Page 462 of Hidden Depths

“Ben.”

He stared at her.

She stared back.

Finally, he sighed.

“I’ll go to the hospital.”

Calle smiled.

“Good.”

She walked past him.

Ben watched her.

Only for a second.

Then he followed.

Ward leaned closer to me.

“He never had a chance.”

I looked up at him.

“Neither did you.”

“No.”

His gaze dropped to my mouth.

“I didn’t.”

When we emerged from the lighthouse, dawn touched the horizon.

The storm had passed.

Clouds separated above the ocean, allowing the first pale streaks of sunlight to shine across Blackwater Cove.

For the first time, the water didn’t look black.

It looked blue.

Coast Guard boats filled the cove.

Investigators carried cases from the tunnels.

August Ross’s body had disappeared into the current.

No one expected to recover it.

The sea had kept him.

But it had returned the truth.

Ivy, Willow, and Hazel arrived in a Coast Guard vehicle.