Page 421 of Hidden Depths
“And Thomas helped him hide the body.”
63
STORM
“Atrue friend does not ask whether the burden belongs to him. He simply takes hold of the other end.”
— James Sinclair
Both Ward and I listened from under the tarp.
“Thomas helped Grandpa hide the body?”
Nathan’s eyes found mine in the rearview mirror.
“Yes.”
Ward shifted beneath the tarp beside me.
“Where?”
Nathan tightened his grip on the steering wheel.
“Blackwater.”
The answer chilled me more than the rain.
“You said Grandpa tried to save Ross’s father.”
“He did.”
“Then why hide his body?”
“Because August Ross wasn’t alone when he killed him.”
“Who was with him?”
“Three men whose families controlled half the shipping routes between Hawaii and the mainland.”
Ward’s expression hardened.
“The same families involved with Mariner’s Crown?”
“Yes.”
“And Keawe Cannery?”
“Yes.”
I thought of the journal.
The old photographs.
The names Grandpa had hidden for decades.
“This was never one man.”
“No,” Nathan said. “Ross inherited an empire built on fear.”
