home. I got another change of
clothes in the bag.  In the berthing area is all the extra stuff I brought with me.”  She
smiled and playfully poked a finger on his chest.  “Including that brand new shorts suit
you ruined!”
Rick was shamefaced.  “I’ll wash it out…Maybe it’ll look good as new…”
“Not after a seaweed bath…”  She shrugged.  “What the heck.  I can wear it for
housework!”
Rick managed to chuckle.  “Since when have you done any housework?”
“I’m pretty good at it when I try…”  She reached into her bag.   “Can I leave somethin’
else with you, sport?”
Rick squinted.  “What else do you have?”
“Here…”  She pulled out a silver medallion on a chain.  “I’d like you to wear this till we
meet again…”  Loretta held it out to him.  “We will meet again, won’t we?”
Hesitating, Rick took the trinket. “Yeah…”  Studying the medallion, he saw an
engraving of two robed, bearded men with halos over their heads.  “Who are these?”
“Cosmas and his brother Damien—two Arab saints.  When King sponsored my
baptism two years ago, he gave that to me for joinin’ the church. You were there—
remember how it was?”  
“Sure do…”  Rick thought back on it.  “Every Catholic Arab in Detroit must have been
crowded into that church…I felt out of place with my blonde hair!”  He smiled.  “And
there was King with his big handlebar mustache, hugging you.  ‘Now you are part of
the family,’ he said in that gravelly voice.  ‘I declare you honorary Arab!’  He was
somethin’ else…”
“And he hugged you too.  King is like a bear—loves to pass out hugs.”  She took the
chain and draped the medallion over Rick’s neck.  “King said the saints would protect
me.  I know you’re Lutheran, and maybe you don’t believe in this stuff…But the saints
have done a good job watchin’ after  me  so far…Through all our adventures…”
“Yes…”  Rick looked grim again.  “So many adventures…Too many, maybe…”
A silence passed between them.  “I’m tellin’ the truth.  I didn’t mean what I said this
morning.”
Turning, Rick went back to checking out the machine, looking over its control panel.  
“You didn’t say anything I haven’t heard before, from one person or another…I’m a
coward…I’m a weakling…I’m a drifter…”
“I know, baby…” Loretta  rubbed a hand across her nose so he wouldn’t hear her
sniffle.  “That’s why you work so hard to make it on your own…to prove they’re all
wrong…”  Fast as tears dripped down her cheeks, she wiped them off.  “But I’ll say
one thing...And this is the truth…There ain’t no other man in the whole, wide world
strong enough to handle me…No one else…”     
Overhead the beat of a helicopter’s blades drew their attention skyward.  “First sound I’
ve heard all day from anything other than us…”
Loretta watched the chopper pass by and turn in the direction of the beach.  “Here
comes my ride to the Bahamas…And from there, home I go…”  She hurried down the
boat’s gangplank, hiding her moistening eyes from his sight.  “L-Love you, four eyes…”
Rick stopped working, watching Loretta speed across the dock, and dash into the
palm tree forest.  He gripped both hands on the bulwark, digging his fingers into the
wood, eyes transfixed on her  buttocks, swinging rhythmically with every trot…
“Good riddance.”  Sally came slinking over from around the cabin.  Knowing her, she’d
been watching from the bow the whole while.  “That tart was never for you.  She’s an
uncouth barbarian.  Crude, selfish—violent!”  Rick refused to look at or even
acknowledge her presence.  Not that this stopped Sally from  strolling behind him,
purring inanities.  “Loretta was only using you to make herself famous.  She could
never care about someone like you.  Your personality is so different from hers.  You’
re  such a sweet, sensitive chap.  Kind, caring, intellectual.”  Sally slithered the
feathery fingers of one hand up his spine.  “The sort of man who requires a gentle
touch…”
“Get away from me!”  Bolting around, Rick scooted  from Sally.  Her slimy flirtation had
jolted him back to his senses. “Get away and keep away, you…you…Ah, forget you!”  
Rick sprinted down the gangplank and  into the forest as if running a race. “Loretta!  
Loretta, come back!  Come back, honey!”
“Hahhhhh-hahhhhh!”  Martin emerged from the cabin like a Neanderthal from his
cave.  “Gotta say I told you so.   It’s been a lost cause from the beginning.  That nerd
will never fall for the likes of you, no matter what you tell him.”
Sally’s  naïve, child-like expression switched to a harsh frown as if she’d shed a
mask.  “I’m beginning to think you’re right…”
At the beach, Rick arrived just in time—to see the helicopter return to the air, leaving
several tall wooden crates sitting in the sand.  “Wait!”  Waving his hands, he hollered
up at the departing craft even as it flew out of sight.  “Come back!  Don’t go yet!  
Come back!”  His lower lip quivered while he stood staring at it leave.  “Loretta…”
“Peek-a-boo!”  A blue-eyed face peeked out from  behind one crate.  “You called?”
“Baby-doll!”  Overjoyed, Rick swept her into his arms as a man carries his bride.  With
Loretta clutching his neck,  he   toted her to the shortest crate and sat down with her in
his lap.  They kissed and caressed for what seemed a glorious eternity.
When they finally did pause for breath they spoke in silly talk, as lovers tend to do.
“No more sendin’ me away…”  Loretta panted, tossing back her hair.
“And no more fightin’ with the others,” Rick gasped, tweaking her nose.
“Naw, I’ll just fight with you from now on.”  She jabbed him.  “Hey, let’s fight.  C’mon,
let’s go a few rounds.”
“Not yet.   First let’s go tell the Professor. He’s been worried about you.”  Arm-in-arm,
they practically danced back to the cove, laughing, joking, even singing dumb songs
just for the fun of it.  Coming within sight of the boat, Rick spotted his friend standing
at the tip of the bow.   “Say Edward old chum!” Rick hollered out.  “Get your fat butt
over here and see who’s still with us—”
A blunt, sharp bang echoed in the still air.  The lovers stood aghast as the chubby
Scot jerked as if struck in the back.  Two more shots followed, and he fell forward
limply, tumbling over the side to the waters below.
Neither Rick nor Loretta, both gaping in shock, had any time to react.  Martin showed
up from behind a tree with a gun in his hand—now they had their own problems.
“I’ll take that ‘toothpick’ of yours!” snorted the big man.  “I know you’re never without
it!”  Reluctantly Loretta removed the switchblade from where it was clipped to her skirt’
s waist band.  Martin snatched it from her hand, shoving it into his pocket.  “If you ain’t
the biggest fool I ever did see!” He laughed.  “Little filly didn’t have sense to leave
when the goin’ was good.”  
It took a lot more than this to intimidate Loretta.  “Wait just a damn minute!  If you’re
here, who did all the shooting on the boat?”
Matin gestured at the dock.  “That would be my silent partner.”
“Partner?” exclaimed Rick.  
Down the pier tramped a woman in jeans, work shoes, and a short sleeve denim shirt
tucked in at her waist. Long black hair was tied behind her head in a ponytail.  With
the ease of a professional, she neatly loaded bullets into the cylinder of a six-shot
revolver.
“So much for that fat slob,” said Sally, her British accent gone.
“Your voice has changed, doll-face,” said Loretta dryly.  “Either you’ve just developed
a sore throat, or you’re not really a Brit.”
“I’m from Wyoming—can’t you tell?”  Sally snapped the cylinder back in place, training
her gun on the young couple.  “In college I studied acting.  Specialized in character
parts.  Would have gone on to Broadway.  But my older brother convinced me that
piracy was a lot more lucrative.”
In spite of everything, Rick had to laugh, looking from Martin’s craggy features to Sally’
s baby face.  “You—her brother?”
“Yeah, we should have noticed the family resemblance,” Loretta wisecracked.  “You’re
a pretty good actress if you could pull the wool over my eyes, sister.”
Sally was the epitome of cool.  “You can’t say I didn’t play fair, carrot top.  I did my
level best to drive you off this island.  It would have been so much easier if you’d split
the scene.  Should have left me alone to seduce your boyfriend over to our side.”
“You must have been drunk when you cooked up that scheme,” joked Rick.  He’d
faced danger so often, clowns like these didn’t frighten him.  “Or else you didn’t really
believe in my reputation.”
“Boy scout, I’ve trapped better men than you with my ‘British bird’ routine.”  Sally
winked.   “It’s the accent that hooks ’em.”   She sighed.   “Oh well…”   Without  
warning,
she grabbed a handful of Loretta’s hair and yanked her over, putting the gun’s barrel
to her cheek.  “We’ll just have to do it  the hard way!”
“Stop it!”  Rick stepped forward.  “I’m the only one who knows the exact location of the
wreck—and the treasure with it.  Without me you’re on your own.  I’ll never cooperate
if you do anything to her.  Kill Loretta and you might as well shoot me too.”
“Didn’t I tell you, sis?”  stated Martin.  “This is the way to get things done.  That lovey-
dovey stuff don’t work with stiffs like this sissy boy.”
“At least now we have a hostage. Osborn will do anything to keep her alive.”  Sally
gave Loretta’s hair an extra yank.  “Aren’t you glad you didn’t leave, red head?”

                                                     Chapter 5

Within the next hour the Isabella pulled out to the location where it  floated the day
before.  The anchor was dropped, and Rick clambered into his scuba suit.
Wearing only a swim suit and flippers, Martin heaved air tanks on his back and
clamped a belt of weights around his waist.  “What do you need that suit for?  It’s too
hot to be covered from head to foot.”
“The suit  automatically adjusts to increasing water pressure.  It’s my own design.”
“You and your blasted contraptions!”  Martin scooped up a face mask off the deck and
strapped it to his face.  “Hey!  What the hell is this?  I can’t see clearly!”
Rick yanked the mask from his head.  “This is my mask, stupid.  The lens is suited to
my eyesight.”  He gave him another mask.  “Here’s yours.”
Martin glared at him.  “Don’t get cocky, whiz kid.  I’ve figured you out—and now I’m
wise to your tricks!”
Smirking, Rick fitted into his own flippers, weights and tanks.  “Is that so?”
“I should have seen it before.  You put on the same show my sister does.  Most of the
time you act like a wimp, so people think you’re harmless.  Then when the going gets
rough, you lower the boom on ’em!  That’s how you’ve brought down all them crooks
you’ve rounded up.  But it ain’t gonna work with me!”  He produced a huge diver’s
knife from a scabbard on his straps.  “I’ll be swimmin’ next to you at all times down
below.  One false move and I’ll cut your air line!”  Rick  behaved as if it all meant
nothing to him, cleaning the inside of his mask with his own spit.   This puzzled Martin.
“Man, you’re a cool one.”
“They’re both a pair of icicles.”  Sally finished tying Loretta’s hands behind her back,
securing her to a metal ladder on the cabin’s hull.  “Usually the Arab can’t keep her
mouth shut.  Since we left the island she hasn’t said a word.”
“Don’t let her fool you, sis.  She’s more dangerous than the nerd.  Keep your eyes on
her while we’re gone.”
“Get real, people,” Rick said.  “Who do you think she is—Houdini?”
Loretta caught his signal.  She longed to express her feelings, but not in front of these
pirates.  So she spoke to him in Arabic, praying he’d understand the soft tone of  her
voice, if not her words.  “I love you, Rick…I always will…”   
“Oh how sweet!” said Sally spitefully.  “Don’t think you can get away with secret
messages,  desert rat.  I understand your lingo and a dozen other languages.”
“I forgot,” Loretta grunted.  “You’re the smart one of the family.”   
Sally sauntered over to Rick’s communication device.  “Smart enough to understand
this control panel.”  She tapped the sonar screen.  “I’ll follow your every move down
there, smart guy.  Try to swim away from my brother and I’ll use your squeeze for
target practice.” Sally patted the gun holstered on her belt.
“You’re a pretty fair shot…”  Martin’s knife at his back, Rick slipped on his mask.  “If
your aim at the Professor was any example of your marksmanship.”
Sally smiled heartlessly.  “It wasn’t difficult  to hit that tub of lard.”  He signaled  for him
to jump overboard.  “Now get to work!  Bring up the gold—all of it!  Every treasure
box.  No more stalling.”
“A crying shame I’ll never get to use the video equipment.”  He and Martin  waddled to
the transom.  “You wasted your money on that shipment.”
“I charged it to Edward’s credit card,” Sally retorted.  “At least now he won’t have to
make the payments.”
Even through the lens, Rick’s eyes reflected his disgust with her.  Turning, he paused
so Sally could turn on their air tanks.  Then he and Martin stood on the transom edge.  
They stared out at the ultra-calm ocean.
“Never seen the waters around here so still before,” mumbled Rick, just before he
popped in his  mouthpiece.  With a wave of his hand he motioned for Martin to jump,
and together they splashed into the sea.
Sally concentrated on the wavy images coming over the sonar screen.  She unclipped
a microphone connected to the device by a coiled cord.  “How’s it going, Marty?” she
asked into it.
“We’re heading down,” came the garbled transmission.  Out of a corner of her eye
Sally kept a watch on Loretta.
Loretta had been straining at her bonds until Sally looked her way.  It was more
difficult using the Houdini trick with her hands tied behind her back.  And she’d be sure
to give herself away with Sally staring at her.  There had to be a way to divert that  
crook’s attention…
Then Loretta thought of something Rick told her.  Whenever she lost her temper she
couldn’t  think straight.  Maybe the same was true with Sally…
“Hey doll face!” Loretta called out, speaking slowly, maliciously. “Since the minute we
met I’ve wanted to tear you to pieces.    But I held back because I thought you were
soft.  Turns out you’re a bad girl, just like me.  Know what I’d do to you now, if I could
get my hands free?”  She smiled.   “Do you?”
Sally charged right over.  “I know what I’m going to do to you, slut!”  She backhanded
Loretta hard, smacking her head down.   “Loretta Trask, the Alpha Girl!  What a joke!  
Your boyfriend pushes you around like a rag doll.  A four year old child could whip
your ass!”
Loretta raised her head, ruby lips stretched to a wide grin, displaying her white teeth.  
“If you think I’m such a wimp, then cut my bonds and find out how tough I am.”
“Later.  There’s plenty of time to settle scores.”     
“Time?”   Those fiendish blue eyes got bigger than ever, reflecting a hatred so deep it
must have swelled straight up from her gut.   With that scarecrow’s grin and those
glistening teeth,  the wind whipping strands of red hair across her face, Loretta’s
natural beauty became something malevolent…murderous.  “Lady, time is on my side!”
“You’re crazy…Crazy as a loon—”   Wait a second.  Wind?  What wind?  There hadn’t
been any all day!  “Oh my God…”
Sally dashed to the port side, staring out to the horizon.  White clouds were rising like
steam off the water in the distance.  First there’s wind where there was no wind, then
clouds where there were no clouds…
“A Triangle storm!”  Sally cried out. They’d been so focused on gold, they’d ignored all
the warning signs.  She sprinted across the deck, frantically grabbing up the
microphone.  “Marty! Forget the treasure!  Get your butt to the surface!  A Triangle
storm is brewing!  It’s gathering force already.   We have to head for shore
immediately!”  All that came through the speakers was static.  “Marty, why don’t you
answer?”
Looking at the sonar, she got confused.  The two  images had merged together and
were shimmering and  wavering all across the screen.  Either a school of fish had
interfered with the signal—or the men were fighting down below!
Sally dropped the microphone and looked over the bulwark.  A massive load of
bubbles came bursting up to the surface.  That meant only one thing—somebody’s air
line had been cut!  But whose--?
The deck behind her creaked.  Sally was just turning when a stretch of rope whipped
around her throat and tightened.
Out of reflex she grabbed for her throat, but Loretta yanked savagely to the side,
slamming them both down on the deck. She strove to roll Sally over on her stomach,
and choke her from behind.  But Sally resisted ferociously, knowing precisely what the
girl  was up to.  This was no game—Loretta was going straight for the kill!
Sally’s fists shot up and backwards, her thumbs jabbing for Loretta’s eyes.  Closing
both eyelids in time, Loretta dodged the thumbs, but still got a  poke.  She had to
disengage, rolling away from the gasping Sally.
Rising to her hands and knees, Loretta felt blood on her face. There were  scratches
on  her cheeks where the thumbnails  landed, but the girl’s eyes were unhurt, her
vision good.  Clear enough to see Sally getting up, fumbling for the pistol in her
holster.  Using a move Rick taught her,  Loretta  rolled underneath Sally, tripping her
so she fell across Loretta’s back and hit the deck
again.                                                             
Scrambling on top of Sally, Loretta went right for the still holstered gun.  This was a
mistake.  A karate chop to the throat knocked the girl backwards, arms flailing, giving
Sally time to scramble to her feet.   It was Loretta’s turn to gasp and wheeze for
breath, but she didn’t lose concentration, seeing Sally draw the gun into the open.  
Launching herself upwards, she charged head down, ramming into Sally’s stomach,  
shoving her all the way across the deck to the cabin hull.
Sally’s back smacked against the hull, her finger closing  on  the  trigger  by accident.
The bullet went harmlessly into the deck, kicking up wood splinters.  The pistol’s recoil
action twisted Sally’s wrist, making her shriek and drop the gun.  Taking advantage of
this, Loretta straightened, jerked her fist back and brought it down on her opponent’s
nose.   Blood flowing from Sally’s nostril, Loretta followed through with a backhand of
her own, striking the pirate’s head to the side.
Then suddenly the boat lurched.  Loretta found herself  dancing to stay upright.  She
got a grip on  the steel ladder attached to the hull, the same ladder she’d been tied to
before.  For the first time she noticed that the sky had gone dark fast.  It was blanketed
with clouds, black clouds heavy with moisture.  The wind had increased, throwing
waves sharply against the boat, pitching it first to one side, then the other.  A white
bolt flashed right above their heads, its energy absorbed by a lightning rod on top of
the cabin.  This was swiftly followed by a peel of thunder that  made the vessel quake.
While Loretta hung on for dear life,  Sally had dropped to her knees, groping around
along the cabin’s edge for the lost gun.  It had already slid somewhere but in the
increasing gloom she couldn’t see where it went.
Another lightning flash exposed it to view.  It was nowhere near the cabin, having slid
all the way to the starboard bulwark.  There it lodged among spools of white line,
where the pistol’s  black metal made it stand out.  Sally inched up the cabin hull till she
regained her feet.  If she could only keep her balance in the ever-moving vessel, she
might just reach it…
Loretta watched Sally rise and read her mind.  Just as Sally bungled ahead, Loretta,
still clutching the ladder rails, swung both her naked legs up into the air.  Her short
skirt getting blown back by the wind, she snapped her calves around Sally’s throat and
neck.  Crossing the ankles, Loretta squeezed hard, trying to break the pirate’s neck.
Grabbing a leg, Sally pulled with all her strength, making Loretta lose her grip on the
rails.  To keep from getting hurt as she fell, Loretta was forced to release Sally.  But
even as she struck the deck, Loretta swung her leg under Sally’s feet.  Tripped again,  
Sally fell forward this time, breaking her fall with her hands and rolling to the port side
to get away from Loretta.
Sally ran against some long-poled boat hooks strapped to the port bulwark.  Bounding
up, she endeavored to get one lose, but the boat’s  pitching slowed her
down.                          
The lightning became more frequent, enabling Loretta, still lying on deck, to see the
gun clearly.  She would have scrambled for it, but Sally came charging ahead, using
the  boat hook as a spear. With a shout she plunged its sharp point for Loretta’s belly.  
Loretta rolled to the side in time to avoid the hook’s metal tip, which went into the deck
with a thunk, making a gash in the wood.
Gaining her feet quickly,  Loretta found herself on the wrong side of the boat, with
Sally  between her and the gun.  Making matters worse, rain was starting to pelt
down.  In a few seconds the deck would become a slippery mess, making it harder to
stand or fight.  If she was to get her hands on that pistol, it was now or never.
Sally yanked the hook out of the wood just as Loretta came running.  She swung the
hook’s long wooden pole like a club, aiming for Loretta’s head, but the girl dived down
underneath the weapon, sliding forward on her belly across the already drenched
deck.  She slid right up to the gun, snatched it into her hand and spun around, rising to
a sitting position.
Screaming to frighten Loretta, Sally bolted for her, the hook held forward to ram into
the girl.  Loretta fired, emptying all the cartridges in Sally’s direction. One bullet struck
Sally on the chin, stopping the pirate in her tracks, snapping her head back.  The  
pole  slid from her hands and bounded away, the boat listing hard to port.  Still on her
feet and barely alive, Sally went tripping to the port side,  hit the bulwark and went
over into the ever-churning waves.
Tossing the gun away,  Loretta was quick to realize the vessel was continuing to tilt.  It
was going to capsize!    She scrambled up and over the bulwark, hanging on to its
outer edge.  There was no time to seek out a life preserver, even if she could see one
in this downpour.  Her clothes drenched and sticking to her body, she rode with the  
starboard side as it rose above the sea. She released her grip and slid to the keel  
before the starboard started to fall.  It plopped down as the Isabella completely
overturned.      
Lightning flashing around her, thunder making her quake, rain pelting her body,
Loretta fought to hang on to the keel.  The sea’s turbulence made that impossible, and
after another moment she began slipping down the craft’s round bottom
“Jesus…Saint Cosmas…” she gurgled weakly.  “Let me be with Rick…”
She went feet first into the ocean—and was grabbed from behind.  Two arms in a red
scuba suit locked around her belly.
“Hang on to my neck!”  a familiar voice shouted above the thunder.  “Hang on hard as
you can, baby!”
Startled but compliant, Loretta turned as best she could in his massive grip, draping
both arms around Rick’s neck.  They were bouncing up and down in the heavy waves,
but somehow staying afloat. Then she realized the suit itself had expanded slightly—it
had become its own life preserver!  To the girl’s further amazement, she felt Rick
snapping some sort of a heavy strap across her waist,  so she was bound to him
securely.
“Lay your face on my chest!”  Rick commanded.  “Keep your mind off the storm!  We
can ride this out, sweetheart!”
It wasn’t hard to obey, closing her eyes and passing out from sheer exhaustion, letting
the waves rock her off to dreamland…
It was no dream when her eyelids fluttered open, who knows how many hours later.  
She was lying on top of Rick!  He lay with his arms outspread, his legs stretched
apart, on some kind of sandy ground.  His red suit had deflated.  In one hand he still
clutched his face mask. Waking up himself, he reached around  and unbuckled the
strap that held her to  him.     
“If you’re wondering where that strap came from,” he said tiredly, “I  took it off my
tanks before I ditched them…”
She swallowed.  “That wasn’t exactly high on my list of questions…” she sighed,
raising her head off his chest to get a better look around.  Apparently they’d washed
ashore right at the mouth of a really small, rinky-dink cave, one she recognized.  “That’
s the only cave on the island…On the other end of the beach…”  Then she noted the
sun, nowhere near as warm as before,  nearly at the noon point of the sky.  “We slept
all night…”
“And most of the following day.  Very observant…”  Rick took in a deep breath.  “I still
don’t want to get up…”
Loretta folded her arms across his chest, right below his chin.  “With me on top of you,
why should you want to get up?”
Rick laughed faintly.  “Good point…”
“Let’s get this off you…”  Loretta peeled the rubbery hood from his head.  “Okay, how’
d you do it?  How’d you keep us afloat through the night?”
“Not the whole night, honey.  The storm didn’t last all that long.  It was over five
minutes after I rescued your pretty butt.  What took up so much time was me having to
dog-paddle us back to the island.”  He yawned.  “The tide helped a little…”
“That still don’t answer the question, sweet thing.  Even you ain’t strong enough to
swim through a storm.”
“Who needs to swim when you have a suit like this?”  He showed her a cord attached
to his side.  “All I had to do is was pull this for my shirt, and one for my pants.  The
entire suit’s inflatable—more buoyancy than a life vest.  My own invention.  Of course,
we probably had a little help from God…Not to mention them Arab saints of yours.”
Loretta unzipped the front of his shirt, and toyed with the medallion hanging around his
neck.  “I think they like me and you…”  She thought of something else.  “Should I ask
what happened to Martin?”
Rick looked sad.  “I didn’t want to do it…but I had no choice.  The minute I led him to
the treasure, he tried to cut my air hose. We fought and I cut his hose instead.”
“Cut it? With what?”
“Need you ask?”  He produced her switchblade from a compartment on his suit. “I
stole it right under Martin’s nose…Picked his pocket.”  He snapped open the blade,
turned it downward and jammed it into the sand.  “Came in handy cutting myself lose
from some underwater growth.  I got all tangled in it while fighting Martin.  Otherwise I’
d have been up a little faster.”
Loretta winked.  “Oh, I managed to take care of myself while you were gone.”
“Say honey…”  Rick coughed.  “Do you think your godfather still has a job open for
me somewhere?”
Loretta looked surprised.  “What about the treasure?”
“I’m going to contact Edward’s old university.  They can dredge it up and keep the
gold, provided they give him credit for locating it.   The Professor would want that.  
Poor little guy, he never cared about the money.  All he ever wanted to do was
become famous…”  He grimaced.  “That is, if I can concoct some way to get off this
island…”
Loretta ran her fingers through his chest hair.  “Rick, you’re not going to have to worry
about getting rescued.”
He squinted.  “What makes you say that?”
“Well…”  She snickered.  “I bribed that  helicopter pilot yesterday.  Slipped him the last
of my pocket money.  He’s supposed to come back today and pick us up.”
“You what?”  Rick  smiled.  “Why did you do that?”
She shrugged.  “Oh, I dunno.  Just had this nutty idea I could talk you into giving up
the treasure hunt.   Call it a woman’s cunning…”
Raising his hands, he caressed her arms.   “I call it a very intelligent idea.  You’re
finally learning to use your brains instead of  brawn. But then, so am I. Took the whole
Bermuda Triangle to put some sense into my head…But after this, I figure it’s time to
settle down…”
“And get married…and raise kids…”  Loretta licked her tongue across his lips.  “We
got some time before the chopper gets here…Want to fight?”
He brought his hands to her head, running fingers through her stringy wet hair  “Too
tired.  We’ll wait till after we’re married to fight again.”
Her eyes glowed above him.  “Promise?”  He nodded.  “Then I can’t wait…”
With superb gentleness he brought her head down till their lips clamped together
tenderly, one upon the other…
In the distance, if you listened hard enough, you could hear the steady beat of
helicopter blades, the chopper coming closer and closer to the nameless island.  A
worthless scrap of rock in the middle of nowhere, that in a few short years would be
written on the maps as Edward Isle.  The first child of Rick and Loretta Osborn was
also named Edward, after a brave little Scotsman.  A college professor listed in the
history books as the man who solved one puzzle of the Bermuda Triangle.



                                          Copyright © 2007 Linda Ambrosia
“Triangle
Storm”

By

Linda Ambrosia