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get over to the island. A lot of the equipment’s being used in the water. Let’s go down to the chart room and I’ll show you how it works.”
    “Great.”
    The wheelhouse sat above them, Captain Bob at the helm. Instead, Conn ducked through an open hatch and descended a ladder into the chart room that connected with the bridge through a second set of stairs. He heard Hope’s feet ringing on the ladder behind him, turned to see they were slender and feminine in a pair of white sandals.
    “Pretty impressive,” she said as she looked over the row of monitors that relayed the messages received from below.
    “The guy in front of the screen is Andy Glass,” Conn said, introducing her to the small, nondescript man wearing spectacles who kept an eye on the monitors. “He’s our engineer. Andy, this is Hope Sinclair. She’s doing an article on the search.”
    “Nice to meet you, Ms. Sinclair.”
    “It’s just Hope, and same here.” She went back to her perusal of the room, pausing when she reached a television screen projecting a video picture of the reef they were searching and the area around it.
    “That’s a boat-deployed video camera. There’s a light mounted on the front so we can see what it sees.”
    “And this?”
    “Magnetometer. It detects ferrous metals.”
    “Iron?”
    “Both iron and steel, among other things. The Spanish ships all carried iron cannon, fittings, maybe five or six anchors. An underwater metal detector can find them, which helps us locate the approximate area where the ship went down.”
    Hope shook her head, her shiny hair swinging several inches below her jaw. “I’m coming at this all wrong. Usually I’m prepared for an assignment, but apparently someone was in a hurry. They shipped me off without giving me time to do my homework. I need to know exactly what you’re looking for—and why you think you’re going to find it here.”
    Conn hesitated. He wasn’t sure how much he was willing to tell her. Damn, Brad Talbot was an idiot. But then he had known that from the start.
    “We’re looking for the Nuestra Señora de Rosa. She went down with three other Spanish treasure ships in 1605.”
    “Four ships sank all at once?”
    “That wasn’t uncommon. They didn’t have weather forecasts. They encountered unexpected storms, even hurricanes. About ninety treasure ships sailed every year. Ten percent of those were lost. In a two-hundred-year period, that adds up to around two thousand sunken ships. Only two hundred have ever been found.”
    “My God, I had no idea.” Hope sighed. “I need to use your computer. I don’t know enough to do this assignment properly. I need to find out about your lost ship—hell, I need to know what questions I need to ask.”
    Conn almost smiled. At least she was being honest. He hadn’t expected that. After all, she was a woman.
    “No one’s using the computer right now. Be my guest.”
    She seemed surprised at his offer. Obviously she didn’t trust him any more than he trusted her.
    “This might take a while,” she said.
    “Hey, Talbot’s footing the bill. Since he’s the one who sent you, I guess he won’t mind if you run up his satellite phone expenses.” Of course, if they found the treasure, Talbot’s entire investment would be repaid, plus his share of the profits. Talbot would make out like a bandit.
    On the other hand, if they didn’t find the ship or there wasn’t any treasure aboard, the Doormat King would be out several million bucks.
    Conn watched Hope walk over to the computer and start clicking away on the keyboard. In minutes she was working on the Internet, digging up information on the Spanish treasure fleets. Conn left her at it. He had a dozen things to do.
    And none of them included spending time with one of Brad Talbot’s women, no matter how attractive she was.
     
    It was time for supper. Hope made her way down to the galley in search of something to eat. Her stomach was growling, and it occurred to her