Chapter 2 - The Woman Under the Float
Daniel hauled Nora onto the deck and started chest compressions while Lily counted in a shaking voice. On the fourth cycle, the woman coughed and spat pool water onto the white stone.
"That's it," he said. "Stay with me."
Vanessa finally reached for her phone. She dialed with hands that were almost steady.
Nora seized Daniel's sleeve. "The little girl," she rasped. "Keep her away from—"
Her eyes moved to Vanessa. Terror replaced confusion.
The ambulance doors closed, and Daniel stood watching the vehicle leave as though he could stop it with his eyes. Chlorine burned in his nose. He had scraped his palm on the concrete pulling Nora out, but he barely noticed the blood. Vanessa offered him a towel, then asked whether the police really needed to stay. When he didn't answer, she said people might misunderstand what had happened, and misunderstanding could damage his business. He couldn't believe she was thinking about his business while a stranger struggled to breathe. Maya noticed, too. She asked the paramedics for the time of their arrival, the position of the float and the precise location where Daniel had found Nora. The details sounded ordinary until Daniel realized they were being preserved because somebody might later challenge them. A romantic afternoon had turned into a scene that needed evidence markers.
"No," Nora whispered.
"You need to rest," Vanessa said, kneeling beside them. "You've had an accident."
Nora tried to pull away. Paramedics arrived through the garden gate before she could speak again.
Detective Maya Ortiz followed them twenty minutes later. A neighbor had reported a woman screaming by the pool. Maya took one look at Nora's wrist and asked for everyone to remain on the property.
"We were celebrating," Vanessa said. "I stepped inside to get champagne. I came back and found her in the water."
"You just told the dispatcher she was a trespasser," Maya replied.
Vanessa blinked. "I assumed she was."
Daniel looked at the ring box lying open near his shoe. The ring had rolled beneath a lounge chair.
"Who is she?" he asked.
"I have no idea."
"You said her name."
"I thought she looked like somebody I used to know."
Lily moved behind Daniel's leg and gripped his pants.
Maya crouched to her level. "Did you see what happened before your dad jumped in?"
Lily nodded, then looked at Vanessa. "She told me nobody would believe me."
Daniel felt his stomach drop.
"When?" Maya asked.
May you like
Lily reached into the pocket of her pink dress and pulled out a silver button, still attached to a piece of blue thread.
"When she pushed the lady," Lily said.
