Shark Lover (23 page)

“That
was so rude!” Carly exclaimed. “That guy is your professor? He didn’t even
answer the questions and just took us out of the office. I feel so sorry for
you.” She put her hand on her chin, thinking of another possible reason the
professor had thrown them out. “That was also very suspicious. Do you think he
had something to do with Marc’s disappearance?”

“That’s
just the way Professor Tyson is. I don’t know how to explain it, but after a
while you just get used to him. He is rude at times, I guess he’s just really
devoted to his work. Now that you say that, it could actually be a possibility.
He might know something that we don’t. But wouldn’t he have told Officer
Sanchez?” Cathy grabbed her sister’s hand and starting leading her to another
part of the building.

“Maybe
or maybe not? He wouldn’t have told if he had something to do with it or if
Marc told him confidential information. Did he like Marc?” She questioned. “And
where are you taking me next?”

“He
did like Marc, that’s why it would be hard to blame him as a suspect. He might
have confidential information about Marc that he’s not sharing or worse yet, he
may just not care at all. It’s too hard to tell at this point, but we will keep
him on our radar. Next I am taking you to the bio lab. It could have been
possible that Marc told a student where he was going or what he was doing a few
days ago. It’s the last place in this university that might have some clues.
After we try that out then we can go to the beach and ask around there. I’m
thinking Ocean Beach first.”

“Sounds
like a plan. This looks like the lab. Let’s go in.” Carly hurried in first with
Cathy following.

“Let’s
ask him. That’s Ken. He pretty much lives in the lab. He’s not only the lab
monitor, but also a dedicated student.”

“He
sounds like a big nerd.” Carly rolled her eyes.

“Hey,
he’s not a nerd.” Cathy playfully shoved her sister. “You might as well just
call me a nerd too then.”

“You
are a nerd Cathy. We all know that. Now let’s get to the chase and ask this Ken
guy what he knows about Marc.” She practically pushed Cathy into Ken before
retreating from the lab to get a drink of water.

“Hey
Cathy. What are you doing here so early? Do you need some help on a project or
something?” Ken looked up from his microscope at Cathy and smiled. He always
loved helping a student. Working in the bio lab was not only his hobby and
passion, it was his one true career path.

“I’m
actually here to ask you about another student. Marc Porter has gone missing
and we are trying to uncover his whereabouts. Have you seen him and when was
the last time that you saw him if you did?” She asked in an authoritive tone. Cathy
was getting used to questioning people now. It was her need for information
that kept her going at the fast pace she was running with.

“I
haven’t seen him for a few days. The last time I saw him was about three days
ago. He came in to use a microscope and then he left abruptly. It looked as if
something was troubling him. I did ask him if he needed help, but he said he
was fine so I just let him work independently. I haven’t seen him since that
day. How long has he been missing for?” He asked with alarm.

“He’s
been missing for about three days. Nobody knows where he went or where he is.
Whenever we call him, the phone just goes straight to voicemail. His phone
can’t even be tracked. His mother filed the report late last night. It’s not
like him to just disappear, that’s why we are all so worried.”

“That’s
awful. I don’t even know what to say.” He put down a magnifying glass that was
in his hand and sat down. “I haven’t seen him since that last day I told you
about. I’m really sorry. I hope you find him. I’ll keep an eye out for him. I
really hope he’s okay.”

“Thanks,
I appreciate it. I’ll keep you updated. I hope he’s okay too.” She sighed
disappointed in the new information that she had found out. If Marc had been
here three days ago and hadn’t showed up since then, that did not help his
case. Cathy wanted more information. She knew it wasn’t Ken’s fault that he didn’t
have any more data, but she just wanted something that would help trace her
back to Marc. “Carly? Where did you go?” She called out looking for her sister.
A few minutes later her sister’s blond curly hair emerged in the hallway and
Cathy felt relief running through her. She had already lost Marc, she didn’t
want to lose her sister too.

“Did
you find out any new information? I went to get a water. I figured he would
talk more if it was just you in the room.” She explained carefully.

“Unfortunately,
no. All he said was that he saw Marc a few days ago and he didn’t seem to be in
a good mood. Marc’s never been in a bad mood since I met him. I know I have
only known him for a few months, but he’s just a happy-go-lucky person.
Something must have been wrong before he disappeared. If only we could find out
what.”

“That’s
not a good sign. If he was in a bad mood, anything could have happened. It
would be great if we could figure out where he went next. We already kind of
know what happened the morning he went missing. He woke up, he went to the lab
and then the trail goes blank. Don’t worry we will find out what happened next.
Let’s go to the beach, Cathy. It’s our next lead.”

“That’s
true, we do know that much about his day. You’re right, we need to find the
other missing pieces. He probably would have gone to the beach. His daily plan
is usually consists of lab time and then running the beach. To Ocean Beach it
is. I’ll drive. Let’s go.”

Cathy
and Carly ran out to her car as the rain softly fell down on their heads. Cathy
didn’t welcome the rain. She knew it would just back up the traffic even more
and she needed to find Marc. It was almost as if the universe was crying that
Marc was missing. The rain made her feel even more depressed than she already was.
She tried to think of the positives. They did have a plan mapped out and they
had started to figure out Marc’s schedule for that morning. She would find him,
no matter what it took. On her way to Ocean Beach, she prayed that she would
find some answers here that would help her get closer to Marc.

            The
wind was blowing through her hair as she parked the jeep near Ocean Beach. She
was determined to find him. Cathy and Carly headed towards the beach, eager to
find the answers to Marc’s disappearance. Cathy threw off her shoes and held
them in her hands as Carly followed suit. They both walked at a face pace,
still out of energy from the last search at the university. Both of them wore
determined expressions and eyes with purpose.

            “So
who are we going to ask first Cathy? We don’t really have a plan set so far,”
Carly said. “I know we are kind of just acting on a whim, but we have to really
plan out who would be the most beneficial person to talk to on this beach. They
would have had to have been here in the last few days and have a good view of
guests coming onto the beach.”

            “That’s
a good question. You’re right, I haven’t really thought about who to ask first.
Ever since I got that phone call this morning, I have been going non-stop. But
yeah we need to think about this strategically. Obviously we can’t just ask
beach-goers since they could just be vacationers or they may not frequent the
beach every day. I do have an idea of how we can help them to identify Marc
though.” She took out her phone from the back pocket of her jeans and pulled up
a picture of the two of them on the beach together. “We’ll show them this
picture and ask if they saw this guy a few days ago or lately.”

            “Awwwww
that’s a cute picture of the two of you,” Carly replied holding the phone
closer to her eyes to see the picture better in the glowing sunlight of
daybreak. “This will be pretty helpful for them to identify him. As far as
asking people, how about some of the daily surfers? Surfers come out to this beach
daily. The water was made for surfers and only surfers basically.”

            “Brilliant
idea,” Cathy said as her eyes widened. Carly could tell just by looking at her
that she was already thinking ahead. “I don’t know many surfers here though. Do
you? Maybe we could just start asking them. Whenever we see a guy in a wetsuit
who looks serious about surfing we’ll just ask him if he saw Marc recently.”
She paused for a minute while thinking. “We could also ask the National Park
Service since this beach is a part of the ground that they cover. That’s also
an idea. Although it’s more likely a surfer would have had a better chance of
seeing him.”

            “I
don’t know any surfers, although I wish I did at a time like this. I think we
should stick with the surfers for now. There’s a few down by the shore with
wetsuits and boards, we could start out by asking them. They might have some
information. And sorry for bringing this up right now, but the guy with the
dark long hair is really cute.”

            “Carly!
Really? You’re seriously thinking of hitting on guys at a time like this?”
Cathy rolled her eyes again and put her hands on her hips in a scolding motion
towards her sister.

            “No,
I was just giving my opinion. Sheesh. Sorry I’ll keep my thoughts to myself
then.” Carly retorted still staring at the good-looking surfer.

            “Carly,
you’re drooling.”

            “I
am not!”

            “You
are too, now let’s go over there and show them Marc’s picture and see if they
have any information,”  Cathy said as she started heading in the direction of
the surfers. “Carly are you coming?” She peered behind her shoulder and asked.
Her sister had been just standing there and gawking at the cute surfer. Cathy
was fine with her sister having little crushes, but now was not the time or
place. She needed to find Marc and Carly was supposed to be assisting her, not
slowing her down.

            “Have
you seen this guy in the picture? He’s been missing for a few days and we are
trying to find out where he went.” Cathy asked a blond surfer, cutting straight
to the chase. When she wanted something, she made sure that she got it, no
matter how it made her look or what the consequences would be.

            “Nah,
I haven’t seen that dude. I would have remembered his curly, brown hair. So who
are you?” He ran a hand threw his dark blond hair and winked at her.

            “I
don’t have time for this. I am trying to find my missing boyfriend.” She said
in a firm voice. “Come on Carly, let’s go ask another one.” She called to her
sister who was still trailing behind her.

            They
walked a few miles until they approached a surfer with short brown hair. He
looked so similar to Marc, Cathy could feel her heart jump in her chest.
“Excuse me sir, I have a question,” She said trying to gain the attention of
the man. He wasn’t paying attention and was waxing his board. “Excuse me. I
need to ask you something it’s important.” He still didn’t even look up at her
and she turned towards her sister for support. “Carly? Help me? He won’t even
look at me.”

            “He
has earplugs in that’s why,” She said pointing at the black cord that was
running down his body. “Don’t worry I got this one.” She pulled out the plugs
and looked directly at him. “Hey, have you seen this guy?” She asked snatching
the phone away from her sister to show the surfer the picture.

            “No,
I’ve never seen that guy in my life. Sorry.” He put his plugs back in and
started waxing his board once again.

            “Carly,
this isn’t working! We’re never going to find Marc like this. These guys don’t
know him or they have never seen him and I just feel like we are wasting
valuable time.” Cathy sighed putting her hands over her face as tears started
to roll down her cheeks. She hadn’t realized how emotional she was getting from
all of this. Constantly searching for Marc was taking a toll on her.

            “Cathy,
we only asked two guys. Plus it’s still really early in the morning. We might
have better luck later on in the day, who knows. We can’t give up yet. There’s
some more surfers further down the beach. Let’s just go ask them. Even if we
aren’t finding out specific information about his disappearance, we are at
least finding out that he probably wasn’t on this beach this early in the
morning a few days ago. So that’s something positive to think about. Now let’s
go. I’m not going to let you give up.” Carly marched down the beach as Cathy followed
along. She was determined to help her sister and she wouldn’t stop trying until
they found a clue that led them to Marc.

*
* *

            The
morning had passed on to the afternoon and they still hadn’t received any
information that would help them find Marc. Cathy and Carly had asked over
fifty surfers. Not one of them had said that they had seen Marc. Cathy was
starting to get down on herself. She didn’t like failing. Failing wasn’t her
realm. She was used to being successful and always getting what she wanted.
Feeling hopeless, she didn’t know where to turn. She thought that they would
have had some type of clue by now. Carly was still walking at a brisk pace full
of energy. She was determined and Cathy appreciated her help, but she was feeling
downhearted.

            “Carly,
this isn’t going anywhere. Just like I told you a few hours ago. None of these
guys know Marc or know where he went. I think it’s time to try another
location,” She said wiping a band of sweat from her forehead. “I’m just not
sure where we can try next. Do you have any ideas?”