Page 301 of Hidden Depths

Even Frank stopped complaining about his hotel.

Ward stepped closer.

“What did he see?”

“He never told us.”

“That isn’t the whole answer.”

“No.”

I looked toward the horizon.

“He said there were places in the ocean where honest captains didn’t ask questions. Where boats traveled without lights and men unloaded cargo that never passed through a harbor.”

“Weapons?” Ben asked.

“Possibly.”

“Drugs?”

“I don’t know.”

Piers lowered the camer.

“People?”

The word turned my stomach.

“I don’t know that either.”

Calle looked at me.

“But Dad did.”

I stared at her.

She had gone pale.

“What do you mean?”

“Dad asked Grandpa about the trench the week before Dad died.”

The air left my lungs.

“You never told us that.”

“I didn’t remember until now.”

Calle pressed one hand against her forehead.

“I was walking past Grandpa’s office. They were arguing.”

“Grandpa and Dad?”

She nodded.

“Dad said they couldn’t keep pretending they hadn’t seen what was happening out there.”