Nothing.
"Ms. Regan, let me tell you how much trouble you're already in with the law." He glanced at Barnett. "This goes for you as well. Numerous counts of felonious grave robbery, theft, willful destruction of private property, and that's just for starters. The list goes on. But if you turn over the book, no charges will be filed and this ends here. Shall I continue?"
"Are you a cop?" Barnett asked.
"No. If I were a cop, you two would be in handcuffs and I'd be hauling your asses off to jail."
"If you're not a cop," Regan finally spoke, "then who do you work for?"
"I handle special assignments as inconspicuously as possible."
"What? Are you like some kind of spy or something?" Barnett asked.
"No. I'm not a spy. But, I do work for a company who gets its contracts from the government. I have access to the highest levels of intelligence. Here's what I know. And keep in mind that I'm one of the good guys. Ms. Regan, you and your roommate Samantha Connors were hiking in Southern Germany when you found the remains of a soldier from World War II inside an ice cavern in a glacier. You also found a book he had with him when he disappeared in 1946. I'll spare you the details of the contents of the book, you already know because your friend here is well versed in German and translated it for you."
The two women looked at each other.
"After you robbed the cemetery in your home town of Charleston, we captured you on a traffic cam video, including the license plate of your rented Impala and two perfect infrared mug shots. I went to Charleston, to your house, but someone had already been there. Someone who was obviously looking for something and didn't find it. Your house was ransacked. No sign of Ashley Regan or Samantha Connors."
"My house was broken into?"
Jake nodded.
"Sam?"
Jake recognized the concern. "You don't know where she is?"
Nothing.
"Dammit. This is no time for games. These people play for keeps. Her life might already be in jeopardy."
Regan started crying.
"Where is the book? Did the woman get it?"
Regan shook her head then held her palms to her face.
"Is it at the Crooked Moose Lodge in Banner Elk?"
She looked up at him. He saw the surprise in her eyes. "No," she said, "it's safe."
"Tell me where it is. I can protect you." He looked at Barnett. "Both of you."
She wiped the tears from her eyes and pulled her shoulders back. "No. Not until Christa and I get what we came for," Regan said. "Help us get into this casket, and I'll give you the book."
"No deal. Give me the book so I can get both of you out of here and into protective custody."
"You help us open the casket and you can have the book." Her tone indicated her desire to negotiate. "No criminal charges. We get to keep what's inside. And you leave us alone."
"Something you need to know about the woman who was here. She's a hired assassin. I don't know where she went, but you can bet if she doesn't have the book she's coming back." Jake explained. "When she does, she will kill you." He paused to let his words sink in. "She might not be alone either."
"More the reason we need your help. We can't get the bolts loose. You're stronger. You can do it faster." Regan said. "With your help, we can open the casket, get what we came for, and be out of here before she gets back."
"And if she shows up?" Jake questioned. "With reinforcements?"
Regan shrugged her shoulders but said nothing.
"We're all dead. That's what happens. And she'll have your treasure…and the book."
"Then you can't let that happen, can you?" Regain said. "We need to get back down there now and get back to work."
He studied the two women for a tell. Anything that might giveaway the location of the book. A pat of the hand or a glance of the eyes. A shrug or a slight nod. Anything. But neither woman gave anything away. Their poker faces were on.
Together, Regan and Barnett's resolve was strong. He knew he could haul them in and try to force them to talk, but that was another delay. A delay his gut told him he couldn't afford. Instinctively he knew there were larger, more important issues at stake than just Ashley Regan and the contents of Norman Reese's grave. Issues that affected President Rebecca Rudd.
Jake knew what was in the casket and so did Regan. Neither Wiley nor Rudd wanted criminal charges filed against the women, and probably could care less about what happened to the casket's contents, as long as Jake contained the situation.
"I don't like it. I think we're putting ourselves in unnecessary danger, but I'll do it your way. However, you don't get what's in the casket until the book is in my possession. Understood?"
"Deal."
37
Maybe it was all the Clive Cussler books he'd read over the past twenty years, but the whole idea of a hidden treasure submerged under sixty feet of water was intriguing. Too intriguing to pass up. Even though it meant disturbing another grave, Jake yearned to see it with his own eyes. An excitement he wasn't sure he could describe in words, not unlike the thrill he had as a child when he ran out on Christmas morning to see what Santa Claus left him under the tree. The allure of treasure was overwhelming even if he already knew what it was.
Jake made the women wait an hour to off-gas and rehydrate. While he waited he wondered when Abigail Love would return. It wasn't a matter of if, but when.
He was always amazed how spending so much time in the water would deplete your body of water. He pulled his dive equipment from the bow hatch on his bass boat and geared up while the women did the same. After he checked and double-checked his dive gear, he slipped into the water and waited on the women.
He sent Barnett down the line first, followed by Regan. That way he could keep them both in sight during the descent. He wasn't sure whether or not he could trust Regan; she could be setting him up for a double-cross. He knew he didn't trust Barnett. Proceeding under that line of reasoning kept him on his guard.
Two things were different than when he was down here last night. One, he could see the brown environment without his dive light. He could make out the slope of the bottom. Just above the metal grave capstone was the upright stone marker the line was tied to. Slightly up from it was the cut off tree. And second, he rotated his head from side to side, the monster catfish was gone.
Barnett secured Regan's BCD to a five-foot umbilical she'd evidently used on their previous dive. With Regan's lack of underwater experience, Jake thought it was a good idea to keep the woman as relaxed as possible in the unfamiliar environment.
He looked at Regan and Barnett and could tell they were talking to him. He motioned to his ears and watched the epiphany flash across their faces as they realized he couldn't hear them talking. Lying on top of the metal plate were three tools, a crowbar, a large adjustable plumber's wrench, and a mallet. He looked at the bolts and could see the fresh scarring on the bolt heads from the wrench.
He released the remaining air from his BCD and descended to the bottom, he would need all the weight he could get for leverage. He grabbed the wrench, slipped it over the first bolt, tightened its jaws around the hexagonal bolt head, and tugged.
Nothing.
Without hesitation, he grabbed the mallet and pounded it against the wrench. As it impacted the handle of the wrench, he saw the bolt turn. It turned noticeably with each additional smack. He glanced at Regan, her eyes told him she was smiling. It was slow progress but after five minutes, the first bolt was loose enough for Jake to remove using only the wrench.