The Emerald Tide by Davis Bunn

Author:Davis Bunn [Bunn, Davis]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington Books
Published: 2022-01-12T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 27

Derek met Trevor and the ladies in the lot fronting a small city park. Shimmel miked them up, tested the sound, then Noah pointed them up toward a lovely shopping street. Kelly had always planned to visit the central coast. She had any number of friends who raved about the region’s natural beauty, the light, the empty spaces.

A Pacific mist drifted in the still air, spicing the day with salt that tasted much purer than anything she had known while standing on her Santa Monica balcony. The same day, same ocean, but here everything seemed different. The light filtered through a thousand trees, hardwoods mixed with pines and palms, transforming the park into a green prism.

The bank was housed in a three-story building of Spanish stucco and dark beams. The manager stood in the awning’s shadow, smiling at Derek’s approach. Middle of the day, middle of the week, center of Miramar’s shopping street, they attracted quite a crowd when Noah started filming outside the bank’s entrance. Kelly held back, watching Derek chat with Carl Reese, the bank’s manager. They definitely made quite a pair. Carl might be wearing a suit and tie. Derek was dressed in what Kelly assumed was another of Gwen’s outfits, tapered sports shirt and pale gabardine trousers, loafers without socks. But standing there facing each other, smiling while the manager pretended not to be thrilled over what was happening, she could see how the two of them stood out. Not overly tall or big, their muscles not bulked up. Just the same, their level of fitness was almost frightening. This is what the human body is capable of. The utter absence of flab, the taut conditioning evident in the lines of their faces, their necks, the way they held themselves. Easy and tight and balanced. Derek motioned her forward, introduced her to Carl, and Kelly shook a hand solid as a concrete slab.

Downstairs in the vault Carl stood beside the guard as Gwen presented the vault pass and they all signed in. Carl wished them success with whatever the heck they were doing, and left.

The guard walked them down the long row of narrow security boxes and halted by the last section. These were much larger, big as the drawer to a full-size filing cabinet. He used his key to open the top lock, waited while Gwen inserted hers, then stepped away.

When they were alone in the vault, Derek said, “Gwen, do you want the honors?”

“He left this to you. Do it.”

“Noah?”

“Trevor, shift slightly to your left, you’re in the light . . . Gwen, can you turn twenty degrees toward me, no, don’t move your position. Good. Now Kelly, step over behind Derek. Okay. Rolling.”

Derek said, “Here goes.”

He swung open the vault door. Leaned in. “Oh my.”

“What is it?”

He reached inside. “Treasure.”

* * *

The oversize safety deposit box held three items.

Each was wrapped in old burlap and tied with twine, as if purchased in some third-world street market. A handwritten note had been slipped under the twine.

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