“Remind me again how you talked me into this?” I’m swimming through an old wooden ship at the bottom of the Atlantic, off the coast of Colombia. Just me and a dark-haired woman I only know as “Carla”. Nobody uses their real name in this business.
We switch our radio channels so we could talk without being disturbed. Carla’s suggestion, presented with an exaggerated eyebrow wiggle. I haven’t told her that she’s not my type. Besides, it never hurts to hear people out. Information is never a bad thing on any job.
“Simple mathematics, Roger.” Her body presses against mine a little. There’s no reason for us to be this close. “The two of us plus that ruby equals a giant payday. Why should we split the take three ways when we’re the ones taking all the risk?”
When Alonzo Dupris had called me in on the job, I almost couldn’t believe it. The Alonzo Dupris. A man who’d pulled so many scores that he didn’t have to work anymore. Everyone talks about one last job, but Alonzo actually pulled it off. Or so I’d thought.
I used to be a swimmer. Almost made the National Team twice. The only thing I liked more than swimming is stealing, and it turns out that USA Swimming kinda frowns on that. Thankfully, I’m a far better thief than I ever was a swimmer. Alonzo pulled me in because he needed someone who could do both
“Look, I already have a guy who’s willing to pay big money for this Hope Ruby thing. If the fake is as good as Alonzo says it is, how is he going to know any different?” She splashes a little next to me. Every breath is precious down here, so I have to decide fast.
“Isabella’s Hope,” I reply. She doesn’t get it, so I explain. “It’s not the Hope Ruby. It’s a big-ass ruby that got sunk in a ship headed for Spain back in the 1400s. How can I trust you to fence it right if you can’t even remember the name?”
“The name isn’t important. What’s important is the payday.” She presses against me again. It’s definitely intentional. “You’re telling me you couldn’t use the money? I’m pretty sure Alonzo will be fine either way.”
It’s tempting. Reputation is everything to Alonzo, and he won’t take kindly to being ripped off. Talking uses up air, and I don’t want a prolonged conversation. I need time to think. “Yeah,” I say. “Let’s do it.” If nothing else, it’ll buy me time.
Carla squeezes my arm and dives below the water. I wait for a second in the darkness before joining her. Even with the lights, it’s hard to see what we’re looking for. Alonzo picked me because I’ve got a light touch and I can swim. I’m still not sure why he picked Carla.
Everything goes quiet when you’re in the water. The world shrinks down to what you can see out of your diving mask, and at the same time, expands around you in every direction. You have to be aware of threats coming from places you’d never dream about on the surface.
Carla slides through the doorway to the cabin. Her flashlight plays off the rotting wood and glass. Tattered curtains float in the breeze of unseen currents. She’s taking too long. I can feel the fake ruby in the pouch on my belt. Alonzo was very clear that the switch had to be made today. The Spanish government is lifting this wreck tomorrow, and his guy will need at least a few days to fence the jewel.
There’s a flash of red light. I almost hope she missed it, but then her flashlight moves back into place. Buried in a desk drawer among the ghosts of old letters sits Isabella’s Hope. She’s grabbed it, quick as anything, and is already swimming back towards me before I can think.
She’s stuffed it in a pouch and I make the trade. The new pouch is lighter. Too light? I want to check but there’s no time. She’s already next to me, squeezing my arm. We’re on our way up to the surface when I realize where my loyalties lie.
It’s not hard to cut the hose to her diving regulator. She doesn’t even notice at first. Just to be safe, I sink the knife into her rib cage as I swim past. I’m not cruel, after all. I can see her eyes, all big and panicked as she sinks into the darkness below me. The knife goes with her. The perfect crime.
The boat is where Alonzo said it would be. None of the crew question why there’s only one of us coming back. I don’t speak Spanish anyway, so it probably wouldn’t help. I don’t know why I decide to look for the gem. Maybe I just want to see something beautiful.
When I open the pouch, there’s white. Paper wrapped around a rock. A child’s drawing of a little girl on a unicorn, done in crayon. The paper is already dissolving on the table from the water. The bitch must have swapped them. My heart skips a beat as the boat heads back in towards Cartagena.
There’s no time to go back or explain. I don’t have enough oxygen in the tank to dive back down, and I doubt I could find Carla’s body if I wanted to. It’s five hours til the meet-up. Hopefully, I can run as well as I can swim.
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Bottle of Wonder 