Rather than answer, he snagged a crab puff from the tray of a passing waiter and popped it in his mouth. With a shrug of his shoulders, he headed back toward the dining room.
“What is she doing here after all these years?” Rebecca called after him.
“No idea. But when I find out, I’ll be sure and let you know.”
She followed him to the deck. “Don’t you dare let her break your heart again.”
Her plea had him stopping in his tracks and turning to face his older sister. Only two years separated them, but since the death of their father nearly twenty years ago, Rebecca had been as much of a mother to him as their actual mom. It seemed she wasn’t ready to relinquish the role despite the fact he had reached the ripe-old-age of thirty-one.
He brushed a kiss over her forehead. “So many women concerned over the safety of my heart. I’m a very lucky man.”
“Must you be such an obtuse ass?”
“Hey, this obtuse ass just fixed your dishwasher. Again. You’re welcome, by the way.”
She pulled him in for a hug. “Thank you. For always being there for me. I’m so glad you settled into a career where the greatest injury you can suffer is carpal tunnel. I have enough stress worrying about Rich every day.”
He gave her a reassuring pat on the back. Sometimes what his family didn’t know couldn’t hurt them. “You can take me off your list of people to worry about, then. I can take care of myself.”
Wearing an expression full of doubt, she released him. “I’ll be the judge of that.” The bartender waved her down. “Go back to your friends and enjoy Milo’s fabulous food.”
“Rebecca,” he called after her. His sister glanced back over her shoulder. “I love you, too.”
She replied with a smile before shooing him away and heading in the direction of the bar. Ben weaved through the maze of diners, arriving at the table he’d left fifteen minutes earlier to find Christine and her partner on Josslyn’s detail making their way through a plate of beef Wellington while Adam was feeding oysters to his fiancée. It was the absence of one of their party that had the back of his neck tingling, however.
“Where’s Quinn?”
Adam looked past him. “She’s not with you?”
The tingling felt like a full-fledge vise grip now. “No. I left her here.” He glared at Adam. “With you.”
“Whoa there, Bennett, if you intended for me to keep tabs on her, you should have given me a damn heads-up,” Adam snapped as he shot to his feet.
Josslyn jumped between them. “Boys! She said she was going to freshen up.”
“When was that exactly?”
The four exchanged uneasy looks. “Right after you left,” Josslyn finally answered. “Agent Groesch checked out the ladies’ room a few minutes ago, but she wasn’t there.”
Ben swore violently.
“We assumed she was with you, though,” Josslyn continued. “I figured I’d made her uncomfortable with the pressure to photograph our wedding somehow and she didn’t want to be left alone with us.”
“She wasn’t with me,” he said.
Anger squeezed his chest. How could he have been so stupid? She’d been playing him.
Again.
His phone rang, startling him. He checked the caller ID.
“Aunt Marnie, I don’t have time right—”
“You better get down to the marina, Bennett. Someone’s trashing your boat. I’ve already called Rich.”
“Shit!” He shoved his phone into his pocket and made a beeline for the door.
“Stay with Josslyn,” he heard Adam command the agents in her detail.
The two of them sprinted out the door, circumventing a couple on a tandem bike, and headed toward the docks. The siren from Rich’s squad car blared, but it was still some distance away.
“What are we looking at?” Adam asked.
“Someone’s vandalizing my boat.”
“Quinn?”
Ben didn’t bother answering. Of course, it was Quinn. She’d been lurking beside the Seas the Day when he’d first encountered her earlier today. Her bullshit about seeking him out to make amends was just that—bullshit. But what was her game? Once again, she had sucker-punched him and he with the superior IQ hadn’t seen it coming. Adam had put the pieces together faster than he had. His anger at being duped made him run faster.
They took the stairs down to the dock single file. He could just make out movement on the back deck of his boat. But it wasn’t Quinn. Instead, it was a trio of men. All of them chattering in Russian. Ben suddenly had a really bad feeling. Adam already had his gun in his hand when they turned down the row housing the Seas the Day. Rich’s siren was now much closer.
But still not close enough.
A woman’s muffled scream was followed a few seconds later by a loud splash.
Quinn!
The men disembarked and were headed toward the end of the dock. Adam and Ben took cover behind one of the boats.
“Stay right where you are, gentlemen,” Rich called out over the loudspeaker in his squad car.
Apparently, the Russian’s didn’t understand English or they were just brazening it out because they continued walking. Adam fired a shot over their heads to get their attention. The two men at the back quickly returned fire while the man at the front carried on as if oblivious, calmly walking to the edge of the dock before jumping off. Rich fired off a few rounds from his rifle but the other two men followed their friend over the side. An outboard engine roared to life and suddenly the three were hurtling over the bay in two Jet Skis at a breakneck speed.
“Well, that was interesting,” Adam said.
But Ben was already heading toward his boat. He leaped onto the back deck.
“Quinn!”
Her purse was on its side on the deck.
“She’s not down here,” Adam said from the galley behind him.
Ben frantically clicked on the running lights, illuminating the water around the stern.
“There!” Adam pointed to a ripple along the surface.
Adam was still shrugging out of his boots when Ben dove in. He kicked his legs out with enough force to propel him deeper toward the sandy bottom. The lights only illuminated the water behind the boat a couple of feet. It was another three meters or so to reach the bottom. Blindly flailing his arms, he tried in vain to search the area in front of him.
She had to be there.
Another body sluiced through the water. It was Adam carrying an underwater flashlight. He arched the beam in a slow circle beneath them. Too slowly for Ben, though. His lungs were already on fire. Quinn had been under water a good two minutes longer than him. They didn’t have a moment to lose. He grabbed at the lantern just as its beam reflected off something shiny below. He kicked down deeper. A third body swam past him, following the same reflection.
Rich was already skimming the sandy bottom when he saw her.
The necklace she was wearing danced eerily above her neck as the pearl caught the lantern light. A halo of red hair spread out from her still body. Her hands and feet were tied together with the auxiliary stern anchor from the Seas the Day secured to her ankles, its weight easily pressing her to the floor of the bay. Duct tape covered her mouth. Rich was already sawing at the anchor’s ropes when Ben lifted her body and began rapidly kicking them both to the surface. Adam grabbed Ben by the midsection and within seconds, they were above the water gasping for air.