A CRY FROM THE DEEP Read Online Free PDF Page A

called or perhaps, pretending to be out. “He didn’t know I was coming?”
    Joy smiled at her and then at Hennesey. “I didn’t tell 'im. He has this thing 'bout women on boats.”
    “But you…?” asked Catherine.
    “I live with 'im,” said Joy. “Besides, I’m a cook, not a diver. Climb aboard. I’ll show ya around.”
    “This is my daughter, Alex.”
    “Well, how d’you do, Alex?” Joy turned to Hennesey. “Are you just gonna stand there?” Grumbling, Hennesey reached over the side and swung Alex on board.
    The boat’s port side was positioned about six inches from the dock and rocked with each passing boat. As Catherine was about to take Hennesey’s hand to climb over the gunwale, she glimpsed the water between the vessel and the dock. Suddenly dizzy, Catherine closed her eyes to calm her nerves.
    When she opened them after a few moments, Hennesey said with a puzzled look, “Are you coming?”
    Frowning, she took his hand and climbed over. As she crossed the water, the terror of falling in gripped her like a vise.
    She must have blanched, because Hennesey said, “Are you all right?”
    “Yes, I’m fine.” She hated lying, but she hated exposing her fear more. “The meal on the flight wasn’t great, and we came straight from the airport.”
    “Mama, you said the food was good.”
    “I meant good for airplane food.” Catherine rolled her eyes, suggesting that Alex had got it all wrong.
    Alex shook her head. “Whatever.”
    Joy laughed. “Well, if you two want to get started, I’ll show this minx 'round.” Joy took Alex’s hand as if they’d been friends for life. “I may even have an ice cream for you.”
    Alex’s eyes grew round. “You have ice cream on the boat?”
    “You betcha. We love our sweets. Can’t ya tell by lookin’ at our bellies?”
    Catherine took an immediate liking to Joy. With her on board, the assignment might not be so bad.
     
    ~~~
     
    Hennesey’s office, a short walk from the marina, was on the second level of a small business mall. Piles of books on shipwrecks, navigation, and ocean climates sat on a couple of old wooden chairs, and near them, an ashtray full of cigarette butts revealed an addictive personality. Various papers were strewn on his oak desk and a black phone, a bygone of earlier days, rested on a dusty window ledge overlooking the marina. And on the wall, several photos of Hennesey on the Golden Eye vied for attention with a map of the world showing various diving sites marked by colored pins.
    Hennesey pushed aside some papers on his desk and took out a metal box from a filing cabinet behind him. He used a key from the chain he wore under his shirt to open the box, revealing a package wrapped in green silk. He carefully unwrapped it to expose a gold mask about two hands wide, its features simply executed. It was small, but it reminded Catherine of pieces by Henry Moore, a British sculptor who’d used relics from ancient and primitive cultures as inspiration.
    She bent down to have a closer look. “It’s exquisite.”
    “Inca gold. Worth close to five hundred thousand dollars.”
    “And you keep it in a filing cabinet?”
    “Not usually. I’m expecting a customer later.”
    She was surprised he was showing it to her. Perhaps, he wanted to impress her. “Where did you find this?”
    He grinned. “If I tell you, will you cross your heart and spit you won’t tell anyone?”
    “On second thought, maybe I don’t want to know.”
    He shook his head as he polished the mask with the cloth. “You people have so much morality oozing from your pores, it’s a wonder you’re able to do any work at all.”
    She could’ve told him he was an asshole, that she knew he blew a hole in the ocean and was taken to court for dredging a coral reef and killing sea grass, but she said none of this. She didn’t want to get off on the wrong foot.
    Instead, she said, “We all have opinions. It’s what makes the world go round.”
    “You can keep your