CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Mike, Moose, U-Jin, Sebastian, and Leif waited at the corporate house in Alexandria for the Jordan crew who should be arriving soon. Years ago, the family realized that they were spending a lot of time in D.C., and it would be better if they owned their home for larger groups.
If just a few were going to be in the city, they stayed at a hotel close to all the excitement. For Moose, this was as close as he wanted to be to the madness of D.C.
“Is there any leftover Chinese?” asked Sebastian.
“That is not Chinese food,” frowned U-Jin.
“Okay, the food we got from the Chinese restaurant. Is there any left?” grinned Sebastian.
“Yes. Plenty,” said U-Jin. “We will order Korean from my favorite restaurant for dinner tonight. I won’t eat that swill again.”
“Dude, you’re so hard on the local food,” laughed Moose.
“It’s not authentic. At least make it authentically,” said U-Jin.
“It seems to me I’ve eaten American food in Asian countries and it wasn’t very well prepared,” said Sebastian. “In fact, I ate barbecue while in South Korean and it was terrible!”
“It was Korean barbecue!” growled U-Jin. Sebastian just laughed, shrugging his shoulders.
“I do agree with U-Jin about one thing. Ethnic food should be prepared in an authentic manner and served the way it was supposed to be served. Don’t tamper down the spice or some other ingredient just because you think we won’t like it.
I would also say, it should be against the law to have American fast-food restaurants in the middle of historic European and Asian cities. ”
“Bravo,” nodded U-Jin. “I remember seeing an American coffee shop in the inside of the Forbidden City. Can you imagine what Zhu Di would think of that if he were alive?”
“Well, I don’t suppose it makes America’s indigenous people happy to see what we’ve done either,” said Moose. “I’m not always the most understanding and kind man but I don’t intentionally try to piss off ethnic groups.”
When the door opened, Christopher, Patrick, Wes, Marc, Quinn, Finn, River, and Cole stepped inside with a soft layer of snow covering their heads.
“Why is it so fucking cold here?” growled Finn.
“Because it’s winter and there’s an arctic storm,” laughed Moose. He continued to laugh, as did the others and River frowned at them.
“Why are you laughing at us?”
“Because if I didn’t know you bastards, I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between any of you! It’s fucking scary.”
“It’s no different than seeing the Robicheauxs standing in a line,” said Quinn.
“If you lined them up, staring with Gaspar, Miller, Antoine, Gabriel, Raphael, Baptiste, Luc, Alec, Jean, Remy, Robbie, all of ‘em all the way to the great-great-grandkids. Every single one of those bastards looks the same.”
“I think it was an intentional thing on the part of Matthew and Irene,” said Leif.
“You think they were somehow intentionally able to create children that looked identical to one another?” asked U-Jin.
“I think with the two of them as parents, anything is possible. I don’t put anything past them and I don’t discount any possibility,” said Sebastian. “We’re all very fortunate that we’re part of this wild and crazy bunch.”
“How is Priscilla?” asked Moose.
“She’s doing okay. Struggling a bit with what she’s learned of her father. Sor and Garr are keeping her occupied with those unsolved cases. There’s definitely something suspicious with the sunken cargo ship.”
“Hiro checked the records on that ship and it was clean as whistle. It was known for bringing furniture items, electronics, and food from Europe to the U.S. It was based out of Southampton. There was no connection to Morris and his financial firm,” said Marc.
“What did the cargo manifests say?” asked Leif.
“Exactly what we were told. Antiquities. Mostly furniture, a few paintings, all paid for. The insurance company paid out a hefty sum to the buyers so they could avoid a lawsuit.”
“What caused the sinking?” asked U-Jin.
“That we don’t know,” said Wes. “It was early fall, no ice problems, no storms, just a ship that was suddenly in trouble and unable to reach shore.”
“I have an idea,” said U-Jin.
“If you think I’m putting on a fucking scuba suit and going down in freezing ass cold water, you’re nuts,” growled Patrick. U-Jin stared at him, straight-faced for a few moments, then grinned.
“No. That is not what I thought we would do. However, we do have submersibles that can be fitted with cameras and can go to those depths. We rent a boat, go offshore and find the location of the wreckage, send the submersible down and get a view of her hull.”
“Hey, you’re pretty smart for being such a little fella,” smirked Moose.
“Don’t anger me, brother-in-law, or I will give every child I know your phone number and tell them it’s Santa Claus’ phone.”
“You wouldn’t!”
“I definitely would,” grinned U-Jin.
“It’s actually a damn brilliant idea,” smirked Quinn. Moose growled at him and Quinn laughed. “Not the phone number thing, although that’s damn funny. The submersible idea.”
“Let’s make some calls and see if we can get what we need.”
It was nearly midnight by the time the men were in the middle of the freezing Atlantic Ocean. In fairness, it was only a mile or two off-shore but the wind was whipping around and the snow was making visibility nearly impossible.
Fortunately, the Navy lent them a boat or at least gave them a ride. The heat was on and they were comfortable for the time being. Once they stepped out onto the deck, they would freeze their balls off.
“Sirs, this is the location of the cargo ship. She’s clear as day on the sonar, sitting about twelve-hundred feet down. It’s weird, it looks like she just settled at the bottom.”
“What do you mean?” asked Moose.
“Look, sir. It’s like she pulled into dock and just laid her anchor. The anchor is actually just behind her. But when we see wrecks, there’s usually debris, holes from attack, even ships that have broken apart. She looks like the day she rolled out of dry-dock.”
“She damn sure does,” frowned Marc. All of the Jordan’s were SEALs. They’d been on their fair share of ships and they’d seen their fair share of wrecks. This didn’t look like a wreck.
“She was scuttled,” whispered Wes. “That ships’ ballasts were opened and she was scuttled. How many died?”
“None, sir. They were all able to get off the ship via the lifeboats.”
“Something is seriously fucking wrong,” said Marc. “Why sink a perfectly good cargo ship? Even if you don’t want anyone to see the cargo, you could have tried something else.”
“They could have had someone dock beside them and unload the cargo if it was that important,” said River. “I think we need to get that submersible down there so we can see if any of the cargo containers are opened.”
“We have it ready, sirs,” said the young man. He led them to the deck of the ship, all of them wrapped in parkas and cold weather gear. The submersible was hanging above the deck, swinging slightly with the wind and the ship rocking.
“How do we do this?” asked Leif.
“It’s like playing a video game,” smiled the young man. “I can literally manage everything from the tablet here. Small controls help me to maneuver it where I need her. Watch.”
The young man manipulated the unmanned submersible over the side, slowly lowering her into the water. With a security cable still attached, he gently began lowering her.
“We can back up under some cover, sirs,” he yelled through the gusty winds. They backed up, hiding beneath one of the overhangs on the ship. It was blocking just enough wind to ensure they weren’t completely miserable.
It was taking forever to get the submersible down but when the lights went on and the ship was in view, everyone was mesmerized.
“It’s what we thought. She looks like she was just laid to rest, only tilting slightly. Some of the containers are open.”
“Zoom in,” said U-Jin staring at the screen. The young man nodded, zooming closer and closer. “Look. Her locks were cut open. If they were cut open, that can only mean one thing.”
“They were cut open after she sank,” said Moose. “Someone got their cargo and it damn sure wasn’t furniture.”