The Sisters McFadden

Chapter 22 - Into the Fog

Rex and Kurt launched their twelve-foot-six standup paddle boards off Torrance Beach late in the afternoon. At least the ocean was warm and placid though encased in fog. It had taken a few hours to get Rex's truck back up to Main Road. Aside from the shattered windows, the front axle and drivetrain were wrecked. After his truck was towed away to get fixed, Rex borrowed a black and white Sheriff's patrol car to use in the interim. He'd dropped the car off at his house and gathered his SUP board and carbon paddle from the garage. He noticed Dalton's truck parked in the driveway with a surfboard he did not recognize in its bed. When he'd gone inside to change, Dalton's bedroom door was closed. If Dalton had a girl in there, more specifically if Dalton had one of the McFadden sisters in there, Rex did not want to disturb them. Nor embarrass them. He trusted Dalton to be responsible. Mostly, he wanted his son to find some long overdue happiness.

            When Rex had went to the kitchen to down a quick glass of water, he noticed what looked like numbers etched in the dew on the sliding glass door. As the four numbers he counted were in reverse, he realized someone had stood on the back deck and used their finger to write the numbers 1, 8, 9, and another 9. A cold feeling washed over him. He'd need to ask Dalton later about the writing later. Had the ghost of Jane Doe had returned to deliver a message? The mere thought gave him chills.

            The men, with no waves to fight, stood up and paddled their SUP boards out into the foreboding ocean. The two detectives could barely see each other let alone the water beyond the noses of their boards. Both men instinctually knew the direction of Malaga Cove even in the mist. Side by side they paddled and smelt the sea air. The only souls out there. No boats, no surfers, no birds. It was quiet out on the water, only their paddling broke the silence.

            "Is Sarah going to crucify me for taking you paddle boarding today after you worked the holiday yesterday?" asked Rex, referring to Kurt's wife of twenty-five years.

            "Yes," said Kurt. "She said if I wanted to work the Fourth of July, I should have just stuck to being a lifeguard."

            "Tell her I will make it up to her. We'll have you guys over and barbecue. My dad would love to see Sarah."

            "Deal. So, why us today?"

            "What?"

            "Why did that horseman engage us? Deputies had been up and down those trails all morning. Why us?"

            "That's a damn good question. Why us and why our kids last night? I don't know. Maybe we just crossed paths, got lucky."

            "Maybe."

            "Did you pick up his smell?"

            "It was bad. He smelt like a dead animal. Maybe he got into a fight with a coyote."

            "Or worse."

            "How about Warren McFadden's interest in our case? Strange that you find a dead body within a few days of Warren moving back to PV."

            "Trust me, I have thought about that. Still, thirty-six hours later, no missing persons reports. And no motive. We have jack shit."

            "Maybe we are looking in the wrong place. Or the wrong country."

            Rex was about to respond when he thought he saw a dark figure in the water ahead. Kurt saw it too. The men ceased paddling and allowed the black mass to swim past only a few inches under the surface. It was a seven foot white shark, most likely an infant. A disconcerting sight but not enough to deter the seasoned waterman.

            "Just a baby," said Rex. "Let's keep paddling until we hit kelp."

            "Let's hope the mama is not around," said Kurt. "Probably a sign we should not be out here in the first place."

            "I have tell you about something I saw last night."

            "What did you see?"

            "Her."

            "Who?"

            "Jane Doe. Only for a moment."

            "What are you talking about?"

            "I saw her ghost," confessed Rex.

            "You seeing things now? You starting to lose it on me?"

            Without warning, the ocean pushed against their boards as if the current had shifted. A creepy feeling overtook both men. The fog crippled their line of sight except for the patch of water between their boards. Both men lifted their paddles from the water. And then, several feet below the surface, a massive nineteen-foot white shark swam between them, seemingly uninterested.

            "And that is the mama," whispered Kurt.

            "Never seen one that big," said Rex. "Better report it ASAP. Let's not fall off our boards."

            "No shit."

            After paddling another 200 yards, the single fin under Rex's board snagged kelp. Soon they were over the swaying kelp bed. It felt like they were walking on treetops above a dense brown forest. Rex and Kurt let their boards glide to a stop. Rex looked around and breathed in the ocean he loved and respected. Neither man was thrilled at the idea of paddling back to the beach with those sharks cruising around. Rex had no idea what he was looking for. He made a promise to Jane Doe that he would come back out here. What did she want him to find? Kurt stayed silent and let his partner search for answers. It was in these very waters that Rex pulled that young girl from her tomb.

            Prepared to call it a day, Rex looked straight down into the water one last time. He saw something below him in the stalks of kelp. It was hard to make out at first. Something was rising up from the depths. Slow at first but it was coming up faster and faster. A dark shape. It did not swim. It was lifeless. As it rose to the surface Rex gasped. Kurt caught sight of it and could not form words. It was a body. It was another girl. Another girl totally naked. But this girl's skin was burned. Her entire body was covered in third and even fourth degree burns. Burned through the skin in places all the way to the tendons and bones. Her skin was thickened. Her hair was gone. Jane Doe number two could not be saved. She'd been burned to death and dumped in the ocean.