Senior Year Box Set

Alex glared at his sister, who looked at him with a satisfied smile. I soon found out that Umberto loved to give history lessons. The looks they gave each other when their dad got started told me the two of them had heard this a thousand times before.

“We’re in search of pirates.”

“Of the Caribbean?” I joked, which caused the two siblings to choke back a laugh.

“Of the Mediterranean, actually: Barbary pirates. The Ottoman Empire was a significant world power for, oh, almost six hundred years. What you may not know is that the Ottoman corsairs were referred to as Barbary pirates. They ranged throughout the Mediterranean Sea, all the way from Turkey to the coast of Portugal, through the Strait of Gibraltar. Their hunting grounds included most of the Greek coast and all the Greek islands.

“They were a real problem for European merchants. The pirates were feared more for what they did with the crews than the loss of cargo when they captured a ship. They were slavers. During the mid-1500s to mid-1700s, they enslaved nearly two million people. The Europeans got tired of losing merchant ships, all their goods, and crews. Guess what they did? Anyone?” Umberto asked.

Alex and his sister looked at me. I guess they’d played this game one too many times, so I was up.

“Sent their navies to stop them,” I guessed.

“Yes, they did do some of that. What finally worked was paying the Ottomans to leave their shipping alone. The Ottomans figured out it was more profitable to take the payments than to risk their ships and lives chasing merchants.

“You think these pirates hid treasure here?” I asked.

“We know they were active in Greece. Information has recently been found in North Africa, where the Barbary pirates were based, which mentions the use of caves as hubs of operation. We found a cave that has been closed off from the sea and that we think may have once been used by the pirates. Last week, we uncovered an underwater tunnel that leads to another chamber. We plan to investigate it today,” Umberto shared.

I leaned over to Alex.

“It looks like we have a tail,” I said.

I’d noticed that a black SUV followed us to the storage place. And then thought I spotted it again when we got the tanks filled up, and I rented my gear. Without Paul with me as security, I made it a point to be aware of my surroundings. As we’d turned onto this street, the same black SUV had turned as well. Alex looked back.

“Black SUV?”

“Yes.”

“Hey, Dad. Is that black SUV one of ours? David says it’s been following us.”

Umberto’s whole demeanor changed in an instant. He got on his phone and called his security. He reverted to Spanish as he talked rapidly, asking about the car behind us. I relaxed when he glanced back and winked at me.

“They’re one of ours,” Umberto assured us.

I leaned close to Alex.

“You have more than one?”

He shrugged like it was no big deal.

“Usually, we aren’t even aware that they’re there. Dad wants us to live as normal a life as we can, but we receive threats on a regular basis and have to be careful. The biggest concern is kidnapping. Colombia used to be the kidnapping capital of the world. The guerillas and cartels used it to intimidate their enemies and as a source of funding. It was one of the reasons we moved to the States when it came time for Squeak and me to attend high school,” Alex shared.

The rest of the ride, I remained quiet as I tried to absorb how different Alex’s life had been from mine. I hoped my children would be able to lead normal lives without the need for people to keep them safe 24/7.

◊◊◊

I’d thought we were going to the coast, so I was surprised when we drove to a remote area about a quarter-mile from the water’s edge. We found a van and several tents that turned out to be the base for their little expedition. The van had Greek lettering on the side along with a crest that looked to be from a university. There were three young people in one of the tents looking intently at something on a long foldout table.

Umberto and Camilla walked to the main tent while Alex pointed to another one.

“Let’s get suited up and get the gear we’ll need to dive to the new cave,” he said.

“I want to go first. I want to be the one who discovers the treasure,” Nat begged her brother.

“But I’m the oldest and the man of the family,” he shot back.

“By three minutes,” she huffed.

This argument had obviously been going on in one form or another for years. It also confirmed what I suspected: they were fraternal twins. They bickered back and forth as we got undressed; we’d all worn swimsuits underneath our clothes. We then put on our wetsuits. I’d gone for the full-body suit because Alex had warned me that the water would be cold.

Once we had our suits on, Alex stepped over to a chest and opened it. Inside, there was assorted gear. He grabbed a waterproof bag and stuffed a camera and walkie-talkie into it. He also pulled out three large waterproof flashlights.