Page 108 of Hidden Tide

“Cross allowed himself to be captured here because he knew you would stay close to the evidence.”

A cold weight settles in my stomach.

“He came for my compass,” I say.

“No,” Ben replies.

His hand closes around mine.

“He came for you.”

12

CALLE

“The mind may bury what the heart is not ready to remember, but the truth always leaves a mark.”

—James Sinclair

“He came for you.”

Ben’s words settle over the room.

No one moves.

I stare at the photograph inside the evidence bag. Four black lines cross out the names of my sisters.

Only mine remains untouched.

“That doesn’t make sense.” My voice sounds distant. “Cross was trying to take the glass from the evidence case.”

“He may have wanted us to believe that,” Agent Marquez says.

“He pulled a gun.”

“And he had several opportunities to fire it.”

I look at her. “He shot at Ben.”

“After Ben charged him. Before that, Cross threatened everyone in the room, but he didn’t shoot anyone.”

Ward glances at the bandage on his arm. “His partner wasn’t as careful.”

Marquez nods. “Which may be why the second man escaped while Cross stayed behind.”

Ben lifts the evidence bag closer to the light.

“Where did Marcus Bell get this photograph?”

“He hasn’t told us.”

“It came from our house,” Mom says.

We all turn toward her.

She takes the photograph from Ben and studies it without removing it from the bag.

“I remember taking this. My husband asked me to bring the girls to Lands End.”