Page 263 of Hidden Depths

Being the oldest means showing them it's all right to lean on each other.

One day, someone will come into your life who'll try to carry you for a while.

Don't be too stubborn to let him.

Love always,

Grandpa

The words blurred through my tears.

I couldn't read another line.

I simply held the letter against my heart.

Across the room, Thomas quietly looked away, giving me the privacy to grieve.

Outside, Ward stood at the end of the dock, staring toward the horizon.

He hadn't heard the letter.

He hadn't needed to.

The sea breeze lifted the edges of Grandpa's note as if he were still there somehow.

Still watching over us.

Still believing in us.

And somewhere beyond the fading sunlight...

Charles Ashford was running.

But for the first time in years...

He wasn't hunting James Sinclair.

He was being hunted by James Sinclair's legacy.

49

Ward

"The ocean doesn't announce a coming storm. It simply changes...until the wise sailor notices."

— James Sinclair

I couldn't shake the feeling.

The sun was setting over Eagle Bay, painting the water in streaks of gold and crimson, but something about the marina felt...off.

Storm stepped out of the boathouse beside me, Grandpa's compass still clasped tightly in her hand.

"You've been staring at the water for five minutes."

"I know."

"What do you see?"