Dark Water (New York State Trooper Series Book 2)

by Jen Talty

  “Great,” Frank said feeling the perspiration bead at his hairline. He had to get over this unreasonable fear. It was ridiculous that someone of his caliber, with his qualifications, couldn’t swim in the dark. Just stupid.

  When he entered the water this time, he decided to take a different approach. He swam about eight feet from the top, using the flashlight to follow the bottom until it dropped so deep he couldn’t see it anymore. Then turned back toward shore, but went a few feet deeper. Once he hit the dock, he turned again, but this time he swam to the bottom. He followed the bottom, just above the seaweed and headed away from the shore checking every so often to make sure he could see the sky. That seemed to keep him calm.

  He made himself swim under water near the bottom until his tank was near empty. It felt good to stay under, without panicking, but it wasn’t enough. He’d have to be able to go all the way down into the depths of the water forest. He’d have to be able to deal with the growth touching his skin without thinking it was going to take him and keep him. He reached out and took a clump of weeds in his bare hand. He tangled it between his fingers and tugged.

  He rolled so his back was to the bottom and let his body rise to the top. The moon got bigger and the stars got brighter. He had no idea how much time had passed, but for the first time in months he felt like his life was starting to take a turn for the better.

  I’m going to get the person responsible for your death, he promised Hannah. And make sure your sister and son are always cared for. I owe you at least that.

  Chapter Eleven

  “DAMN IT, ANDY,” Lacy yelled at the empty bed the following morning. “Where the hell are you?” She charged through the trailer, but Andy was nowhere to be found. He’d been acting funny after his visit with his father, but that was to be expected. She wondered if she should have pushed him to talk, but worried she’d end up only pushing him away. It seemed like no matter what decision she came to with Andy it was always the wrong one.

  It was only eight in the morning, and he wasn’t typically a morning kid. He liked to sleep in like most pre-teens. “Andy!” she called pushing back the door, but she didn’t see him anywhere. This was the last thing she needed. He needed. Didn’t he ever think about how his actions would make them both look? She thought they’d gotten past all this drama stuff.

  “An—” her words cut short by the sight of her car mangled in the parking lot. “What the hell?” She ran her fingers over the dented hood. The front passenger side headlight was busted as well as a cracked windshield.

  “Oh my God,” she whispered hoping Andy hadn’t done this. He’d stolen the car once before at the prodding of his so-called friends. She’d made a deal with him back then that she wouldn’t report him, or his friends, if he’d stop hanging out with them. He did for a while, but that was short lived when all the legal problems started. Since Frank had come into their lives, Andy had been better. He’d been staying away from Billy and Ricky and he’d been more open with her.

  Until last night.

  Asshole Taylor.

  The humming of car engines caught her attention down the road. “That can’t be good,” she said as she watched two Trooper cars pull into the trailer park.

  Frank pulled his car in first, followed by some guy she didn’t know. That can only be bad.

  “You okay?” Frank questioned as he flew from his car.

  “No. Andy’s missing.”

  “No, he’s not.”

  “What?” She glared at Frank, ignoring the man built like a tank standing behind him. “Well, he’s not here.”

  “He’s at my parents’ house.”

  “What? Why?” Her heart fluttered about in unsteady beats against her chest. Colorful spots danced in front of her as she felt the breath get sucked out of her. Taking in a deep breath, she focused on Frank.

  “That’s what we’d like to find out, ma’am,” the big guy said. “He woke up there, scared and confused.”

  “Woke up there? Now I’m the one who is confused. What the hell is going on here?” Lacy felt the bile rise up in her throat. How did she not hear Andy leave? Or be taken? “I tucked him in around ten thirty and then went to bed.”

  “What else do you remember?” Frank asked.

  “Remember? Nothing. I was asleep.” Horrible thoughts of what Taylor could have done to him lingered in the back of her mind like a nightmare that wouldn’t end.

  “What happened to your car?” the big cop questioned.

  “I don’t know.” she admitted. She didn’t like the man’s tone, but couldn’t really blame him. “It wasn’t like this last night when I went to bed.” Sarcasm wasn’t the answer. Pissing off the big bad cop wasn’t going to help her, but it did make her feel just a bit more in control. Maybe not.

  “Let’s take this inside,” Frank suggested taking her by the arm. He squeezed it gently and gave her a sideways glance.

  Yeah, yeah, she got it. Cool down. Don’t say stupid shit.

  “Is this another you’re-here-for-moral-support thing and big guy over there is going to interrogate me for something?” she whispered, knowing whatever the something was it wasn’t good.

  “Something like that.” He ran his hand across the small of her back and rested it on her hip. It felt too much like a nice warm fleece blanket, but she didn’t bat it away. “Lacy, meet my boss, Jared Blake.”

  “Nice to finally meet you,” the big guy named Jared said. He wasn’t much taller than Frank, but he was a lot wider. Frank was leaner, but still had muscle. This guy was buff. Actually, thick. And not bad looking either, for an older man. “Wish it was on better terms.” He slipped on a plastic glove and started examining the front door. “Look at this,” he said to Frank.

  Lacy tried to look over Frank’s shoulders to see what Jared was pointing at, but couldn’t see anything because the guy’s arm was so large.

  “I don’t think that was splintered like that last night,” Frank said.

  “What? What are you two talking about?”

  “Looks like someone might have broken in,” Jared added with a slight grin. Like knowing someone had been in her home while she lay sleeping was a good thing.

  “No shit,” she said. “How else did they think Taylor got a hold of Andy?” She really did need to learn to bite her tongue in situations that might land her in jail.

  “We don’t know anything about how Andy got to my parents’ house,” Frank added. His words were laced with frustration directed at her. “We have no idea if Taylor had anything to do with this.”

  Take it easy, Lacy. This is serious stuff.

  “Don’t touch anything,” Jared said with narrowed eyes, obviously not liking her attitude. Heck, she didn’t like it. “I’m going to get the lab guys down here. Why don’t you two sit down at the picnic table while I make the call?”

  Her chest hurt. “I don’t like this.” She focused on Jared’s quick pace to the car that matched the pounding of her heart. The idea that Taylor, or someone who worked for Taylor, had broken into her house while she slept, more than scared her. It terrified her, but it angered her, too. The uncontrollable rage she felt in the pit of her stomach could easily take over. She was concerned about the crazy thoughts creeping into her mind. Not good.

  “Me neither,” Frank said, helping her to the bench. “We will have to treat this trailer as a crime scene for a little while.”

  “What does that mean?” Visions of yellow tape with big black letters for the whole world to see entered her brain. “Never mind.”

  “Probably won’t be very long,” Frank said.

  Lacy rolled her engagement ring around her finger while they waited for Jared to return. Didn’t matter how long the tape was up, she wouldn’t want to come back at this point. She didn’t feel safe here anymore. She wondered if she would ever feel safe again.

  “Did you get the marriage license?” she heard herself ask, remembering what it was like to be wrapped in a blanket with Frank’s arms firmly around her. />
  “I’ve got the paperwork.”

  She wondered if he still wanted to go through with it all, considering the new set of troubles she’d managed to get herself into.

  No! Taylor did this.

  All of it.

  “I’ve got a team on the way,” Jared said. “Until then I think we should stay right out here.”

  “Care to tell me what’s going on? You’re really wigging me out here,” Lacy said more to Jared than to Frank.

  Frank reached for her hand. Her first instinct was to retreat, but she figured that wasn’t such a good idea. Not in front of someone as important as Frank’s boss. “Don’t be scared,” Frank said softly. The calluses on his fingers were rough against her skin, but she was finding that she liked the feeling. “When the call came through, I asked Jared to take care of this end for me.”

  “What do you mean this end? What call?” She glanced between the two men who exchanged knowing looks of their own. Only she didn’t know what they did. “There was a hit and run involving Becky Carlton,” Jared said.

  “What? Is she okay?” Part of her wanted to slam Frank right then and there. Why didn’t he want to say anything? He should have told her the moment he showed up. This wasn’t just another little problem. This was huge and she knew it.

  “She’s going to be fine,” Frank said, but not too convincingly.

  “However, there were eye witnesses that said you hit her,” Jared interjected.

  “I did not!” Lacy bolted upright. Her pulse had already moved to the speed of sound when Jared had told her about Becky, so she really shouldn’t be surprised by the accusation, especially with the damage to her car. However, she was still shocked. Shocked that this could be happening to her.

  “I wouldn’t do such a thing.” First, they all but accuse her of trying to kill Chad, now this? The fact that someone moved Andy without her knowledge, or his, was worse than a bad dream. Worse than a bad movie. They must have drugged him, or threatened him, or something because he wouldn’t just go with someone. Would he? Welcome to the Twilight Zone. Lacy’s Twilight Zone.

  Gently, Frank tugged her back to the bench. “Relax. Once again there are some inconsistencies in everyone’s story.”

  “What exactly does that mean?” she snapped. Inconsistencies didn’t mean anyone believed she was innocent.

  Frank arched his brow. “It means we don’t have enough to arrest you at this point.”

  “Oh, that just makes me feel so much better.” At least the guy didn’t sugarcoat things.

  Jared ran a hand across his head and down the back of his neck. “We got an anonymous call that a woman had been involved in a hit and run around midnight. The same caller described your car, but that caller didn’t leave a name or number. We traced the call to a payphone near town, but that’s all we’ve got.”

  “But I didn’t go anywhere…” her voice trailed off as she thought about the state her car was in. “I swear I didn’t leave this trailer park.”

  “We have a witness who says he was parked out in front of your trailer until about the time the call came in,” Jared said.

  “Who?” Lacy eyed Frank wondering if that could have been him. Or maybe he lied and said he was there. Not that she didn’t appreciate what he was doing, but to lie like that to his own boss was wrong. “You left before midnight.”

  “It wasn’t me,” Frank said. “But I asked someone to do me a favor. He was the one sitting out here.”

  “Really?” She shouldn’t be so annoyed. She should be grateful that people were looking out for her, but she wasn’t. She didn’t like to be spied on, especially by her own fiancé.

  “Anyway, that person left to check on some other things around twelve-thirty. And if I’m being honest, his word isn’t the best. Not the worst, but let’s just say if the anonymous caller is a better witness, you’re in trouble,” Jared said with a straight face.

  Lacy had to admire Jared and his ability to be upfront about things. “I’m not worried about me. I can take care of myself. It’s Andy who is going to get hurt. His father is an asshole and a criminal, and your people have done nothing to protect us.” She could have sworn Jared let the corners of his mouth tip up in a slight smile.

  “Our office was tied up in the hit and run when we got a call from Frank’s parents that Andy was banging on the back door.”

  “Is he okay? Is he hurt?” She needed to go be with him. All this other stuff would just have to wait. Andy was what was important right now.

  “He’s fine.” Frank tried to reassure her. “I went right over there when I found out.”

  “Why didn’t you bring him back here?” Anger flared through her body. He, of all people, should know how important it would be for her to see him. To hug him. “You should have brought him back here.”

  “We needed to talk to you alone first,” Jared said.

  Just then, a small van pulled in. Two men and one woman stepped from the vehicle. Lacy watched in silence as the team took pictures of her door and swiped some stuff across the wood. Jared and Frank went over near the door and started a conversation with one of the men.

  She continued to fiddle with her ring in hopes that it would calm her nerves. Oddly it did, and that just made her mad. The ring didn’t represent a promise to love, honor and cherish. No, the ring represented a lie. She swallowed as he approached her.

  “Give us a couple of minutes,” Frank said squeezing her shoulder and snapping her thoughts back to the moment.

  “I want to go see Andy,” she demanded.

  “Shortly,” Frank said and then followed the group into the trailer.

  She waited for what seemed like an eternity until Frank called her back to Andy’s room. She really didn’t want to go back there, but knew she had too.

  “Is anything missing?” Jared questioned.

  “Not that I know of.” She glanced around.

  “Take a quick walk through the entire trailer and let me know if anything is out of place or missing.”

  “Okay.” Lacy quickly managed to make her way through the entire trailer. Nothing was missing. Not a single thing was out of place that she could tell. “Everything seems as it should be.”

  Jared made some kind of nod to the new people. “Let’s take this into the family room. I think they’re just about done in here for now.”

  “We’ll be out of your way in minutes,” the taller of the two men said.

  “Sorry about the intrusion,” Jared said. “I wanted to talk to you because I don’t think Andy is telling us the truth.”

  “What gives you that impression?”

  “Just some inconsistencies in his story. I need to know if there is any way you knew he was gone but thought it best not to tell us.”

  She scowled. What a low blow that was. “You probably think I tried to kill Becky, too,” Lacy spat.

  “Nope,” Jared said, matter of fact. “But Andy’s story isn’t working for me.”

  “What do you mean? Why not?” Automatically, she reached for her hair and started to turn the strands around her index finger.

  “Can’t tell you that,” Jared said.

  “Then why bring it up?” She actually pulled her own hair, just to see if it would wake her up, but all it did was make her headache worse.

  “I’m on your side.” Jared seemed sincere and she wanted to believe him. Some beeper thing went off on Jared’s belt. “I’ve got to head out. Report back after you’ve talked with those two boys,” he said to Frank.

  “Yes, sir.”

  Jared turned his attention back to Lacy. “I hope you understand that I will do whatever I can to get to the bottom of this.”

  She watched the two men head toward the door. They shook hands, exchanged a few words, and then Jared left. She knew Frank respected and looked up to his boss. That was very apparent by the way he talked about him. She really wanted to trust Jared, but the reality was he’d do his job, which, right now, was to investigate her.

  J
ust as soon as Jared was gone, the people Jared had called were heading toward the door. “We need to check out the car, too.”

  “Great,” Lacy said.

  “Relax. It’s going to be all right.” Frank held his hand out, but she opted not to take it this time. “You okay?” Frank questioned when they were finally alone.

  I can’t believe you just asked me that. “I want to see Andy. Now.” No way would she sit here any longer. The poor kid had to be terrified. “Just give me five minutes to change.”

  “We need to talk first.”

  “We’ve talked enough.” She looked down at his hand wrapped around her bicep in a tight grip. “Let go.”

  “I have to talk to you before I take you to my folks.”

  “Then start yapping and follow me into my room. I need to change.” With force, she shook her arm free and stomped toward her room.

  “I hired a PI in your name,” Frank said as he followed close behind.

  “Great,” she said, ripping off her nightshirt and reaching for her deodorant.

  “He’s been watching Taylor for me.”

  “Was he the one parked outside here last night watching me?”

  “Yes.”

  She shot him a dirty look over her shoulder. He stood there with his hands clasped behind his back looking all cop and forceful like. “I hope you’re not paying him much because he sure as hell didn’t do his job.”

  “You know, I feel pretty damn shitty about what happened.”

  She yanked a T-shirt over her head and fluffed her hair trying to ignore her own pangs of guilt. She should have heard something. Seen something. Quickly, she rolled her sweatpants down and just as quickly hiked up her jeans. Make-up would have to wait.

  “What did happen?” She breezed past Frank with only one thing on her mind. Get to Andy. “You can tell me on the way.”

  “Let’s go,” he said jumping ahead of her.

  The sun had already started to heat up and she could tell it was going to be a hot day. She glanced over at Frank’s patrol car. “I think I’ll drive myself.” Thankfully, the people taking pictures and whatever had left.