There was a chorus of affirmatives, for which Bobbie was relieved.
“Thank you. And hurry, please. We don’t know how long my friend will be down.”
Several people scurried off, and Bobbie turned her attention once again to the water.
It wasn’t even a minute later when a siren alerted her to the fact that the police were nearly on scene.
As the cruiser pulled over toward the rear of the van, Bobbie went up to meet them and retrieve Buck’s wetsuit.
Chief Ildavorg and Mason Sothard emerged.
“What’s happening?” Mason asked.
“Buck went in about two minutes ago. He didn’t have time to put on a suit, but he was pretty certain the water temperature wouldn’t be too bad.”
“Pretty sure…” Mason shook his head, giving a pained huff. “Well, I have to believe him. He’s been diving for the Coast Guard for the past fifteen years, so I guess he knows what he’s doing.”
“I have a suit ready for him if he comes up cold and empty-handed,” Bobbie apprised. She hoped that neither of those scenarios came to pass.
“How is it that he had his gear with him?” the chief asked, as two more police cruisers pulled in and the arriving officers went down to make sure the crowd stayed safe.
Bobbie gave a wry laugh. “He’d actually just picked up a bunch of used equipment in New Hampshire this morning. It’s all top quality, and luckily the seller had the tanks filled to prove they could hold pressure, so he was good to go.”
“You have more tanks? More suits?” Mason asked, already stripping off his duty belt and heading for the van.
“Yeah,” Bobbie answered, following on his heels. “Do you dive?”
Bobbie did, recreationally, but knew that her lack of expertise would have been more of a hindrance to Buck in a rescue situation, than a help.
Mason barked a laugh. “All the Sothards do. Am I as good as Spence and Buck? No. But this isn’t deep ocean we’re talking about. It’s fifteen feet into the river, and I can certainly handle that.”
She didn’t doubt him, and he quickly and competently stripped down and pulled on gear. He didn’t set her mouth watering or her heart beating like Buck had, but Mason was still amazingly cut. And unlike Buck, he took advantage of one of the wet suits, for which Bobbie was thankful. If Buck ran into a problem temperature-wise, Mason could take over.
Just as Mason was zipping up, a yell sounded from the crowd. They both turned to look, and saw Buck, mid-river, struggling with a large, obviously water-logged object.
“Shit.” Mason wasted no more time but took off to help.
Buck submerged again, clearly struggling under the weight of what he’d recovered, and Bobbie sucked in a breath.Please be okay. Please by okay, she chanted to herself. She wanted him in one piece. Selfishly, she hadn’t had a chance to give himnearly enough shit, and she was really looking forward to it. Emotionally…she needed him.
As Mason disappeared from view, Spencer pulled up.
“Sit rep,” he snapped, as he emerged, already suited up.
Chief Ildavorg answered this time. “Buck just came up with some kind of case in his arms, but it has to be heavy because he submerged again pretty quickly. Mason went in after him.”
“Got it.” Spencer wasted not a second, but also took off down the slope, headed for the water.
“Your tank!” Bobbie called after him.
“Don’t need it,” Spencer yelled back, then swiftly dove in and went under.
“Wha…?”
The Chief actually chuckled. “That man has won competitions for how long he can hold his breath. Something like fifteen minutes, maybe?”
“Wow.” Bobbie was at a loss for words.
“I know. It sounds completely crazy, but it’s true,” he affirmed.
