Page 20 of Buck (Diver Downeast #2)

Bobbie immediately knew something was wrong. Buck’s face had taken on such a battle-hardened cast, he became almost unfamiliar to her. She thought she’d seen him in every one of his guises, but if she had to say, this bad-ass look was new, and extremely hot.

“What’s the matter?” she asked, as soon as he hung up.

“I’ve got to go.”

His feet were already on the move, and Bobbie followed him as he continued to explain.

“Someone threw a big suitcase off the bridge into the river. A bystander thought they heard something inside.”

Bobbie’s stomach clenched, understanding immediately. This could be life or death, and Buck was going to retrieve whatever the hell was in the river.

“Will you be swimming or diving?”

“Diving,” he answered without hesitation. “The water can be fifteen feet deep at the bridge, and if the item jettisoned makes it downriver to the Penobscot, it could get caught up in a pretty nasty current, so it’s the safest route for me.”

Bobbie danced alongside him to his van. “Then I’m behind the wheel,” she told him decisively.

“No, I?—”

“Don’t argue.” There was no time for any superfluous shit. “You need to suit up. Which you can do on the way if I get us there. By the sound of things, you need to be ready to jump in as soon as we arrive.”

Buck nodded succinctly and gave her a winsome, crooked smile. “You’re right. Thanks, Bobbie.”

“Not a problem.”

She held out a hand for his keys, and he didn’t hesitate to slap them into her palm.

“I’ll try not to take corners too fast, so you don’t take a tumble while getting your gear on.”

He corrected her. “No. Drive fast. It shouldn’t be a problem.

I’m not going to use a wetsuit. The water should only be in the mid-70’s.

” Buck was already climbing into the back of his van where all the new equipment was stored, and dragged what he needed, toward him.

“Thank God Randal filled these tanks,” he said, tearing off his shirt and stripping unselfconsciously down to his boxers.

Bobbie managed to keep her tongue in her mouth as all his glorious skin was uncovered. Had she seen him in swim shorts before? Yes. Had he looked this good at eighteen ? Not even close.

“Got it,” she managed. “But if you’re down longer than you anticipate, I’ll have your wet suit ready and waiting for you on shore.”

Yeah. Like every Maine sailor, Bobbie knew the persnickety-ness of the local waters. She wouldn’t bet Buck’s well-being on the temperature being as warm as he’d asserted.

The back doors closed behind Buck, and Bobbie hoisted herself up into the van’s seat, immediately turning the key and heading south, driving like a bat out of hell.

Three blocks. Two minutes, and they’d be on scene.

She wondered if the police would already be there, and… Damn. This wasn’t how she’d expected to be meeting with Chief Ildavorg today if he was one of the officers showing up on scene.

Reaching the river quickly, Bobbie saw a group of bystanders roughly assembled on the treed bank, some pointing, some taking off their footwear as if they were going to attempt to go in. Bobbie swiftly relayed that information to Buck, who growled out, “hell no”.

She parked the van at the end of the bridge and scrambled out.

“Don’t go in!” she yelled to those who looked poised. “We have a rescue diver here.” She indicated behind her as Buck emerged.

People immediately began pointing at the water and yelling.

“Slow down, slow down,” Buck clipped as he went down the embankment and closed in. “Where did the case initially go in, and have you been tracking it?”

A young man stepped forward and began speaking rapidly.

“I saw the guy dump it. I was fishing. It went in almost under the bridge, and it drifted by me, still floating. That’s when I heard some kind of scratching noise from inside.

It was above water and headed toward the Penobscot.

We had eyes on it until about a half a minute ago, when it submerged. ”

The kid pointed again, and so did a few others.

Buck wasted no time. He lowered his mask, put his regulator in his mouth, and ran as fast as the fins on his feet would allow.

He headed a little upstream from the spot where the onlookers had seen the item go down because as Bobbie understood, the current would carry him south. It was a smart move.

“Be careful,” Bobbie called after Buck, just before he submerged.

He gave her a thumbs up, then disappeared.

She looked around. What could she do to help?

First, she’d get his wet-suit ready as she’d promised, just in case he had to come up because of the cold. And then…

Blankets. Towels. She hadn’t seen any in the van, so she turned to the people watching.

“Does anybody live close?” she asked.

Several hands went up.

“Good. We’ll need towels and blankets, just in case there’s…a need for them. The diver will also have to dry off and warm up as soon as he’s out. Can you gather up some of those things and bring them?”

There was a chorus of affirmatives, for which Bobbie was relieved.

“Thank you. And hurry, please. We don’t know how long my friend will be down.”

Several people scurried off, and Bobbie turned her attention once again to the water.

It wasn’t even a minute later when a siren alerted her to the fact that the police were nearly on scene.

As the cruiser pulled over toward the rear of the van, Bobbie went up to meet them and retrieve Buck’s wetsuit.

Chief Ildavorg and Mason Sothard emerged.

“What’s happening?” Mason asked.

“Buck went in about two minutes ago. He didn’t have time to put on a suit, but he was pretty certain the water temperature wouldn’t be too bad.”

“Pretty sure…” Mason shook his head, giving a pained huff. “Well, I have to believe him. He’s been diving for the Coast Guard for the past fifteen years, so I guess he knows what he’s doing.”

“I have a suit ready for him if he comes up cold and empty-handed,” Bobbie apprised. She hoped that neither of those scenarios came to pass.

“How is it that he had his gear with him?” the chief asked, as two more police cruisers pulled in and the arriving officers went down to make sure the crowd stayed safe.

Bobbie gave a wry laugh. “He’d actually just picked up a bunch of used equipment in New Hampshire this morning. It’s all top quality, and luckily the seller had the tanks filled to prove they could hold pressure, so he was good to go.”

“You have more tanks? More suits?” Mason asked, already stripping off his duty belt and heading for the van.

“Yeah,” Bobbie answered, following on his heels. “Do you dive?”

Bobbie did, recreationally, but knew that her lack of expertise would have been more of a hindrance to Buck in a rescue situation, than a help.

Mason barked a laugh. “All the Sothards do. Am I as good as Spence and Buck? No. But this isn’t deep ocean we’re talking about. It’s fifteen feet into the river, and I can certainly handle that.”

She didn’t doubt him, and he quickly and competently stripped down and pulled on gear.

He didn’t set her mouth watering or her heart beating like Buck had, but Mason was still amazingly cut.

And unlike Buck, he took advantage of one of the wet suits, for which Bobbie was thankful.

If Buck ran into a problem temperature-wise, Mason could take over.

Just as Mason was zipping up, a yell sounded from the crowd. They both turned to look, and saw Buck, mid-river, struggling with a large, obviously water-logged object.

“Shit.” Mason wasted no more time but took off to help.

Buck submerged again, clearly struggling under the weight of what he’d recovered, and Bobbie sucked in a breath.

Please be okay. Please by okay , she chanted to herself.

She wanted him in one piece. Selfishly, she hadn’t had a chance to give him nearly enough shit, and she was really looking forward to it. Emotionally…she needed him.

As Mason disappeared from view, Spencer pulled up.

“Sit rep,” he snapped, as he emerged, already suited up.

Chief Ildavorg answered this time. “Buck just came up with some kind of case in his arms, but it has to be heavy because he submerged again pretty quickly. Mason went in after him.”

“Got it.” Spencer wasted not a second, but also took off down the slope, headed for the water.

“Your tank!” Bobbie called after him.

“Don’t need it,” Spencer yelled back, then swiftly dove in and went under.

“Wha…?”

The Chief actually chuckled. “That man has won competitions for how long he can hold his breath. Something like fifteen minutes, maybe?”

“Wow.” Bobbie was at a loss for words.

“I know. It sounds completely crazy, but it’s true,” he affirmed.

The Sothards were all something else.

In retrospect, that should have been a green flag back in the day when shit had gone down. She should have known Buck wouldn’t have done anything to hurt her, but she’d been young, and her mind had been constantly poisoned by her brothers’ vitriol.

She blurted out her thoughts, now.

“Buck didn’t scuttle my boat fifteen years ago,” she spouted spontaneously as she and the chief watched the water where the Sothard men had disappeared.

“Yeah. I knew that,” the chief returned easily. “I know that.”

“You do? You did?” Bobbie took a step back, her balance faltering as she concentrated on the man next to her.

The chief sent out a firm hand to steady her as she spluttered.

“Then… Why did you let him take the blame for it? Why…?” Bobbie had so many questions, but she wanted to hear what the chief had to say.

“It was Buck’s idea,” Chief Ildavorg revealed with a sigh.

He gazed solemnly into her eyes. “The boy didn’t want to draw things out; prolong an investigation that may or may not have turned up the actual culprit or culprits.

He decided to take the blame publicly, but those of us who knew him well?

We always understood he was not at fault. ”

“But… You let him pay me. Pay Mr. Jerlins,” Bobbie babbled, completely confused.

“It probably isn’t my place to say anything, but at the time, that boy was head-over-heels smitten with you.

He wanted nothing more than for you to get out from under your brothers and go off to college where you could be your own person.

He knew that without some kind of concrete proof, your insurance company wasn’t going to pay up on your sunken boat, so he decided to take matters into his own hands. ”

“So… he paid, and all of you let him.”

Chief Ildavorg shrugged. “It was his money. Nobody could stop him once his mind was made up.”

Bobbie was having trouble catching her breath. This was all very unexpected. “So, he…sacrificed his future for mine?”

The chief shrugged and sent back a query of his own. “Which leads me to a question of my own. One that a bunch of us have had for years. Why didn’t you buy a new boat, or head off to school like Buck wanted?”

“Because—”

Her revelation, and the additional information she needed from the chief was instantly put on hold when voices raised on the shore in a cheer.

She and the chief both turned to the water.

The three Sothard men’s heads had emerged, and they were hoisting a very large suitcase between them.

They began towing it to shore.

Bobbie’s conversation could wait.

Whatever was in the case, at least for the moment, was far more important.