Page 186 of Hidden Tide
Arthur struggles to focus.
“He was here.”
“When?”
“Ten minutes ago.”
“How did he leave?”
“Boat.”
John’s voice cuts through the radio.
“The engine at the dock is a diversion. Fuel line is disconnected.”
Simon didn’t leave by water.
“Check upstairs,” Ben orders.
Piers takes the stairs two at a time.
Federal agents arrive at the front of the building.
Marquez tells them Simon may still be inside.
They search the store, apartment, workshop and storage rooms.
No Simon.
No hidden passage.
No second exit.
“He left before we arrived,” Mark says.
“Then why leave a man behind to kill Arthur?” I ask.
Ben looks toward the body camera.
“To keep us here.”
Again.
Simon pulled them away from something else.
My gaze moves to the map.
The ferry warehouse.
Blue Lantern.
The Coast Guard patrol boat.
Hazel’s apartment.
“He knows the trunk never left Hazel’s apartment,” I say.
Marquez turns toward me.
