In Deep Waters by Melissa McClone

cable." Ben's eyes darkened. He apparently didn't believe her. "That's all I know," she said.
    He raised a brow. "A little defensive."
    "If I looked at you as if you'd stolen the last cookie in the jar, you'd be a little defensive, too." The firm set of his chin told her not to expect an apology, but she wanted to understand him better. If only to avoid future confrontations. "Are you like this with everyone? Or just me?"
    "A combination."
    Figures, Ka la shouldn't have asked in the first place, but Ben brought out both the best and the worst in her. She wasn't normally so in-your-face. She was quiet and boring. Like her father, she preferred the company of books, charts and old journals to people. Maybe too much of Ben was rubbing off on her. Or perhaps something about him rubbed her the wrong way. His swagger, his self-assuredness, his arrogance? It could be a number of things. She studied the monitor. More mud.
    "You didn't play fair," Ben said finally.
    "I played by the rules you set."
    "What rules?"
    "Exactly." She glanced at him, his eyes sharp and assessing. "I've said it before. This isn't about you or me. The Isabella is bigger than both of us. Bigger than ego and pride."
    He didn't reply and she didn't care.
    "I don't understand why you're so upset," she admitted. "You finished your search. Examined the targets. It was time to move on."
    "We could have expanded the search area."
    "Again?" She caught his glare in the reflection of one of the digital displays. "The Isabella is here." She sounded more confident than she felt, but her research was correct. It had to be. "She's here."
    "Is that your instinct or your psychic talking?"
    "It's the research."
    "Ah, yes." He sat in the chair next to her and studied the monitors. "Your brilliant research that reads more like a novel with swashbuckling pirates, forbidden love and mermaids."
    His words stung, but she understood. She hadn't shared any of her research with him, but he wasn't alone. Not even the museum knew how much she'd discovered about the Isabella.
    The recorders sparked to life. Kayla jumped out of her chair and ran. An image was being drawn on the paper. "Sonar action. Lots of sonar action."
    "Talk to me," Ben said.
    "Contact off port 120 meters." She called out targets while she wrote the time of contact in the margin of the strip chart and in the logbook. Ben radioed the bridge, asking for the ship's speed and position. The altitude of the sled, the gain on the signal, the length of towline all had to be recorded, too. Stuff happened so fast, Kayla didn't have time to blink.
    "Monk, get in here," Ben yelled into the walkie-talkie. "Now."
    Kayla called out more targets and noted the times on the strip chart. If they didn't get all the information, it would be difficult if not impossible to find the target again. Her fingers cramped from writing so fast, but she didn't stop.
    Monk burst into the control room. "Do you see what I see, boss?"
    Kayla knew Monk wouldn't tell her what he saw. Ben had an important rule in the control room. No one could say out loud what was seen on the screen. That way no one person's perception influenced another's. Everything was written down and compared later.
    "Major action. Contact 150 meters port." Kayla stared at the recorders. Adrenaline rushed through her veins. "Something big is out there. We're talking big."
    The Isabella? Was it the Isabella?
    Kayla's heart pounded. She could barely breathe.
    "Be ready to take this thing up, Monk," Ben said. "We don't want to hit anything."
    She couldn't believe how calm he sounded. The man had nerves of steel. She was sweating, and it was less than sixty-eight degrees in here. Kayla unzipped her jacket.
    Monk sat at the controls. "I'm ready, boss."
    "Get it up now," Ben ordered.
    Kayla saw something. A ridge. An outcropping of rock in the sediment. No, it wasn't geological. It was...a ship.
    The Isabella.
    She knew it had to be the ship. Excitement coursed through her. She enjoyed the