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“Daniel had already learned that legitimate government signatures appeared on Blackwater’s salvage permits. He didn’t know whether they were forged or whether someone inside the government was protecting the operation.”

I begin to remember.

Dad’s voice carried by the wind.

Show me the warrant.

The man in the dark jacket held out his hand.

Give me the film, Daniel.

“I saw Kessler take something,” I whisper.

Thomas nods. “A metal film canister.”

“But Dad didn’t give it to him.”

“No.”

My eyes close.

Kessler steps closer to Dad.

Thomas moves between them.

Then another man comes out of the fog.

A man with silver hair.

I open my eyes.

“There was someone else.”

Thomas goes still.

“The silver-haired man was there.”

“What man?” Marquez asks.

“The one who attacked Sea Whisper,” Storm says. “The captain of Mariner’s Crown.”

“Simon Vail?” Ben asks me.

“I don’t know. I never saw Simon Vail’s face clearly.”

Thomas lowers his head.

“It was Lawrence Vail.”

Simon’s father.

The man Grandpa suspected of running Pacific Maritime Restoration.

“Why haven’t you told us this?” I demand.

“Because I didn’t see Vail arrive.”

“But I did.”