Lowcountry Burn: A Nick Falco Mystery

Turning, she looked at the distant dock light.  She looked down at the money in her hand and then stuffed it into the front pocket of her white shorts. She had to make a decision, stay where she was or go to the light.  She raised her right leg and the sneaker was sucked from her foot.  Raising her other foot se lost the other sneaker.  She took three awkward steps across the muddy section of land she was on, but then stopped and took a deep breath, the stagnant odor of the marsh causing her to gag.  Covering her nose with her hand, she considered going back a few steps and venturing out into the water.  She felt she could make better time and cover more ground by swimming, but the thought of the gators, snakes and sharks caused her to hesitate.  She heard a splashing sound to her left and then a swishing noise to her right.  Gators!  She thought.  She felt something rub up against her bare leg.  A snake? Quickly, she stepped from the mud until she could feel herself entering the water.  She walked out, still stepping in the muddy bottom, when she felt a sharp pain in the bottom of her foot.  Had she been bitten by a snake or had she stepped on a broken shell?  Utilizing the breaststroke, she quickly made her way out a few yards into the dark water and then stopped.  She found she could still touch the muddy bottom, the mud covering her ankles.  Looking toward the distant light, she screamed at the top of her lungs, “Please...someone help me!”  The moonlight returned as the clouds drifted away.  As far as she could see there was nothing but black water and the gloomy salt marsh.  She screamed again, “Help me...please!”