Page 402 of Hidden Depths

“What did he say?”

Nathan looked at all of us.

“He said the case could only be opened after all five of you discovered Blackwater.”

The ocean suddenly lit behind him.

A flare shot into the sky.

Red fire burned above Sea Whisper.

Then gunfire cracked across the water.

I ran toward the dock.

Nathan caught me around the waist.

“Let me go!”

“You can’t help them from here.”

“That’s my family!”

“I know.”

Another burst of gunfire echoed through the rain.

The radio on the command table came alive.

“Shots fired aboard Sea Whisper.”

Static swallowed the next words.

Then Ward’s voice broke through.

“Storm, if you can hear me, do not come out here.”

An explosion shook the harbor.

Flames rose from Sea Whisper’s stern.

I screamed.

“Ward!”

The radio went silent.

For three terrible seconds, there was nothing.

Then a woman’s voice whispered through the speaker.

“Storm?”

I seized the radio.

“Ivy!”

“We’re in the engine room.”