"I was still. Kept there at the base of that wave, staring into the eyes with my neck bent in two. He touched me. I saw him, Detective. He touched my Cassie, too."
Small-time Santa Monica Detective Reuben Pearlman took on a seemingly simple case to ensure no foul play was involved in the drowning death of a young girl on the cozy beach of Golden Strand. Before succumbing to his wounds, the sole witness in the case warns Pearlman of something dreadful that "touched" him and the deceased beneath the waves.
The report bodes ill for Pearlman, who surrenders to superstition and pursues the case to the detriment of him and his family. As he falls down a rabbit hole of mania, he comes to believe in something out there, lurking in wait beneath the sea. His nightmares draw him back to the beach, where he hears hiccups in the tide, where something touches his leg...