Chapter70 The Promise

Beth's in Anna's room, smelling the scent of her daughter off the pillow cases and covers; while tracing her daughter's outline around the impression left in the mattress. Then, she hugs Anna's empty pajamas, holding them tightly, and cries as she thinks about how much she misses her ‘Sweetie'. Beth can't bear the thought of the possibility of never seeing that precious little smile, that little twinkle in her eye when she's happy or excited, the sound of her laughter, and that adorable little giggle. She wants her baby back in her arms, safe and sound with her like she's supposed to be. The bedroom door's open, so as Cindy passes, she sees Beth sobbing on Anna's bed while caressing her daughter's pajamas. "Beth, are you okay?" Beth twists to face Cindy; wiping her tears away with Anna's pajamas while turning. She takes in a little breath, accompanied with a sniffle, and then, nods and tries to fake a small smile. Her façade doesn't fool Cindy; nor does it last long. She burst into tears and collapses into the bed; burying her face into Anna's pajamas and sobbing heavily into them. Cindy sits down beside the distraught Beth and softly pats her back. "Its okay, Beth; let it out. I know you miss Anna; but, she'll be back soon. You'll see; everything's going to work out." Beth cries out, "How do you know that, Cindy? How do you know she's going to be okay…if she's still okay?" "Beth; stop that talk! Anna's fine…she's gonna stay fine. We're going to get her and bring her back; I promise." "You promise?" "Yes; I promise." "What do you promise, Cindy? My little girl's God only knows where having God only knows what happening to her right now; and, there's not a damn thing I could do about it to help her, Cindy! …Fuck! …Oh God!" Beth sits up and harshly rubs her face dry…causing her face to turn red as she pulls along it…forcing her tears to stop. When finished, she throws the pajamas down on the bed between her and Cindy. She looks at Cindy in the eyes and abruptly asks… "So; what can you …a professional hair stylist…possibly promise me that will help my daughter? Well?" Cindy understands the emotions Beth's going through at this time; the feeling of helplessness…the rage…the hurt. Cindy feels no animosity towards Beth's mean spirited, yet, certainly not intentional, outburst. She smiles and takes Beth's hands in hers. Beth glances down when she feels Cindy's soothing touch; then, returns to looking at her face. Cindy's still smiling. She tells Beth, in what to Beth was probably the most comforting, heartfelt reassurance since her grandmother spoke with her after Katie Howard's death… "I promise…on my life Beth…I will do whatever I have to do to bring Anna back to you. I not only promise you that; I swear it." Beth smiles, looks down, and squeezes Cindy's hands firmly; then, lifts them to her face and kisses them. Beth releases Cindy's hands, throws her arms around Cindy's shoulders and pulls her into her; crying as she whispers in her ear, "Thank you, Cindy! Thank you!" One and a half hours into the search and they still haven't found anything out of the ordinary; although there's still a lot more area to be covered. The dive commander, Sergeant Lawrence Pierce, a twelve year veteran with the State Police…nine of those spent with the dive unit…is starting to have doubts. "Excuse me, Sheriff Faulkner." "Yes, Sergeant Pierce?" "You say that there could be as many as seventeen families down there?" "Yup." "And, about how many people did you say that was?" "According to the files; seventy-six." The sergeant looks out to the lake; then, back to the sheriff. "Sheriff, I know we have more area to cover out there; but, with that many bodies involved…in my experience…if they were out there, we would've come across something by now." Corporal Nyce cuts in, "But, we're still going to search the rest of the lake; right, Sergeant Pierce?" "Right." Sheriff Faulkner tells the sergeant, "I do appreciate all the hard work and effort you boys are putting into this search today. We certainly couldn't do this without all your help. If there's anything I, or Deputy Hopkins, can do for yawl now or in the future; please, don't hesitate to ask. As for this search…like I mentioned before we started…we aren't sure if those bodies are out here; but, we have a pretty darn reliable source that believes they are. So, if yawl could just bear with this a little longer; I'm pretty sure something's gonna turn up." About half an hour later, Dive Team 3 checks in. "Dive Team 3 to Dive Command. Come in Dive Command…Over." "Dive Command here. Go ahead Dive Team 3…Over." "Larry, this is Steve; we may have something down here in Sector G…Over." "Steve, what do you got…Over." "We were passing some pike that looked like they were feeding on something; so, we went to take a look. You're not going to believe this…Over." "Believe what…Over." "They were chewing on…fingertips…Over." There's momentary silence as the sergeant, corporal, sheriff, and deputy exchange glances; then, the sergeant continues the transmission. "Dive Team 3. Steve? Did you say fingertips…Over." "Affirmative, Dive Command…Over." "They're just lying on the bottom of the lake…Over." "Negative, Dive Command; they're coming out of the floor down here…Over." "Out of the floor…Over." "Affirmative. Tom and Howard are attempting to dig around them to see if …what …Christ, are you guys serious?" "Dive Team 3, this is Dive Command. Steve, what's going on down there…Over." "Dive Command, those fingertips are connected to a hand…which looks like it's still attached to its arm! They're still digging; but, it looks like there's a body buried underground down here…Over." The deputy exclaims, "A buried body? Who the hell buries a body in the ground under a lake?" The sheriff replies, "Who; or, what, Mike?" "Dive Command, Dive Team 3 here…Over" "This is Dive Command. Come in Dive Team 3…Over." "We've got a body down here…Over." The lake suddenly begins to fiercely bubble; and, starts to violently churn as small waves start to form and crash in onto the lakeshore. Sergeant Pierce frantically calls out over the radio, "Dive Command to Dive Teams, come in Dive Teams …Over!" There's nothing but static received over the radio; and, he tries again, "Dive Teams, this is Dive Command, come in! Dive Teams, come in damn it …Over!" Nothing. The top side officers watch in shock and horror as the lake's once placid surface rages in turbulent turmoil; worried about the fate of their fellow brother officers down below. Meanwhile, the members of the teams struggle to hold onto each other in their group; as they're twirled and spun about in the unbelievably forceful currents, which are zigzagging from every direction down in the now extremely muddied waters. They're starting to become disoriented from being tossed around haphazardly by the multi-directional undertows which mysteriously have formed. Then it stops. As the divers attempt to shake off their dizziness and regroup, radio contact's reestablished, and, they start checking back in with Dive Command. Sergeant Pierce… like the others…is relieved to hear that everyone's okay. During the intensive churning of the water, several inches of the lake floor sediment was re-dispersed. Within ten minutes, the sediment…which has been floating throughout the water causing extremely poor visibility for the divers…starts to dissipate and settle. The divers are now met with a gruesome sight. They can now see various body parts, which were once covered, protruding from the lake floor. The Dive Teams call this into Dive Command; cutting over each others transmissions as they scramble to report this ghastly underwater mass gravesite. Somehow, over the past three decades, seventeen families had been buried beneath the floor under Miller's Lake.