The seacopter streaked away from shore. It slowed to a halt when they reached the spot where Tom had leaped overboard from the yacht. Here the tracker picked up the Naiad’s trail, and the real pursuit began.
At first the Sea Hound headed back to shore on a zigzag course. Then it turned seaward again.
“This must be where they gave up chasing me,” Tom murmured.
“I still don’t see where the butler fits into the picture, skipper,” Hank said thoughtfully.
144 AQUATOMIC TRACKER
“He looked scared when I told Vaxilis’ goons that they were risking their own necks to save their boss,” Tom recalled. “Probably he lost his nerve later and tried to pull out when those strong-arm men got back to the villa-but the others shot him as he was getting away. Then they ducked out, too, realizing the police would soon show up.”
“That figures,” Hank agreed.
The Sea Hound was now heading southwest. Although the Naiad had a long head start, and Vaxilis had boasted of her speed, Tom felt confident the seacopter could overtake her.
Some time later the sonarman spoke up tensely, “Blip dead ahead, skipper I Could be the yacht!”
Tom turned to the scope. The blip was growing larger. ‘Til bet that’s our baby, all right!”
Presently he switched to manual control and surfaced cautiously. The sky was pink with dawn. Directly in front of them, about half a mile away, the Naiad lay still in the water.
“What do we do now?” Hank asked.
“Close in and give ‘em a hail,” Tom replied. “If Bud’s still alive, they may try to use him as a hostage, but at least they won’t dare to carry out Vaxilis’ original plan of drowning both of us.”