Read Online Krewe of Hunters 7 The Unspoken by Heather Graham - Free Book Online Page B

her. “You tired? You want to call it quits for the day?”
    She scowled back at him. If she’d been falling off her feet, she’d never have admitted it to this man. “I’m fine. What do you have in mind?”
    “Two quick stops—Landry Salvage and Simonton’s Sea Search. Neither may really help. Salvage companies don’t usually drive around in Cigarette speedboats, but…”
    “And if someone else is searching for treasure, that person may not be involved with a salvage company at all,” Kat added.
    He paused at the car door, looking over it. “True. But you have to know something about diving to get down there. You’d have to follow the research to find the ship—and you’d have to follow Brady Laurie out to the site…and gone after him right away.”
    “Maybe it’s someone who works for a salvage company,” Kat suggested. “Not the company itself.”
    “That would be my bet.” Will grinned as she joined him in the front seat. “Your choice—Landry or Simonton’s Sea Search first?”
    “Simonton’s. I like the alliteration,” she said.
    Simonton’s was just north of the pier. There was a massive vessel with all kinds of cranes and netting at the dock. The office itself was small and looked more like a sea shanty than a professional building. Inside, Kat was surprised to see that it was nicely outfitted with modern office furniture and file cabinets that occupied most of the wall space. The walls were decorated with old anchors, flags and other boating paraphernalia. A receptionist who introduced herself as Gina led them to a back room, where the walls were decorated with sea charts and maps, and the rear wall held the figurehead of a beautiful siren.
    The man standing behind the desk was in a windbreaker, deck shoes and jeans. His desk was strewn with papers, despite the computer that took up at least half of it. “Hi. I’m Andy Simonton,” he greeted them. “What can I do for you?”
    He was young, maybe thirty, with slightly shaggy blond hair and bright blue eyes. He swept out a hand to indicate the chairs in front of his messy desk. They sat.
    “You’re with the FBI?” he asked curiously. He didn’t seem afraid or threatened in any way, but rather intrigued.
    “We’re looking into the death of Brady Laurie,” Will said.
    “Sad affair, that drowning,” Simonton murmured.
    “This is your company?” Kat asked him.
    Simonton nodded. “My father’s company, really. He wants to retire. I’ve been handling the business for about a year.”
    “And what is your business, exactly?” Will asked.
    Simonton looked confused. “Um, salvage.”
    Will had the grace to laugh. “No, I’m sorry, what type of salvage? What are you working on now?”
    “Oh!” Simonton said. “We’re conducting two recovery missions. A Florida boater underestimated the power of the lake and sank a sixty-foot sailboat, and we’re also working on recovering the cargo from the hold of the Mystic Susan— she’s a merchant vessel that went down with crates of high-fashion clothing,” Simonton explained.
    “That does sound like work. Not terribly exciting,” Kat said sympathetically.
    Simonton gave a nonchalant shrug. “It pays the bills, and quite nicely, too. Oh, and Mrs. Ciskel—she’s the wife of the Florida boater—is furious because she had a lot of jewelry aboard when their boat went down. I’d like to find that cache myself. To return to her, of course. She’s promised a massive bonus if we get back all her jewels.” He frowned. “Now, what’s this all about?”
    “We were wondering if you’d ever had any plans to explore and salvage the Jerry McGuen, ”Will said.
    “We were invited to the reception put on by the Egyptian Sand Diggers.”
    Kat glanced at Will. “The Egyptian Sand Diggers?” he repeated. “Who are they?”
    Simonton waved one hand in the air. “They’re a local service club—and they’re just a little nutty, you know? In love with all things ancient Egyptian. Some