“No.” She quickly shut him down. “I don’t think the chief did anything inappropriate with the money.” Bobbie’s voice grew cold with certainty as reality sunk in. “But I have a pretty good idea who did. Still,” she took a deep breath, “I refuse to jump to conclusions a second time. I did that once, and it lost me my…best friend.”
She dared lean over to place a hand on Buck’s knee.
He covered it with his own, and her gut settled.
“So, you believe me?” he asked, with a break in his voice.
“I do. I really do,” she repeated with surety, her voice a mere whisper. “Why would you make something up when I can just check with the chief and make sure what you’ve told me is true?”
There was no doubt in her mind, after this simple two-minute conversation with Buck, that she’d been duped.
How could she have been so blind?
Anger flared fast and bright. Her gut told herexactlywho was behind it all, even though the motive was unclear.
Bobbie hardened her resolve. “You and I need to have a conversation with the chief, right away.”
Buck looked concerned. “To verify my word? Of course. But are you going to fill me in on the rest of your thought process? I’m completely in the dark here.”
“No. I’m not going to say anything. Not yet, at least. If I’m right, it’s going to take a lot of work to untangle everything that happened, and we’ll need to be extra careful to make sure we don’t show our hand.”
Yeah.They needed to play this just right.
Bobbie regarded Buck seriously. “I have to work tomorrow until two. Would you…come to the shop? From there, we’ll go pay the chief a visit. That’s if you want to help get to the bottom of things.”
Buck looked a bit dazed, but immediately agreed.
“Of course I want to help. Do you—?” He cut himself off.
Clearly, he was having some trouble waiting for answers, but he managed to swallow down the rest of his curiosity. “Two o’clock works for me. I’m headed to New Hampshire in the morning to look at a bunch of used diving gear for our new company, but I’ll make sure I’m back in time to pick you up. I’ll also call Chief Ildavorg and set up an appointment for two-thirty.”
“Good.”
Bobbie could barely maintain her stoic face when all she wanted to do was scream. If what she was thinking was actually true, her entire adult life—from the point of Buck leavinguntil present—had all been a farce, orchestrated by her fucking brothers.
This whole thing had Drew and Jeff written all over it.
How could she not have known? How could she have been so blind?
But, again, what had been their motive? What good had it done either of them to scuttle her boat and end her chances at entering those sailing competitions? Their crime made no sense. They’d already known that if shehadn’twon, she’d been ready to work for a few more years, then sell her boat to raise the money for school.
Why had they destroyed her dreams when it wouldn’t have cost them a dime?
Bastards.
They’d not only changed the entire trajectory of her life, they’d stolen Buck’s chances of going to college, as well. Had they also known, before they’d committed their heinous crimes, that Buck would end up paying for damages? If not, she could just imagine their glee overthatparticular icing on the cake as they’d pocketed her funds.
“What’s going on in your head, Bobbie?” Buck asked cautiously. “You look…really angry.”
Bobbie couldn’t keep the snarl from her tone. “Because I am, Buck. Not at you, though,” she assured him. “Not anymore. It looks like we were both victims, and now…” She trailed off, not quite knowing how to finish her sentence.
Buck didn’t have that problem.
“Now, we find out who screwed us over fifteen years ago,” he ended grimly. Buck wasn’t stupid. He wasn’t saying her brothers’ names, either, but he must suspect.
“Exactly,” Bobbie agreed.
For her, it wasn’t the “who” that needed clarification.
