Page 113 of Hidden Tide
The memory returns in flashes.
Grandpa opening the closet.
His large hands moving hangers aside.
The red jacket disappearing beneath his arm.
“He took it,” Storm whispers.
Thomas pushes himself to his feet.
“James found the film.”
“Then why leave the empty canister inside the wall?” Ben asks.
“Because he wanted anyone searching the boathouse to believe the film was still hidden there.”
“Where did he move it?”
Thomas looks at the photograph from Lands End.
“To the only person your dad trusted enough to carry it without knowing what she had.”
Everyone looks at me.
“I was thirteen.”
“That made you invisible,” Thomas says. “The men watching your father would search his house, his car and every adult connected to him. They wouldn’t search a grieving child.”
“They’re searching now,” Ben says.
Thomas’s eyes fill with regret. “Because they finally learned James moved the film.”
My hand rises to my throat.
The compass is no longer there.
Agent Marquez took it when the authorities collected the five pieces for examination.
“My compass.”
Marquez shakes her head. “The preliminary X-ray found only the blue prism inside it.”
“Maybe the film isn’t inside the compass.”
“What else did Grandpa give you?” Ivy asks.
“Nothing.”
“That can’t be true,” Willow says.
“Grandpa gave all of us dozens of things over the years.”
“But only five gifts were connected to Blackwater,” Storm says. “The telescope, the watch, Ivy’s camera, Calle’s compass and Hazel’s music box.”
“What if there was another gift?” Hazel asks.
Thomas looks at her. “There wasn’t.”
