Page 95 of Uncharted

“The VF radio’s dead. I don’t have the parts to fix it.” Calvin pulls on his foot.

My eyes follow his leg. “You doing okay?”

“Good enough.”

I nod at him. “You should stay on board for a few days. Let your foot stay as clean as possible.”

“That’s a good idea. I’ll need someone else to help monitor the radio at night, and we should keep a lookout too,” Sam says.

“We’ll use the map tree for the lookout. It can see a heck of a lot farther.” Calvin takes my dad’s agenda from in front of Zane and flips through it. From inside, a piece of paper floats to the ground.

I pick it up. My eyes widen.

“What is that?” Zane stands and moves next to me.

“Haley, can you please hand me the note from my dad’s tuxedo pocket?” She does. “Thank you.” I hold up the two pieces of paper, and they fit together.

Haley jumps up. “That’s an exact match.”

I haven’t shown anyone the other side yet. I’m jumping to conclusions, but H could stand for Harding. My dad was doing it? Was he selling the family business to his partner in the finance firm?

“What does it say?” Haley asks, and I put it on the table. She reads, “R. T. to H 3.1 B.”

Dante’s eyes flash to me. “Rockwell Tire to Harding for 3.1 billion?”

I nod. “That would be my take on it too. What does our resident cryptographer think?”

Haley passes the two slips to Zane. “The thing with codes, shorthand, is that it’s usually the simplest answer, except for when it’s not.”

“But why did he rip it?” Haley pushes the two pieces apart. “And why did one end up in his book and the other in his agenda?”

“Sound questions that I don’t have an answer to.” I take the agenda and search the inside folds and cover, but there’s nothing else there.

“Mr. Rockwell is a complex man who has some trust issues.” Zane swallows when I look at him. “I’m not being rude. A man with his wealth has the right to be secretive. He’s got to have some enemies.”

“I’m not offended, Zane. You’re right, my dad did have trust issues. But as far as enemies? I’m not sure. He’s even still friendly with Susan. She made out well in the divorce. Honestly, I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like my dad.” And I’m not just spewing out shit to make Zane feel better. It’s true. My dad might not have been emotionally available to Emily and me, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t go to great lengths to provide us with the best of everything.

“Three billion,” Zane says.

Haley shakes her head. “Three point one billion.”

“Shit, that’s worth killing someone over. Or in this case, a lot of someones,” Dante says.

My stomach turns. Of course this whole thing is happening because of money. My family’s money. I hate it. Emily’s right: money is shit if you don’t have it and a whole lot of shit if you have too much.

I’ve been to Harding’s house. Went to his wedding. Celebrated Christmas with him and his wife. I taught their kids how to swim. What in the ever fuck? It can’t be them. It’s Candy. She’s the one who had the diamond in the bag of her wedding dress. She’s the one who wanted the damn diamond so much. She’s the one who pursued my dad. Not a man who I think of as family.

Fuck it. I need to get off this boat. The heat of the enclosed space is suffocating me. I’m drowning. “Do you have a spare set of binoculars? I’ll take a watch at the top of the tree tonight. It looks like it’s going to be clear.” I have no idea if it’s clear out there, but I need to get away.

“Okay, good. Dante or Zane, which of you want to cover the radio watch?” Sam’s in captain mode.

“What about me? I can take a watch.” The irritation in Haley’s voice rings.

“I thought you would want to take care of Pepper. From what Calvin says, she likes you better than anyone,” Sam says.

“Oh, uh... yeah. I do. I was worried about her all last night. She’s never had to catch her own food. She’s a little teenager cat now, but I still worry about her.”

“I left lots for her, Sassy. She’s going to be angry, but she definitely won’t have starved. But I’d like to go back. I want to take care of the fish weir.”

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