Ch 1

It was a bright warm Saturday morning in June. As promised by his dad, Joey Milligan would be going fishing. He was so excited that he was up and dressed by 5 o'clock. His father was already pouring coffee into a Thermos and putting some biscuits in his backpack. "Come on son," he called to his 10-year-old.

They drove to B. Everett Jordan lake and backed their new F-150 down the boat ramp. Soon they were on their way to a nice father and son morning.

As they trolled near the shore looking for a good spot, Joey noticed something large caught up in the brush. He thought he was seeing debris or trash of some kind. Suddenly, his eyes grew large. "Dad! Stop! There's a person in the water."

At first Curt Milligan thought his son was just letting his young imagination get the better of him in the first light of day but as he looked, he too believed a man was in the water. He trolled over, telling Joey to get their cell phone. As he approached, he was certain the man was dead. He got out and walked over to the body in the waist-high water.

He was looking at a man about his age, early thirties, with pale skin and red hair. His lips were the tiniest bit blue. He put his ear to the man's chest and listened closely. It was low and very slow, but the "lub, dub" of the heart sounded. He jumped. "Joey call 9-1-1. Tell them to come to the east boat ramp NOW." He pulled the man free of the brush and floated him gently to the boat.

"All right, son, this man is hurt. He's a big man, so you help me now," he instructed Joey. "Get his arm there son." Curt just getting his Honorary Discharge from the Marine Corps was in good shape and managed the lift the man enough to roll him into the boat. "Joey, don't let him land hard. Keep your legs under his head, son. Good job."

"Joey grab those blankets and wrap them around his torso, he's very cold, too cold," Curt watched as his son moved quickly. Curt turned around and headed for the boat ramp.

"Hey Dad?" Joey said. "I know this guy. He's from wrestling."

"Wrestling? Around here? Who is he?"

"No Dad, from TV on Monday Night Raw," Curt looked past his son. It was the Irish wrestler they saw as they occasionally flipped through and watched Raw for a little bit. They weren't big wrestling fans but had seen enough to know.

"Joey, they had a show here the other night. They had that Friday night show …"

"Smackdown," Joey interjected.

"Yeah Smackdown. They were here in Raleigh on Tuesday." Curt looked puzzled. "How in the world … how did he get here? Fully clothed in the water? This seems very suspicious."

"Dad, dad! Maybe someone threw him in after he won a match?" If the situation weren't so serious, Curt would have laughed at his son's sincerity.

"Well, just something funny is up, Joe, let's don't carried away with wild ideas," Curt noticed the ramp coming into view and the area's fire department first-responders on the scene. A police cruiser was coming into view as well.