The Reef Read Online Free PDF

practicality baffled her. “Dad, all the research you’ve done, the archives, the manifests, the letters. The way you worked on the records of the storm, the tides, everything. You’ve put so much work into this.”
    “I have,” he agreed. “And because of that, I’m very interested that a great deal of Buck’s research aligns with mine. I can learn so much from him. Do you know he worked for three years in the North Atlantic, in depths of five hundred feet and more? Frigid water, dark water. He’ssalvaged in mud, in coral, in the feeding area of shark. Imagine it.”
    Tate could see he was, the way his eyes unfocused, how his lips curved with dreams. With a sigh, she set a hand on his shoulder. “Dad, just because he’s had more experience—”
    “A lifetime more.” Ray reached back, patted her hand. “That’s what he brings to us. Experience, perseverance, the mind of a hunter. And something as basic as manpower. Two teams, Tate, are more efficient than one.” He paused. “Tate, it’s important to me that you understand my decision. If you can’t accept it, I’ll tell Buck the deal’s off.”
    And that would cost him, Tate thought, miserably. Pride, because he’d already given his word. Hope, because he was counting on the success of this new team.
    “I understand it,” she said, tucking her personal distaste aside. “And I can accept it. Just one more question.”
    “Ask away,” Ray invited.
    “How can we be sure that when their team goes down, they won’t keep whatever they find to themselves?”
    “Because we’re splitting the partnership.” He stood to clear the table. “I’ll dive with Buck. You’ll dive with Matthew.”
    “Isn’t that a nice idea?” Marla chuckled to herself at her daughter’s horrified expression. “Who wants a piece of cake?”
     
    Dawn spread over the water in bronze and rose streaks that mirrored the sky. The air was pure as silver and deliciously warm. In the distance, the high bluffs of St. Kitts awoke to the light in misty greens and browns. Farther south, the volcano cone that dominated the little island of Nevis was shrouded in clouds. Sugar-white beaches were deserted.
    A trio of pelicans skimmed by, then dived with three quick, nearly soundless plops, shooting the water high in a cascade of individual drops. They rose again, skimmed again, dived again, in comical unity. Wavelets lapped lazily against the hull.
    Slowly, beautifully, the light strengthened, and the water was sapphire.
    Tate’s mood wasn’t lifted by the scenery as she suited up. She checked her diver’s watch, her wrist compass, the gauges on her tanks. While her father and Buck shared coffee and conversation on the foredeck, she strapped her diver’s knife onto her calf.
    Beside her, Matthew mirrored the routine.
    “I’m not any happier about this than you are,” he muttered. He hefted her tanks, helped her secure them.
    “That brightens my mood.”
    They attached weight belts, eyeing each other with mutual distrust. “Just try to keep up, and stay out of my way. We’ll be fine.”
    “Really.” She spat into her mask, rubbed, rinsed. “Why don’t you stay out of my way?” She plastered a smile on her face as Buck and her father sauntered over.
    “Set?” Ray asked her, checking her tank harnesses himself. He glanced at the bright-orange plastic bottle that served as a marker. It bobbed quietly on calm seas. “Remember your direction.”
    “North by northwest—just like Cary Grant.” Tate pecked his cheek, sniffed his aftershave. “Don’t worry.”
    He didn’t worry, Ray told himself. Of course he didn’t. It was just rare that his little girl went down without him. “Have fun.”
    Buck hooked his thumbs in the waistband of his shorts. His legs were stubby trunks knobbed by prominent knees. Covering his bald pate was an oil-smeared Dodgers fielder’s cap. His eyes were masked by tinted prescription glasses.
    Tate thought he looked like an overweight, poorly