Page 8 of Vanished in the Mist (A Mystic Lake Mystery #2)

He lightly squeezed her hand. “No apologies. You’re doing great.

I’m the one who should apologize. When you insisted on coming along I automatically assumed you could swim, or that you could in spite of your anxieties.

I should have asked to be sure.” He glanced at her life jacket, reassuring himself that it was still secured the way it should be.

“I wanted to come. That’s on me. But I wasn’t thinking about being your wing man if something happened. I should have been more upfront.”

“Don’t worry about me,” he told her. “The life jacket will save me, if I need saving. All you need to do is sit there and wait.”

“But if something does happen—”

“It won’t.”

“But if it does—”

“Then you’ll call nine-one-one. If your phone doesn’t have service out here, you can call from the hard-wired satellite phone in the console, beside those fancy screens I showed you earlier. That’s it. Nothing else. Promise me you won’t go into the water, no matter what.”

She looked past him, her face going pale again. “Trust me. I won’t.” She made her way to one of the seats and sat down. She was holding on so tightly, he could see her knuckles turning white again. “Okay. I’m ready.”

He almost decided then and there to cancel the trip, to bring her back to the cabin and return on his own tomorrow.

But he’d already seen how stubborn she could be.

She’d probably hate him for it. Besides, she’d gone through self-torture just making this trip.

She’d likely not forgive him if he didn’t at least try to find Tanya after she’d ridden all the way out here.

With one last reassuring smile, he slid into the lake.

He treaded water, using his legs to kick just enough to keep his head up.

He clutched the sonar device in his right hand and held it slightly below the surface, scanning back and forth.

His first scan was toward shore. When he held up the device to look at the screen, it was clear.

No hits. He turned and submerged the device again, sweeping it left and right.

Then he lifted it out of the water to look at the screen.

This time, it showed an X . He stared at it in surprise.

Was it malfunctioning? He truly hadn’t expected any hits in this first grid.

But he had to rule it out before moving to another area.

As Shanna had said, the police had searched this part of the lake last spring when Tanya was reported missing.

They hadn’t found anything. He hadn’t expected to, either.

If the sonar really was picking up human remains, then maybe her body had been pinned by some underwater hazards that the divers hadn’t risked searching.

That was the only thing that he could think of to explain it still being in this area after so long.

Still, that seemed unlikely. Even cars, as large and heavy as they were, usually scraped along the bottom, pushed by currents, ending up surprisingly far away in most cases than where they’d gone into the water.

Tanya had been missing since mid-May, nearly a year ago.

How could she be right here where she’d first been reported missing?

Unless this wasn’t where she’d originally gone into the water.

“Is everything okay?” Shanna called out.

He gave her a reassuring nod. “Just double-checking the equipment,” he called back, before submerging the scanner and trying again.

When he pulled it back up, the X was still there.

Something was beneath the surface, about eight feet down.

Could it be a tree branch, or rocks, throwing off the sonar?

It was still new, still being tested out.

But whatever the device was picking up, it was too close to ignore.

He had to check it out. And he didn’t need his scuba gear to head down eight feet for a quick look.

He did, however, need to take off his life jacket or he wouldn’t be able to submerge.

He quickly took it off and instead strapped the AquaEye to it so he wouldn’t lose it.

“Kaden, what are you doing?” Panic gave Shanna’s voice a sharp edge. “Put your life jacket on.”

“Be right back,” he called out, figuring the quicker he got this over with the faster he could reassure her. Then he drew a deep breath and dove beneath the surface.

The water was darker, murkier than he’d expected, with visibility incredibly limited.

He immediately regretted his decision to dive without first getting his equipment, which would have included an underwater flashlight.

But he was already at the bottom, so he made the best of it, feeling around to see what might have tripped up the sonar.

Something slimy brushed against his hand.

He jerked to the side and squinted in the cloudy water, but didn’t see the fish or plant that he assumed he’d touched.

The water was so gloomy and dark. It seemed to weigh him down, pressing against his chest, making his lungs burn for air far sooner than they should have.

He could normally hold his breath for a good two minutes, even longer if he absolutely had do.

He’d been an avid swimmer and diver since he was a kid.

But something about this lake seemed…different.

Even when he’d been driving his boat through the water, it had seemed as if he was moving through thick sludge in spite of the lake not appearing to be polluted or muddy.

He’d definitely had to push the engines more than he’d anticipated.

It was almost as if the lake was a living thing that resented his intrusion and was fighting against him.

He shook his head in disgust. The fanciful stories he’d read online about this place were messing with his headspace. He needed to focus, find whatever the sonar had seen down here before he was forced to surface for air.

He sifted his hands through the muck on the bottom, digging through rocks and sticks, pieces of wood. The bottom truly was littered with debris, the kind that could easily catch a swimmer’s long hair or loose clothing and add them to the long list of others who’d disappeared in this water.

And if he didn’t surface soon, he’d become one of those statistics.

His hand touched another piece of wood. It was hard, unyielding and mired in sticks and muck, just like everything else in this area. He tugged it loose and decided to bring it up to gain a better understanding of the kinds of debris he’d need to be aware of while diving in this lake.

Seconds later, blessed cool spring air rushed into his aching lungs. He bobbed on the surface, treading water, his arms and legs feeling heavy and weighted down. It was the oddest feeling, as if something was trying to suck him back under.

“Kaden! Over here.”

He turned, surprised to see Shanna waving at him from the boat a considerable distance away, at least three times the distance from where he’d gone into the water. And there wasn’t even much of a current to have pushed him that far.

“Kaden, grab your life jacket. There!” She pointed.

He turned again, to see it floating a few yards away, the sonar device still attached. He lunged for it, grabbing it and holding on. The strange weakness in his limbs was disconcerting and made no sense. It took all his strength to hold on to the jacket and kick toward the boat.

As soon as he reached it, he let out a shaky breath and tossed the life jacket and muck from the lake bed onto the deck.

Shanna’s face was pale. He must have scared her by being gone longer than he’d intended. He really should have suited up and gone in with a flashlight and tank. With her fear of the water, it hadn’t been fair to leave her alone. From the way she was shaking, he must have terrified her.

“I’m so sorry I worried you.” He pulled himself onto the deck. The moment his legs cleared the water, the strange lethargy evaporated. “How long was I under?” He stood and closed the opening before turning around.

Shanna wasn’t looking at him. Her body was shaking as she stared down at the bundle of debris and muck he’d tossed onto the boat. Except that it wasn’t just debris.

It was a human hand.