Cheryl Tardif - Submerged

“Thanks, John.”

“You might regret those words.” Zur cocked his head toward the door. “Those two are hyped up on chocolate pudding and Jell-O. Have fun. I have to check in at the station and file my initial report. I’ll be back later to check on everyone.”

“See you.”

“Oh, I almost forgot.” Zur hunted around in his jacket pocket. “The boy gave me your cell phone. Said you lent it to him.”

“Yeah.” Marcus tucked the cell phone into his back pocket. “Thanks.”

“That’s a really nice picture of Jane and Ryan.”

It took a second for Marcus to realize what he meant. “The screen saver.”

Zur nodded, then gave a quick wave and vanished down the hallway.

Marcus waited for the doctor to leave before he entered the room. Inside, he was greeted by wide smiles and giggles.

“What are you two up to?” he asked, suspicious.

“Dr. Burns said we get to have more pudding after supper,” Ella said.

Marcus laughed. “She did, did she? Lucky you.”

“When’s Mom going to be here?” Colton asked.

“What did Dr. Burns say?”

“She said Mom had to have an operation.” The boy stared up at Marcus, while nervously plucking the blanket. “Is she going to be all right?”

“Definitely. She’s a tough one, your mom.”

“Will you wait here until she comes?”

Marcus nodded. “Got nowhere better to be. Besides, I wanted to ask you some questions.”

“Aw,” Colton groaned. “I already told that police guy everything I remember.”

“Sometimes memories are sneaky things.” Marcus made a face and curled his hands into claws. “They hide out of sight. Until something makes them come out.” He moved closer to the beds, and the kids shrieked with laughter.

He grinned, hoping no one would come and tell them to quiet down. There was nothing better than the sound of laughing children. God, how he missed that sound.

He perched on the side of Colton’s bed. “So tell me, were you excited to go on this trip with your mom?”

Colton shook his head. “Not at first. We were supposed to stay at Auntie Kelly’s, but my cousins got sick.” He grinned. “I was happy about that. Not that they were sick, but that we didn’t have to go there.”

“You don’t like staying at your Auntie Kelly’s?”

“Colton doesn’t like playing with babies,” Ella interrupted. “But I do.”

“Babies can be fun,” Marcus said, ignoring the sneer that crossed Colton’s face. “But maybe not for Colton. You like doing other things. Guy things, right?”

“Yup,” Colton said with a nod. “I wanted to go to see the bat cave at Cadomin.”

“So when your mom said you got to go, you were happy.”

Another nod.

“Did you tell your dad where you were going?”

“I tried calling him when we were in the car.” His mouth quivered. “Underwater. But he didn’t answer.”

“So you never let him know you were going to Cadomin.”

“No.”

“When you were driving, did you see anything strange?”

“Those flying pigs.”

Marcs laughed. “You’ve got good eyesight, kid. That’s how I knew where you were.” He patted the boy’s arm. “When you were driving, did you stop anywhere?”

“At a gas station.”

“And you all went to the bathroom there?”

“Yeah.”

“Was the door unlocked?”

“We went inside for the key,” Ella cut in.

“Did either of you see or talk to anyone inside?”

“No,” they said.

“Did you see anyone outside?

Ella shook her head. So did Colton, but then he crooked his head to one side as if he were thinking.

“What?” Marcus prodded.

“When my mom was getting the key for the bathroom, I saw a man outside.”

“What was he doing?”

“Watching me. Like he thought I was gonna steal something.”

“Did you tell your mom about the man?”

Colton shook his head. “I didn’t want her to think I was gonna steal something.”

“Did you tell Detective Zur about the man?”

“No. I forgot until now.”

“What did the man look like?”

Colton shrugged. “I guess he looked like a normal guy.”

“What color hair did he have?”

“Don’t know.”

The boy’s fingers gripped the sheets so tensely that Marcus knew he’d get nothing out of him if he remained this tense. He needed to lighten the mood.

“Okay… did the man have clothes on, or was he naked?”

The boy’s eyes widened and he let out a snort. “Clothes on, silly.”

“Did he have pants on, or a skirt?

Ella giggled. “A skirt.”

Colton shook his head. “Pants. Jeans. Really old and dirty ones, like my dad’s work jeans for when he fixes the car.”

Marcus nodded. “Now we’re getting somewhere. Do you remember what color his jacket was?”

“He wasn’t wearing one. He had a T-shirt on.”

“A plain one, or did it have words or a design?”

“Both.” Colton scrunched his eyes, trying to remember. “It had… a car on it. And maybe a street name… I think.” His eyes flared open. “And he had a baseball cap on. Edmonton Oilers. That’s why I couldn’t see his hair.” His voice grew excited. “Did I do a good job remembering?”

“Excellent job. Did you tell the detective all this?”

“I just remembered now, except for the jeans.”

Marcus took out his cell phone and called Zur. He relayed the info about the man at the gas station. “Oiler’s cap, old, dirty jeans and a T-shirt with a car and a street name on it.”

“I’ll get one of our guy’s on it,” Zur said. “We’ll bring in some photos of T-shirt logos later tonight. Maybe we’ll get lucky and someone else saw this guy.”

“What about a security camera? Does the gas station have one?”

“Yeah, we had a tech guy on it already. We did see one guy near the door when Mrs. Kingston and her kids went inside. But we couldn’t identify him.”

“What about his vehicle?”

“He parked out of view of the cameras.”

“Shit.” Marcus gazed at the kids, who were smirking at him. “I mean, shoot.”

“You said a bad word,” Ella mumbled as soon as he hung up.

“Yeah, I did. Sorry.”

“That’s okay,” Colton said. He lowered his voice so Ella couldn’t hear him. “My dad says the F-word sometimes.”

Marcus didn’t know what to say to that.

When Rebecca opened her eyes, the early morning sun lit her hospital room with an orange glow. She didn’t have a clue what time it was, but she realized where she was—and why.

Her head swam as she tried to move it.

Someone patted her hand. A young nurse. “Everything’s okay, Mrs. Kingston. Your surgery went well, and your kids are right next door.”

“Can I see them?” Rebecca rasped.

“Dr. Monroe wants you to rest awhile first. You don’t want your kids to see you all groggy, do you?”

“No, I guess not.”

“Besides,” the nurse said, moving to the door. “You have another visitor. Are you up for it?”

“Who is it?”

“A man. Police maybe. Sorry, I didn’t get his name. Should I go ask?”

“That’s okay. Let him in.”

Rebecca licked her lips. Her mouth was dry and her throat hurt. But the pressure she’d felt around her ribs and chest was gone.

She lifted the covers.

“I think everything’s where it’s supposed to be,” someone said.

She dropped the sheets and saw a man standing in the doorway. His face was grizzled but attractive, and his pale gray-blue eyes twinkled.

She blinked. “Marcus, I can’t believe you’re still here. I figured you’d gone home.”