Page 105 of Spencer

Back-up would be welcome since Spencer had no idea the shape in which he’d find Tabitha once he reached bottom.

It seemed to take for-fucking-ever for Ghillie to reach the shore, but once he did, his brothers immediately took control.

“Don’t move.” Standing tall and revealing himself, Mason bellowed out and pointed his firearm at their perp. “We have you surrounded.”

Ghillie’s head came up, and when he sawthreeweapons pointed directly at his head, he put his hands up. He turned slightly, and groaned, spying Kyle and Rowan who also had him in their gun-sights from their kayak.

He knew his day was over.

Spencer sprinted from his cover, and ran flat-out toward the water. But before he reached it, he couldn’t help himself.

Without missing a step in his forward trajectory, Spencer sent a fist flying toward Ghillie’s exposed neck. He connected with a loud, solid blow that knocked the man to his back on the rocks, sending his regulator flying from his mouth.

“Fucker,” Spencer snarled, wishing he could feel the man’s flesh under his knuckles again and again, but Tabitha needed him.

The asshole laughed up at him, even as he rasped in pain. “Nice move, douchebag, but I still win. You’ll never get her out in time,” he taunted maniacally. “She’s as good as dead.”

Spencer didn’t stick around to question the bastard. His brothers would do that, and then they’d assist Spencer in any way necessary.

Right now, he had to find Tabitha.

Swimming out to the red buoy, Spencer drew in the deepest breath possible, submerged, then kicked his way to the bottom, spotting the wooden crate right away.

He knew, the minute he came within a few feet of the container, that Tabitha was inside and in trouble. Theencasement was big. Big enough for Tabbi and her tanks, which meant she most likely had air, but… This wasn’t going to be a simple job of just opening the lid.

Goddammit.

The bastard had rigged explosives around the box; a belt of PBX if Spencer wasn’t mistaken. He moved closer.Uh, huh.Plastic bonded explosives in rope-form circled the wood. It had been coupled with what looked to be a motion switch and a water-tight battery that was clearly designed to detonate if the container was moved or jostled in any way.

Fuck.

Spencer assumed, since Ghillie had been going for a maximum horror-factor from Tabitha, he’d probably forced her into the box only after letting her see the cord and trigger; having her realize she couldn’t escape without blowing herself up. She’d understand there were no options available. She’d have to sink into panic as the air in her tanks slowly ran out. Then she’d be dead.

What their adversaryhadn’tknown, however, was that Tabitha had human backup.Knowledgeablehuman backup.

Buck.

Spencer was never more thankful that his brother was an underwater demolition expert. Surely, he’d know how to diffuse this bomb-waiting-to-happen.

Spencer gritted his teeth.

It was tough not being able to let Tabitha know he was outside. But any wrong move on his part, like rapping on the wood, might set things off.

Taking one last look at the box that held everything precious to him, Spencer headed for the surface, praying at least that Ghillie had, indeed, left Tabitha alive.

Her tanks, he knew, were good for an hour. Even though she’d already burned through twenty minutes of that, Spencerhad to think positively. The remaining forty minutes gave her plenty of breathing time for his brother to accomplish what needed to be done.

But Buck had to jump on this right away.

Swimming quickly until his face cleared the surface, Spencer sucked in a deep breath of fresh air and turned toward the shore.

Buck, in full diving gear, was only ten feet away and closing.

“I brought tools,” he told Spencer grimly as he came alongside him. “We got the asshole to spill his guts, so I know what I’m up against.”

“He told you everything?”

“Yeah. We let him know it would be unhealthy if he didn’t.”

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