Page 44 of Vanishing Legacy
“That’s not Sonia’s car,” she said. “It’s a bomb.”
* * *
Cash leaned against his truck, hands in his pockets. “Of all the things I expected to find at the bottom of the ocean, a bomb wasn’t one of them.”
Alana sat on the tailgate, swinging her feet. She’d changed out of her swimsuit and into a fitted black T-shirt, tactical pants, and combat boots. Her hair had dried in the salty wind and now cascaded down her back in beachy waves. “Like diving isn’t already dangerous enough with the risk of equipment failure, decompression sickness, strong currents?—”
“And don’t forget the dreaded shark attack.”
Alana rolled her eyes. “Please.”
“Okay, fine. But you must admit. An unexploded military device was a whole new level of danger you hadn’t even considered.”
“True. I guess Oak’s equipment needs an upgrade. At least our digging didn’t trigger an explosion.”
Alana had noted the coordinates of the bomb before they broke the surface with a rush of bubbles. Oak had radioed the Coast Guard, who’d told them to evacuate immediately. By the time they made it back, several agencies had overrun the place, including the Savannah PD bomb squad and U.S. Marine Corps explosive ordinance disposal unit.
Cash glanced at the horizon. “I have this nagging feeling we were so close to finding Sonia. So close to knowing what happened to her that day the storm swept her car off the road.”
Alana hopped off the tailgate. She wrapped her arms around him and rested her cheek against his chest.
He enveloped her in his arms and pulled her closer.
“I’m so sorry, Cash. I wanted to find her for you. For Penny.”
He breathed in and exhaled slowly. “Every part of my logic says Sonia is dead, but a teeny tiny space in my heart held out hope that Penny could one day see her mother again.”
Alana didn’t respond. Didn’t move. He rested his chin on her head and looked out to the ocean. The sun dipped below the horizon, leaving behind a fiery trail that reflected on the water. The sky turned shades of orange, pink, and purple, casting a warm glow over the entire marina.
When Alana pulled away, he loosened his grip a fraction at a time. As she stood there with the wind playing with her hair, the sun seemed to dance on her skin, making her glow with an ethereal beauty. She looked up at him. “You know what?”
Even in the midst of the chaos surrounding them, Cash was captivated by her. “What’s that?”
“Sharks aren’t all that dangerous.”
Cash threw his head back and laughed. “Tell that to Bethany Hamilton.”
“I’ll give you that one.” She released her hold and stepped back. “I’m gonna run ask that officer how much longer we need to wait around.”
After talking to the officer for several minutes, Alana returned and propped her elbow on the hood of his truck. “Well, it’s definitely a military UXO. The Marine EOD unit is securing it for transport now. The officer asked if we could hang tight until the Marine lieutenant can have a word with us.”
“I’d say he wants more than a word with us. It’s not every day you find something like that.”
Alana chuckled. “Oh, I’ve found a lot of things on a dive, but I’ve never uncovered an active military bomb. But we did our part. Got the coordinates and got out of there. Now it’s up to them to take care of it.”
Cash nodded, taking in her words. He admired her calm demeanor even in the face of danger. “Hey, what happened to Oak? He disappeared.”
Alana’s eyes swept the marina, looking everywhere but at Cash. “Oh. Yeah. He does that.”
That was an odd response. There was something more to Oak than a former MMA fighter turned fishing and dive charter captain. He opened his mouth to ask a follow-up question, but his attention shifted to a man in a crisp Marine uniform, striding toward them. He approached and introduced himself as Lieutenant Ryan from the Marine Corps Air Station in Beaufort.
“I understand you two were diving in the area and stumbled upon the unexploded ordinance.” Lieutenant Ryan’s voice was firm. His face granite. The kind of man who didn’t need to assert his authority. It was simply a given.
Cash responded with a crisp “Yes, sir.”
“What exactly were you doing in the area?”
“We were searching for my ex-wife’s car.”