PART 17 – I Had Promised Her That I Would Always Come, and I Was Still Fighting to Keep That Promise

I kept searching.

By then, I had stopped thinking about how far I had traveled from the dock.

I wasn't thinking about my tired arms or how difficult it was becoming to keep my attention on every part of the water.

I was thinking about Cassie.

My little girl.

The same child who had been laughing earlier that afternoon.

The same child who had been wearing her pink swimsuit.

The same child whose hair tie was now floating somewhere behind me.

I remembered how she looked when she was excited about something.

I remembered how she asked questions.

I remembered how she sometimes repeated my instructions back to me just to make me smile.

I wished I could hear her voice.

I called her name again.

Nothing.

I tried to keep my thoughts organized.

I had spent years working with people after accidents.

I knew how important details were.

But I couldn't turn this into an ordinary investigation.

There was no distance between me and the person I was trying to find.

She was my daughter.

I looked toward the shore.

I knew my nephew had been given my phone.

I hoped he had called.

I hoped the emergency responders knew what had happened.

I hoped nobody had decided to leave out the drinking because Trey was family.

I couldn't control what happened behind me.

I could only keep looking.

The pink hair tie returned to my thoughts.

That little strawberry.

I remembered buying things like that for Cassie.

Small things that made her happy.

I had never thought I would see one floating alone in the lake.

I searched again.

I didn't know what else to do.

My promise to her was still in my mind.

I had told her I would come.

And I was still trying.

Click here to continue reading: PART 18: The Things My Family Had Always Excused Were No Longer Small Mistakes, No Matter How Much They Wanted Me to Believe Otherwise