Page 27 of Buck (Diver Downeast #2)

Bobbie was in such a dreamland as she came back to her shop, that she hadn’t seen her brothers lurking in the alleyway until it was too late. She wanted to kick herself. There was never anything that could make a day go south faster than her asshole siblings.

Clearly, they’d watched and waited until Buck had driven away before slinking out, when Drew had then forcefully grabbed her upper arm.

“Hey,” she snapped, attempting to unsuccessfully yank her appendage back from him.

How dare he .

She was so pissed off at the pair that her vision momentarily turned red. But she quickly gave herself a quick reminder of what was at stake before she started hurling invectives. She needed to play things cool so they wouldn’t suspect that they were both…now… suspects.

Being in possession of the intel she’d been given, had exposed them as the darkest of villains. And she wanted both of them to pay.

Bobbie took a deep breath and waited to see where the pair would take this. If it was simply a routine shake-down visit, or if they had other things on their mind. “Well? What are you doing here?” she asked.

“Shut it, bitch,” Drew snarled back. “What the hell do you think you’re up to?”

“Up to?” Bobbie repeated dumbly, drawing on all her acting abilities.

She hoped the pair hadn’t somehow gotten wind that they were going to be investigated.

She was aware that they had a few old school chums working at the OPD in various capacities.

They might have been warned, if the chief or Mason had inadvertently said something around the wrong ears.

Bobbie prevaricated. “Uh, coming back to prep for a party?” she offered. “What else would I be doing here?”

“That’s not what we mean, and you know it,” Jeff put in, sharply.

Oh, shit.

“What do you mean, then?” She managed to get free, and rubbed the skin where Drew’s grip would certainly leave bruises.

“Sothard. That asshole,” Drew continued nastily. “We know he’s in town, because he came to the house looking for you while you were gone.”

Bobbie wanted to groan, but kept a straight face. Barely.

“Then earlier, he shows up here and you leave with him. Which means, since he just dropped you off, that you’ve been with him all fucking day.”

“Yeah? So? That’s none of your concern,” Bobbie clipped.

She wasn’t going to take too much shit from her brothers, especially now that she’d found out they were a lot worse than she’d always thought, and behind a whole lot of nefarious stuff that had basically derailed her life.

Drew growled. “That’s where you’re wrong.” He leaned down, close enough that she could see his bloodshot eyes. “We own you, sister dear. We made you what you are today, and you shouldn’t forget that.”

They’d played that card so many times, it was getting hella old.

“We financed your boat,” he continued, “your business, and gave you your most lucrative, weekly client up north. You think that was all easy? Hell, no. And you need to watch your ass, because we can keep those good things from continuing, whenever we want. You get me?”

Bobbie got him, alright. But she understood better than he did that it was an empty threat. What did they think she was, stupid? Or were they just so dense that they didn’t understand where everything currently stood?

First, the small amount of money they’d “lent” her for the boat, had long ago been returned with interest at the same time she’d finished paying off the bank.

The investment they’d made in her company—also a fairly miniscule amount in comparison to the loan she’d taken out—had her brothers receiving extremely generous monthly “share” payments, ones that she figured they couldn’t do without because…

Right . It wasn’t as if Drew and Jeff broke their asses working or anything.

Not like she did, anyway, and not like most of the populace.

As far as she could tell, they brewed as little beer as they could get away with, then used Bobbie as their only outlet for sales; most through her catering business, with the remainder being those two crates they sent along with her every week for Monsieur Provard.

If she paid off her brothers’ initial investment, which she could easily do now with the funds she’d been squirreling away for a new boat, they wouldn’t be due any more monthly checks, which would mean they would no longer be enjoying what she believed was the majority of their income.

Bobbie felt that she held all the cards right now, but she didn’t want to spook the pair who she now knew had bilked her out of the money Buck had paid. She needed to play things cool.

It was difficult, but Bobbie lowered her eyes and tried to look repentant.

“I’m sorry, Drew. I…” She quickly thought up a plausible lie.

“Buck came to see me this afternoon because when I did his brother’s wedding, I wouldn’t talk to him, and he said he had things that needed to be aired.

I had all intentions of just sending him away today, but then he got an emergency call from the police about something being thrown in the river that might be alive.

He needed to get his scuba gear on—that’s the business he and his brother are starting, a diving company—so I offered to drive him while he suited up.

Which meant we never got a chance to talk, because he was so busy. ”

Her brothers looked…relieved?

“Well, you aren’t to see him again,” Drew ordered harshly.

And… right . Seriously? Neither asshole bothered to ask what had been found in the river. That tracked for her selfish siblings.

Bobbie ignored that lapse and filled them in on future plans. Sort of.

“I have to see him Sunday night, because he’s caring for a little puppy I’m adopting that he pulled from the river. Her name is Reyghan.”

No response of course, except twin looks of disbelief.

Bobbie filled the stunned silence. “And since I was unprepared for a dog and have to work all weekend…” She gave a weak smile, along with what she hoped looked like an apologetic shrug, “…he’s picking up supplies and keeping her until then.”

Like hell was she letting them know that she’d also be seeing Buck at the police station tomorrow.

“A dog? Are you fucking kidding me?” Jeff finally spat. “You can barely take care of yourself without our help. How do you figure you’re going to make things work with a goddamned mutt?”

Yeah. Sure. Delusional much? Her brothers had never “taken care” of her in their entire lives, unless it was to screw her over.

Drew’s voice rose. “And what about your trips to Canada, huh?” he continued. “What are you going to do with the bitch, then?”

It was so hard not to yell back.

“I’ll take her with me.” Bobbie answered as evenly as she was able. “People have dogs on boats all the time. They get used to it, especially if you start them off as puppies. She’ll be no bother at all.”

Her brothers exchanged an odd look, but that wasn’t anything new. The two were always plotting one thing or another. She let it slide.

“You’ll have to ask Monsieur Provard if it’s okay,” Jeff put in.

“I’ve already thought of that,” Bobbie apprised. “If he doesn’t want her in his guest house with me, we’ll both sleep on the boat.”

Bobbie had had enough of this shit. “Listen. I need to get back to work, so if you’ll excuse me…”

Drew got up in her face again. “One final word of warning, and you’d better heed it. Your visit with Sothard on Sunday will be your absolute last one, understand?” he barked. “And you’ll make it fucking short.”

“Or?” Bobbie knew it was ballsy of her, but she couldn’t help prodding.

Drew reached forward and gripped her chin, hard. “Or things might get pretty ugly for you and him around here. He wants to open a local business? Let’s see how that works out for him if he keeps trying to see you.”

Yeah. Now there was an overt threat.

Too bad, so sad. They weren’t winning this one.

She’d not only be letting Buck know to watch out for the pair, she’d be filling his brother Mason in, as well as Chief Ildavorg.

If her low IQ brothers thought that they could pull some nasty shit to drive a wedge between her and Buck, or scare him off again, they could kiss her ass.

Now that she knew some of the double-dealing the pair had engaged in fifteen years ago, they wouldn’t be getting away with any such thing, this go-round.

Bobbie sucked in a breath and curbed the anger that wanted to spring to the surface. “I’ll… I’ll tell him Sunday night that I can’t see him again. I’ll say he’s not welcome anywhere near me.”

“Good. And make it believable,” Jeff snorted. “You can be such a fucking pushover sometimes.”

Oh really ?

Bobbie was barely able to curb the snappish words that hovered on the tip of her tongue.

If she’d seemed like an easy mark before, her siblings were in for a big surprise this time around.

Their expectations of compliance from her would bite them in their respective asses.

She only needed to bide her time for a short while until they’d be implicated for an as yet unsubstantiated crime, then she’d cut them completely loose from her life.

Once the OPD conducted a thorough investigation of everything her brothers had their fingers in, past and present, Bobbie had no doubt they’d be going down.

“Don’t worry,” Bobbie managed, telling herself that eventually she’d have the upper hand. “He won’t be a problem.”

“Make sure of it,” Drew responded with a warning tone in his voice.

She wanted to ask, “or what”, but once again, she judiciously curbed her impulses.

Bobbie was done here; beyond ready to wrap things up. “Listen. I really need to get to work. Is there anything else important you need to talk about?” She couldn’t help but pose the question, even if it did sound sarcastic as hell.

Drew reached out and grabbed her hair, pulling her head back so she looked right up into his eyes.

Fuck , that hurt.

“Yes. Remember how miserable we can make your life if we want to,” he warned. “A few ‘mistakes’ at your new apartment, and you’ll be evicted and back living with us where we can keep an eye on you. And we’re not having a dog in our house, so…”

That threat was left hanging, thank God, but Bobbie could read between the lines. Reyghan’s life would be at risk for a second time if her brothers got a hold of her. That was unacceptable.

Her scalp was on fire where he gripped her, but screw it.

She snarled up at him. “You touch my dog, and I swear that’ll be the final straw.

” She went for the mother of all threats, which should make them think.

“I’ll close up my business and leave. Do you hear me?

No more catering company, no more easy money for you.

I’ll pack up and go someplace so far away you’ll never find me.

And who’ll subsidize your lazy-ass lives then? Huh?”

The words felt good, leaving her mouth.

Drew tightened his hold to the point where Bobbie couldn’t help but cry out, and his face turned even more ugly than usual as spittle flew from between his lips. “Don’t test me, cunt. You don’t know anything. I’ll win if you try to pull any of that shit, and you won’t like the consequences.”

He let go and she stumbled back, pins and needles stabbing into her head where he’d been holding her.

Bobbie would have liked getting in the last word, but she somehow managed to keep her mouth shut, spinning on her heel to head into her shop.

Boldly, as she approached the door, she flipped them off over her shoulder before ducking inside. She could only count on the fact that once things unraveled, the pair wouldn’t be able to terrorize her any longer.

Closing the door behind her, she left out a long breath. Safe .

“Hey, Bobbie,” Melo’s cheerful voice greeted her from across the room “You’ve been gone a lon—” Mel stopped talking abruptly as Bobbie walked closer, her mouth falling open. “What the fuck happened to you?” she gasped.

Bobbie groaned. Her normally neat hair must be sticking up on one side. Perhaps there was even a mark on her face or arm where Drew had manhandled her. And of course, there were a few dried tears on her cheeks that Melo wouldn’t miss.

“My brothers,” she said quietly but succinctly, looking around to make sure everyone else was busy and not listening in. “They had a few things to say to me outside.”

Melo growled. “I wish I’d known. I would have gone out and given them a piece of my mind.” She whacked the big wooden spoon she was holding, against her leg, angrily.

Yeah. There was no love lost between Melo and her siblings.

“What did they want this time? More money?” she asked. “An advance again on their monthly extortion fee?” Melo snapped.

Bobbie sighed. The demand for dollars was constant, and there was no need to hide it from Melo. Her top employee and best friend was highly aware of all Bobbie’s financial circumstances.

“No. Not this time,” Bobbie was able to tell her. “This time they wanted to warn me off from seeing any more of Buck.”

“What?” Mel almost screeched. “Why?”

Right. Not keeping anything from Melo.

Bobbie partially filled her in. A heavier discussion, no doubt, needed to happen sooner rather than later.

“Well, first of all, they’ve never liked him. And I just found out that they actually…drove him off, fifteen years ago with some really bogus shit.” She lowered her voice to a whisper as a few of her employees came out of the walk-in and set up at an adjoining work station.

“And on that score,” she continued sotto voce, “they’re worried I might find out about the shit they pulled, but…

They don’t know it’s already too late. I’ve got some dirt they’ll never be able to wash off, even if they wanted to.

” Again, the place was just too small to get into details she didn’t want to share.

“I’ll fill you in on everything next time we’re alone. ”

“I’ll hold you to that,” Melo stated tartly. “I’m beyond curious now, and ticked off, too. You know I can’t stand that pair, and if you have some shit on them that will bring them down? Well, halleluiah and it’s about fucking time.”

Bobbie put a finger to her lips. “Later, Mel.”

Not that anyone was purposely eavesdropping.

But better safe than sorry. Bobbie didn’t want anyone outside of her and Buck’s trusted sphere of friends and family knowing about the investigation that would soon be launched against her duplicitous siblings.

Indeed.

Drew and Jeff were going down, one way or another.

Bobbie couldn’t wait.