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recovery, Josh pulled the regulator from his mouth. “It’s clear.”
    “Good.” Walt passed Josh the tow cable. “Hook her up. Then check the rest of the pit.”
    Josh reinserted his mouthpiece, then dived to the bottom with the cable and secured the towline to the car’s frame. It’d take him another hour at least to thoroughly search every corner of the former quarry. Most of it was under eight feet or less of water, but one of the guys had said it got as deep as forty in the northeast corner. He kicked out of the way of the vehicle and surfaced long enough to signal it was okay to start towing.
    He didn’t want to spend any more time out here than he had to. He couldn’t get that Neil guy off his mind. Bec hadn’t seemed all that comfortable with him, and Neil clearly hadn’t been deterred.
    Josh didn’t like how fidgety the guy had made her. Thanks to her prowler, she’d been jittery enough already. She didn’t need an unwelcome wannabe boyfriend insinuating himself into the situation. And any guy who traveled this far just to check up on her had to have been more than a colleague, or wanted to be.
    Josh clawed through the water, scoping every rock crevice. Had he been too quick to take Bec’s word that she was okay being left alone with Neil?
    He was taking way too much interest in Bec’s affairs. A carp jutted from behind the rock ahead of Josh, stirring up a cloud of silt. He treaded in one spot, waiting for the water to clear. At least he’d had the decency to let a woman go without argument when she turned him down. Maybe he should have run a background check on Neil, made sure the guy wasn’t some sort of stalker.
    He hadn’t missed Neil’s You know you don’t belong here, which sounded too much like the note that had been waiting for Bec in her mailbox when she’d arrived.
    Josh dived back under, swimming faster than ever. Broken beer bottles littered the bottom of the pit. The area had been a popular hangout for teens for as long as he could remember. Surprising there wasn’t more graffiti on the rocks than the occasional heart framing lovers’ initials.
    His thoughts slipped back to Bec, or more precisely the strange feeling that had come over him when she’d given him that impulsive hug. It reminded him of the time she’d thanked him for rescuing her from the tree she’d gotten herself stuck in as a kid. Only, when he’d folded his arms around her, it hadn’t felt the same at all. He probably should be relieved Neil had shown up when he had.
    If she knew how he’d failed her grandparents, she wouldn’t want him anywhere near her. She was too vulnerable right now, between coping with her loss and starting over in a new town, a new job. Moving into the house. And now this prowler. Josh needed to focus on keeping her safe. Not on how wonderful it had felt to hold a woman in his arms.
    He gave a hard kick and propelled himself into the deeper water. A woman in his arms... He knew better than to let his thoughts wander into that territory. He supposed helping his old high-school pal bring in his hay yesterday had started it.
    His friend’s wife and young son had brought a picnic lunch to the field for them, the boy squealing with delight when Josh’s friend tickled his sides as the wife looked on with a contented expression.
    It was the kind of life Josh had always longed for.
    He sliced his arms through the water, relying more heavily on the narrow beam of his flashlight as he pushed deeper. The same as he’d learned to do with God. The Lord had blessed him with a country home, a good job and plenty of friends, and had even brought his sister back to Serenity.
    Wishing for more only led to a whole well of hurt.
    Neil, on the other hand, didn’t seem to be getting that message.
    The vibration of the winding tow cable rippled through the water.
    Josh beefed up his strokes. The sooner he covered the search area, the sooner he could get home.
    A shadow fell over the water ahead of him.