Night Diver: A Novel Read Online Free PDF

treasure hunters, no booty that Patrick Donnelly ever found had the allure of what was still out there, waiting in the depths for him to discover. The death of his son hadn’t even made him pause.
    It’s an illness, Holden thought. Or a madness. By all measures, he has infected his grandson with it.
    But not his very curvy, tempting granddaughter.
    Again, he pulled himself away from thinking about Kate and focused on the crewmen who had come to greet the newcomers. From the look of their dark skin, most were native to some part of the Caribbean. They had the lean, sinewy bodies of divers. So did the fourth man, though with his ragged, straight dark hair and brown skin, he looked like he was Spanish or South American. All were clean-shaven. Divers only grew facial hair on their time off. Beards, mustaches, and any combination thereof got in the way of the seal between dive mask and face, which got in the way of survival.
    A shaggy blond-haired man appeared, his unruly mane tied at his neck with a leather thong. His beard and the dough-covered wooden spoon in his hand pegged him as the cook.
    To a man, they watched Holden with open suspicion.
    Very well, he thought with wry satisfaction. I’m not here to adopt the lot of them or be the new bloke at the pub buying pints. It is time to polish the right-bastard act.
    He threw his duffels up onto the deck and followed them aboard.
    Kate sensed him behind her, hesitated, then said softly to Larry, “If you try to trick me into a dive suit, I’ll take the pressure regulator and shove it up so far you’ll be spitting metal.”
    Her brother went still, then let out a shout of laughter. “There’s the old Kitty Kat. Welcome home!”
    She tugged on his hair to let him know she meant every word, then turned toward Holden. Before she could say anything, Larry stepped around her, his hand extended.
    “Mister Holden?” he asked.
    Holden shook his head as he pressed Larry’s hand with a patented dead-fish shake. “It is Mister Cameron. Check your paperwork. You may give me a tour of the operation after you show me where I’ll be bunking.”
    Kate gave Holden a sidelong look. He seemed bent on sharing the least appealing side of his personality.
    “You’ll be sleeping ashore,” Larry said tightly. “We don’t have any room.” He swept his hand around. “This isn’t a damned tour boat.”
    “Excellent. I’m not a tourist. Do keep up, mate.” Holden waited, watching behind his impenetrable sunglasses while Larry flushed stoplight red. “My quarters, if you please.”
    Behind Larry, the crew shifted restively, their distrust giving way to curiosity about who would come ahead in this shouldering contest.
    Though Holden appeared not to notice the crew, he was aware of every shifting expression. Their responses would tell him if Larry was leader only in name, or if the divers actually would back him in a brawl.
    At the moment, the crew was simply waiting and watching.
    So was Kate. Her rather skeptical expression told him that she wasn’t quite buying his entire act. Holden tried to regret not being a complete bastard in her eyes, but couldn’t. She was just too appealing to him, and her intelligence was a growing part of her allure.
    Fortunately, her brother was a much easier sell. He was ready to toss Holden overboard.
    “Who died and left you king of the universe?” Larry muttered.
    Holden heard. “Must I repeat? Check your paperwork. The contract specifies that you will provide food and housing for whichever representative or representatives of the Antiquities Office request—”
    “We’ll feed and house you,” Larry cut in. “Just not on the dive ship. You’ll stay ashore with Kate and Malcolm, unless he’s still aboard catching up with his logs.”
    “Not bloody likely,” Holden said with a disdainful curve of his mouth. “What little of worth that you have found shouldn’t tax his abilities to that degree.”
    Kate wrapped one hand around her