Submerged (7 page)

Arizona eyed the ravine, her tongue lolling to one side, and he debated on letting her
go off leash. They could cut through the ravine. It opened up near a small strip mall with a 7-Eleven, and he had a craving for a bag of chips.

The ravine offered
more than a shortcut. It presented a complete immersion into nature, and it was often used as a meeting place for local drug dealers, something Marcus had zero tolerance for. It wouldn't bode well to have temptation just outside his door. He'd taken to scaring off any of the young hoodlums he came across, threatening to sic Arizona on them.

He looked at his dog. "I know you want to go in there."

Arizona would be one happy dog. She'd also end up being one big tangled mess. Did he really want to spend the next hour brushing twigs, leaves and dirt from her fur after she dove into the brush and rolled around on the path?

"
Sorry, girl," he said, patting her head. "Not tonight. We'll take the long way around."

Seemed like that was what his life had amounted to―taking the long way around everything
.

Chapter Six

Edmonton, AB – Friday, June 14, 2013 – 1:49 AM

Rebecca awoke to a dark house. It left her disoriented. Hadn't she left the lights on? Had the power gone out? Wait, that couldn't be. The TV was still on, but the movie was long over. The clock on the TV read: 1:49.

She stood, stretched, then reached for the lamp. She flicked it on, and light filtered into the room.
Must have been a power outage.

Wesley had always looked after anything electrical or automotive. Now that he wasn't around, she had to call a
handyman and mechanic to fix those problems. She was useless around anything mechanical. She'd never even changed a flat tire, though she could stop on the exact penny in one shot when filling her car with gas. Not exactly something she bragged about. Except to Kelly.

She wandered into the kitchen, turned on the light, then set her glass on the counter. Fastened to the fridge by a peacock magnet was her latest To-Do list.
Have someone check circuit breaker,
she added to the bottom.

She turned off the light, left the living room lamp on and headed down the hall. Her bedroom was at the far end
, and as she stepped inside, she shivered at the cool air. She'd left a window open that morning and had forgotten to close it. She cranked it until it shut, then locked it. She'd become more vigilant with door and window locks after the whole Fog thing.

She resisted the urge to check on Ella and Colton. They were safe. She knew that. She had to shake this weird feeling that had come over her. It reminded her of the time she'd found Wesley
skulking around in the pitch black. She'd been to Bingo with Kelly and they'd gone for a drink afterward at Boston Pizza. It was after midnight before she'd arrived home, and all the lights were off. She assumed Wesley was in bed. Instead, he was waiting for her. In the dark.

That was one of the very bad nights. One that solidified the divorce.

She shrugged off the cobwebs of old memories and climbed into bed. She had a trip to look forward to. Some time alone to heal emotionally. It was long overdue.

Shutting
her eyes, she slipped into a troubled sleep. She dreamed she was swimming in the ocean, trying to escape someone, trying to reach the lights of the shore. If she could reach them, she'd be safe. She took in a mouthful of salty water and gagged. Her muscles ached with exhaustion.

Swim, dammit!

Rebecca was so tired. If only she could stop, close her eyes, sleep for a bit.

With a sigh, she gave in
to exhaustion. Her head slipped beneath the water.

And she slept.

Chapter Seven

Edson, AB – Friday, June 14, 2013 – 12:02 PM

"Glad to see you finally made it," Shipley said the second Marcus stepped from the elevator.

"
I'm two minutes late, not an hour."
Asshole.

"
Late is late."

When Shipley wanted to bust someone
's ass, Marcus knew damned well he couldn't argue.

"
Fine," he said, staring his supervisor straight in the eye. "Dock my pay by two minutes."

Shipley twitched.
"Don't think I won't."

Marcus caught sight of Leo leaving the break room.
"Sorry, Pete. I don't have time to chat with you."

"
I'm watching you, Taylor."

Marcus pasted a smile on his face.
"I hope you like the view then." With that, he strode toward his cubicle, clenching and unclenching his hands.

When Leo saw him, he gave Marcus a pained look.
"Why do you always have to goad him?"

"
Goad?"
Marcus snickered. "I see you've been reading the dictionary again."

"
Thesaurus actually." Leo grinned. "Did you know there are, like, four dozen synonyms for the word
idiot
?"

"
Did you find Shipley's name on the list?"

"
You aren't getting my not-so-subtle message." Leo folded his arms across his chest. "Marcus, you are heading for trouble if you keep this up."

"
Lombardo!" Shipley barked behind them. "Cut the chitchat. I'm sure you've got paperwork to file."

Leo rolled his eyes at Marcus.
"The Almighty has spoken. Do
not
piss him off."

"
No more than usual."

Marcus sat down at his desk and stared at the computer monitor. He picked up the headset. The second he set it on his head, the phone rang.

"Nine one one. Do you need Fire, Police or Ambulance?"

"
Help me," a woman shrieked. "There's been a terrible accident."

"
Ma'am, do you need Fire, Police or Ambulance?"

"
Send them all!"

"
What's the address of the emergency?"

"
Twenty-five―" A loud explosion cut her off.

"
Please repeat the address, ma'am."

The woman stammered out an address in an older residenti
al neighborhood.

"
It's a house," she cried. "Two floors."

"
What's the number you're calling from?" When the woman gave him a cell phone number, he said, "And your name?"

"
Addison. Addison Lane.

"
Ms. Lane, tell me exactly what happened."

"
I'm not sure. I just got home from works and my…my house is on…fire. I don't know where my kids are." The woman choked back a sob.

"
Okay, Ms. Lane, I'm notifying Fire and Ambulance right now."

Marcus typed in the code
69-D-6t―structure fire, residential single, with trapped people. He immediately paged emergency crews and dispatched fire and ambulance to the address.

Behind him, Leo took over the radio work with the crews.
"House fire," he heard Leo confirm. "Possible children inside."

"
Ms. Lane?" Marcus said. "Are you at the location now? Do you see flames or smoke?"

"
Both."

"
How many kids do you have, ma'am?"

"
Three. Amanda, James and Bryan."

Marcus
's fingers stumbled over the keyboard. "Ryan?"

"
Bryan."

Marcus
's heart slowed.

"
My babies!" The woman screamed.

"
Ms. Lane?"

The line was muffled, but in the distance he heard sirens. Finally, the woman came back on the line.

"My babies are okay," she said, weeping. "They were at the mall."

"
I'm glad to hear that."

He talked to her until the emergency crews arrived.

"Thank you," she said repeatedly.

"
You're very welcome."

After he disconnected the call, Marcus realized his hands were shaking and his forehead was covered in a thick sheen of sweat. He took in a deep breath of air and released it slowly, doing his best to relax.

A round of applause broke out in the center.

"
Well done," Leo said, patting Marcus on the shoulder.

"
What?"

"
You broke Titanic's dispatch record," Rudy called out from across the room.

Rudolf
Eisenhauer was a skinny man in his early forties. He'd moved from Germany to Canada about twenty years ago with his parents. All Marcus really knew about the man was that he had an IQ so high that no one could figure out why he hadn't been gobbled up by Microsoft or Donald Trump. Maybe it had to do with the fact that he rarely spoke unless asked something.

Marcus frowned.
"I broke Shipley's record?"

Rudy nodded.

"What was Shipley's time?"

"
Forty-eight seconds," Leo interjected. "From the beginning of the 911 call to the time Fire picked up his dispatch."

Shipley poked his head out of his office.
"What's going on?"

Leo beamed him a smile.
"Marcus broke your record."

"
Yeah, right."

"
Forty-six seconds," Leo said. "He shaved two seconds off your record."

Shipley
lumbered toward them, his face set in stone and his eyes trained on Marcus. "Is this right?"

Marcus shrugged.
"I guess. I wasn't really looking at the clock."

"
No," Leo said. "But I was."

Shipley didn
't crack a smile. "Any casualties?"

"
Not sure," Marcus said.

"
Don't celebrate until you
do
know."

Shipley turned on one heel and was swallowed up by his office, the door closing behind him.

"Forget about him," Leo said.

"
It's hard to forget about someone who's on a collision course with me." Marcus stood and stretched. "I need a coffee. Want one?"

Leo nodded.

In the break room, Marcus rinsed his mug. He filled it with fresh coffee and added extra cream and sugar. Leo took his coffee black. The thicker the sludge, the better.

He returned to the cubicles as Leo was taking a call.

"Heart attack," Leo mouthed, grabbing the mug from Marcus's hand. He took a gulp, wiped his mouth and said, "Sir, can I have your name please?"

Marcus returned to his desk.

The hours passed quickly. That
's how it usually went when business was booming. And the night definitely boomed. Five hours into his shift, there were already two car accidents, one heart attack that ended up being a case of bad gas, two domestic disputes and the house fire.

"
Good God," Leo said, groaning. "What a night. Is there a full moon out?"

"
That's what sucks about this job. We either sit here for hours twiddling our thumbs, thankful that no one was hurt―"

"
Or we're bombarded by emergencies and don't have time to twiddle anything."

Marcus
nodded. "That about sums it up."

"
You know, you're starting to look like Grizzly Adams. You ever gonna shave?"

Marcus stroked
his bristly chin. "Why should I bother?"

"
You ain't gonna catch a lady looking like that," Leo said, eyes narrowing. "You look like you've got something to hide."

"
Maybe I do."

Leo stood up and hiked his jeans over his bulging stomach.
"It's time to stop hiding, Marcus. Get out. Go on a date."

"
A date. With who?"

"
I'd date you," Carol called out. "Except my partner might be pissed."

"
Gee, thanks, Carol." Marcus turned back to Leo. "You could at least wait until we're out of the office before talking about my personal life."

"
What personal life?"

Leo was right. Ever since Jane
's and Ryan's deaths, he spent his time either at work or at home wishing he was at work. He'd tried dating a half-dozen times. Some were even nice women. But none of them were Jane.

"
Sorry, man. I know it's tough on you. I hate seeing you so…alone."

"
Maybe I like being alone, Leo." He knew it was a lie as soon as the words were out of his mouth.

"
Listen, here's an idea…"

Uh-
oh. Whenever Leo had an idea, it usually ended up with Marcus passed out on a floor somewhere. It didn't happen often, but when it did, it usually meant trouble. With a capital
T
.

"
I'm not going bar hopping with you, Leo."

"
That's not what I had in mind." Pause. "However…"

"
No strip club either."

Leo scowled.
"You're no fun. But that wasn't my idea." His eyes gleamed. "We could set you up on one of those matchmaking sites. The online kind. You know, like that one they advertise on TV."

"
I'm not that desperate."

One of Leo
's brows arched.

"
Okay, maybe I am that desperate." Marcus shrugged. "It's not my thing."

"
So what is?"

"
I don't know. Something more…normal. You know, you meet someone at a bookstore or a coffee shop and start up a conversation."

Leo snorted.
"When's the last time you went to a bookstore? Or a Starbucks for that matter? You don't go anywhere."

Thankfully the phone rang and Marcus was saved further humiliation.
If there were a Starbucks in Edson, he didn't know where the place was located. And the fact that he hadn't been inside a bookstore in months would've proven Leo right. He didn't get out enough.

While Leo took the call, Marcus stared up at the suspended ceiling tiles. He probably should make an effort to have a life. It was getting more and more difficult to recall the softness of Jane
's skin and the musical tone of her voice. Or her laugh. And Ryan? Sometimes Marcus thought of him as a young child, sometimes as a teen.

The fact was, Jane and Ryan were disappearing from his life. What would he do when they were gone completely? Sure, he
'd always remember them, always love them. He'd
never
forget his wife and son. But that didn't mean he had to stay in limbo. He just wasn't sure how to get out.

Getting out meant altering his life in ways he couldn
't even begin to imagine. Change meant risk. Risk meant possible failure. He was deathly afraid of failure. It could send him crashing back to rock bottom. He had to prevent that at all cost.

I feel so goddamned trapped.

That feeling lingered with him for the rest of his shift.

After his shift, he drove home, walked Arizona and
wolfed down a roast beef sandwich with horseradish mayonnaise. Then he walked Arizona again and polished off Andrew Gross's latest thriller. Finally, he climbed into bed and tried to sleep.

He kept thinking about the wooden box
with the medical insignia on it. The one with the hypodermic needle inside and a small vial of clear liquid. Why the hell had he kept them?

Fight it, Marcus.

He focused on his breath. In…out…in…out.

"
Daddy…"

Ryan stood at the foot of his bed.

Marcus swallowed. "Don't leave me."

"
Daddy?" Ryan held out a small hand, but as Marcus reached for it, his son began to fade. "I love you, Daddy."

"
Love—"

But Ryan was already gone.

Marcus got up, walked Arizona for the third time that evening, then settled on the couch for a long night of television.

"
Insomnia's a bitch," he muttered. He glanced at Arizona, who was already half asleep. "But what do you know about it, you lucky dog?"