Ulterior Motives

Ring in the Sand

Cheryl opened the heavy door of Officer Davis' SUV and stepped out of the passenger side. She was met by a gorgeous waterfall, just like the one described in the piece of writing they'd received only a couple of days ago.

'This must be it,' Officer Davis said, walking around the front of the car to get a better look at the breathtaking view. Cheryl nodded, in awe of her surroundings.

The pair had managed to track down the place that Toni had described after speaking to her parents and finding out that it was a place they had visited when she was younger, but they hadn't been since she was about seven or eight years old.

'So we are looking for any signs that Toni has been here recently,' Officer Davis stated, before walking closer to the water and stepping down onto the small, sandy beach.

They began by searching right along the waterline and working their way further away from it. Cheryl admired how beautiful it was as they were searching. She could see why Toni had taken someone special there.

It took no longer than thirty minutes for them to find something. Officer Davis crouched down, brushing the sand off an object that was slightly covered by it.

When he stood up again, he revealed a gold ring to Cheryl. It had two small gems on the top; one was red and the other pink. Instantly, Cheryl recognised it. Her eyes fell on her own ring which was identical, but the metal was rose gold rather than gold.

Within seconds, Davis caught on to the fact that the redhead always wore the same ring on her right ring finger.

'This must just be a coincidence,' he mumbled, half to himself and half to Cheryl.

'Or she's trying to frame me,' Cheryl suggested, her voice shaking with uneasiness.

She tuned out as the other officer tried to reassure her. She knew he'd tell her that there was no way Toni could have known this, that she was overreacting, that it must just be a coincidence. But this didn't feel like a coincidence to the young cop. Why couldn't she ever do anything well? This was her first case in her entire career and she wasn't doing well at solving it. Not only that, but she also looked incredibly suspicious to say the least.

'Cheryl!' She heard someone call her from afar, snapping her from her thoughts. However, when she looked around, Officer Davis was no where to be seen. Instead, he was replaced by a tanned girl with brown and pink hair who was calling her back to the car.

'Toni?' Cheryl asked, walking up towards the younger girl. When she reached the car, Toni circled back around it, walking back onto the beach - where Cheryl had just come from.

'Isn't this water lovely?' The girl said happily, her voice sounding way too old for her age. She slowly walked into the water, letting out a small squeal every time it lapped over her feet, saying that it was too cold.

Cheryl wasn't far behind her, but she didn't want to get her police boots wet. She had no choice when Toni reached for her hand from the water, her body naturally gravitated towards the other girl, unable to listen to her mind which was telling her not to get wet.

When Cheryl grabbed Toni's hand, it disappeared, a million pieces of Toni flying up into thin air. Her body was there, but no hand. Before Cheryl knew it, she had lost her balance on the dry shore from reaching to grab Toni, and she found herself flailing her arms for what seemed like forever before falling head-first into the freezing cold lake.

~~~

Author's Notes:

What do you think that was all about?
Has Cheryl become too absorbed in this case?
I hope you are enjoying this story so far!! 💛💛