Ocean- Part 20

With his wife’s help, Chief Grady worked on his speech for the better part of the afternoon and into the evening. 

            “Sweetie, take a break and have some dinner,” Sharon Grady called from the kitchen.  “It’s never a good idea to go into a big meeting hungry.”

In spite of the violent churning in his gut, the chief managed to choke down enough food to placate his better half.  What he wanted was a stiff drink but that would have to wait until after the meeting. Showing up stinking of liquor would be a one way ticket to the unemployment line. 

    Together, the Gradys arrived at the high school twenty minutes early and the auditorium was already packed. Even those who had their homes up for sale were in attendance, curiosity had gotten the better of them. For the first time in his life, Police Chief Thomas Grady felt the butterflies of stage fright but at precisely 7:08PM he made his way to the podium.

            “Ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedules to be here tonight. Our community is under a threat that we’ve never before known and I pray we never will again. Now, I’m not what you’d call a religious man. Pastor Burton can attest that I’m not in church half as often as I ought to be but I’d like to take a minute to ask Pastor Burton of the First Presbyterian Church, Father Francis from St. Luke’s Catholic Church and Rabbi Friedman of the Ben Ezra Synagogue to come forward and lead us in a word of prayer. Right now, regardless of your religious affiliations…or lack thereof, let’s just come together as a community. Tonight we’re not separated by what we believe but joined together in a fight for the safety of our friends, neighbors, and loved ones.”    

    Much to Grady’s shock, what started as a smattering of applause grew into a standing ovation.  The religious leaders of the community came together and even managed to maintain brevity. They each said their own blessing over all in attendance and those unable to be there. Particular mention was given to those who’d lost loved ones and to those left behind to carry on. There was not a dry eye in the building. Finally, the meeting was turned back over to Chief Grady.

            “Folks, I’m going to be completely honest with you. We don’t have all of the answers, yet, but here’s what we do know. We know that there are never any attacks on the beach during the day. Myself, my deputies, and countless others have been on the beach for hours while the sun is shining and none of us have been harmed; however, anyone on the beach or in the water after sundown has died. Let me be clear about this, they do not die a pleasant, painless death. No, I can assure you this is not something you want to endure. To be even more blunt, the sole witness we might have had has completely lost his mental faculties as a direct result of the horrors he’s seen. I can’t make it any more clear, you cannot…not for any reason, go on the beach at night.  Boating after sunset is out of the question. In fact, until we are sure what we have on our hands, I’d like to issue a curfew for the entire town but we’ll put that up to a vote. I only suggest it because I just can’t bear to lose one more member of our community.”

     Seated in the back of the auditorium, Mayor Farmington was gritting his teeth in frustration. Not only did their Chief of Police have absolutely no idea what was happening, the townspeople accepted his shortcomings; they loved him for his honesty. It made Farmington sick to his stomach. He knew if he’d been the one presenting that speech, they’d vote him out in a heartbeat. Someone has to be held accountable and I’ll be damned if it’s going to be me, he thought solemnly.  Chief Grady was just about to bring their meeting to a close when Barker sprinted through the doors, shouting.

            “Chief! Chief! We’ve got something!” he screamed, waving a flash drive in the air.

With baited breath, the entire community waited as Barker and some of his tech-savvy friends hooked into the school’s A/V equipment to play the video from Josh Austen’s abandoned camera. Once it was all set up, Barker joined his boss at the podium.

            “Now, ladies and gentlemen, the video quality isn’t the greatest. The camera was exposed to the elements and, well, that’s not good for it. Also, it’s probably not a good idea for kids to see this so… Chief, how should we handle that?”

    Chief Grady managed to secure a few volunteers to take the young children to the gymnasium so that everyone else could view the video. As the little ones filed out, he hoped against hope that there would be answers on the video.

Ocean- Part 19

           “Code Gray, nine-oh-eight. Code Gray, nine-oh-eight. Code Gray, nine-oh-eight.”

The overhead announcement could barely be heard over the shrill screams reverberating out from room 908. The hospital staff, all trained to recognize “Code Gray” to mean a combative patient followed by the room number, sprinted to Douglas Poole’s room.  Dr. Garrett and the two closest nurses arrived first to find Grandma Rose, blood dripping from her swollen lip and scratches over her eye, being disentangled from Doug’s iron grip by Chief Grady.  They jumped in to help as one of the nurses retrieved a syringe from her pocket.  While Dr. Garrett wrestled Doug off of his grandmother, the nurse jabbed a needle into their patient’s thigh. Within seconds he had gone limp and the medical staff was able to turn their attention to Rose.  Though she insisted she was fine, they carted her over to the nurse’s station to clean up the wounds, and apply an ice pack.

            “Just what the hell happened in there?” Dr. Garrett demanded. “He was perfectly calm less than fifteen minutes ago.”

            “I asked him some questions about what he saw.” Grady answered without a shred of remorse. “I don’t have a minute to lose here, Doc. I need answers and I need them now.”

            “There is no way he can withstand those kinds of questions right now. Mentally, he is entirely too fragile.”

            “Fragile? Did you get a look at his grandmother ‘cause that didn’t look too fragile to me. How long until he regains consciousness? We need to try again but this time he’s going to be restrained. I’ll cuff him to the bedrails if we have to but I’m getting answers one way or another.”

            “Chief, please, I know you’re trying to save lives but this isn’t the way. If you push him too hard right now we may never be able to bring him back. Please, give me a little time to work with him…at least a couple of days. I’ll personally see to his therapy then you and I can try again. Deal?”

Seeing no other alternative, Grady agreed. He stopped at the nursing station to check up on Rose before he left. She seemed to be fine and insisted they were making a fuss over nothing.

            “Making a mountain out of a molehill is what this,” the elderly woman joked, though Grady suspected she was still rattled by the attack. “You have real patients to fuss over now so I’m going to get out of your hair. Thank you, dear ladies, for your care.”

Against the nurses’ wishes, Rose stood and gingerly made her way to Chief Grady’s side.  He extended his arm in a gentlemanly fashion and she graciously accepted it.  She allowed him to support more of her weight this time as she walked with him to the elevators. 

            “Would it be too much of an imposition to ask you to see me home, Chief Grady? I think I’d like to lie down for a bit and I don’t want to wait for a cab.”

            “It would be my pleasure, Ma’am. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry I dragged you into this. I never would have imagined that he would lash out like that, least of all to you.”

            “Don’t worry yourself about that. I’ll be just fine; a little nap and I’ll be right as rain.”

    After seeing Rose safely to her door, Grady headed straight for the beach.  By now he had expected a majority the evidence to be gathered and the physical remains, most likely of Joshua Austen, to be on its way to the Coroner’s office. Instead, he found Barker fiddling with a broken video camera while what was left of the body baked in the sun’s harsh glare.

            “Barker! What the heck have you been doing all this time and what in God’s name is that body still doing here? Why hasn’t it been picked up and taken to the Coroner’s office?”

            “I was waiting for you, Chief.”

            “WHY?”

Barker stammered, trying to think of an acceptable excuse. He’d never seen his boss so livid and if Poole wasn’t in the hospital, there might have been cause to fear for his job. Rather than try to justify his foolishness, Barker pulled out his cell phone and made the call.

            “Say, Chief, do you want me to try to pull the memory card from this camera and see if we can pull any of the images?”

            “You can do that? Really, you know how?”

            “Sure, I do. I don’t know if it’s been wiped by the combination of sand, salt water, blood and…” Barker sniffed loudly and repeatedly. “And possibly lighter fluid…at least that’s what it smells like. I don’t know for sure. It might be damaged beyond repair but it wouldn’t hurt to try, right?”

            “Finally!  A ray of hope…yes, go do that right now. I’ll stay here and wait for the ambulance.  Good job, Barker. Way to think on your feet! Oh, hey, did Hooper say where he was going and when he was coming back?”

            “I dunno; he said something about enzymes or something and that he’ll call you later tonight.”

Chief Grady just hoped something positive would turn up before the town meeting. He had a bad feeling in his gut and the Mayor’s visit certainly hadn’t helped decrease his stress. As he waited for the ambulance, he wished he’d remembered to bring his bottle of Pepto Bismol along with him. 

Ocean- Part 18

            “Chief Grady, we have a serious problem here,” Mayor Farmington announced as he stormed through the front door of the station.  “I think we need to call a town meeting immediately!”

            “I couldn’t agree more, Mr. Mayor. That’s why we organized one for this evening. Francine cleared it with the principal over at the high school and got the Board of Education’s approval. Kline’s been personally calling every single year-round resident in town to personally invite them.”

            “”I don’t appreciate being lied to, Chief. I never got a call and I’m at the beginning of the alphabet.”

            “I spoke with your wife earlier, Mr. Mayor,” Deputy Kline interrupted. “She said you’d both be there and she even volunteered to bring some refreshments.”

Believing he was calling their bluff, Mayor Farmington pulled out his cell phone and dialed his wife.  He was disappointed to learn that Chief Grady and his deputies were one step ahead of him, again. Their personal phone calls were sure to give the chief the upper hand, undoing Farmington’s plans to hand out some pink slips. Someone needed to be held accountable for the rampant, horrific deaths plaguing their community and the mayor’s office had conspired to dump that blame on their chief of police.

            “Yes, well, very good… I’m glad to see you’re on top of things. I suppose I will see you this evening then.”

    Frustrated, the Mayor and his entourage departed. They would need to go back to the drawing board and find another scapegoat. Realtor listings had gone through the roof and their tight-knit community was in danger of being overrun with the wrong element.  If they could lay blame on the right fall-guy then there was still a chance of retaining many of their residents, as well as sweep the recent ugliness under the rug long before the summer season.  Summer dollars kept their community afloat during the winter months so the bottom line had to be protected at all costs. 

            “Hey, Chief, do you know what you’re gonna say to everyone tonight?” Kline asked after the Mayor was gone.

            “Not exactly, but I’m working on it. Just keep making those calls for me, okay?”

            “Sure thing, Chief.”

As Grady headed out the door he placed a call to Hooper and one to Barker. He had to stop over at the hospital first and then he’d meet them at the beach. Counting on Poole’s ability to give him any insight was a gamble but Grady knew he was running out of time.

    Deputy Poole had been moved to the psych ward and was under constant surveillance, as a danger not only to himself but to others. His drab room was stripped of anything that could potentially be used as a weapon or to inflict bodily harm. There were no curtains on the windows, and no sheets or pillowcases on the bed. Instead of artwork hanging on the walls, someone with very little artistic talent had painted a mural to give the room a touch of color. Not that Poole could see it anyway; the damage he’d done to his eyes was most likely permanent. Grandma Rose met up with Grady in the hallway and relayed the latest information from the doctor.

            “It took quite a while to get Doug settled once they moved him up here to the ninth floor.  He started screaming again and they loaded him up with sedatives. I forget what all they said they were pushing through his IV. They say he might never be able to see again and his mind is so far gone they aren’t sure he’ll ever really come back to us.”

            “Have they tried asking him about what he saw? Has he said anything…anything at all about what attacked Josh?”

            “Most of what comes out of his mouth is pure gibberish. The only thing that sounded remotely like a real word was ‘eyes’. He keeps muttering about eyes. You mentioned Josh…I assume that means you found him then.”

            “Well, we found a body on the beach but it will be up to the Coroner to determine if it’s actually Josh.”

            “Oh, that’s right. You’ve never met him. Here, I have a picture of him in my wallet.”

            “Ma’am, that won’t be necessary,” Grady replied, trying to soften the blow.

            “Oh yes it is! I need to know if my grandson is dead. Bob is a good coroner but he moves slower than molasses in January!”

            “You don’t understand. A picture won’t help. What we found on the beach is unrecognizable as a person. Just pieces, really.”

Rose’s face paled and she reached out, clutching at the wall for support. Grady gathered her in his arms and held her until she steadied. He had to give her credit; she held it together and didn’t cry. Rose had always been a strong woman, proud in the best way; she would save her tears for the privacy of her bedroom.

            “Is there any way I can question Doug?”

            “I think you should try. If he knows something; it could save lives, right?

Grady nodded. He needed to know what Poole saw but there was no guarantee they’d be able to penetrate through the madness to get any answers.  Still, it was imperative that he try. 

            “Should I ask the nurse first?”

            “No,” Rose whispered back. “I think we’ll have a better chance without strangers in the room. Besides, they’d most likely say no.  After all, it only makes more work for them if Doug gets upset again.”

Finding solid truth in her words, Grady and Poole’s grandmother slipped back into room 908 without drawing much attention.  To help ease the trauma, Grandma Rose took her grandson’s hand and spoke softly to him.

            “You’re looking much better today, Doug.” She offered, then air-kissed above his head to avoid touching his sore, blistered skin.  “Guess what! Chief Grady came to visit. He’s been worried sick about you. In fact, he was here all night, sitting with you and me, watching out for us.”

            “That’s right, Poole. The guys at the station send their regards, too. They’re real concerned about you. We all miss you and can’t wait for you to come back to work. It’s just not the same without you, buddy.”

Doug Poole shifted slightly and groaned from the pain. A strand of drool dribbled from his mouth onto his hospital gown. Grady threw Rose a nervous glace but she nodded her encouragement.

            “Listen, buddy, the video equipment you had has been burned beyond repair. We called in an IT specialist and he said there was no way we’d be able to pull off anything you recorded. I need your help. Please, people’s lives are depending on you. I need you tell me what you saw.”

Ocean- Part 17

Already out of sorts, Grady dialed the number to the EconoLodge and asked for Hooper’s room.

            “I’m sorry, Mr. Hopper just checked out. If you can hold on, I’ll run out to the parking lot and see if I can catch him for you.”

            “Yes, please!” Grady struggled to keep his flaring temper from coming through in his voice.

            “Hello, this is Max Hooper.”

            “And where the hell did you think you were going?”

            Ah, Chief Grady…Would you believe I was on my way over to see you?

            “Prove it,” Grady snarled and hung up.

He’d decided to give Hooper fifteen minutes and if he didn’t show, there would be an APB put out for a silver Audi Q5 with Florida license plate SH8RKZ. He knew Hooper’s  out of state tags would stick out like a sore thumb and the state troopers would deliver the sneak in no time. Grady briefly entertained what he’d do with Hooper if he tried to skip town but there was no need. Within ten minutes, the oceanographer pulled into the station lot. 

            “You didn’t think I was going to come, did you?” Hooper laughed.  “For what it’s worth, I really was on my way. I wanted to say goodbye. You and I both know this has nothing to do with sharks. You’ve got a slew of crazy people killing each other. When I was at the diner having breakfast they said some kid tried to commit suicide and, of course, there’s that doctor’s wife who killed him for having an affair.”

            “True, but you saw the remains of those kids at the Coroner’s office. There’s not a human alive that could do that.”

            “I saw remains after that crackpot Coroner hacked them up. Nothing there convinced me that a shark attacked those kids.”

            “Tell you what, Hooper, if my suspicions are correct there should be a body down on the beach right now. Come with me and see if you still feel the same way.”

After a little more persuading, Hooper finally agreed. Barker lost the best-out-of-three in Rock, Paper, Scissors, so he reluctantly accompanied the others to the beach.  Grady drove straight to Sandcastle Lane and the three approached the beach from there. Just as Carl Hogan had told him the night before, they found evidence of two bonfires that had been doused.  Down by the waterline, was the proof Chief Grady had been expecting, the remains of a partially digested human body.

            “Oh Geez, another one,” Barker uttered between dry heaves.  “Who do you think it is…er, was?”

            “I’m pretty sure it’s Poole’s cousin, Josh.  According to his grandmother the two went out together last night and ol’ Joshie-boy was rambling about furthering their careers. Idiot.”

            “Chief, I don’t know what could have done this but I’m telling you, this is not a shark victim. Here, this is what someone looks like after a shark attack.” Hooper insisted as he pulled out his phone and brought up his photos. “See? In each of these, you can see the shredding from the teeth and massive tissue loss. This, this mess looks like something vomited a partially digested human onto the beach. Sharks only expel what they can’t digest, something like a license plate or a tortoise shell.  A shark would have no problem digesting a human.”

            “Well, what if it was sick or something…you know like it has a disease or cancer?” Grady asked, grasping at straws.

            “Highly unlikely, besides, these attacks have been going on for a while now. If it was that sick, it would have died by now and the attacks would have stopped.  Look, I get it…you need an answer. You need something to tell the people here but …Aw, man, don’t look at me like that. Maybe I could, um, tell you what, I’ll take some tissue samples and see if there are any enzymes that would support your theory. That’s really the best I can do.”

            “Yes! Good! Now we’re getting somewhere. Take your samples and we’ll just see.”

            “Just, don’t get your hopes up, Chief. I really don’t expect this to be anything more than a dead-end.”

While Hooper and Grady drove back to the station to get Max’s vehicle and equipment, Barker was left on the beach to start bagging evidence.  He decided to start up by the bonfires and leave the grisly stuff for the chief.

            “He makes the big bucks, let him deal with that mess.” Barker muttered, still trying to keep his breakfast from making a return appearance. 

    The minute Grady pulled into the station’s parking lot, Kline came running out to meet him. 

            “Chief!” He shouted, waving frantically.  “The Mayor’s office just called.  He’s on his way over to see you. It didn’t sound good.”

Hooper hopped in his car and left Chief Grady to wait for the Mayor’s arrival. He only hoped he’d be able to find something to help Grady out and potentially keep the rest of the community alive.