Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 82756 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82756 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
I was absolutely determined not to require the three divers waiting in the boat, one of whom was Heidi from Washington. She especially looked ready to launch at the tiniest hiccup over the mic.
I had to work damn hard not to curse as I worked the suitcase free of the ledge it was wedged on. Nothing about underwater retrieval was ever grab-and-go simple like they show on TV. The suitcase was bogged down by silt, sediment, awkward positioning, and plant life. The nearby metal debris posed a further hazard. My priority was capturing all relevant evidence, including the wire, the bricks, and any loose items. Bulky items like this were among the hardest to package. I also wanted to avoid the case unexpectedly popping open before I got it safely in the bag. There were also a ton of small calculations to make on the fly—which lift bags to use, how many, where to position them, when to deploy them.
And naturally, right as I wrestled the suitcase and bricks into the correct evidence bag, I felt an icy gush along my neck. Fuck it. Something long and jagged and metal had pierced my suit. It got me good too, cold water rushing in through my compromised neck seal, along my upper arm, and in freeing my arm, my damn sleeve ripped too. The cold was annoying, but I’d been in worse.
The main issue was that it affected my buoyancy, and while fighting that, I couldn’t be sure every minuscule piece of evidence made it into the bag. I’d have to come back down and thoroughly search along the ledge and deeper on the bottom of the lake to ensure nothing was missed. But right then, I had a rapidly flooding suit and a bag to zip as quickly as possible.
I grunted from the effort to maintain my position as the suit fought against me.
“Everything okay?” a female voice chirped over the comm set.
“Fine,” I said stiffly. “The suitcase was tightly wedged, but I’m getting the brindle in place now before I attach the lift bags.”
That part, at least, went off without a hitch, but of course, needing to drain my suit on my ascent didn’t go unnoticed.
“Dude! Your suit!” Heidi, the newbie diver, rushed over to me on the boat. “Why didn’t you call for us?”
“No need.” I moved so she couldn’t see the extent of the rip.
“But—”
“Let’s get the evidence to the team.” My voice was terse, mainly because my neck and arm were starting to hurt like hell now that they were out of the frigid water, but also because I needed to get this suit off. I wanted to figure out if I had enough air for a third dive in my far less preferable backup suit. Another sweep of the area with the evidence team now that the case was up would be helpful.
As the state and local police representatives swarmed the case, I quickly initialed the chain of custody papers and made my way to my RV, only to be met by a spitting-mad Holden.
“What the fuck?” he demanded, pointing at my left arm.
“It’s just a rip.”
“In your skin.” He pointed more emphatically, finger wavering. “You’re bleeding.”
“I am not.” But then I put my hand to my neck, and it came away red and bloody. Damn it to hell. “Okay. Maybe I am.”
“Don’t you dare say it’s just a scratch. That’s going to need cleaning and stitches. Probably antibiotics too. God knows what’s in the water.”
“More concerned with what’s in that case.” I grabbed a towel and clamped it over my neck, which seemed to be the main source of the blood. Striding away from Holden, I walked over to where I could listen in on the evidence team. A female tech wearing gloves cracked the case as a hush ran through the crowd assembled around the team.
“Bones.” The word buzzed through the crowd. The case was shut again with a loud click.
“Off to the state lab,” the tech announced. “Straight to the human-remains team. Chain of custody needs to be strictly observed.”
“I need to go back down,” I said to no one in particular. “I need to look for any other evidence.”
“Not today, you’re not.” Holden remained infuriatingly at my side.
“I have a backup suit. Not as good, but it’ll do.”
“The hell it will. I’m taking you in.” He motioned for Monroe to come over.
“You’re arresting me?” I was pretty sure he didn’t have that authority, but the deadly glint in his eye said otherwise.
“Into the clinic.” Holden shook his head like I might have a concussion impacting my thinking, not a minor scrape. “You need an urgent care doctor, not another dive.”
“Go with Holden,” Monroe ordered as he arrived next to us. “I’ll arrange to get your gear and RV back to town.”
“I can drive.”