Page 70 of Hidden Tide

When I pull back, Ben’s eyes are dark.

“Your grandfather would have liked me,” he says.

I smile. “He would have made you prove yourself.”

“I’m counting on it.”

Keating appears in the doorway.

“We’re moving.”

Ben and I follow him outside.

The sun has disappeared, leaving the harbor beneath a darkening blue sky. Three unmarked vehicles wait near the rear entrance.

Armed officers watch the street and rooftops.

Ben opens the passenger door for me.

Before I get inside, I glance toward the water.

A small boat moves beyond the breakwater without navigation lights.

It’s far enough away that I can’t see the person at the wheel.

But something flashes from its deck.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

Not moonlight.

A signal.

“Ben.”

He follows my gaze.

The boat turns sharply and accelerates toward open water.

Ben reaches for his phone.

“Keating, we have an unlit vessel leaving the harbor.”

Keating runs toward us.

“Where?”

I point past the breakwater.

The boat is already disappearing into the darkness.

Keating calls the harbor patrol while officers move us behind the vehicles.

Ben shields me with his body.