Page 45 of Buck (Diver Downeast #2)

Buck had mobilized everyone as quickly as possible so they could come up with a new plan, but only had one goal in mind once that was accomplished. Get to the harbor and somehow follow Bobbie’s boat. The only problem was, he didn’t own a vessel of his own at this juncture, and…

He thought about it, and could only hope.

The sub.

Without hesitation, he called Spencer.

“Mmmph. Bro,” Spencer picked up groggily. “What the fuck time is it, anyway?”

Buck didn’t have the patience for niceties, and dove right in.

“Bobbie’s brothers are on her boat. They basically hijacked her trip to Canada.

You know what we had going on today, and now there’s a new plan.

I don’t want that to be blown all to hell, but I’m really worried over what will happen to her when Drew and Jeff find out that Border Patrol and the Coast Guard want to board them at sea, which is now what’s going to happen. I need to be on her tail.”

“I’m putting you on speaker,” Spence told him, then addressed his wife. “Tabbi. How ready is that sub for a rescue voyage?”

Buck was never happier that he and his brother were so in tune that he didn’t have to waste time explaining.

“She’s good. The engines and the hull integrity are perfect,” Buck heard Tabbi say.

“What I haven’t checked out yet is a lot of the periphery equipment, like the exterior cameras, the sampling tools, and the manipulator arms. And just a warning.

This is an older model sub, so it doesn’t have a photonic mast, and I’m not sure the periscope is working. Will we need it, Spence?”

Buck was savvy enough to know that a photonic mast meant an electronic imaging sensor that sent surface pictures back to a computer screen.

“Buck?” Spencer turned the question over to him.

“We might, in order to positively ID Bobbie’s boat when we reach it.

But first and foremost, we need a way to follow her undetected, which thankfully we now have.

And also, I’m relieved that we know her exact course.

Not only has she shared it with everyone, but her boat’s been tagged so that the authorities would be able to locate her.

Which means we can at least get close to her position, and if we can’t get an actual visual, we can contact the Coast Guard, who will let us know the minute that they spot her.

Buck needed clarification, however, for the next thing of which he was uncertain.

“So, Bobbie sails at somewhere between five and eight knots. What can your sub do? Will we be able to catch up to her?”

Tabitha didn’t hesitate, and answered proudly. “Absolutely. My baby is rated for ten knots. And I can’t wait to put her through her paces,” she added excitedly.

“That works for me,” Buck replied, feeling a modicum of hope for the first time this morning. “I’m headed out now. At this early hour, I know I can be at the harbor in under ten minutes. What’s your ETA?”

Spencer gave a wry laugh. “Tabitha’s already out of bed and dressed, and I’m not far behind. I’d say we’ll get there about the same time.”

“Great. Bring your scuba gear. I’m bringing mine because…

you never know. I’ll see you soon.” Buck hung up, eyeing Cooper, who was giving him a “what about me?” look.

Shit. In his worry, he’d forgotten about not only Cooper, but Reyghan who was in the harbormaster’s office.

He assumed Spence and Tabbi were leaving Duck behind. Maybe.

Who could he call to help?

It was far too early to bother Sheila, and even if he did reach her, she’d need a ride all the way to Searsport.

Mason was already on his way to confer with Chief Ildavorg.

Mase’s wife Everlee, their baby, and Izzy their pup, had all gone to visit family out of state, so he couldn’t call on her. But…Rowan

He quickly dialed his brother, Kyle.

“Hey, man. What’s up?”

Obviously, Kyle was, but that was no surprise. He and Rowan were always early risers; taking a morning run together every day, weather permitting.

“I need someone to head to the Searsport harbormaster’s office and retrieve not only Reyghan, but Cooper who will be there soon, and maybe Duck.

” Yeah . There was no help for it. Once they left Hampden in the sub, they’d have to do a quick stop in Searsport.

“We’ll need someone to watch the dogs for…

I don’t know how long. I get that you’ll be working the sting at the barn today, which you’ll be getting an update on, soon, but do you think Rowan can do dog-sitting? ”

“Row?” Spence called out. “Can you head to Searsport, pick up three dogs, and watch them for the day?”

Buck heard a sound of glee.

“Three puppies? Are you kidding me? I’ll be in heaven. Just give me time to grab my keys, and I’m there.”

Buck sighed in relief. “Thank her for me, Kyle.” He finalized the call. “I don’t have time to explain, but you’ll have the whole story soon enough.”

“No problem, Buck. Stay safe, whatever it is your doing.”

“You know it,” Buck replied before hanging up.

He grabbed his gear bag and was out the door, speeding off toward Hampden’s waterfront within a few blinks, his foot heavy on the peddle. Just let someone try to stop him now. They’d have to follow him all the way to Canada.

It took exactly eight minutes to reach the harbor. A new record. But Buck wasn’t ready to claim any prizes, yet. Not until he had Bobbie safe.

He easily located the area where Spence had said the sub was tied off, and he didn’t have to wait long for his brother and Tabitha to show up.

With a quick greeting, they all climbed aboard the sub, dogs and all, heading quickly down the tower while Tabbi got them underway.

It didn’t take long to reach Searsport, where Spence wrangled both Duck and Cooper, trotting off with the dogs to sequester them with Reyghan until Rowan arrived.

If Buck knew Rowan, she wouldn’t be long, which was a good thing.

That trio of puppies could probably chew through their weight in harbor-paperwork if left unattended for too long.

Tabitha immediately sprang into action again once Spencer returned, beckoning him to close the hatch behind him as she threw switches and got them underway again.

“It’s a good thing she’s all fueled,” Tabitha told him, this time taking a few minutes to go over her pre-launch safety protocols.

Tabitha knew that preparedness was key to any emergency that arose, so of course she’d be as careful as possible.

“I owe you big time for this Tab,” Buck told her sincerely.

“You owe me nothing except a prime seat at your wedding when it happens,” she quipped back, her lips twitching.

Not if. When .

“Now let me work,” she added.

Buck settled down, his brain going to that nebulous, future wedding .

Yup. After this, he was going to work harder to break down Bobbie’s barriers. He wanted that wedding.

Buck and Spencer both stood aside and quietly marveled at just how good Tabbi was at this. It didn’t even take eight minutes of her mumbling and fussing before they were well underway for a second time.

“Heading?” Tabitha asked, once they’d cleared the harbor.

Buck brought up Bobbie’s trajectory on his phone, then slid his device toward Tabitha so she could have a look.

She nodded, set a course, and sent the craft into a smooth dive, eventually bringing them to a depth of approximately two hundred feet for cruising in order to avoid any large ships in the area they might encounter.

“Now all we have to do is wait until we feel the timing is right for us to be overtaking the Small Dream ,” Tabitha told them. “Then I’ll bring us up to around twenty-five feet so we can work on spotting the underside of her hull. Will you know it when you see it, Buck?”

He might. Bobbie’s boat was green, which wasn’t rare, but it wasn’t the norm, either, so he could get lucky.

If everything went smoothly, and Bobbie had lingered at the pier before leaving, considering their relative speeds, they could catch up to her within two hours, which would be somewhere around eight AM.

“I can probably partially judge it by size and color,” Buck elucidated after pondering for another few seconds. “But to be sure it’s her, we’ll need to take a closer look.”

Buck wasn’t keen on surfacing. He didn’t want Bobbie’s brothers to know their sister had back-up. At least not right away.

Border Patrol would lay eyes on Bobbie when she entered Canadian waters no later than eleven AM, which meant Buck and company would have a possible three hours of dogging Bobbie’s boat before they could let their presence be known.

“Then we can only hope the periscope works,” Tabitha told him. “Not that I have any serious doubts. The people who sold her to me took great care of everything.”

Fingers crossed .

It was going to be a long morning.

Not quite two hours into their journey, Tabitha brought the sub up to a depth of twenty-five feet, and they all began scouring the surface above them through the acrylic dome for sight of any boat.

The first one they came across was much larger than the Small Dream’ s thirty feet. The second was a cruising yacht.

Shortly thereafter they avoided coming close to a container ship which looked to be drawing at least forty feet of water, but they stuck around long enough to scan the area nearby to make sure Bobbie wasn’t close.

Ten minutes later, after leaving the freighter behind, they came upon a likely hull in the correct position. Tabitha brought them closer to the surface. “Why don’t you give the periscope a try, Buck? It’s supposedly rated for a twenty-foot reach.”

Although Buck wasn’t well versed in vessels that lurked beneath the sea, he figured he could handle that request. He went over to the device, put his eye to the eyepiece, and raised it up electronically until it just broke the surface.

There. The boat in question. He used the focusing mechanism and…

Bingo .

It was the right boat, and the right woman.

Buck’s breath caught.