45.
Storm
"Aman's reputation is built over a lifetime...but one bad choice can become the only thing
history remembers."
— James Sinclair
No one reached for the second photograph.
The scratched-out face seemed to stare back at us anyway.
Thomas carefully laid it beside Grandpa's journal.
"James said this photograph was the most dangerous thing he'd ever possessed."
I looked at the faded image.
"Why didn't he destroy it?"
Thomas smiled sadly.
"Because James believed the truth belonged to the innocent."
"He said evil only wins when good people bury the evidence."
That sounded exactly like Grandpa.
Outside, the low rumble of Coast Guard engines echoed across the cove.
Ward glanced toward the dock.
"They're sweeping the shoreline."
Thomas nodded.
"Good."
"The fewer people who know about this place, the better."
Ben frowned.
"They're the good guys."
"They are."
Thomas looked toward the hidden entrance.
"But James taught me something years ago."
He smiled faintly.
"'Trust people.'
'Just don't trust everyone with everything.'"
I smiled through my tears.
"I remember him saying that."
"So do I," Ivy whispered.
Thomas carefully untied the stack of photographs.
"There were six of us."
He spread them across the old workbench.
Young men.
Standing beside fishing boats.
Laughing around campfires.
Holding enormous red snappers.
One picture showed Grandpa standing proudly beside a younger Thomas.
Nathan leaned closer.
"My father."
Thomas nodded.
"He was a good fisherman."
Nathan managed the smallest smile.
"He taught me to cast before I could ride a bicycle."
Thomas looked at him kindly.
"I don't doubt that."
He pointed to another man.
"This was Samuel Brooks."
Another.
"David Moreno."
Then another.
"Charles Ashford."
Even smiling...
Ashford's eyes looked cold.
Like he was calculating something no one else could see.
Finally Thomas rested one finger on Nathan's father.
"We trusted him."
His voice barely rose above a whisper.
"We all did."
Nathan picked up the photograph.
His hands trembled.
"He looks happy."
Thomas nodded.
"He was."
Nathan looked confused.
"If he was happy..."
"What changed?"
Thomas sighed deeply.
"Money."
Silence.
"He lost everything in an investment."
"He owed people more than he could ever repay."
"And Charles Ashford found him before James knew what was happening."
Nathan slowly lowered the photograph.
"So Ashford bought him."
Thomas's eyes filled with sorrow.
"I think he bought his fear."
No one spoke.
Finally Ben broke the silence.
"So your father wasn't born a traitor."
Nathan stared at the picture.
"No."
Thomas answered quietly.
"He became one."
Nathan closed his eyes.
"I wish he'd trusted James."
"So do I."
Thomas reached back into the steel box.
This time he removed a folded chart.
The paper had yellowed with age.
Several places along the Gulf Coast were marked with tiny red circles.
Ward immediately stepped closer.
"These aren't fishing spots."
Thomas smiled.
"No."
"They're transfer points."
"For years James tracked every suspicious vessel."
Ivy leaned over the chart.
"They form a pattern."
"They do."
Her finger followed the line connecting each location.
"They aren't random."
Thomas looked at her with approval.
"Your grandfather said you'd see it."
Ivy blinked.
"He wrote about me?"
Thomas chuckled.
"He wrote about all five of you."
"He said..."
"'If anyone can see the map inside the mystery...it'll be Ivy.'"
Ivy laughed through her tears.
"That sounds like Grandpa."
Ward studied the chart.
His expression changed.
"Storm."
"What?"
He pointed toward one of the circles.
"Hidden Cove."
My heart skipped.
"This one?"
Thomas nodded.
"Your grandfather wasn't hiding from Ashford."
"He was watching him."
Ben frowned.
"From here?"
Thomas smiled.
"This old boathouse overlooks one of the busiest hidden channels on the coast."
"He could watch every ship that passed."
"And no one ever knew."
I looked out toward the narrow passage we'd just navigated.
Grandpa hadn't chosen this place because it was beautiful.
He'd chosen it because it was the perfect lookout.
A sudden knock echoed against the side of the boathouse.
Every head turned.
Ward drew his pistol.
Ben instinctively stepped in front of Calle.
Nathan reached for the shotgun resting beside the door.
"Coast Guard!"
A voice called from outside.
"Mr. Calloway?"
Thomas looked surprised.
"They found me."
Ward opened the door carefully.
A Coast Guard lieutenant stood on the dock.
"We've secured the Mariner's Crown."
Everyone let out the breath they'd been holding.
"But..."
The lieutenant's face grew grim.
"We didn't find the captain Charles Ashford."
The room went silent.
"He vanished before we boarded."
Thomas closed his eyes.
"I was afraid of that."
The lieutenant continued.
"There's something else."
He looked directly at Storm.
"We found a message in the captain's cabin."
My pulse quickened.
"A message?"
The lieutenant nodded once.
"It was addressed..."
"...to the Sinclair sisters."