Vulnerable

Clockwork Nessie, Part 18

He turned the full force of his grin upon me. “Not hunting, my dear. Recovering.”

I reflected back on my own history. We had inherited a large sum of money from a distant aunt of my father’s six months earlier. Or so my father had claimed. The hush-hush nature of our sudden fortune made sense if the treasure had not yet been fully recovered. “And the submersible looks like a sea monster, why?”

“To frighten off the curious, to deflect attention from our real objective–”

“How much more treasure lies in the caves?”

Robert clenched his eyes shut, lips pressed together. “Umm…” Eyes opened and twinkled with mischief. “Let’s just say, that our grandchildren will still be able to live quite well without having to lift a finger.”

Our grandchildren? “Oh my.”

The clearing of a throat interrupted us. We both turned to see Thomas strolling our way. In his hand he carried a pistol that he pointed at Robert.

(To Be Continued)