Page 73 of Hidden Tide

“Because I don’t know.”

Keating places both hands on the table. “Your boathouse was searched. Someone stole Calle’s compass. A tracking device was placed beneath an evidence vehicle, and an unlit boat signaled from the water outside this station. Whatever you’re holding back is no longer protecting this family.”

Thomas looks toward Mom.

She gives him a small nod.

“Tell us.”

Thomas removes his glasses and rubs the bridge of his nose.

“Three years ago, Jonathan came to me after midnight. He was frightened. I’d known him most of my life, and I had never seen him frightened before.”

“What did he say?” I ask.

“That he found records connecting Blackwater to a marine salvage company. The company had been paid to recover equipment from vessels that supposedly sank outside the Golden Gate.”

“Pacific Beacon Recovery?” Ben asks.

“No. That company didn’t exist then. The one Jonathan named was Pacific Maritime Restoration.”

Nathan takes out his phone. “The names are too similar to be a coincidence.”

“Federal agents will check both companies,” Keating says. “What kind of equipment were they recovering?”

“Jonathan didn’t know. He believed the sinking reports were false. Some of the vessels were still afloat after their owners collected the insurance money.”

“Smuggling,” Ward says.

“Possibly,” Thomas replies. “Whatever they were moving came through Blackwater before being brought into San Francisco.”

Blackwater is an abandoned coastal facility criminals learned to use because it was isolated and difficult to reach.

Men created the danger.

That means men can be held responsible for it.

“Did Jonathan give you proof?” Keating asks.

“He gave it to James.”

“The maritime survey and navigation log hidden aboard Sea Whisper?”

“Those may be part of it.”

Keating looks toward the sealed evidence case. “And the five pieces of the lighthouse lens?”

“James believed the lantern room contained something Jonathan needed to prove how the facility was being used.”

“Why remove pieces of the lens?” I ask.

“To prevent anyone else from finding it.”

Ben studies the old photograph. “The five prisms create a pattern when light passes through them. Without all five pieces, the message or location remains hidden.”

“Then stealing Calle’s compass gave them one piece,” Mom says. “But they still need the other four.”

“They may believe Calle’s piece tells them enough,” Nathan replies.