Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 102280 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 511(@200wpm)___ 409(@250wpm)___ 341(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102280 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 511(@200wpm)___ 409(@250wpm)___ 341(@300wpm)
“How can you know—”
Brooks raised a hand to silence Sullivan. “Just follow her. I’ve seen enough to trust her instincts.”
They moved through the cave system, descending toward the sound of rushing water. The temperature dropped, and the air grew thick with salt and decay. Then the passage opened into a larger chamber, and Brooks’s light caught on something that made his stomach clench.
Bones. Human bones, scattered across the rocky floor and partially submerged in the tidal pool at the chamber’s center.
“Oh God.” Sullivan’s voice came out hoarse.
Vivienne knelt beside the remains, her face pale but composed. “Lily Morgan. She’s been here all along, waiting for someone to find her.” She looked up at Brooks, tears streaming down her face but her voice steady. “And she’s not alone. There are others. The Aldrich family has been using this place for decades.”
Brooks moved forward with his flashlight, documenting the scene with the camera on his phone, which automatically backed up to his cloud storage. The bones showed signs of trauma, fractures consistent with being struck or thrown. And there, half-buried in the sand, was a corroded camera. Lily’s camera, still containing the memory card that might hold evidence of what she’d discovered.
“We need forensics. We need to secure this entire area,” Brooks said.
“And we need to find Melissa Clarkson before she ends up here too,” Sullivan added solemnly.
Vivienne stood, wiping her eyes. “She’s not here. They’re keeping her somewhere else, somewhere they can watch her, control her. The passages Lily documented in her research, that’s where we’ll find Melissa.”
“Can you locate those tunnels?”
“I can. But we need to move quickly. The Aldriches know we’re getting close. They’ll eliminate Melissa soon if they haven’t already, and we have to watch for the tide.”
As they prepared to leave the chamber, marking the location for the state forensics team, Vivienne paused at the entrance. She placed her hand on the stone, whispering words in French that Brooks didn’t understand. When she turned back, her expression had shifted from grief to determination.
“Lily’s spirit is here. She’s ready to crossover. She’ll be able to rest, knowing the truth will finally be revealed.” Vivienne met Brooks’s eyes. “But first, we have a life to save.”
They climbed back out of the caves as the tide began to turn, racing against both time and rising water. Brooks knew they’d crossed a threshold. This was no longer just a missing persons case, but a murder investigation spanning decades. And somewhere in the passages beneath Westerly Cove, Melissa Clarkson was running out of time.
EIGHT
brooks
Vivienne’s text arrived at 6:47 AM, pulling Brooks from restless sleep.
Vivienne: Vision last night. Saw where they held Melissa before moving her. The hidden cove below the lighthouse headland. We need to go now before the tide comes in.
He stared at the message, still processing yesterday’s discovery in the caves, and spending most of the night looking over the preliminary report from the state forensic team. Lily Morgan’s remains, finally found after twenty-five years. Martha’s grief and relief tangled together. The knowledge that they were dealing with murderers who’d hidden their crimes for decades.
And now Vivienne was telling him she knew where Melissa Clarkson had been held.
His phone buzzed again.
Vivienne Hawthorne
I know you’re skeptical. But I saw it clearly. The cove, the beach, evidence of recent activity. Trust me on this.
He did trust her. That was the problem. In less than a week, this woman with her impossible insights had turned his worldview upside down. Every vision she’d described, every intuitive leap she’d made, had led them to concrete proof. Lily’s body, the connection to the lighthouse, the Aldrich family’s involvement.
I’ll be at the station in twenty minutes if you have time to stop by.
Twenty-three minutes later, after a briefing with Sullivan, Vivienne climbed into his car carrying two thermal travel mugs. She handed him one without speaking, and the familiar scent of her tea blend filled the vehicle. Dark circles shadowed her eyes.
“Rough night?” he asked, pulling onto the empty road.
“The vision was intense. I saw Melissa there, terrified. She knew they were going to kill her.” Vivienne wrapped both hands around her mug. “She fought them. Left traces. We’ll find proof she was there.”
“How recent?”
“Within the last few days. Before they moved her to wherever she is now.”
He wanted to ask how she could possibly know this, but he’d learned that questioning her methods while she was exhausted only delayed getting answers. Instead, he focused on logistics. “The cove’s only accessible at low tide. High tide’s at noon, which gives us maybe four hours to work the scene.”
“It’ll be enough.”
They drove in silence through the gray dawn, past the town center where a few early shops showed lights, past the harbor where fishing boats prepared for morning runs, toward the lighthouse that stood sentinel on its rocky headland.