Page 8 of The Couple's Secret
The current was almost non-existent and for the most part, aided by the sunlight, they could see to the bottom in the shallowest parts of the water, even though it was brown. Near the center of the river, at its deepest point, there was a tinge of blue-green. Josie saw the ripple Dr. Slack had indicated immediately. Something under the otherwise smooth surface of the water caused a break in the lazy current, forming tiny swells.
“I see it,” said Gretchen. “How do you know it’s a car?”
“Over here,” Heather instructed, leading them along the bank to a more elevated position. It was then that Josie saw the shadow of what looked like a big hulking box, the long rectangular shape of a roof, its angles too sharp to be a large rock or pile of organic debris.
Quickly, Josie took off her belt, dropping it, along with her holster and pistol, onto the ground. Next came the contents of her pockets—credentials and phone—and then she tore off her boots and socks.
“What are you doing?” Dr. Slack asked.
“Checking to see if anyone is alive,” Gretchen told her.
Between the two of them, Josie was the stronger swimmer. She ran barefoot along the ledge until she found the lowest spot and dropped into the basin. Skipping from rock to rock, she raced toward the water, keeping the ripple in sight. It was cold, even at ankle and calf level. Goosebumps erupted along her skin as she waded deeper. This time of year, the water temperature hovered between seventy and seventy-five degrees. It wasn’t ideal but as long as she limited her exposure and entered gradually, she should be able to avoid cold water shock, cold water incapacitation, hypothermia and circum-rescue collapse. Despite wanting to dive right under the water, Josie took her time immersing herself, breathing carefully. At waist level, she splashed water on her face and the back of her neck. Once she got to shoulder level, she gritted her teeth, sucked in a deep breath and dove under.
Even with the sunlight piercing the surface and the calm current, this deeper part of the river was murky. As Josie swam toward the object, her movements kicked up silt and dirt from the rocks and underwater plants, making her surroundings cloudier. It didn’t take long to reach the object but even up close, it was difficult to tell whether it was a car or not. Touching its surface, her hand slid over a slimy film. She pushed through it, feeling something hard beneath. The dislodged particles of the grime spread like a dust, filling the water all around her, obstructing more of her view.
Josie’s lungs started to burn but she kept going, using her hands to map the shape of the object. The flat edge of a roof, the seam along the tops of doors, then a crack a few inches wide, big enough for Josie to put her arm through, feeling only empty space. Beneath that was the solid surface of what must be a window and under it, a metal lip. Then a door handle. She didn’t attempt to open it. With a coating of muck this thick, the car must have been in the water for some time. If anyone was inside, they were long dead. Josie kicked back to the surface, gulping air as soon as she broke through. Treading water, she turned and saw that Gretchen and Dr. Slack had been joined on the bank by a uniformed officer.
Her nose caught a whiff of something rotten and putrid, something beyond the usual pungent, earthy smell of the river. Decomposition. It hovered over the top of the water, churned up by her exploration, there and gone in an instant. A familiar feeling of dread settled in her stomach.
“Shit.”
The car would need to be removed from the river, cleaned up and processed. It could take hours, days even, before they could begin to piece together where it had come from, how it ended up submerged and who had been inside it.
Josie glanced at the shore again where more officers gathered along with a pair of EMS workers and a couple of firefighters. The press wouldn’t be far behind, particularly if it was a slow news day. Years ago, any member of the public in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania could purchase a police scanner and tune in to their local department’s radio communications. Now, anyone could livestream that same audio via a website called Broadcastify. Like many departments across the country, Denton PD used a timed encryption with a fifteen-minute delay. Someone from their local news station was always listening for calls that might lead to a big story. With Denton’s police, fire department and EMS deployed, there was no way reporters would pass up a call like this one.
Josie sucked in a few more breaths and plunged back under. Visibility was worse. Again, she used her hands, disturbing more of the sludge until she found the slope of what she hoped was the back windshield. It was still intact. Then came the square expanse of a trunk. With nothing to grab onto, her body slipped, buoyancy sending her upward until she slid across the roof. Before the current carried her too far, she kicked away from the car, diving deeper, and swam around to the rear until she touched something that felt like the hollow under the wheel well.
She gripped the edge. More thick biofilm oozed in and around her fingers. Her hands ached with the cold and the effort of keeping hold of the slippery car. She worked her way around to the rear bumper until her fingertips brushed the slight depression in the center of it where the license plate was affixed. There were too many layers of filth to claw away for her to get a look at the number, especially in the hazy brown all around her. Instead, she slipped her fingertips underneath it, grabbing both sides, and started to bend and yank at it. A pressure spread through her chest, lungs searing from lack of oxygen. She brought her legs up to brace her feet against the bumper for leverage. Muck squeezed between her toes as she struggled to find purchase.
Just as she reached her limit, needing more air, the license plate snapped off. Clutching it in one hand, she pushed off the back of the car, bursting out of the water. She swam toward the bank. By the time she was able to stand, Gretchen and two uniformed officers were wading into the water.
Officer Brennan held out his arm for her to take. Josie waved it away. “I’m fine,” she breathed. “There is a car. Been there a while.”
“What the hell is that?” asked Brennan, pointing at the bent license plate in her hand.
It was still covered in filth, reddish-brown mud and organic matter with an extra-special coating of something that felt jelly-like.
“The tag,” Josie explained. “We’ll have to find something to scrape all this off.”
Officer Dougherty reached them, shading his eyes with one hand. “Maybe a stick or something.”
Gretchen fell in beside Josie as they came to the dry part of the basin. “The ambulance will have something we can use.”
“I’ll go find out,” said Dougherty.
Noah’s shirt was long and heavy on Josie’s body. Without her belt, it had come loose from her waist, swinging as she walked, the hem slapping against her pants. Locks of her black hair stuck to her cheeks. The scent of the river clung to her and under it, that hint of decomposition again.
Josie scanned the ledge. At least a dozen people waited for them. “Gretchen,” she said. “Once we figure out how to bring the car up, this entire area will need to be cleared. If there’s anyone inside that car, I don’t want their loved ones finding out on the news.”
With a nod, Gretchen hoisted herself back up onto the ledge and then held the license plate while Josie did the same. Dougherty appeared at her side and draped a blanket over her shoulders.
“Ambulance had it,” he explained. “They’ve got some stuff we can use to clean up the tag.”
“Thanks. Take this. I want to see if we can get the number and run it.”
Dougherty grimaced but took the slimy license plate and disappeared along the same rocky path they’d used to get to the bank. Through the trees, Josie caught glimpses of emergency vehicles and what she guessed was a van from their local news station, WYEP.
“Let’s go,” said Gretchen, gesturing toward the spot where Josie had left her pile of belongings. Dr. Slack was still there as well, watching all the activity with curiosity.
