Vengeance from the Deep - Book One: Pliosaur by Elliott Russ

Author:Elliott, Russ [Elliott, Russ]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Severed Press
Published: 2015-10-06T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 20

MISDIAGNOSIS

Doug wrapped his arm around Samantha while doing his best to console her in the Keurboom beach parking lot. Trembling, she leaned back against the side of the ambulance, her makeup streaked from tears. Across from them, Officer Marimba continued to take her statement. He was an exceptionally thin black man. His cheeks were hollow, and his face was weathered in a way that made it difficult to determine his age. Samantha’s eyes kept going to a thick vein that protruded from beneath his officer’s hat and trailed down the side of his forehead. He looked up from his pen and pad. “So it was just the two of them that were supposed to meet you here today?”

“Yes,” she sniffled.

“And you’re sure about the . . . tattoo?”

Samantha nodded and wiped her eyes. She glanced down at her ankle then looked up at the water. A police boat slowly idled across the surface, a cable trailing from its stern. “How long are they gonna keep doing that?”

“They’ll probably keep dredging into the night or until they find something,” said Officer Marimba, folding up his pad. Now that the questioning was over, his voice held compassion. “You don’t have to wait around. We’ll call you if anything happens. You’ve been through a lot. You should go home and try to get some rest.”

Samantha’s gaze at the boat on the water never wavered. She watched Joe walk to a section of beach and point to the water where he found the first surfboard. Dozens of people surrounded him, taking pictures, hanging on his every word. She looked away. How pathetic. He seems to be enjoying the attention.

She felt the ambulance rumble as its engine started. The side door popped open. The driver looked back at Officer Marimba and waved him over. The officer excused himself from Samantha and Doug and walked to the driver’s side door. After glancing back at Samantha, he nodded at the driver. “Okay, I’ll follow you.”

Officer Marimba jogged back to Samantha and Doug. “You go on home like I told you, try to relax. We’ll handle this. I have to go check out an accident just down the road, then I’m going to come back. I promise I’ll call you if there’s any news.”

Samantha nodded, and Doug took her by the shoulder and led her back to the van.

Doug waved over to Joe with a shout, “I’m gonna take Samantha home. Are you staying?”

Joe looked back through the crowd of anxious bystanders. “Yeah, I’m gonna stick around for a while!”

“I’ll be back later to pick you up then.” Doug looked over at Paul who was standing beside a police car. “What about you?”

They watched another news van pull into the parking lot. Paul said, “I’ll stay too!”

“Looks like nobody wants to miss any of the action,” muttered Doug, closing the door of the van. Through his rearview mirror he saw the flashing lights of the ambulance and police car winding along the road until they disappeared in the distance.

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