Dark Water

by Laird, Chynna

  Halfway down the beach, Freesia started feeling strange. Her heart pounded against her ribcage and a cold sweat burst all over her. She gasped for air. Her vision was suddenly blocked by white sparkles.

  Oh God. I'm going to pass out.

  Just as her knees caved, hands reached under her elbows.

  "Whoa, easy does it."

  She recognized Rick's comforting voice, but still couldn't see him through the white fuzziness.

  "Here, let's get you over to the Tiki so you can sit down." He held her against his side, his arm cradling her shoulders as they strolled down the beach.

  If she didn't feel like puking, she would have screamed with delight.

  By the time they reached the Tiki, her vision had cleared up and she felt better. She sat down in the first chair they came to.

  "Here's some ice water." Rick passed her an extra-large cup with a straw. "On the house." He lifted her feet up on the chair in front of her.

  She steadied herself against the sudden change in position and then eased back into the chair. "Thanks. Where did you come from, anyway? I thought you were working."

  "I was. But I was on my break and coming down to ask your sister to go for our date, remember?"

  She noticed a bruise on his cheek, but remembering the scene his dad had caused the night before, she decided not to ask about it. "Oh yeah. You still can. She's over there digging holes. You know her."

  He sputtered a short laugh. "Right, yeah. Um, I was wondering…can I come over after supper sometime tonight? You know, after your sister has gone to bed?"

  What was she going to say, no? "Sure. I don't think my grandparents will mind."

  "Great. I'll come over around seven or so. We can just, you know, hang out on your boathouse or something. Sound okay?"

  Normally, she would have been through the roof excited, but she was pretty sure he just wanted to shoot the crap, just like every summer. She swore she wasn't going to get her hopes up too high anymore. Every time she thought that maybe he was interested in her beyond the stupid friend thing, nothing ever happened.

  "Yeah, okay. Sounds good."

  His dazzling smile lit up his entire face. She was glad she was already sitting so he couldn't tell how rubbery her knees were.

  "I'm going to go take Sage for that promised boat ride before my break is over. See ya later. And take care, okay? Maybe you should get out of the sun for a while." He gave her a little wave and ran down the beach to where her family sat.

  He looks just as good going as he does coming. She blushed, suddenly embarrassed by her thoughts and hoping no one could see her cheeks flushing. She could always claim sunburn as the cause.

  She remembered the reason she'd gone down there in the first place and reluctantly stood up. Knees were steady. Vision was clear. Felt like whatever had happened had passed. She shuffled over to the window to order the Popsicles.

  She frowned. The sensation she felt just before Rick grabbed her was the same as the time she'd been swimming underwater and had held her breath too long. Her lungs had felt like they were about to explode as she had tried rushing to the surface. She remembered looking up from under the water. The water had made the light above her look distorted, like her vision was sparkly. Why would she have had that memory at that moment? And why did it affect her so suddenly and so…intensely?

  "Hello? Can I help you?" the girl behind the counter said, bringing Freesia out of her thoughts.

  "Sorry, yeah. Four Popsicles, please—two root beer flavor, one orange and one cherry."

  While the girl dug in the freezer for the Popsicles, Freesia looked around and her eyes froze at a chunky guy in a tank top, funky beach shorts and sport sandals. When he turned around she recognized him right away.

  "Detective Cuaco," she stammered. "I didn't know you came down here."

  "I do get a bit of free time now and again. How are you doing, Freesia? Are you down here with your grandparents?"

  She nodded, paying the girl for the treats and pocketing the change. "And Sage. We usually just stay on the dock, but we come down a few days throughout the summer. Sage likes to dig in the sand."

  He smiled. "I remember."

  "Um, Detective? Can I ask you something?"

  He took his sunglasses off and stepped closer. "Of course. Go ahead."

  She sucked her lips and breathed in. After releasing a quick breath, she said, "Do you have any idea what happened to my mom?"

  The detective folded one arm across his chest and put his other hand on his chin. "I have a couple of theories, but we need to find more clues before I can solidify anything."

  She looked down at the Popsicles starting to melt in her hands. "My mom wouldn't have just taken off on us, you know. She loved us too much. And Sage was supposed to start specialized sensory therapy in the fall that we've been waiting months to get her into. Something bad happened to Mom. Someone took her from us."

  "That's one of my theories too, Freesia. And don't you worry. No one around here thinks your mom up and left you. It wasn't who she was, no matter how distraught she felt about your dad's passing. I have some people I need to talk to. Afterward I'll come by and give your family an update, okay?"

  "Promise?"

  "Yes, I promise. I think you deserve to know what we find out."

  "Even if the news is bad, I need to know."

  "Yes, of course."

  "I'm going to do some searching of my own. Rick said he'd help me."

  Cuaco put his shades back on and crossed his arms. "I don't want you guys putting yourselves in danger. That's our job. I'd welcome any information you come across or find out, but you aren't allowed to do our job for us. Understand?"

  She smiled. "Yeah, okay. Thanks…you know, for everything you're doing."

  "No worries in the least. Just doing my job. By the way, your Granddad tells me that you did some filing for your mom. I might need to tap into your expertise. Did you work on all your mom's files?"

  Her smile faded. "Um…well…most of them."

  "Right. So what sort of work did you do on her files?"

  "Well, I opened and closed them, wrote updates she gave to me in transcription, filed medication updates, progress reports…stuff like that."

  "And you had access to all of her files?"

  Freesia frowned. "Well, she had a box of files she kept in a metal file box that needed a combination to get into. I wasn't allowed to work on those files."

  "Did she tell you why?"

  "No. Just that those were files that hit too close to home or something like that."

  "Do you know where that file box is?"

  "No. It should have been with all of her other files that Gran and Granddad brought home from Mom's home office." She paused. Studied the detective. Even with his shades, on she could tell he was deep in thought. And it made the hair on her body stand at attention. "Um…maybe it's with all those boxes Granddad has for you at our place."

  "That could be. Well, I'm just gonna have to come over and grab them. Just one more thing. You mentioned that you did transcription for your mom's files. What did she use for that?"

  "Uh, just one of those mini tape recorder things."

  "Did she erase her dictation after each session?"

  "I would think so. She always said whatever she wrote in files or talked about in dictation was confidential, so I'd think she would have. I don't know for sure."

  "And do you think that machine with be with all her files somewhere?"

  Freesia repressed an eye roll. What is this? The Spanish Inquisition? "I honestly have no idea. I mean, when we packed up her office, everything was just put in boxes. We tried labeling everything, but some things weren't put together, you know?"

  Cuaco nodded. "Right. Okay. Thanks, Freesia. Don't you worry about it, okay? We're getting closer every day. Now, get those Popsicles over to your family before you'll need a straw to eat them."

  She released a weak laugh. A few steps on her way back to their spot and she
spotted Rick's boat puttering around the bay. Sage was in the passenger's seat and when she saw Freesia, she flapped her arm, a huge smile on her face.

  It's so nice to see that sweet smile.

  "Well, how nice of you to finally show up." Granddad sat up. "I see that you have the Popsicles nice and slushy for us. Perhaps next time, I'll just cut to the chase and order a Slurpee, eh?"

  Freesia pulled Granddad's Popsicle back to her chest as he was reaching out for it. "Well, you know the punishment for sarcasm is pitching your Popsicle into the water, right?"

  Granddad did a dramatic gasp. "That is so environmentally unfriendly and a shameful waste of a good root-beer Popsicle. Besides, it doesn't count when you made me wait so long for it and it's half melted."

  "Burn," she said, handing it over to him.

  "All right, you two." Gran use a wet towelette to wipe off the orange drips that ran down her arm. "Let's finish these up quickly, so we can get going, right? It's getting a bit too busy here for Sagey."

  Freesia nodded, slurping on her own mushy root beer Popsicle. She remembered that Mizu hadn't shown up.

  Not that I'm surprised.

  Oh well. She was positive her Goth friend would just pop in out of the blue when she least expected it.

  Why should things be any different now that they're acquainted?

  Chapter Eleven

  "Why did you not approach them?" the Watcher asked. "You had a perfect opportunity to engage with the younger girl too."

  "They were with the grandparents." Mizu pack up a faded, black canvas bag. "I watched them for a while, but they were never alone. Freesia went up the beach for a bit, but Sage, the younger one, stayed with the grandparents the whole time. I couldn't take the chance of them seeing me now. There would have been too many questions." Mizu paused, looking off to the side. "Besides, it's starting to hurt when I'm out for too long."

  "Sadly, that may increase the closer the end time comes. Let us limit our day visits for now. You need to keep up your strength so you can go through to the journey's end. Did you let her see?"

  "I did. But I may have done it wrong because she looked sick or something."

  "She will be fine. It can be overwhelming for some. Remember…?"

  Mizu shuddered. "Yes. I remember."

  She packed the last item into her canvas bag, closed it and then hung it across her torso. "I'm going over there now. Rick is there now too."

  "Hurry, young one." The Watcher closed his eyes. "Plant the next seeds."

  Chapter Twelve

  After such a long, active day, Granddad, Gran and the girls decided hanging out until dinner, playing cards and going for a walk after eating would be a great idea. When they came back, Freesia helped Sage wash up while Gran and Granddad washed the supper dishes.

  "Okay, we have to do more calm-type activities tonight, Sagey," Freesia said. Usually they did what's called a Sensory Diet before dinner so Sage would be calmed down for sleep time. With the day's digging and dragging and the long walk after dinner, which included a rock-skipping competition, they figured Sage would be fine with other exercises like her Hot Dog Game, instead.

  Freesia rolled Sage up in a blanket and then pretended to put toppings on her. She chopped onions on her, spread out the mustard, sprinkled cheese on her and rolled her flat with a light-weight yoga ball. After Sage was good enough to eat, Freesia pretended to eat her up. It was one of Sage's favorite calm-down activities. And that seemed to be enough to get her sleepy for bed. Yes, it was only seven, but Sage still seemed to feel so tired by the end of the day.

  She signed two words as Freesia was about to leave her room—'prayers' and 'hug.'

  Freesia swallowed past the lump in her throat. "Let's say prayers first. I'll give you one of the big-squeeze hugs Mom taught me how to give after that, okay?"

  Sage nodded. She typed her prayers, while Freesia bowed her head and spoke the words at the same time.

  'Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take. This I ask for Jesus's sake. Amen.'

  Then Freesia stopped, while Sage typed her blessings. 'God Bless Freesy, Gran, Granddad and Rick, and give Mama and Daddy a hug for me. And forgive him.'

  Freesia's heart skipped a beat. She was about to ask what Sage meant by that, but she'd already closed her eyes. Freesia bent down and kissed Sage's forehead, pulled up her covers and silently stepped out of her room. When she closed the door, she turned to see Rick sitting on the arm of Gran's loveseat.

  Wonderful. I probably still stink like supper and have garlic breath.

  Rick saw her and stood up. "I hope it's okay that I came over a little early." He looked scrumptious in his faded jeans, navy sweatshirt and skater sneakers.

  "Yeah. As long as you don't mind me not being able to make a costume change from this afternoon."

  A unison laugh filled the living room. Freesia shushed everyone. "She's just gone down. I know she's eight, but she gets tired as quickly as a toddler."

  Gran tilted her head. "You're a good sister. Now go have some fun for a bit. Come back in when it's dark."

  On her way past the back doorway, she noticed all of the file boxes beside the door were gone, except one—the metal file box she'd told the detective about. It looked more like a toolbox than a file box, which was probably why it was missed. She made a mental note to bring it back to her room for safekeeping when she came back up.

  She ushered Rick to the side door and as they were about to go down the Stairs of Doom, the front light went on to illuminate their way to the boathouse.

  Subtle.

  They slowly made their way down to the boathouse. Instead of going up the stairs to sit on top of it, she grabbed his forearm to go around the side to the dock. No doubt Gran and Granddad were watching from the floor-to-ceiling picture window above them. She was nervous enough without having eyes on her.

  They sat cross-legged on the edge of her dock. She loved that time of day. Almost all of the cabin dwellers had gone up for the night, except for the few brave souls taking that one last swim of the day. Oh, there were a few people who had a late-night dip and for some, it was a skinny dip, but most people usually put all of their water toys away and tucked their boats down for the night.

  The water was so clear, Freesia could see the rocky bottom a good six feet past the end of the dock until it dipped suddenly into the black, seemingly bottomless belly of the lake. West Hawk Lake was famous for being the only Canadian lake created from an actual meteor. It was also known for being one of, if not the deepest lakes in Canada. If something sank in that lake, it would likely never be found. Or it wouldn't be easy to find.

  The sound of the water in the channel between the Freisen's two docks ebbing up to the shore, licking it tenderly, before flowing back again, was so soothing.

  When she closed her eyes, she imagined herself floating on the water as it moved around her. That, with the freshness of clean, clear water, the stringent pine from the trees and the lingering odor of coconut suntan lotion gave her a sense of peace she didn't feel in the city.

  Times like that made her understand why her mom loved the lake so much. Her mother's face flooded her memory and her heart ached.

  Rudy licked her nose, bringing her out from her thoughts. "Ugh, Rudy. Yuck. Your whiskers are soaking." The dog wagged her tail from the attention and then flopped down between her and Rick.

  "So, I hope it wasn't a pain coming down to meet with me," Rick said, giving Rudy a rough rub behind her ears. Her tail flapped against the dock in ecstasy.

  "Nah. Sage was so tired she wanted to go to bed early. The first week is always really hard for her."

  The dog rolled over, resting her chin on Rick's thigh.

  Lucky dog. Freesia blushed.

  "Well," Rick said, "something weird happened with my dad and I thought I'd tell you about it. It's probably nothing, but…"

  She stretched her legs out in front of her and lean
ed forward. "Go ahead."

  Rick leaned back on his hands so as not to disturb the dog. "Okay. Well, the other night after the meeting, I finally managed to get Dad in the car and brought him back home. Holy crap, what a lot of work that was. Anyway, so I get him home and throw him in bed and he starts crying. He hasn't done that kind of act for a long time. Things were finally getting better. Then he went off his medication and…well…you know."

  "You didn't tell me he was on medication," Freesia fiddled with a twig Rudy had kicked up on her thigh. "I'm so sorry."

  "Yeah." He stared off over the water. "He came back from one of his missions last year. He lost it. I mean totally. I'm not exactly sure what was wrong, but my mom told him to get help or we were out of there. It was like he was having nightmares while he was awake, you know?"

  Freesia remembered the time she'd seen Frank roaming around in the bushes between their cabins. "Yeah, I get it."

  "Yeah, well. He started seeing someone for…whatever was wrong—can't remember what my mom said he had—and went on the medication. He started feeling better for a while. It was like he was his old self again. But something must have triggered things because he's just getting worse and worse."

  He stayed quiet for several seconds. Freesia didn't say a word. She just focused on the sounds of the water surrounding the dock and Rudy's panting. "Anyway, so as I was leaving my dad's room the other night, he started rambling."

  She frowned. "About what?"

  "I didn't catch everything. But he was saying things like, 'Tamara. I am so sorry.' I didn't understand anything else after that. You're mom's name was—is—Tamara, right?"

  She swallowed hard past the lump in her throat. "Yeah. Why would your dad be apologizing to her?"

  "I don't have a clue. I wasn't sure if it was just his funky memories mixing with the booze or if it actually meant something."