Wakened by a phone call Roy Desoto reached over and pulled the handset off of the receiver.

Groggy and half asleep he answered. “Hullo?”

“Hey Roy! Did I catch ya at a bad time?” asked a familiar voice on the other end.

“Johnny?  What’s the matter?”

“Nuthin’s the matter.  I just got home and I couldn’t wait to call you.”

Roy tried to contain his anger.  “Do you know what time it is?”

“Well, it’s a little after eleven. You in bed already?”

“I was. What’s so important?”

“Hey, remember last month when we were at that hot dog stand?”

“Johnny, you called me at eleven at night to talk about that old hot dog stand?”

“No, let me finish,” replied Johnny.  “When we were there I entered that contest to win a week at a beach house.  You said it was stupid and I’d
never win, remember?”

There was no reply on the other end.  “Roy?  Are ya still there?”

“Uh huh.”

“Come on, Roy, wake up.  This is great news.”

“Okay, make it quick.”

“Well, I won that week at the beach house.  I can use it the week of the Fourth of July.  Isn’t that great?  I plan to have you and all the guys over for a party. I figured you’d be able to make is since Joanne and the kids will be at her mother’s.  Roy? You still there?”

Roy pretended he was sound asleep.  “Roy? Okay, good night.  I’ll call ya in the morning.”

Desoto grinned to himself as he hung up the phone.  “I’ll get you back partner. I’ll get you back.”

~*~*~

Station 51's A-shift had the Fourth of July off.  Johnny spent all of his spare time getting the beach house stocked with beer and food for his big party.

After seeing his family off on their trip, Roy headed over to give Johnny a hand with setting things up. He pulled into the driveway and noticed that
Johnny’s Land Rover wasn’t there.  He decided to try the front door just in case but received no response.

“Where are you, Johnny?” Roy thought to himself.  “Oh well, I’ll just check out the beach while I wait.”

There was a slight warm breeze on the coast as Roy walked along the water’s edge.  He was really enjoying watching the waves hit the sand when he
noticed someone struggling to stay afloat in the water.

A young woman screamed out, “Help me! Help me!”

Roy kicked off his shoes and jumped into the ocean.  He swam quickly towards the woman but he wasn’t able to reach her in time. Her head went under the water the waves and he lost sight of her.

Roy continued to dive frantically, holding his breath as long as he could each time he dove below the surface.  He came up with nothing.  Deciding to
try one last time, he thought he saw a small shadow a few feet away.  His lungs about to burst, he dove down deeper in an attempt to get a better
look.  Suddenly something grabbed his ankle.  He struggled to break free but the grip was firm. Then, everything went black.

~*~*~

Johnny returned from the store and noticed his partner’s car parked in the driveway.

“Great,” he thought. “Now Roy can help me get all this stuff in.”

Gage opened the front door and carried in several bags of groceries.  Before gathering the rest, he opened the back sliding glass door and peered out
over the balcony in search of his partner.

“Roy?  Hey, Roy, where are ya?  Can you give me a hand?”

When Roy didn’t respond, Johnny finished brining in the rest of the groceries himself and then headed down to the ocean’s edge.  He didn’t get far when he saw a body partially immersed in the water.

“Roy!”

Johnny ran to his partner and dragged him out of the surf.  He quickly felt for a pulse and found it was weak.  Roy’s breathing was shallow and Johnny quickly began CPR.

Desoto soon came around and began to cough.  Johnny rolled him to his side.

“Are you okay?”

Shaky, Roy responded. “Yeah, I think so.”

“What were you doing swimming in your clothes?”

It took Roy a few moments to respond as he struggled to recall what had happened.  “G…girl.  There was a girl.  She yelled for help. I couldn’t find
her. Something grabbed my ankle….. pulled me under.”

Johnny scoped out the area.  “I don’t see anyone. Let’s take a look at your leg.”

Gage ripped open his partner’s pants to check out his leg.  Roy’s ankle was red but there were no marks.

“Well, it doesn’t look like a shark attacked you.  Are you sure you saw a person out there?”

“Yeah, she must have drowned,” sighed Roy.  “I tried to get to her but she went under.”

“Okay, let’s get you inside and we’ll call the Coast Guard.  Think you can make it?”

Roy slowly got to his feet with the help of his partner.  He was still a bit shaky but was able to make it up to the house on his own.

“Hand me your keys and I’ll get your bag out of the car for you,” Johnny offered.  “You’ll feel better in dry clothes.”

“Yeah, you’re right.  Here, it’s in the trunk.”

~*~*~

Johnny called and alerted the Coast Guard and police about a possible drowning and then brought in his partner’s things while Roy jumped into the
shower.

“Here, I’m setting your stuff on the bed.  Are you doing okay in there?”

“I’m fine,” yelled Roy. “Give me a minute.”

Roy was telling the truth, he felt fine but he couldn’t get his mind off of that young woman. He only saw her for a moment before she disappeared below the surface but he couldn’t get her face or her call for help out of his mind. He also couldn’t shake the feeling that someone or something was
deliberately trying to pull him under.

~*~*~

Johnny answered the door when the policemen showed up.  Roy finished drying off and met them in the living room.  There wasn’t much he could tell them but they filed a report.  There was no sign of anyone in the surf but a search crew was called out anyway.

“Well, there isn’t much we can do here right now,” said Johnny.  “I think we should get you checked out at the hospital.”

Roy protested. “Johnny, I’m fine.  I’m just tired and hungry.  Why don’t you fire up the grill.”

“Okay, I’ll be happy to,” replied Johnny.  “As soon as we get back from the hospital I’ll make the steaks I bought today.”

“Johnny!”

“It won’t do any good to argue, Roy.  Let’s go.”

~*~*~

Desoto called his wife that night to fill her in on the near drowning and his trip to Rampart.  He didn’t want to worry her while she was out of town but he knew she’d kill him if she didn’t hear it directly from him and found out from someone else later.

 Joanne was relieved that her husband was okay but warned him to take it easy while she was away.  Roy promised he was fine and urged his wife to
have fun with her family.

~*~*~

The next day was bright and sunny.  The breeze from the ocean kept the partner’s cool as they had breakfast on the balcony.  Roy hadn’t slept well.
He just couldn’t get the young woman out of his mind.  The search was called off at dusk with no trace of a body. There were no missing persons reported as of that morning. Johnny decided to get his partner’s mind off of the incident by talking about his plans. He couldn’t help his enthusiasm.  “Man, it’s gonna be a great party tonight.”

“Yeah, I think even Chet is excited about this one.  He’s bringing that new girl he met at the supermarket.”

“Oh, that’s right.  She’s that car dealer’s daughter. What was her name? Donna?”

Roy thought for a moment.  “No, I think it’s Dana.  Either way, her father is loaded.”

Johnny smiled.  “Too bad she doesn’t have a sister.”

“Well, we’ll see how long this one lasts.  His track record is just about as bad as yours.”

“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?” asked Johnny.  “I do okay.  It’s not my fault that they just can’t handle too much of Johnny Gage at one time.”

Roy laughed and nearly choked on his coffee.  “You are really something, partner.  You are really something.”

~*~*~

After breakfast Roy helped Johnny set up for the party.  The guests were expected at noon.  The plans were to spend the day on the beach and then
barbeque at dinnertime.  The evening would be topped off with fireworks on the beach.

Chet and his date were the first to arrive.  Dana was petite with long blonde hair.  Roy and Johnny both found her to be very attractive and she had a personality to match.  Desoto had a strange feeling he had met her before but he couldn’t place a finger on where it would have been. He decided not to say anything.

“This place is great,” said Dana.  “My Dad has one similar about a mile down the beach.”

“Really?” replied Johnny.  “Do you have a lot of parties there?”

“No, my Dad is pretty strict about that.  He doesn’t like crowds and is always afraid his things will get ruined. Sometimes I think he cares more about his belonging than he does about me.”

“Wow, that’s too bad.  Well, we should have a great crowd here tonight. I’m glad you came.”

Dana smiled. “Thanks, Johnny.  Chet really has some great friends.”

The blonde reached over and planted kiss on Chet Kelly’s cheek.  “This was a great idea.  I’m glad I let you talk me into coming.”

~*~*~

 By noon the beach and balcony were full of Johnny’s friends and co-workers. The party was in full swing and everyone was having a great time playing volleyball and swimming in the ocean. Mike and Chet decided to do a little surfing.

“Mike, you surf?” asked Johnny.  “I never knew you surfed.”

“Yeah, well, I’ve been doing it since I was a teenager. It’s how I met my wife.  She’s pretty good at it too.”

“Think you can teach me?”

“Sure, why not,” replied Mike.  “Come on, I’ll give you a few basic lessons on the board before we go out.”

Mike spent a half hour showing Gage how to stand and keep his balance. Johnny couldn’t wait to hit the water and try it out for himself.

“Okay, I think you’re ready to give it a shot.”

“Great, come on, let’s get out there,” replied Johnny.

Mike was surprised to find that Gage was a natural at surfing. “Wow, Johnny. I’m impressed.  Are you sure you’ve never done this before?”

“Nope, never cared to learn before. This is a lot of fun.  I wish I hadn’t waited so long to learn.”

Chet watched from the beach as Johnny road his board to the shore.  “Come on, Dana, are you ready to get out there?”

“Sure, just give me a moment. I left my towel in the house.”

Dana ran up to the house and returned about five minutes later.

“Hey, what took you so long?” asked Chet.

“Oh, I couldn’t find my towel,” she replied.

“Well, come on, let’s get out there. I don’t want Gage showing me up.”

Dana laughed. “Okay, okay. Let’s go.”

Chet and his girlfriend paddled out and met up with Johnny, who was waiting to catch a good wave. Mike had returned to the beach to take a break.

“Great idea to spend the 4th out here Gage,” said Chet. “I still can’t believe you got so lucky and won a week here.”

Johnny smiled. “Race ya to the shore.”

Chet and Johnny both caught the same wave and rode it to shore, leaving Dana behind.

Both men made it to shore at the same time and dragged their boards up onto the sand.  “Man, that’s tiring,” said Johnny.  “Fun, but tiring.”

“Yeah, hey where did Dana go?”

The men looked out to see Dana struggling in the surf.  “Help!” she yelled. “Help me! “

Dana had fallen off of her board and was frantically trying to keep her head above water.

Chet and Johnny dove into the ocean and headed towards the drowning woman.

Roy and Mike heard the commotion and looked out to see the men racing towards Dana.

“Hey, what’s going on?” asked Mike.

“I don’t know, it looks like she’s in trouble.”

Johnny reached Dana just after she went under the water’s surface.  He quickly lost sight of her and dived down further.  Chet came up behind him
and followed his lead.

Both men went up for air and then dived back down to continue the search. The second time down, Gage felt someone grab his ankle.  He struggled to get loose and grabbed for Chet who was beside him.  Chet felt the same sensation on his ankle.  He was being held down by a tight grip and he couldn’t get away to go back up for air. He took Johnny’s lead again and grabbed for him as well.

Johnny almost met his mark when something sharp hit against the back of his head.  He quickly passed out.  Unable to get away, Chet also lost his battle with consciousness.

The rest of the crew and the partygoers were all standing on the edge of the surf and watching the events as they unfolded.

“Where did they go?” asked Roy. “Mike, did you see where they went under?”

“Straight out.  Come on, let’s give em a hand.”

Both men quickly made their way out to their co-workers.  By the time they reached them, Chet and Johnny were floating face down in the surf.  Roy
grabbed his partner and Mike took hold of Chet. Keeping their heads above water, they pulled the men to the shore and dragged them up onto the sand.

Roy and Mike worked feverishly to revive their co-workers while Marco ran up to the house to call for an ambulance.  Chet was the first to come around.

“Da…..Dana,” he whispered.  “Did you help Dana?”

Mike took a deep breath and answered his friend.  “No, I’m sorry Chet. There was no sign of her when we got to you.”

“What….about Johnny?  Something…… was pulling us down……”  Chet closed his eyes and tried to calm his breathing.

“Roy’s still working on him,” replied Mike.

DeSoto was trying hard not to panic as he worked to breathe life back into his partner.  Johnny was unresponsive at first but after a few minutes of
CPR, he was breathing on his own.

Having returned, Marco helped Chet sit up while Mike went to Roy’s side to assist with Gage.

“How is he?”

Roy’s words were shaky, “He’s breathing on his own but he has a really bad gash on the back of his head.  He’s still unconscious. How’s Chet?”

“I think he’s in shock.  He really liked Dana a lot.  We need to look for her body.”

Roy’s mood was somber. “I know.”

~*~*~

Paramedics reached the scene within a few minutes.  To DeSoto, it seemed more like an eternity.

Chet appeared to be okay physically, but emotionally he was a wreck. Johnny still hadn't regained consciousness and his partner was growing more
concerned as time passed.

Roy assisted in loading his friends into the ambulance. "Mike, I'll ride with them."


"Okay, I'll take care of things here and meet you there later," he replied.
 

~*~*~

A search and rescue crew couldn’t find a trace of the missing woman and had to call of their attempt until the next morning.  Mike stayed behind until
all of the guests had gone home except the few who were staying over at the beach house.  Two hours later he headed out to meet Roy at the hospital.

Dixie watched as Roy was pacing back and forth in the emergency room corridor. “You know, you are going to wear a hole in the floor if you don’t
sit still.  That partner of yours is hard headed.  He’ll be okay, I’m sure of it.”

Roy tried to smile.  “Yeah, I know you’re right.  I just can’t shake this weird feeling I have about these drowning incidents. Chet said someone was
holding them under water.  The same thing happened to me yesterday and now two women are missing.”

“Yeah, Chet filled me in on that.  They should let him go in a little while. He’s fine physically, but he’s having a hard time with the death of his
girlfriend.”

“They still haven’t found a body either,” Mike chimed into the conversation as he walked up from behind them.  “How’s Johnny?”

“No news yet,” replied Dixie. “I tell you what. You two wait right here and I’ll go and see what I can find out.”

Roy grabbed Dixie’s arm and gave it a squeeze.  “Thanks, Dix.”

Ten minutes later Dixie emerged from one of the treatment rooms with Chet by her side.  His mood was sullen but he was happy to see his friends.  “Hey, guys.  Sorry to ruin your night.”

“This isn’t your fault, Chet,” replied Roy. “Dix, how’s Johnny?”

“He’s starting to come around.  Dr. Brackett wants you in there.  They’re in treatment room three.”

Roy rushed off to be with his partner.  He walked into the room just as Johnny was opening his eyes.  “Johnny?  Johnny, can you hear me?”

“Give him a second, Roy,” suggested Dr. Brackett.

Johnny’s head was cloudy.  He could feel a dull ache across the back just above his neck.  “Roy?”

“I’m right here.  Are you okay?”

“Uh, yeah, I think so.  Water….something grabbed me and…”

“Shhh…take it easy.”

“It’s okay, Roy.  I’m okay.  Something or maybe someone hit me in the head.”

“You have a slight concussion,” replied Dr. Brackett.  “You’re going to be fine.  You just need some rest.”

“What happened to Dana?  Did you get her out?”

Roy’s head dropped.  “No, we didn’t see her.  When we got to you and Chet, she wasn’t there.”

“Oh my God, Chet……how’s Chet?”

“Easy, Johnny, Chet’s fine.  He’s upset about Dana but he’s out in the waiting room with Mike.”

Gage closed his eyes.  “What is going on out at that beach?  Two girls missing and we all nearly drowned along with them.”

“I don’t know but I’m going to do whatever it takes to find out.”

~*~*~

Two days later Johnny and Roy sat out on the balcony overlooking the ocean as the sun came up.  Johnny was still having headaches but overall his
biggest concern was the time he missed getting to stay in the beach house.

“Man, I can’t believe Brackett made me stay nearly two days in the hospital. I still think he was over reacting about my head injury.”

“Johnny, he was just being cautious.”

“I know but sometimes I think he just likes to torture me.”

Roy laughed.  It was the first time since the incident that he found anything to be funny.  “Maybe I should take lessons from him.  Torturing you
might be kind of fun.”

“Oh, ha, ha,” replied Gage.  “Very funny.”

“Yeah, well, not much has been funny since we got here.  I’m not sure why you even want to continuing staying.”

“Roy, how often do you get to live in a beach house even if it’s only for a short time?”

“Okay, not ever.  But after all that’s happened, I don’t think it’s something I want to do again.”

Johnny followed Roy inside and plopped down on the couch.  “Yeah, it is odd. Two girls drown in the same spot and they both disappear without a trace. Something very fishy is going on.”

Before Roy could reply, the phone rang and Johnny leaned over and answered it.  “What?  Are you kidding me?  How’s that possible?  Roy! Turn the TV on to channel seven.”

Roy did as directed and both men were quickly drawn into the news story that was unfolding before them.  Dana’s father had received a ransom note along with a picture of Dana and a current newspaper.  She was alive and her kidnappers had high demands.

“Johnny, do you remember anything from Dana’s drowning?” asked Roy.

“Not much except for the hand grabbing my ankle, just like what happened with you.”

“Yeah, it’s odd that there was no ransom request after the girl I saw disappeared.  I mean, both incidents were so similar.  If this was some kind
of planned attack, why didn’t we hear anything about the other girl?”

Johnny thought for moment.  “Maybe the other girl really died?  Maybe it was a practice run?”

Roy’s voice trailed off. “Yeah….a practice run with the same girl.”

“What?”

“Dana seemed pretty familiar to me when I met her.  I thought it was just that we’ve helped so many people. It’s common for someone to seem as though I’ve met them.”

“You really think she’s the same girl you tried to save?”

“Yeah, now I do.”

“Roy, wouldn’t that mean Dana helped plan her own kidnapping. Why would she do that?”

“Because she hated her Dad so much.” Neither paramedic had noticed they had a visitor in the house.

“Chet!  I didn’t hear you come in,” said Roy.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.  I just felt like hanging out with friends after seeing that news conference.  The police questioned me.  They put together both incidents out here and they think she’s involved too.”

Johnny stood up and put a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, Chet. I know you really liked her.  I hope we are wrong and that she comes back safely.”

~*~*~

Two weeks later, the police caught up with Dana and her “kidnappers”.  They were right about her being involved in her own kidnapping.  She had been seeing Chet as a cover while her real boyfriend helped to plan out a way to steal money from her father. They had used diving equipment and a small boat to pull off the fake kidnapping. Chet was taking it well and Johnny had decided not to rub the incident in his face. Instead he took him out for a night of partying with a few new girls he’d met.  They stayed out nearly all night.
 
After dropping Chet off at his apartment, Johnny hurried home and crawled into bed. “Ahh.…..it’s Sunday and I get to sleep in all day.”

~*~*~

Gage was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.  He was in a fog when the phone woke him up from a deep sleep.

“Uh…hello…”

“Hey Johnny!  Are ya up yet?” replied Roy.  “It’s five in the morning.  This is going to be great day!”

“Roy, I just got into bed.  Why are you calling me?”

“Because, I just wanted you to know what a beautiful day today is going to be.”

“You had to call and tell me this at five in the morning?”

“Yep, well, I’ll be there in an hour so get your butt up.  We’re going fishing.”

Roy put the phone on the receiver and rolled back over in bed.  Joanne turned and stared at her husband.  “What was that all about?  You’re not
going fishing.”

“I know.” Roy smiled.  “But paybacks are hell.  He’ll figure it out in a few hours and go back to bed.  That’s about how long it took me to go back to sleep when he woke me up.”

Joanne laughed.  “You are evil, Roy Desoto. Pure evil.”

Roy raised his eyebrows and grinned.  “I know.”

*Click on the wave to send Mychand feedback

Stories by Mychand           Guest Dispatchers