27

Brady and Gabe kicked their way deeper. “See anything?” Gabe asked.

“No.”

“What was she doing down here anyway?”

“I don’t know,” Brady said. “Everyone’s been chasing the location of the Lady Marie, which supposedly sank in this area. Whatever was on it when it sank is apparently worth killing and kidnapping over—and they believed Emily could lead them to it due to some pictures that were texted to her by her friend.” The conversation was good. It kept his fear for Emily from completely overwhelming him. He could talk and scan the water, mostly because he couldn’t see much. It was churned up and visibility was poor. “She could be two feet in front of me and I wouldn’t know it,” he muttered.

“All right, let’s do another sweep. Swim in a grid just like in training. If we don’t see the boat, we’re going to have to bring in the ROV. Even though we’re right under the dinghy, they didn’t anchor it and it could have drifted.”

“Yeah.” Nothing he hadn’t already thought about.

“You got that, Anissa? Ryan?”

“Got it.”

For the next few minutes, they swept the area, communicating with Anissa and Ryan above, who guided them in the search, making sure they were staying on course and not simply covering the same area over and over.

“There.” Brady pointed. “I thought I saw something. Ryan, I need more rope.” He swam toward whatever it was his light had snagged. As he got closer, he could see a solid object that grew bigger and finally morphed into the bow of the sunken vessel. “This is it. We found it.”

“See if you can see the name on the side,” Gabe said.

Brady swung around to the side and used his light to illuminate the port side near the front. “The Lady Marie,” he said. On the one hand, knowing Emily might be in there, it was all he could do to keep from dashing into the boat. On the other . . .

“All right, let’s get in there and see what we can find.”

Brady’s gut twisted. “I hate penetration diving.”

“Right there with you,” Gabe said. “Going into those unstable environments is enough to give me nightmares.”

“Gabe? Brady?” Anissa said. “Adam said the team just arrived to process the boat with the two dead guys. And the chopper just communicated that they caught the guy who shot them.”

“Excellent. Find out who he is if you can.”

“Adam’s on it.”

Brady came to the entrance of the craft and stopped at the sliding glass doors. Was Emily in there? Was she alive? Hurt? He swallowed and pushed on through. He hated penetration diving. There were so many ugly ways to die, so he avoided it at all costs. Only for Emily—or one of his teammates—would he do this. He went inside and Gabe went around him. “Man, bet this was a pretty sweet lady when she was on the other side of the water.”

“Yeah.” Brady followed. “Watch that drawer full of knives down there.”

Gabe gave him a thumbs-up and headed for the short hallway. Brady trailed behind, keeping an eye on the lines. Through the control room, the galley, down the hall . . .

. . . and slammed into Gabe’s back.

The man placed a hand on the wall to steady himself and turned. “Dead bodies.”

In the span of half a second his heart stopped, then galloped out of control. “Emily?”

“Oh no, man, sorry. Two guys. I think. One’s definitely shot in the head. It’s not pretty, but it’s not Emily.”

The thundering in his chest slowed. He slid around so he could see and shuddered at the sight. Horror-movie worthy. He’d dealt with his share of recovery calls, but he never got used to it.

“Dead bodies?” Anissa said. “Plural?”

“Affirmative, but we’re not exactly following recovery protocol at the moment,” Gabe said.

“We’ll sort it out later. Keep looking for Emily.”

Brady scanned the lines as Gabe made his way into the bedroom. So far, so good. No snags, catches, or other trouble. Other than the fact that he hadn’t found Emily yet. Please, God, let her be okay . . .

“The safe’s open,” Gabe said. He swam over to it. Brady stayed with him, adjusting his BCD pressure slightly. “Lots of money in here. She didn’t bother with that. Interesting.”

Brady turned and headed for the exit. “Okay, I think it’s safe to say Emily’s not here. Let’s get out of here.”

But if she wasn’t in the wreckage and her line had been cut, what had she done and where had she gone? More important, who had she gone with?

Emily had stopped struggling when she realized that she couldn’t escape. Fighting used up her air, and she had a feeling she’d better conserve as much as possible. Her captor didn’t seem compelled to try to explain what he had planned, he simply swam next to her, the knife in his hand a constant threat.

The knife she’d pilfered from the galley was still tucked in her belt and she didn’t think he’d seen it or he would have taken it. Not sure how he could have missed it, she decided to be grateful and let him lead, since it appeared he was headed to the surface. When he stopped for a moment, she stayed at the end of the line as far from him as she could.

Then he was moving again, pulling her along.

After one more stop, they surfaced. He pointed to the dock. It was similar to the one she’d started out on with Todd and Snake Man, but was farther away and located in a cove lined with large houses. Out of sight of most of the open water area, Emily had no idea where she was. She just knew she needed to get out of the water and away from this man.

He gave her a yank and she swam for the dock. She scrambled up the ladder and sat for a moment, making sure her left arm covered the knife at her side. She was surprised at how tired she was. Exhausted, actually. According to the small computer on her arm, she’d been down there close to forty-five minutes. It had felt like forty-five years. She pulled off the helmet and set it aside. The cold wind lashed at her face and she left the dry suit hood covering her head.

He stood over her and pulled his mask off. “Give me the flash drive. And before you argue about it, I won’t kill you, but I will hurt you to get it. Am I clear?”

And he’d find the knife. “Crystal,” she said. She pulled the flash drive out of the little pocket on her suit and handed it to him.

“Keep that nice, cooperative attitude and he might be merciful and kill you quickly. Otherwise, you’ll hurt for a very long time.” As she was processing that, he nodded to her feet. “Get the flippers off and let’s go.”

She debated arguing with him and decided against it for now. Keeping her left side away from his line of sight, she wordlessly slid the flippers off, grateful for the neoprene that protected her feet from the chill.

She stood. “Now what?”

“Walk.”

Emily walked, keeping her left elbow down and her face tilted away from the wind. “Where are we going?”

“There’s a van parked up that hill and around the curve. Fortunately, I work for a man who plans for every contingency. He’s had his eyes on Cavendish for a while now, watching him, following him.” He scowled. “Following you. He wasn’t happy with your bodyguards.”

“Sorry to inconvenience him.” She shuddered and wrapped her arms around her middle. The fingers of her right hand touched the knife.

“We’re going to get in that van and I’m going to take you to someone who’s very anxious to meet you.”

That didn’t sound promising. “Where’s Todd and Snake Man?”

He raised a brow. “Snake Man?”

“The guy who was with Todd. Had the big snake tattoo on his neck that ran down to his hand. Grant.”

“Oh. Grant Hudson.”

“Right.”

“He’s dead. So is Todd.”

She swallowed a gasp. “Okay. But I thought . . .” She stopped. “You work for Paul Bailey, don’t you?”

A hard smile curved his lips. “He said you were smart.”

“Todd said he and his brother hated each other.”

“That’s an understatement. Now go.”

Emily trudged to the van, wondering if she was making a mistake in cooperating. But that knife hadn’t left his hand and she wasn’t sure she wanted to risk him using it. Not to kill her, as it was obvious he was keeping her alive for something, but she was quite sure he wasn’t lying about hurting her. She shivered and spotted the van. God, I’m going to have to put this in your hands. You know how I want this to end. I’m scared. Really, seriously scared, and I need you more than ever right now.

She continued her prayer as she climbed into the passenger seat and buckled her seat belt. While he rounded the van, she slid the knife from the left side of the belt to the right.

God? Please help me.

Brady pulled his helmet off. “I can’t believe this.” Would he never catch up with her? “Where’d you see her?”

Anissa lowered the binoculars. “She and another person exited the water using that dock. There was a van parked at the top of the hill. They got in it and drove away. I couldn’t get the plate, but I’ve already called it in and the chopper is looking for it right now.”

“Can we head in? I need to be helping search for her.”

“Absolutely.” Anissa aimed the boat toward the other side of the lake where they’d originally started. Brady skimmed out of the borrowed dry suit, then called Linc. He paced and they schemed while the boat skipped effortlessly over the waves, headed to shore. “Did the chopper get a visual on the vehicle?” he asked his brother.

“Not yet.”

“We’ve got to find her, Linc. I know she’s scared out of her mind.”

“Hopefully not. She’s going to have to keep it together.”

Brady sighed. “Yeah.”

Finally, the shore came into sight and he saw Linc waiting, leaning against his vehicle. Hopefully, the truck that would take him to Emily.

He turned to Gabe, Ryan, and the others. “Thank you all for your help.”

“Anytime,” Gabe said.

The others echoed the sentiment and Brady jogged to join Linc. Once he settled in the passenger seat, Linc handed him a COMMS piece and Brady shoved it into his left ear.

“What’s the update?” he asked Linc.

“Still no sign of the vehicle description or plate.”

Brady closed his eyes and sent up a silent prayer. One thing about this situation, it had him speaking to God again. Begging. Pleading.

Just like Emily had done with Heather.

The thought chilled him and he pressed his palms against his eyes. How had he fallen so hard so fast for this woman? It terrified him. And thrilled him at the same time. As long as he could get her back.

Linc’s phone rang. “It’s the sheriff of Carrington. They gave him my contact info when they figured out who the two men on the boat were.” He hit the Bluetooth button that would allow Brady to listen in as well. “Yeah, Sheriff, what do you have?”

“We’ve identified the two men. An ex-con named Grant Hudson and a man by the name of Todd Cavendish. Both thirty-four years of age.”

“I recognize the name Hudson, but not Cavendish.”

“I did a little research. He’s had an interesting business career with a lot of ups and downs. As a teen, he was involved in a boating accident that left a bad scar on his face. He recovered and graduated from high school and legally changed his name after his parents got divorced.”

“What was his name before he changed it?”

“Todd Garrett Bailey.”