Chapter 11
Jillian couldn’t believe Miles might be into treasure hunting. Sure, he’d had a metal detector and had searched for treasure for eons whenever they had family vacations. But she didn’t see him as a real, honest-to-God treasure hunter. “Would they be searching for treasure in the ocean? My brother swims, but he doesn’t scuba dive. Does Douglas?” Jillian asked Vaughn as they looked over the book on sunken treasures.
Vaughn turned to the pages that listed various shipwrecks off the Oregon coast. “Not that I know of. He’s afraid of the water. As a wolf, if he’s forced to swim, he can. As a human, he’ll boat on it, but he won’t get in.”
Jillian ate another bite of her ice-cream bar and got up from the couch. “I’ll be right back.” She went to her bedroom, grabbed her laptop, and returned to the living room.
“What are you going to look for?” Vaughn asked.
“Something. Anything. Why did Douglas come here every year? And my brother too? Had they been getting together to search for treasure off the Oregon coast?” Jillian finished her ice-cream bar and tossed the wrapper and stick in the trash.
“I take it you didn’t know that your brother was doing this.”
“Only when we were younger. He used a metal detector to find treasure…which meant all kinds of trash. But I didn’t think he’d ever done anything else like that. Certainly not searching for undersea treasures.”
She typed in a search for Douglas Wendish on the internet. When she was investigating human cases, she always did internet searches. No telling what she might learn. Wolves were more careful about being in the public eye, so she hadn’t expected to find anything about him. When she got a few hits, she assumed they were for some other Douglas Wendish. But when she saw a news article about him, she recognized him right away.
“Did you know he was a real treasure hunter?” She didn’t think Vaughn could look any more surprised than he did. She brought the laptop over to him. “That’s him, isn’t it?” The sandy-haired man was grinning, holding up what looked like a Confederate coin. “There are several articles about him finding treasure. He says he always had dive partners, but they were camera shy.”
“Wolves, most likely.” Vaughn read through the article. “Well, I’ll be damned.”
“I’m surprised he wouldn’t have asked you to accompany him since you’re a diver, aren’t you?” Jillian asked.
“Yeah, but I’m sure he must have already had a crew. Besides, I stay busy.”
She pointed to a story on her laptop. “Here’s an article about a family who found three hundred thousand dollars in gold coins and gold chains from a ship that sank off the coast of Fort Pierce, Florida, on its way from Havana to Spain. And here’s an article about Douglas finding some gold at a different time.”
“Good work on the internet search.” Vaughn finished his ice-cream bar and put his wrapper in the trash.
“Thank you.”
Vaughn flipped through the treasure book. “Here’s an article on the treasures off the coast of Fort Pierce. He went there last year, I remember. Looks like he has a gold mine, pardon the pun, of treasure maps in here.”
“You said he came here in the past. What if it wasn’t just for a vacation all those times, but to search for some elusive treasure? If this was something that he loved doing, I can see that he might have always taken vacations where he could also do a bit of treasure hunting.”
“If your brother was involved, Douglas never said anything to us.”
“True. In one of the articles, the reporter mentioned Douglas had been searching for five years for the Confederate gold coins. It’s not like going to the grocery store, and there they are on the shelf. It would take a lot of dedication, trial and error, luck even, and time.” She looked back at the laptop. “Lots of ships have sunk off the Oregon coast. Some ran aground on sand bars and were refloated, and others were scrapped.” She moved closer to where Vaughn was sitting on the couch so she could show him the article that really got her attention.
She got a little closer to him than she’d planned, though she wanted to be near enough so he could see the screen. But her leg was touching his, and as if he couldn’t see the monitor well enough, he leaned into her space even more.
Trying to get her mind on the article and off the hot wolf sitting next to her, she pointed to the screen. “This is the one I’d go after. The ship was carrying wealthy Spanish passengers and might have sunk off the Oregon coast. The ship was also carrying beeswax in its cargo hold. People keep finding beeswax on the shore. Now, it also states that several ships traveling that same route carried beeswax, but if it was the same ship, the Spanish passengers were fleeing their homeland due to strife, and they would have taken all their valuables with them. How much do you want to bet Douglas has been looking for that treasure for some time?”
“Could be. Or just got interested in it after he’d been coming here for a while. So what would the deal be with your brother? He didn’t know Douglas was going to be in the area until the last minute. He was already here.”
“Yes, and Miles had already contacted me to have me join him. We usually do our separate things during the day, so the guys could have gone diving and I wouldn’t have known about it.”
“I’d like to know just who his camera-shy divers were. You didn’t see Miles with any scuba gear, did you?”
“No. But then again, he might have had it in the trunk of his car or in his bedroom, and I never saw it. Yet, he wouldn’t have known he was going anywhere with Douglas, so he might have planned to rent it and not brought any with him. Can you ask your pack leaders to see if anyone in the pack is a diver?”
“Yeah, already on it.”
They both pulled out their phones and made the calls. When Miles answered his phone, Jillian asked, “Have you been treasure hunting with Douglas?”
The silence on the other end of the phone spoke volumes.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Vaughn looked at her while he was talking with his pack leaders.
When Miles still didn’t say anything, she said, “Okay, listen, I think it’s great. Tell me about it.”
“Don’t you dare tell Dad.”
“What has Dad got to do with anything?”
Vaughn ended his call, and she put her phone on speaker. “Vaughn’s here. Now talk.”
“You know how Dad is. Unless you’re doing something worthwhile, he thinks you’re a slacker. Treasure hunting?” Miles snorted.
“Don’t tell me your secrecy has to do with that one time in Pompano Beach, Florida?” She couldn’t believe it. Then again, she remembered how irritated their dad had been. She’d wished her brother had found a treasure chest full of gold bullion. Instead he found a lot of trash. Which confirmed what her dad had said. Just once, she’d like her brother to prove their dad wrong.
“Yeah, and countless other times. Even though he badgered me about wasting my time—when I reminded him we were on vacation, and wasting time was part of the vacation experience—he micromanaged how I was searching for the treasure.”
“So how long have you been doing this?”
“Forever. I mean, Dad was right. Locating treasure can be a pie-in-the-sky adventure, but when I have a chance, I go with Douglas. That was one of the common interests Douglas and I had.”
“How? You don’t dive.”
“I’m technical dive-certified. And don’t tell Dad that either. He thinks anything you do should be job-related. Probably because I don’t have a regular job all the time. He’d just think I was some beach bum.”
Jillian closed her gaping mouth. Maybe she didn’t know her baby brother all that well. “So you were planning to look for treasure off the Oregon coast? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I was afraid you’d let it slip when you were talking to Dad. I’d get the lecture all over again.”
“Vaughn said Douglas had been in Fort Pierce before. Were you going to Fort Pierce with Douglas to hunt for treasure?”
“Later, probably. He always checks things out first. Then we get together, rent a boat, rent some equipment, and go out. We usually take a week. Then I’m back to looking for a job and he’s back at his job. I was just here on vacation, like I said, wanted to get together with you when Douglas couldn’t get away, and all of a sudden he said he was going to be here too. Maybe we could check out the Oregon treasure again.”
“How were you going to hide the fact you were doing it from me this time?” Jillian sagged against the couch, not believing he had kept it secret from her all this time.
“I thought I might have to tell you. But then Douglas was injured, and I knew we weren’t going anywhere.”
“Would the jaguar who injured him have known you were treasure hunting?”
“How did you learn of it?”
“We saw the book on treasures, and then I did a web search.”
“So see? The guy who did it might have too. I’ve been thinking back on all that has happened the last few months. Wondering if our treasure hunting was connected to the guy who injured Douglas. Well, and damn it, you too. I mean, if you can look up and find what Douglas has discovered, what if they did also?”
“Exactly. Did you ever have other divers with you on dives?”
“In Belize that one time. It was a group thing, and the two of us went there to check things out. We weren’t really with them. There were six of us total, and the dive guide.”
“So it wasn’t just a boating trip!” Jillian said, totally exasperated with her brother.
“No.”
“Did any of the other divers smell like cats?” Vaughn asked.
“Well, on the boat and with everyone wearing wet suits, it was impossible to tell. All I could smell was the rubber, the salt air, and suntan lotion. Afterward, we met them at a dive bar later in the evening. So yeah, they smelled like cats. Now that I know better, I’d say like jaguars.”
“Did they meet up with you at the dive bar on purpose or by accident?” Vaughn asked.
“Kira invited us to join them.”
“Did you talk to them about other treasure hunts you went on?” Jillian asked.
“Yeah. Everyone did. That was the fun of getting together on a group tour for a change. We all shared our various experiences, finds, and the locations.”
“So Douglas dives?” Vaughn sounded surprised.
“No, he doesn’t dive. Don’t tell him I said so, but he doesn’t like getting in the water at all. I swear he’s more like a house cat than a wolf. So he’s grateful I do the diving. He’s the one who plans everything out; pays for the accommodations, boat, and equipment; provides medical assistance if I need it; and stays topside while I go diving.”
Vaughn pulled Jillian close and wrapped his arm around her, as if he worried she was feeling poorly. She snuggled next to him and suddenly felt really tired. She guessed she’d been so wired about learning something new with the case that she had forgotten they needed to lie down.
“Hey, your sister needs to rest. Anything else you can think of that might help with the case?” Vaughn asked.
“No. Not offhand. If I think of anything, I’ll let you know. Oh, and, Sis? No telling Dad about my treasure hunting.”
“I won’t. You have my word.”
They ended the call, and then Vaughn stood and helped her to her feet. “I called Bella, and she said she’ll ask the pack if anyone had been diving with Douglas. She said she knew nothing about it. But she gave me a list of places he’s vacationed over the years: Belize, Fort Pierce, St. Augustine, here, the Caribbean. I’d say they all have sunken treasure.”
“So it’s like you suspected. He goes on vacations where he can enjoy his favorite hobby…treasure hunting.”
“Right.”
Vaughn was about to lift Jillian in his arms, but she said, “No way. If you don’t rest your injured shoulder, I’ll have to tie you down to the bed and—”
“Have your wicked way with me? Sounds good to me.” He lifted her in his arms and carried her to the bedroom.
“You’re just afraid I’ll change my mind about napping with you.”
“You’re tired. I didn’t want you to have to walk all the way to your bedroom.” He set her on the queen-size bed and pulled off her boots. Then he went to the other side and yanked off his own.
They stood and pulled back the covers.
“We don’t tell anyone about this.” Jillian groaned a little as she lay down on the bed.
Vaughn groaned just as much and joined her. “I thought I was doing my job.”
“Yeah, but only the doctor needs to know about it.”
Vaughn closed his eyes. “How’s your head?”
“Pounding. How’s your shoulder?”
“Same.”
“We sound like two achy old wolves.”
He chuckled. “Yeah. But by tomorrow, we’ll be as good as new.”
She sure hoped so. She hated feeling so out of commission, and she really wanted to get back to the investigation. She wondered how the jaguars would feel once they learned one of their own kind had injured a wolf. Closing her eyes, she tried to shut her mind down about everything, then envisioned the peacock she’d been working on, some of the feathers colored, most still white, and smiled.
Then they fell asleep, and it wasn’t until hours later that Jillian heard someone at her bedroom door and turned to look. They hadn’t closed it, not thinking they would take more than an hour nap or so, though Vaughn had set his alarm to check on her after three hours, and they’d snuggled and fallen back to sleep. What time was it anyway? It was already dark out. She was lying against Vaughn, her head on his chest, his good arm around her, his hand gently rubbing her back, so he was awake too.
She turned her head further to see who was in the doorway. All three jaguar agents were standing there checking them out. She wanted to groan out loud.