The Devil's Shallows by Debra Castaneda

Author:Debra Castaneda [Castaneda, Debra]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-03-30T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 15

Adam

Christina stayed with Rae, Jordan, and Abigail while I drove to the spot where the teams would begin their search.

There weren’t many places to launch, and the spot I was thinking of was close to where Dawn went missing. Christina hadn’t wanted me to go, but I had to. I worried we’d sent search crews into danger, not telling them the whole truth about that thing, or things, in the water.

When I pulled up, a fleet of emergency vehicles awaited, and men and women in a variety of uniforms were swarming the area. Even from where I parked on the side of the road, I could hear voices coming from the slough. They were already in the water, searching.

“Safety in numbers,” I muttered. To reassure myself.

The harbormaster greeted me. She was a striking, broad-shouldered woman with long, straight iron-gray hair. Darlene Woodward had grown up on Devil’s Landing and worked as a lawyer before switching careers.

“You guys have had some bad luck,” she said dryly. “First the boy, now this. The husband is out on the water. I didn’t have the heart to tell him it’s search and recovery, but he’s a firefighter, so I’m sure he knows that already, and this is just his process. The poor guy. And newlyweds, I hear. Sad.”

Darlene knew sad. Working on the water was dangerous business, and over the years, she’d seen boat wrecks, dock mishaps, floating bodies—dead and barely alive—lost skiffs, and burning trawlers. All that made her matter of fact about such tragedies. Even so, she radiated empathy and confidence.

“No sign of her,” Darlene continued, leaning against her truck. “I heard you saw her go in.”

I nodded, toes clenching in my sneakers. “Yes. But I couldn’t get to her in time.”

Darlene frowned. “I don’t understand, Adam. Her husband said she knew how to swim, and the slough’s not that deep. And she was fit, he said. So, where’s her body?”

I’d known Darlene all my life. She’d known my parents. The expression on her face betrayed her suspicion and bewilderment.

When I didn’t reply, she said. “Something’s not right, Adam. You want to tell me what it is?”

Christina hadn’t accounted for Darlene Woodward, and in my befuddled state, neither had I.

When I didn’t answer right away, Darlene slapped her hand against the hood. “What is it you want to tell me, Adam?”

“I don’t want to, is the problem,” I said.

Darlene had this way about her. She was the ultimate authority figure, so I stood there, fidgeting, my palms sweaty and tingling.

I stammered out an answer. “I saw something. I don’t know what it was. An animal maybe. It was big though.”

“You mean, like a mountain lion?” Darlene asked voice rising. “I thought she fell into the water, so excuse me if I’m a little confused here.”

I looked down at my feet, feeling like a kid trapped telling a lie. “It was a little chaotic, Darlene.”

The harbormaster blinked. “I’m sure it was. But which was it? Dawn Ashlock fell out of the kayak and somehow disappeared, or an animal got her?” Her obsidian eyes narrowed.

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