Chapter 3The River's Toll: Blood, Secrets, and the Family Business

Finally, it was Jimmy who broke the silence:

"That number… that number looks like Tom's!"

After saying that, he frantically pulled out his own phone.

After checking for a few seconds, he confirmed:

"It is! That's his number!"

Grandpa’s frown deepened.

Frank paused, then carefully asked:

"Dad… should we, should we take the boat out to check?"

Grandpa pondered for a good while before instructing:

"You go, but be careful… whether you find a body or not, no matter whose body you find… don't make a sound, and don't call the police. Come back and we'll discuss it."

Frank quickly nodded.

Then he motioned for the three of us cousins to get the boat ready.

Retrieving bodies has its tricks. The river isn't still water; bodies won't stay in one place.

But we were experienced. We knew there were a few spots downstream that were excellent for recovery.

Those places were full of rocks and reefs, where bodies usually got snagged.

However, there was no bank there; the river was flanked by thorny thickets, so we had to approach by boat.

Luckily, we knew the route by heart.

Soon, we reached the spot.

We couldn't risk the boat hitting the rocks, so we stopped and prepared for manual retrieval.

Jimmy and Scott tied on safety ropes, ready to jump in and search the rocks.

I looked at the murky, black river water. The searchlight only illuminated a small surface area, and I felt a knot of anxiety.

So, I suggested to Frank:

"Uncle Frank, I'm not good at retrieval, and my swimming isn't strong enough… maybe I can stay on the boat and assist you with signals?"

Frank seemed to sense my fear and waved his hand.

"It's fine, you don't have to go in. Your brothers are seasoned pros; let them do it… but you do need to practice your swimming… you'll be taking over your dad's role someday…"

I breathed a sigh of relief.

Frank didn't go into the water either.

Jimmy and Scott, wearing searchlights on their heads, calmly jumped in.

Bodies don't float quickly. Even if they're caught on a reef, they're likely snagged underwater.

Sure enough, after a short time, someone surfaced and signaled with their searchlight.

Frank quickly motored the boat over.

Getting closer, we saw it was Jimmy. He shouted:

"Found him! Throw down the rope!"

Frank quickly threw down the rope from the winch, and Jimmy submerged again to work.

Soon, the other end of the rope was tied to a body.

Frank started turning the winch. The body slowly rose toward the boat until it was lifted close to the bow…

Jimmy shone his light on the body's face and yelled:

"Holy crap! It really is Tom!"

Frank locked the winch, but his brow furrowed.

He looked around, then asked Jimmy, who was still in the water:

"Where's your brother?"

It hit me too—

Scott hadn't surfaced yet.

Jimmy froze.

"Pull the safety rope! Hurry!"