Dark Water (Cooper M. Reid Book 1) (6 page)

“So you’re not seeing him now?”

“Is that really what you want your second question to be?”

“No. I retract that question.”

She smiled at him in a way that showed a glimpse of the rarely-seen sweet side of her. Cooper considered it a small victory and asked his next question before the moment passed.

“What kind of work were you doing before I called you? And I don’t mean the boring telecom stuff.”

“The same old stuff. I’m working with a few groups that are keeping tabs on people that are suspected of being involved in sex trafficking.”

“You know, the FBI actually works on things like that….
legally.”

“I know. They are also slow and show very few results. Do you really want to get into a debate on the effectiveness of our government? You worked for them at one time. Remember how awesome they were to you?”

“Touché. Anyway, I digress.”

“Yeah…we’re working on a program that infects their computer with a virus that pings a few government-owned websites. And by
ping,
I mean it leads those agencies to believe that their site is being hacked. And when they trace it, it goes back to the sex trafficker. ”

“That’s genius.”

Steph smiled smugly and patted herself on the shoulder.

“What’s your third question?” she asked.

Cooper had several he wanted to ask but didn’t know which was the right one. “I think I’ll save it for another time.”

“Don’t save it for too long,” she said. “You have me at your disposal for tomorrow and after that I have to get back to the cubicles of the IT world.”

“I know.”

The waitress brought their drinks and then took their orders. They fell into a silence that was more comfortable than awkward. Cooper considered this another victory. That was, of course, until Stephanie broke it with her usual bluntness.

“So where were you?” she asked. “Everything I could find says that you were in Kansas and then you just disappeared. You say you got back nine months ago, but I can’t find any trace of you up until you contacted me two weeks ago.”

“Good,” he said. “If I managed to stay under wraps well enough to elude you and your hacker networks, I must be doing pretty well. Like I said, though, I did have help.”

“Yeah, who was it, by the way?”

“I have connections, too,” Cooper said slyly. “It’s just a guy I knew from the bureau that got fed up with how they were doing business with wire taps and all that. He ended up sliding into the same line of work as you. From time to time, I think there are still some departments in the government that tap him for work.”

“Interesting,” Stephanie said. “But not interesting enough for me to realize that you just tried to dodge my question. Where were you, Cooper?”

“I don’t think you’re going to like my answer.”

“Try me.”

For the first time since sitting down at the table, Cooper looked away from her. His nerves were on edge and his heart was hammering.

“I’m not entirely sure.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“It means I don’t know where I was. And I have no clear recollection of the place. It was dark most of the time, I think. And it was quiet.”

“Are you being purposefully vague?”

“Not at all. Steph, I want to talk to someone about what happened. I think I
need
to. But the hell of it is that I don’t remember all of it. I have only the faintest memory of how I got there and absolutely
no
idea how I got out.”

Stephanie began to play with her glasses, as if she was thinking of putting them back on to hide her eyes. “Are you talking about some other town?” she asked. “Or are you getting into your freaky-deaky stuff?”

“Freaky deaky.”

“Some other world?” She didn’t roll her eyes when she said it, but it was implied in her tone.

Cooper shrugged. “I really don’t know. I wish I did. Seriously…I only remember a sky that looked like it was twilight all the time. Everything was plain and flat. Featureless. There’s some other details that I can sort of feel at the back of my mind but they won’t come.”

“You understand that if you’re trying to tell me that you got teleported to some other world, I’m likely not going to believe you.”

“Yes, I know. Always so skeptical.”

“Do you know how long you were in this place?” Steph asked.

“I looked back through my notes. From what I can tell, I left for Tilton, Kansas on February twenty-first. I know I took equipment with me. I even know which equipment. But I have no idea where it is now. I would assume the FBI has it. Or at least some shadow part of the FBI.”

“Maybe that branch you worked for,” Stephanie suggested. “The one you would never tell me the name of.”

“Probably,” Cooper said, ignoring her jab. “Anyway, so let’s assume I went missing on February twenty-second. When I was no longer in that other place, I found myself back in Tilton, Kansas. Seventy-two days had passed.”

A look crossed Stephanie’s face that was either utter disbelief or disappointment. Cooper couldn’t tell which. He could almost hear the gears working in her head, trying to decide if they wanted to be in awe of this fact or if they wanted to sound the bullshit alarm.

“You mean to tell me,” she said, “that you went missing for seventy-two days and you remember nothing about it?”

“That’s right.”

“You met no people that stick out in your mind?”

Cooper shook his head. “I don’t think there were people there. I think it was just…empty. That’s all I remember.”

“How did you eat?”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t remember buildings? Landmarks? Anything?”

Cooper thought for a moment. He felt something trying to creep forward in his memories but he only caught a hazy glimpse. “I think there were mountains in the distance. Always in the distance. Like you could walk forever and never reach them. But that’s it.”

“Cooper…I don’t even—,”

The waitress came by the table with their food. Cooper decided right away that she was a good waitress. She could tell that there was a heavy conversation going on at the table and didn’t bother interfering with pleasantries. She gave a simple comment of “Let me know if you need anything else,” and then left.

Cooper bit into his burger right away, waiting for Stephanie to pick things back up. She toyed with her flounder, poking it with her fork. She looked defeated. Part of Cooper winced a bit when he realized that she also looked like she didn’t want to be there.

“So,” she said after a few silent moments. “Tell me about the Blackstocks.”

And just like that, she had let him off the hook. Either she didn’t believe him and thought he was lying to her or she believed every word of it and was terrified. Honestly, based on her history of not believing in much of anything he had ever researched, Cooper thought that she likely didn’t believe him. But that was fine with him—for now.

So he told her about his afternoon with the Blackstocks, filling her in on Henry’s drowning five years ago. He also told her about the odd occurrences in their house and how Jenny and Sam had taken him out to the beach, to the very spot where Henry had died.

“That’s harsh,” Steph said. “Of course, I don’t believe there are ghosts in their house, but it’s still a sad story.”

“Still don’t believe in ghosts, huh?”

“I’m not sure. I’d like to say I’m on the fence, but I sort of lean to the
no
pasture.”

“How did we ever date?”

“Healthy debates, booze, and sex,” she said, only half joking.

“Oh yeah,” Cooper said.

“So what are your next steps with this family?”

“I’m not entirely sure. I want to check out a few things before I bother them again. I told you about Kevin Owens, right?”

“Yes. He drowned a few months ago, right?”

“Yeah. Two months. And he drowned about twenty feet away from the same spot Henry Blackstock drowned.”

“Creepy.”

“Isn’t it?”

“Well, what other things do you need to check out?”

Cooper grinned and took another bite of his burger. He knew it might be a long shot, but he figured there was no harm in at least trying.

“I’m glad you asked,” he said. “It’s going to be boring and lonely. I could use some company. And if you don’t believe in ghosts and don’t spook easily, you shouldn’t have any problems tagging along.”

“What?” she asked.

Cooper told her what he had planned, liking the idea even more when he pictured Stephanie being there with him.

“And you want me to come?” she asked after he told her.

“Absolutely.”

She thought about it for a minute while she finished off her glass of wine. She looked to Cooper and then to the empty wine glass, considering.

“Fine,” she said. “I’ll go. But I’m going to need a few more glasses of wine.”

8

As far as Cooper was concerned, the night was positively filled with small victories. Perhaps the most significant one came when they left the restaurant. Stephanie, never one to forfeit control of a situation and mostly distrustful of everyone—boyfriends, best friends, and parents included—handed Cooper her car keys as they walked into the parking lot. She’d had two more glasses of wine but was far from drunk, so she couldn’t use that as an excuse.

Actually, she used no excuses. The simple fact of the matter was that Cooper knew where they were headed and she did not. He tried to tell himself that the small gesture meant nothing; it was just one person letting another person drive their car. But he also knew that it likely meant something else coming from Stephanie…he juts wasn’t quite sure what it was. It might have even been subconscious on her part.

He pulled out of the restaurant lot and headed back down the main strip, turning off six miles away as they entered the outskirts of Kill Devil Hills. He drove slowly down one of the more secluded beachfront neighborhoods and pointed to the house he had been inside less than six hours ago.

“That’s the Blackstocks house,” he said.

Stephanie looked out through the passenger window and made a
hmmph
sound.

“What?”

“Nothing. It’s nice. Are they rich?”

“I don’t think so. They do okay. That kind of family.”

Stephanie shrugged, like the topic didn’t interest her anymore. “So where is this place?”

“Right up the road..”

The spot he had in mind actually crept into view far sooner than he had expected. He hit the brakes and pulled off of the road. There was no sort of access road or pavement to drive down or park on, so he settled for pulling out of the road and onto a small stretch of grit and sand along the side. With the car a good ten feet off of the road, he parked it and killed the engine.

“I don’t suppose you have a flashlight, do you?” Cooper asked.

“In the trunk. Why?”

“This is the place. A flashlight might come in handy. You never know.”

“
This
is the place?” she asked suspiciously.

“Well, no. The place I was telling you about it just over this rocky little hill,” he said, pointing directly to their right.

Cooper popped the trunk and got out of the car. When he opened the trunk and pulled the flashlight out of a small emergency kit tucked away in the corner, he could smell the ocean, salty and slightly fishy.

He checked the flashlight, saw that it supplied ample yellow-tinged light, and looked ahead to the rocky ground. He thought he’d save the batteries for later. After all, it might do Stephanie some good to have a little adventure in the dark.

“Ready?” he asked

“Sure. Lead the way.”

He walked towards the rockier ground ahead, enjoying the knowledge that Stephanie was walking less than an arm’s length away. The ground rose slightly, blocking off the view of the beach ahead of them. Yet as they neared the crest of the hill, Cooper heard the breaking waves ahead of them. The sound was different at night. It was more muted, more drone-like. The air had the slightest nip to it, one of those that felt like a stubborn spring chill was clinging to it, refusing to accept that summer was on its heels.

They came to the top of the rocky terrain and stood motionless for a moment, looking out to the beach. It was secluded and dark, yet they could see everything. Their eyes had adjusted to the dark long before the beach had come into view and the moon was a generous three quarters full.

“It’s pretty,” Steph said.

“Yeah, it sort of is,” Cooper replied.

“If I didn’t know better, I’d think I was being set up for some sort of cheesy romantic gesture.”

Cooper chuckled. “You and I both
wish
I could think that far ahead.”

She rolled her eyes and started carefully down the hill. It was nearly a straight vertical drop of ten feet or so, the small rockface jagged and rough. Down near the sand, though, it smoothed out to a clean angle until the beach covered it. Steph did an excellent job of watching her footing and was down on the sand in less than five seconds.

Cooper remained at the top of the rocky hill. He stared out to his left and saw the two large black rocks that stuck up out of the water. Under the dark cover of night, the rocks looked like looming giants, something alive but remaining stationary to fool some unsuspecting prey.

“Is it the crabs?” Stephanie asked from below.

“What?” Cooper asked.

“Crabs. They tend to scamper around on the beach at night from what I understand. You’re hesitating up there. I figured you were scared of the crabs.”

“No. I think I’ll be okay.”

Cooper tossed the flashlight down to her and made his way carefully down the shallow rock wall. Of course, the moment his feet touched the ground, he couldn’t help but think of crabs, scuttling across his feet with their little pinchers opening and closing.

“This way,” Cooper said, walking towards the rocks.

“Are those the rocks you think the kid was pointing to?” Stephanie asked.

“I don’t know if he was pointing to them specifically. But he was definitely pointing in this direction. And since those are the only definitive landmarks out here, it seems like the best spot.”