The sentence(s):
The ice breaks beneath them, and they are stuck in their car while it is being filled with ice-cold water. Dawn’s mother had tried to convince Sam, Dawn’s father, not to go on the trip as she suspected it would be dangerous. Sam simply shrugged off her concerns. Should Dawn’s mother have acted differently? Moreover, is it fair that Dawn’s mother may blame herself for the accident?
My question is whether it is correct for me to write "Suspected" instead of "suspects", "shrugged" instead of "shruggs" and "had tried" instead of "tries", the thing is: the story goes back and forth in time, should the words then be in past tense or present tense? It sounds wrong when they are in present tense, I am not quite sure...