Page 59 of Uncharted

Dante rolls the other direction and props himself up on his elbows, his amber eyes glowing at me.

“I guess that’s it.” I peek at Easton, and he drops his hands to his sides.

“Maybe we should check the safe.”

“It’s empty.” I pull out the drawer of the dresser that houses the safe. It’s where Candy had pulled all her jewelry out of when she was panicking after I woke them up.

“Right, that’s the regular safe. My dad had another one built into the room. He told me about it, but I don’t think anyone else knows it exists.” Easton removes the bottom drawer on the other side of the dresser. From the bottom, he lifts off a wooden base. There is the top of another safe. It’s closed, of course, because the drawer and panel are covering it.

Dante rolls to the drawer. “Whoa. But how are you going to get in? You don’t have the key, and there’s no power for the electrical pad.”

“Right. I have the combination if we can get power. I know my dad, though. He’s hidden the key around here somewhere too.”

“Well, it’s not on the floor.” Dante stretches his arms above his head, tilting his head to the ceiling. “But what’s behind the door?” He rolls and stands in one move. For a guy who doesn’t like hiking, he’s physically fit. Dante closes the door closest to the wall. “Damn.”

Chapter27

Drop Keel

Dante

In my palm, I hold a pink jewelry bag. It’s not heavy. I show it to them and empty it out. The deep gold of a delicate chain pops against my skin tone. It’s a small necklace with a rosebud in a vase. It’s dainty. The vase portion’s made from a pearl, and the flower itself is some kind of gemstone. “I’m guessing this isn’t the diamond we’re looking for?” I hand it to Haley, who holds it up between her pincher finger and her thumb.

“No, it’s not. But it was my mom’s.” Easton glances back at the pile on the bed. “I’m not sure why Candy would have had it.” It doesn’t look like something the platinum blond woman would wear.

“Why would she have brought it with her?” Haley holds it up.

“I don’t know? None of this makes sense.”

“True.” I close the other door, but there’s nothing behind it.

“Someone came in here while I was in the galley getting you.” Haley nods. “What’s that?” She drops to her knees, her delicious bottom high in the air. Damn.

“What did you find, Sassy?”

She has the carpet pulled back off its tacks. “There are diamonds. Here.” She hands me three sizable diamonds, and another ten smaller ones. All loose, until my palm sparkles.

“Looks like your dad at least bought something.” I hand them to Easton; he’s sunk to the side of the messy bed. He stares at them and then back at the safe. “I need to get in there.”

I pass over the bag the delicate necklace came out of. “You think the key is in the room?”

“Maybe? Or he took it with him.”

Haley shakes her head. “He didn’t take anything.”

“Then it’s on the ship someplace.”

“He used the desk in the main salon a few times. And the humidor off the side of the salon has a desk too. I think I saw him taking a call there the day we launched. I remember Shayla being upset because we hadn’t had time to put the room together yet, and there were still boxes piled up in it.”

“It’s worth a shot. I should go through all the clothes again, and the ones still in the drawers. His toiletries. But yeah, starting with the desk isn’t a bad idea.”

There’s a knock on the door. “Hey, Little Bird. You guys are still at it? Whoa, that’s a lot of clothes. No wonder it took us so long to bring all their luggage on board.”

“Zane, do you think one of your deckhands might have gotten back on the ship while I was getting Dante to our raft?”

“No chance, Little Bird. I told them to launch from the other side. The five of them were off. Fuck, remember, we never saw them again, even when we had a visual on the raft with Shayla and the engineers. I fucking hope they made it. I know we don’t talk about them a lot, but my guys were solid.”

“But we didn’t see them after the launch. What if they came back around and circled in?”

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