He almost missed the container. Just when he began to feel he had overshot the spot, he saw out the corner of his eye a feeble image that looked like a ghost. The light was so faint that if he had blinked he would have missed it. In a tight arc, he smoothly changed direction and flew toward his reward. The light grew swiftly, and as he parked beside the container and touched it with trembling hands, he smiled. Indeed, he would have laughed out loud if the act wouldn’t have caused him to drown.

He had a canvas bag similar to the one he had told David to transfer the goods into. As he opened the top lid of the container the light went off, but he had his flashlight held ready. He stared at the cash and the bags of diamonds as he used to stare at Amy’s naked body.

They reminded him of each other. Naturally, he thought, one could buy the other. Matt figured everything in life has its price. Except for the love he felt in the company of his son.

Matt did not mind that the bills were soaked. He had purposely pierced the sides of the container so that it would immediately fill and sink. But beyond that the pressure of over a hundred feet of seawater on the goodies would disable any tracking device the FBI might still have managed to plant on the ransom. Matt did not fully trust that simply using the washing machine had wiped out any such device. The FBI was pretty high-tech these days.

Matt loaded the cash and diamonds into his bag. A few dollars tried to float away but he grabbed them before they went far. He was in a hurry but he was greedy to escape with exactly a million. He worked without gloves in the cold water. The feel of the damp cash and the hard diamonds in his half numb fingers was like rare tenderloin in a starving man’s hands.

When he was ready to leave, he discovered he had a problem. His bag was bulky and heavy, doubly so because it was filled with water. He had to discard the first Farallon, and his binoculars, in order to deal with the burden, leaving them in the exact spot the FBI would search. But there was no helping it.