Page 104 of Spencer

Spencer, however, was at the end of his rope. At this point, he was practically jumping out of his skin, readying himself for action.

“Stay put for a few more minutes, Spence,” Mason warned, but with a placating edge to his voice. “We’re slowly moving in your direction on the beach. As soon as we recon the area directly around you, we’ll sound the all-clear. Then you can come out of hiding and join us to put a plan in action that won’t get Sheila or Tabitha killed.”

As much as Spencer didn’t like Mason’s choice of the word “killed”, he appreciated that his brother was keeping things real. Spencer knew all too well—as did everyone else—that one false move could blow this whole thing to hell.

It seemed like a fucking long time, but was probably only two minutes before Spencer heard Mason’s voice at the rear of the open hatch of the SUV where he still remained hidden.

“Okay, Spence. All clear. Join us.”

Spencer threw off the tarp, crawled over the rear seat, and slid from the vehicle to stand next to his brothers and Everlee. They all looked bad-ass, weaponed up, with fierce expressions on their faces. He’d chosen not to kit himself out, figuring if he had to go in the water, it would waste too much time getting things off.

As he took up a position next to his impromptu team, the large mass of the SUV gave them cover from a direct line of sight from the ocean so that if Ghillie were to come out, he wouldn’t spot them right away.

The first thing Spencer did was poke his head around the vehicle and peruse the waves carefully.

“There’s no sign of Tabbi’s safety tube,” he pondered, trying to psych himself up in a good way. “That must mean she’s okay.”

“Or Ghillie stopped her from deploying it,” Buck stated, looking stoic.

Yeah.Spencer knew that, but Buck had clearly needed the words spoken aloud.

Buck was really good at hiding his emotions. He often used pragmatism to mask whatever feelings lurked within him. He’d embrace the need to tamp down his humanness now, because Spence knew his brother already bonded with Tabitha like she was another sibling.

“Hush. Look,” Julian stated, breaking into the conversation while pointing to the ocean. “Bubbles. Someone’s surfacing.”

They all ducked down, peeking through the SUV’s tinted glass, hiding just in case it was Ghillie.

“Itishim, the bastard,” Spencer snarled under his breath, barely holding his body in check. “And no Tabitha.”

At that moment, Mason’s phone vibrated in his pocket.

Mase withdrew it and grimaced, speaking so quietly they almost had to read his lips. “I have to take this. It’s Bangor PD.”

He connected and spoke in an equally low tone. “Yeah?”

Spencer was splitting his attention back and forth between Mason and Ghillie, but he tensed when Mason’s face showed incredulousness.

“Say that again,” his brother demanded in a hushed tone.

A second went by.

“You’re sure? Okay. Thanks. Keep her there.”

Keep her there?

Mason’s mouth hardened as he hung up. “We’ve been duped. BPD has Sheila. She just walked in off the street a few minutes ago and asked for me or Kyle by name. That means?—”

“That she’s been safe all along, and Tabitha has been set up.” Spencer hissed, wanting nothing more than to rush into the water to see what the asshole had done to her.

He was finished listening. It was time for him to grab the helm of this operation.

“No weapons on him that I can see,” Spencer rasped at his brothers. “You guys take him down as soon as he gets his feet on dry ground. And as much as I’d like to help you subdue Ghillie, my first concern is Tabitha. I’m going after her.”

“I assume you’ll be free-breathing,” Buck responded knowingly.

Spencer nodded.

“Okay, then,” Buck continued, already scrambling. “I’ll suit up right now and join you down there.”

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