Red Alarm [A Detective/Thriller Story] DISCONTINUED

Chapter 17

(A/n): Like the characters in this story, I would like to greet happy Independence Day to all Filipinos who bravely fought in the past up until now for the freedom of our flag to soar in the sky. Mabuhay Pilipinas! 🇵🇭

~ ⚜️ ~

A morning walk was just the excuse they needed for their search. She felt herself being washed away with guilt. She'd already kept the details of the fire from Cole, now she'd also gotten him caught in keeping her talents behind the backs of their friends. Atleast jogging was half a part of the truth, twelve minutes later and they've already burned some calories. Fortunately there was a Rent a Boat Shop beside the riverbed.

She felt sorry for the man that they'd come barging in his shack, five in the morning. She made sure they'd pay good price for his kind gesture.
Soon, the officers found themselves paddling over still waves of moss water. Cole shot a look at Atarah. He'd rely on the figment of her mind which proved itself many times to be true.

"I saw water gushing out," she searched the horizon but there was no surge. All was well behaved.
"It's not here. Keep paddling."

"Maybe it's better to search on dry land. If flowing water is what we're looking for then it must be from a narrow source."

She saw it clearly. Water, water that led to another body of it where a car trapped the woman under the depths until the last bubble of her breath burst in the lucent light.

Atarah was frantic. The search for the lost woman and the Grim Reaper kept her wide awake for days. However, she also knew that this required analytical thinking which took time. His reasons made more sense. She was also scared that if they'd rely on her careless impulses she might led the operation to another dead end.

"Let's get back shore," she relinquished the tension off her grip.

~ ⚜️ ~

"Ya mean Black Creek? Right over there past the rows of beeches," replied the half-Asian half-American man, helping Cole in securing the ropes when asked about the nearest narrow form of water in the zone.

The yellow light from the mountains slowly drove the night sky away. Alas, the duo found the creek hidden beneath a heap of bushes. A family of blue jays, passerine birds with white bellies, eyed them from atop. Their eyes blinking per second, bobbing their heads. She marvelled at the site of their flocking feathers displaying different hues of blue. The outpour of water gave off a cooling sensation to the surrounding land.

"Look at this," Cole trailed his hands over the damp ground. The unleveled dirt suggested traces of previous tire tracks that sank on the mud from a heavy rainfall. It appeared as though it struggled to push through, pointing east down a slope of freshly fallen leaves.

"It can be," she relayed her opinion. "It might've also taken a powerful start before zooming straight off." She belatedly swung her left hand in a declining direction imitating what she'd envisioned of the car.

Both followed the pathway, careful not to create any accidents from the slippery rocks. A sound of rapid water grew louder and louder as they reached the end of the leaves. It was stronger than that of the gushing water from earlier. Atarah pause to a halt. For a moment, the breathtaking view of a cascading waterfall made her heart skip a beat. How could such a beauty be hidden away by a circle of rocks.

To suffice the curiosity inside her, she leaned over, examining how high the water goes from above. Bewitched by the mists sailing up the rocky pit, she hadn't advert her attention to the ground. Her heel set foot on down-and-out crust. The chunk of rock broke off, making Atarah slip.
"Curiosity kills a cat," as what Malory reminded her. She'd just release a Pandora box onto herself. The irony of facing sudden death not by the hands of a rampaging killer but by the open mouth of a waterfall, armored with spikes that could easily pierce her chest flashed before her eyes. She prayed her body would survive the fall, if not, would probably be shattered into pieces of flesh in which wild animals would fancy a meal later.

Just her luck, a pair of arms clutched the thick lining of her sweatshirt by the nick of time.

"Watch your steps," Cole exclaimed, pulling both of them to safe ground. "I don't think falling off a waterfall would be a great idea of measuring its height."

She quake of laughter. He could still joke like that when she was just worn out to a frazzle. She averted her eyes to her waist, waist on which Cole's arms were still wrapped on hers caused a sudden squint. Her small frame becoming pink as she recalled the incident both earlier and from the inn. She hid her face between two thick layers of her black hair.

Cole's buzzing phone broke off the awkward silence that followed,
"Hey, where the heck are you?" A ranting Ray Hopkins addressed his ears.

"Did the search team arrived yet?"
Regardless his senior's fuming voice, his was as calm as water.

"Gladly they did. When you ditch our search in the mountains," he replied scornfully.

"Listen, get the team out there," he once again aimed his eyes at the vast expanse of water underneath the cliff before shifting his gaze to Atarah. He waited for her to affirm what they were looking for.

"I think this is it," she quietly gave her approval.

Cole tuned back to his phone, "We found the body in Black Creek."

~ ⚜️ ~

"Careful, careful."

A team of divers, fresh out of the water in their jet wetsuits, tanks and snorkels; tow trucks in their red orange colors; and the forensics team, in their IDs and lab coats waiting for the body to ascent. Cathy's Land Rover came back from the dead grave of golden brown sand. Nobody ever reported an accident, no one was there to witness it.

"There we go," with one last blow, the  tow driver released the vehicle from its grasp. It bounced a few centimeters off the ground with a bang before coming back. Its front was badly crashed from the landing. The driver's seat was empty. The officers, lead by Cole, plodded cautiously toward the back of the car. He lifted a hand,  bringing the others to a halt. He counted his fingers at three before breaking the firm doors.

It was now opened. Atarah hurried inside. What awaited her was exactly what she'd saw. Cathy - except now she resembled a ghost bride; her body, molding like that of stinky cheese. The angry bruises on her chest were now burrows, nestling brown slithering worms.

At this point, she'd expect herself to vomit in disgust. Who would want to be close to the nauseating stench of dead body? But no disgust remained on her face. Beneath those decaying tissues, it shifted into Cathy's once visage of youthfulness. She might not know her when she lived, but her eyes begged her very soul. What she felt now was sadness, the same feeling she had for the dead children, every soul she saw, her family.

She wanted to curse, shout in grief, tried to utter a mouthful of words, but her mouth went dry, "Our work here is done," was all she had to say. "Let's go back to Brooklyn."