Page 460 of Hidden Depths

Pain filled his face.

Mom touched his arm.

“You are not your father.”

“James had every reason to hate me.”

“He didn’t.”

“He should have.”

“No.” Thomas opened his eyes. “James knew the difference between a man and the blood that made him.”

Nathan looked toward him.

Thomas continued.

“Your father betrayed us. You spent the rest of your life protecting James’s family. Don’t confuse his choices with yours.”

Nathan bowed his head.

Mom slid her hand into his.

This time, he held on.

Another metal case contained the evidence Dad had gathered before Ross murdered him.

Photographs of Mariner’s Crown meeting unregistered cargo ships.

Names.

Dates.

Routes.

And a final note written in Dad’s hand.

Mom recognized it first.

“Oh, Daniel.”

I stood beside her as she read.

“Dad, I’m sorry about our argument. You were right about William Hale, but wrong about Nathan. Nathan isn’t involved. I followed the Mariner’s Crown to Keawe Cannery. August Ross is using the lava tunnels again. If I’m not home by morning, protect the girls. Tell Elanore I love her. Tell Storm the captain doesn’t abandon her ship—but sometimes he has to trust the crew to bring her home.”

The words blurred.

I pressed my fingers against my mouth.

For almost twenty years, I had believed Dad lost control of his boat during a storm.

But he hadn’t abandoned us.

He had known he might not return.

And his final thoughts had been of Mom.

Of us.