Page 30 of Hidden Tide

“Are you really going to stay out of Blackwater?”

“Unless Keating asks me to go.”

“You didn’t hesitate.”

“Did you want me to?”

“No.”

She looked toward the ocean.

“I’m trying to decide whether I believe you.”

“I promised I wouldn’t go without telling you.”

“That isn’t the same as promising not to go.”

“No.”

She faced me.

“Why didn’t you tell me about the investigation sooner?”

“Because there wasn’t an investigation until this afternoon.”

“You’ve been helping the Coast Guard for three weeks.”

“With witness statements, vessel identification, and maps of the sections we entered. Nothing suggested anyone was still using Blackwater.”

“But you stayed after Ward finished.”

“There were inconsistencies in the inventory.”

“What kind?”

I led her farther down the beach, away from Thomas and her family.

The Coast Guard patrol boat waited beyond the reef. Its lights moved slowly across the dark water.

“When we entered the loading harbor to rescue your mother, I saw six fuel drums beside the old crane.”

“I remember them.”

“The first Coast Guard inventory listed four.”

Her steps slowed.

“Two were missing?”

“Yes.”

“Could the tide have carried them away?”

“They were full.”

“Someone moved them.”

“That was my concern.”