“I like your new makeup,” Austin said.

Joe chimed in, “Is it Estee Lauder?”

Contos's attempt to rub the dirt off his nose only made it worse. “It's evident from your wise-ass comment that you're hale and hearty. When you're through being obnoxious, would you mind telling me what happened?”

“That boom you heard was an underwater explosion,” Joe said.

Contos shook his head in disbelief. “I don't know of any volcanic activity along here. What caused it?”

“Best we can say for sure is that it was centered in the underwater installation,” Austin said.

He gave Austin a blank look.

“We'll explain later.” Austin surveyed the yellowed cliff. “The explosion shook the slide loose.”

Contos furrowed his brow. “Hey,” he said as a thought struck him. “What did you do with the Brogan?”

Austin and Zavala looked at each other like guilty children who had broken the cookie jar. Austin was beginning to wonder if he were a Jonah, the name mariners give a seaman who attracts calamity. This was the second craft he had lost in as many days.

“We lost her,” Austin said. “Sorry. It couldn't be helped. Juan and Pedro here hauled us out of the water.”

“Pleased to meet you,” Contos said to the smiling fishermen. “Not much we can do about it now. NUMA will simply have to build me a new one.”

Austin swept his eyes over the tilted hull of the Sea Robin. “Your vessel has quite a list. Are you in any danger of sinking?”

“I think we'll be okay. No leaks detected so far. We'll see what happens once we get under way. Most of the damage is to the deck and superstructure. The cranes are useless, as you can see. The forklift can move the big stuff. We haven't called for help because we don't want to have to explain what we're doing in Mexican waters.”

“Do we have time to check out the cove?”

Contos looked over his shoulder at the rubble still to be re moved. “Be my guest. We'll get under way as soon as we're able.”

Zavala asked the fishermen to take them back to the inlet. The request started an animated argument between the brothers. Pedro had had enough of the cursed place with its strange explosions and stranger mermen popping out of the sea. He clearly wanted to go home, but his brother prevailed.

The boat made its way around the headland. As they entered the cove they could see smoke coming from the tortilla factory. Like the cliff above the Sea Robin, the sheer face behind the factory was layered yellow where the outer rock cover had been dislodged by the explosion. The rock slide had taken with it all traces of the monorail elevator.

The fishing boat cut a path through the debris and dead fish that covered the surface of the inlet. Using a bucket, Austin and Zavala scooped pieces of melted plastic and charred paper from the water. Remembering how a tiny piece of metal had helped track down the source of the TWA jet explosion over Locker bee, Scotland, Austin figured even the tiniest fragment might be of use.