An' regular as clockwork he was. Lining his gear up on the deck the same exact way every mornin' they went out, puttin' it all on in the same order every time, an' then divin' to his normal spots, takin' no longer'n half an hour to fill his first couple totes with what he found on the underwater ledges at the head of the cove. Soon as their markers came to the surface, Dex would haul the bags aboard, knowin' Ricci was on his way down into the thickest part of the eelgrass forest, where he'd drift with the current 'stead of against it like divers usually did, so they'd be swept back toward the boat rather than away from it if they lost their bearin's. Drift divin', as it was called, was risky business, but by lettin' the current carry him along, Ricci could cover the most amount a' bottom area in the least amount a' time--and it was at the bottom where he'd find the best, plumpest urchins.

Dex, meanwhile, was supposed to lift anchor, throw the outboard into reverse, an' keep his eyes peeled for Ricci's bubbles while backin' up slow an' easy to tag along behind him. Some divers clipped a float line to themselves so the tender could stay on the lookout for the bright-colored marker rather'n have to keep his eyes peeled for bubbles, which were a helluva lot harder to spot. But in these waters there was so damn much eelgrass that the line would just get tangled up in it.

Dex glanced at his wristwatch. Just a few minutes to go 'fore Ricci was down maybe five, six fathoms. Too far to make it back up without air, an' right when his air supply would run out. Dex would wait a little while longer, then throttle up the engine in forward, haulin' ass away from there as fast as he could, knowin' his partner was drownin' to death somewhere below, his lungs swellin' in his chest till they burst like balloons got stuck with a pin.

Yeah, Dex thought, he'd sold Ricci out, no puttin' it any different. Sold him out, and now good as killed him. But what was there to say?

He'd had no choice, he thought. No choice at all.

Things were as they were, an' there was really nothin' more to say about it than that.

Ricci had been at his bottom depth for nearly half an hour when he hit the jackpot.