Spoilers for the double bill, which is already shaping itself up to be like a thriller.
Enjoy and please let me know what you think.
What I signed up for.
Despite being a good swimmer like most of the locals on Saint Marie, Officer Marlon Pryce had never really gone snorkelling; in fact, when he had begun diving off Turtle's Bay for the gun used for the murder of Pasha Verdinikov, a little diving trip he himself had suggested when he had seen the map Inspector Parker had asked for so he could see what the local area around the villa the now-deceased musician had been staying in, he had pointed out what he would have done with the murder weapon if it had been him, Marlon had not foreseen the problems he was having now.
The wetsuit he was wearing was too large for his smaller, thinner frame. Water was passing through the open sleeves and going through his back, creating a sort of inner ballon separating the wetsuit from his skin; if he had known the wetsuit would provide as much protection for him as a car going down a hill without any kind of clutch or brakes, he would never have bothered putting it on.
The flippers were alright, even if he had felt like he was walking on air when he'd followed JP to the bike and sidecar to get to this part of the island, and in the water, they did the job so long as he kept in his mind not to push too hard otherwise he'd go further out than he wanted.
The mask and the snorkel were something else; the screen of the mask kept steaming up with his breath which made it hard for Marlon to see the seabed even through the crystal clear water of the Caribbean. That was a problem in itself, the worst problem Marlon had at the moment was the snorkel he was using; he had to keep really close to the surface otherwise if he went too deep, water would pass down the breathing tube into his mouth. More than once Marlon was forced to return to the surface and spit out the brine collecting in his mouth before he dove down again.
Even worse he was certain something has slipped into his wetsuit, but he would not be able to tell for sure until he was safely back on dry land, and Marlon was hoping he found something soon so he could get out of the water.
He was left cursing the Saint Marie police for not having standby diving equipment laid on in the station permanently.
He cursed Sergeant Hooper for volunteering him for this gig, but he imagined this was a rite of passage for new police officers.
He also cursed the Sergeant for noticing his living conditions, and he cursed his friends for dropping him because in their eyes he was not one of them anymore, and hadn't been ever since he had put on the police uniform.
Marlon had to admit the last few weeks had been rewarding; when he had begged not to be thrown into prison especially after he had stolen a police officer's badge, he hadn't expected to be thrown from one murder case to another but he had learnt a great deal, and he felt himself beginning to think more like a police officer.
His friends hadn't liked it. To them, he was no longer one of them so they had made sure they'd known it. They weren't keen about him wearing the police uniform, and they were afraid he would betray them to the police; he had been with the Saint Marie police for the last few weeks, but as long as they didn't make some stupid mistake, he would not do anything. In the meantime, barring the occasional disagreements with JP, who didn't really believe he was fit to be a police officer, although there were positive signs the other man was starting to warm up to him, and DS Cassell and DI Parker were nice and supportive, Marlon was enjoying himself, especially since his mother was now overjoyed he was turning his life around.
That was a positive first for him. His mother had never been happy with his juvenile behaviour, and while she didn't think of his methods in getting himself off of the hook and out of prison, she was pleased he was turning over a new leaf for himself instead of relying on fraud and theft to keep himself going.
While Marlon felt grateful towards JP for offering to give him a room so he could stay with his family so things would pick up, the former offender hadn't wanted to put JP to any trouble; the timing was way off. The sergeant had just had twins. He and his wife were up most of the nights, feeding and changing the twins. Marlon didn't really want children in his life, even if he found the twins adorable but he didn't want to put more pressure on the Hoopers.
What if they decided they did not want him around despite his best efforts to be on his best behaviour?
What if he accidentally upset one of the twins?
There were just too many ways such a stay, as generous as the offer had been, would turn out to be a disaster…Wait, what was that? Thinking he had just seen something manmade on the unblemished seabed, Marlon swam closer, tugging in the little buoy he'd been given to mark the position the gun and other items taken from Pasha's office closer. When he was sure he was over it, he looked closely at the bed, and he smiled mentally when he realised he had found the gun and other bits from the office; they were scattered over the point on the seabed.
Marlon tugged the buoy over.
This is what I realised I'd signed up for after that mess with the bike, he thought to himself. Soon he and JP would get this out of the sea, and they'd be back on dry land. And then he could figure out what was crawling around in his wetsuit.
