As she was walking, she stepped on something hard. It immediately woke her up from her trailing thoughts. Her foot ached in pain. Whatever she had stepped on had been sharp. Sitting down in the sand, she held her foot and took a look at it. She was bleeding and she didn’t have anything to stop it with. Momentarily, she put her injury aside and dug into the sand to see what she had stepped on. It was a shark’s tooth. The pointy edge was so sharp, she wondered why her foot hadn’t been cut deeper. Examining the tooth, she realized this wasn’t just any old tooth. It was a tooth that was on a necklace. She could tell from the way that it looked that it had been bought from a tourist’s shop.
She kept pulling it out from under the sand. Just as she had suspected a brown chain followed the tooth. She knew she had seen this exact necklace somewhere before. It looked too familiar to have been seeing it for the first time. Thinking back to where she saw it before, she couldn’t remember. She knew she never saw it in a tourist shop. She didn’t go in those much. Carly was more of the shopper. She always wanted the latest fashions and trends. Cathy could care less about what she wore. She focused more on comfort. Even as a grown woman, she still classified herself as a tomboy.
“Carly!” She called out to her sister. She wondered if Carly could even hear her. She still had her headphones on from the metal detector. Screaming out her sister’s name once again, she saw Carly look over. Carly’s face looked shocked as she saw Cathy sitting on the ground. Cathy wondered why she looked so surprised, but then she looked down at her foot and remembered that she was still bleeding intensely.
“What happened?” She asked after she ran over to Cathy as fast as she could. “We need to get a bandage or something for your foot. Here I have an idea,” she said as she took off her black vest. “This should do the trick.”
“What are you doing?”
“Using this vest as a bandage for your foot. It’s all we have and I don’t want you bleeding to death. People die from injuries like this you know. You should be more careful.”
“But you love that vest. It’s one of your favorites. You don’t have to do that,” Cathy said as she looked at her sister in pain. “It’s always funny when the little sister gives the big sister advice.”
“It’s fine, I’ll buy a new one later. I love you more. I can get a new vest, I can’t get a new Cathy. Do you think you are okay to walk? And hey, I was just trying to help you. I know that right now you aren’t in the right frame of mind.” She answered logically.
“I might need some help. Let’s get off of this beach. I’m ready to head home. It’s been enough for one day. When I get back home, I am going to call Officer Sanchez. Maybe he has more information about the evidence that we gave him. I still see some of the search crews out here. Maybe they came up with something. Hurry let’s go,” She said in a rush. She pulled out her phone from the back pocket of her jeans. There were no new messages or calls. She shook her head in disappointment. “I can’t believe they haven’t found anything new yet. They’ve spent all day out here.” She stumbled as she tried getting up to walk.
“You can’t walk like that. Here take the metal detector. Use it as a walking cane,” She said as she handed the metal detector over to Cathy. “Don’t even bother trying to act like your fine because I know that you’re not. Give it more time. Rome wasn’t built in a day. They are trying their best to find him. It’s not easy finding a missing person.”
“Tell me about it. It’s a lot more complicated than I expected.” She took the metal detector from Carly and started walking off the beach. “How did you manage to get this anyways?”
“I paid a lady a couple hundred for it. She gladly took it. I guess she wasn’t finding much on the beach.” She said smirking.
“I can’t believe that you did that. I also can’t believe that you walk around with a couple hundred dollars in your pockets. That can’t be too safe either,” She said laughing as she limped. “Now look who’s giving advice.”
“I just stuffed my wallet specifically for the case. You never know when you will need money. Especially when it comes to a missing person. Now hand over the keys. You can’t drive like that. And I’m staying with you tonight. No ands or buts about it. I’ll just leave my car at the university. I’m sure it will be fine. I go to school there anyways so I have the parking tag. I don’t see any harm in it.” She stated with reason.
“I don’t know. My jeep is like my baby. We all know what an erratic driver you can be. This isn’t a good idea. You don’t have to stay with me either. You know Mom will worry about you.”
“It’s no use in arguing. I’m driving and I am staying with you. I’ll stay with you as long as you need me to. You can’t stay alone after all this has happened to you. I’ll just sleep on your couch.”
“Fine, fine. It does roll out into a sofa sleeper though. Let me get you the keys,” She said as she saw that the jeep was only a few miles away from them. Pulling them out of her back pocket, her phone and her keys fell to the ground. She groaned in displeasure. Nothing was going right for her today. The necklace was tangled all around the keys. She picked up both her phone and her keys. She started to untangle the necklace from the keys. Inspecting her phone, she was relieved to find no damage. “This just isn’t my day.”
“Don’t get too frustrated. Here let me untangle that for you. Is this one of your necklaces?”
“No, I just found it on the beach. I had forgotten that I had put it in my back pocket with the rest of my stuff.”
“I feel like I have seen this before, but I don’t know where.” Carly quantified as she finished untangling the necklace. She took the keys and gave the necklace back to Cathy. They both got in the jeep and started intently looking at the shark tooth.
“That’s what I said too. I know I have seen this but where is the question. We’ll figure it out later. Let’s drive home. My foot is killing me. I need a real bandage and some ice. I just want to get away from this beach. It feels eerie to me now.”
“I’m going,” She said putting the jeep into drive as she started heading down the road. “I feel like this necklace is more important than what you are letting on. Do you by chance think it was Marc’s possibly?”
“Yes. I am thinking that. Although I can’t recall him ever wearing it. I would have remembered if he wore it.”
“That’s true. You would have. It’s a memorable piece.”
They both sat in silence as Carly continued to drive down the road. Cathy appreciated the silence, even if it was just momentary. She needed time to think. Everything was happening too fast. She also didn’t want to distract Carly while she was driving. It was almost dark out and she knew her sister was vulnerable enough as it was. Cathy held up the shark’s tooth and tried to picture it in her mind. She tried to envision where it had come from. She didn’t know why it was so important to her, but she felt as if it was. There was some type of significance to it, she just couldn’t remember what that was.
* * *
After showering and getting a bandage for her foot, Cathy had finally had enough for one day. She went to her room and tried laying down on her pillow. Her foot was badly hurt still and she could feel the pain with every movement that she made. Carly had already fallen asleep on the couch and Cathy knew that she was tired enough to sleep through the entire night. Cathy pulled the covers up and over her head. She couldn’t help but to think about Marc. She wondered where he was right now and what he was thinking. She quivered in her light pink cami-top. It was Carly’s of course. Only Carly would pick out a tank top that was light pink and had white polka dots on it. She had no idea what it was doing in her closet, but she hadn’t had time to wash her laundry all week.
Tossing and turning, she couldn’t fall asleep. She didn’t know how she would ever manage to sleep again if Marc was gone forever. She had wanted to call Officer Sanchez when she had gotten home, but Carly had turned her against that idea. Her sister had given her a veggie burger, helped her into the shower and th
en tucked her into bed. Cathy has shocked and flattered that Carly had taken such good care of her. Her sister was really growing up. Cathy couldn’t be any prouder, but she still wondered about Marc. She wished she would have gotten the chance to call Officer Sanchez.
She stared at the light house clock that was ticking loudly on the wall. With every tick it seemed to get louder and louder. It was ticking furiously or maybe she was just imagining it to be that way. In the dim light, she could barely read the clock. It appeared to be almost eleven. She wondered if it was too late to call. She figured he would still be working on the case all throughout the night. He had some good leads and he wouldn’t want to let her or Marc’s mother down. She limped out of bed and started searching for her phone. She had to have some answers before she could sleep peacefully.
Digging through her closet, a box from the top shelf fell down and hit her on the head. Sure enough they were old pictures from when her dad was still around. She couldn’t help but to go through some of them. She found a picture of her and her dad flying a kite. She still remembered that day like it was yesterday. It had been one of the best days of her life. She wasn’t happy like that anymore. Once her father had left, he had taken away all of her happiness. At times, she found it hard to forgive him. No matter what she did, she couldn’t help herself from loving him. He was still her father and she had loved him dearly.
“Daddy, let’s fly a kite. I want to fly a kite!” A four year old Cathy asked her father as she ran down the beach. She could feel the wind blowing through her curly hair. Her blond curls bounced up and down as she ran. Cathy loved chasing the seagulls. At four years old, nothing was better than chasing a seagull down the beach. She would scream at them to hear them squeak back at her. Laughing at the noises they made, she rolled around in the sand. It flew everywhere and she giggled. Getting up, she ran back to her father.
When she reached him she hugged his legs. She loved him and she wanted to fly a kite with him. Her father would read her the same book every night. The little girl would go to the beach and fly a kite with her father. She had wanted to experience that moment ever since she had read the book for the first time. Today was the day that she would get to make that dream come true.
Picking up her kite, she tried to put it in the air. She threw it up as high as she could. It came crashing down on her face. She giggled as she got all tangled up in all of the white string. Trying to get up, she fell down again. The string was tangled all around her feet and she couldn’t get out of the mess. “Daddy!” She called out looking for some help to get out of the sticky situation.
“Oh, Cathy!” Her father turned around to see his daughter in a tangled mess. “What happened?”
“I tried to fly the kite Daddy and I couldn’t! I got all twisted in the string!” She smiled as she giggled once again.
“Oh, Cathy. What am I going to do with you?” He smiled back at her with his hands playfully on his hips as he pretended to scold her.
“Get me out of here Daddy!” She cried laughing. “I want to fly the kite. We came here to fly the kite. Let’s fly the kite!”
“Alright. Let’s get you out of there and we will fly the tangled kite,” He said as he knelt down to untangle his daughter. He carefully unraveled the string from her legs and her arms. It didn’t take long to get her untangled. The second after she was free she took the kite and started running with it.
“I’m going to make it fly Daddy. I’m not giving up. It’s going to fly.” She cried as she ran slowly trying to get the wind to pick it up in its breeze.
“Cat, you’re not doing it right dear. Here bring it to me and I will show you how to fly a kite.”
“Okay Daddy,” She said as she brought her kite to her father. “How do you fly a kite Daddy? Are you going to teach me?” She asked quietly. “I wish I knew how to fly a kite.”
“Of course I am going to teach you. You’re my little girl.” He held up the kite in his arms. “Alright now you hold the string. Hold it up as high as you can. Got it?”
“Yes, Daddy. I can hold it really high!”
“Okay, good job! Now I am going to lift the kite very slowly.” He held his index finger up high in the sky.
“What are you doing Daddy?”
“I’m seeing what direction the wind is blowing Cat. We need to know the direction so we can know which way is the best direction.”
“Wow, that’s really smart Daddy. That’s a good idea.”
“Yes, of course. We have to be strategic. Kite flying is tough work,” He said as he smiled. “The wind is blowing towards the west. Okay now do you remember what I told you?”
“Yes Daddy. I am holding the string up as high as I can. Then you are running as slowly as you can and trying to get the kite to pick up in the wind. Then you tested the direction and it is west.” She answered matter-of-factly.
“You are right. You’re very smart, Cat. Don’t ever let that go to waste. Make Daddy proud one day and change the world.”
“I will Daddy. I promise. But can we fly the kite first Daddy?”
“Yes. Okay here’s a big gust of wind. Here I go!” He yelled enthused as he started running gracefully. The kite was balancing on the tips of his hands as he began to let go. It picked up in the wind and started to slowly fly up in the sky.
“It’s flying Daddy! It’s flying! You did it!” She cried.
“Yep, there it goes Cat. It’s high up in the sky.”
She looked up at her kite with admiration. She couldn’t believe that she had finally flown her first kite. The bright orange triangular kite was flying high in the sky. From her tiny frame it appeared to be as high up in the sky as the sun. She put her hand over her eyes to block in the bright sun from the hot summer day. The red tail of her kite was blowing swiftly with the wind and she smiled in joy. She continued to hold up the string as high as she could. Eventually her perfect moment ended and her kite came crumbling out of the sky. She ran to go get it and she picked it up to go bring back to her father.
“Daddy that was amazing! We did it! We actually flew a kite!” She exclaimed at the top of her lungs. “This is the best day ever.”
“Yes, we did. I am glad you enjoyed it. It is the best day ever,” He said as he pulled his disposable camera out of their beach bag. “Will you take a picture with your kite Cat? I know your mother would love to have a picture for her scrapbooking. You know how much she loves to scrapbook.”
“Sure Daddy,” She said as she picked up her kite and gave her father a big cheesy smile for the camera. He took a few pictures as she kept smiling. “Daddy?” She asked shyly.
“Yes, Cat?” He answered back as he looked at the camera, trying to fix the lighting settings.
“Will you take a picture with me and my kite? I couldn’t have flown it without you. We need a picture.”
“Sure, of course. We just need somebody to take it. I’ll ask this woman walking by.”
“Okay Daddy. I’m getting kind of hot. Let’s take our picture and go home.”
“We will. Don’t worry. I’ll get you a water before we leave,” He said to Cathy as he asked the woman walking by if she would take their picture. She gladly agreed and stood slightly in front of them. She told them to smile. Cathy smiled as big as she could. Looking over at her father, she could tell that he was happy. He hadn’t shown many signs of happiness lately, so she was glad she was able to give him a day of happiness. She often worried about him and wondered if he was doing alright. But today was perfect and she had let all of her fears and worries aside.
The flash of the camera went off and the memory was made for a lifetime.
The sound of a phone ringing piercingly awoke her from her peaceful memory of her childhood. She put the photographs down and went on a hunt for her phone. The day had been so long, she felt as if she was delusional. She wondered if the phone was actually ringing or if it was her imagination. Concentrating on focusing, she still heard a phone’s loud ringing ruining her intricate though
ts. The sound was coming from over by her nightstand. She saw a light shining through the drawer of it and she opened the drawer. Peering inside she had finally found her missing phone.
“Hello?” She answered groggily. She just now realized that she hadn’t even checked the caller ID. It could have been an unknown number that she answered and she didn’t even know it.
“Ms. Montanan? This is Officer Sanchez. I’m sorry to call you so late, but we have developing information on the missing person’s case on Marc Porter. Is now a good time for you to talk?”
The mention of Marc’s name awoke her and gained her full attention. “Yes, of course. I was actually just about to call you. I didn’t know if it was too late and I didn’t want to interfere with the case if the search team was still finding out information. But yes, please tell me all of the information that you have found out so far.” Her tone sounded earnest as she pleaded to know what had happened to Marc. She was afraid she didn’t want to know. A sense of dread came over her as she had a feeling what she was about to hear would not be good news.
“Are you sitting down?” Officer Sanchez asked concerned.
His tone made Cathy worry more. This was the first time she had ever heard him sound afraid. “Yes, I am. I’m ready.” She sat down on the side of the bed by her nightstand. Even though she said she was ready, she didn’t feel ready at all. Her heart already felt broken, after the news, she figured it would be destroyed.
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