The Woman In the Water by Grant Cathryn

Author:Grant, Cathryn [Grant, Cathryn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Suspense, American Suspense, psychological thriller, sociopath, killer, Vigilante
Published: 2016-09-07T04:00:00+00:00

35

Palo Alto, California

This is the story of Evan Gifford.

Evan was the only child of Hal and Deborah Gifford. In elementary school through high school, he attended a prestigious private school in Los Altos, California, well-known to provide a higher ratio of graduates accepted by Stanford University.

He played baseball and golf. A golfer with a handicap of two has potential, but Evan loved baseball more. Golf is for loners or the highly competitive. The team takes a back seat. In golf, it’s every man for himself, every woman competing against her past.

Baseball is an all-American game for an all-American boy, a boys’ game played by a brotherly team of guys who study together, socialize together, and travel as a group — out of town and out of state, showcasing their skills against other highly competitive teams. The Giffords could easily afford the elite, expensive travel team Evan played for.

Evan had the dream life that so many upper-middle-class families strive to provide. A pathway to a secure future that’s guarded by twelve-foot brick walls meant to keep out drugs and questionable girls, slackers and misfits. Presumably, these walls will keep out alcohol, but it finds its way in, sooner or later, bringing with it drugs and questionable girls.

A kid who plays baseball for Stanford University is well-regarded inside and outside the cocoon of manicured lawns and historic buildings. Evan was more well-regarded because he didn’t get to Stanford on the strength of his batting and management of third base alone. With a rigorous high school curriculum more demanding than public schools and most private institutions, he managed to pull down a 4.3 GPA. His SAT scores were nothing to sneeze at either.

He was the crème de la crème in every way until he became poorly regarded. During those years, the Gifford family lived in Los Altos. After Evan’s sophomore year in college, after his arrest, midway toward his degree in economics, they fled to the quiet world offered by their creekside vacation home in Capitola.

Before their flight, it was a warm night in early May. Parties on the college campus were intensifying, with only a few weeks until the end of the quarter and graduation. Baseball was nearing its end, but five games were left in the season, which should have meant avoiding alcohol.

Evan and two of his teammates bought a bottle of Johnny Walker before heading over to the sorority house. They sat on a quiet side street in front of a thick adobe wall that blocked anyone seeing into Brad Dover’s SUV. With the windows rolled down and music blasting from someone’s smartphone, they passed around the bottle. They would have preferred not mixing saliva on the mouth of the bottle, but no one had remembered to bring shot glasses.

When they climbed out of the SUV, they left the Johnny Walker, two thirds empty, under the back seat. They didn’t feel like sharing it with fellow party guests. Evan, Brad, and Jack Jenkins were all in good moods. The whiskey made them giddy but not yet stupid or clumsy or mean.

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