Page 82 of Hidden Tide
I grab his arm. “I’m coming with you.”
“You’re going into that room with your family.”
“I’m the only one who knows which pieces of evidence might matter most.”
“They’re after all of it.”
“Then you need someone who can recognize what they take.”
Ben steps close enough that I feel the heat of his anger.
“I need to know you’re safe.”
“I will be safer with you than trapped in a room with one exit.”
He looks toward the storage room.
He knows I’m right.
Keating glances between us. “Stay behind him. You follow every order the first time.”
“I will.”
Ben gives me a disbelieving look.
“I will try.”
“This is a terrible time for you to be funny.”
“I’m not being funny.”
“That’s what worries me.”
Keating moves into the main corridor with two Coast Guard officers.
Ben takes my hand and leads me through the side passage.
We enter a narrow hallway running behind the evidence room. Pipes line the ceiling. The red emergency lights pulse along the walls.
The alarm stops.
The sudden silence is worse.
Ben lifts one finger to his lips.
Footsteps scrape ahead of us.
We stop near an open maintenance closet.
Ben pushes me inside and takes position beside the door.
A man appears at the end of the hallway.
He wears dark clothing and a black cap pulled low over his face. One hand holds a pistol. The other carries a canvas bag.
He tries the first door.
Locked.
