Chapter 14

The sheriff's handcuffs bit into my wrists as he shoved me into the back of his squad car. Lila's scarf—drenched in blood—dangled from his rearview mirror like a trophy. "Twins drown together," the Mayor's pocket watch photo had said. Now Lila was dead, and everyone in town thought I did it.

Jesse shouted my name, chasing the car as it peeled away, but the storm swallowed his voice.

Haven's Cove Jail was a closet-sized room reeking of bleach and bad choices. Flickering fluorescent lights buzzed like angry flies. Sheriff Pike tossed me into Cell #3, his face a slab of granite. "Forensics'll confirm it's Lila's blood on that scarf. You're sunk, Harper."

"I didn't do this!" I rattled the bars.

He smirked. "Tell it to the judge. Trial's Monday."

The door slammed. Cold seeped through the concrete floor into my bones. I slumped onto the cot, clutching the real ruby necklace hidden in my boot. Why did the Ferryman leave it for me to find?

Midnight came. The jail's wall clock ticked like a bomb.

Scritch. Scritch. Scritch.

A sound from the air vent above. I stood on the cot, prying the rusty grate loose. Inside lay a folded note, smeared with seaweed.

The Ferryman's riddle:

"Where the drowned bride weeps,

Seek the eye that never sleeps.

Beneath the bones of the shoal's bride,

Lies the truth you've tried to hide."

Beneath the riddle, a crude drawing: a lighthouse, a shipwreck, and a door marked with an anchor.

Footsteps echoed in the hall. I stuffed the note into my pocket just as Sheriff Pike reappeared, jangling his keys. "Visitor."

Mayor Caldwell strolled in, smelling like expensive cologne and lies. He pressed a handkerchief to his nose like the cell offended him. "Terrible business, Ellie. But I can make this go away. Hand over the ruby, and I'll… persuade the Sheriff to drop charges."

My fingers brushed the ruby in my boot. "Why do you want it?"

He leaned close, his breath hot. "That necklace isn't jewelry. It's a key. The Circle's vault is under the old cannery. Gold. Documents. Everything."

"So you'll drown me like Clara if I say no?"

His smile froze. "You're smarter than your mother."

The door burst open. Jesse stood there, panting, hair wild from the wind. "Sheriff's gone. Let's move."

Mayor Caldwell spun, but Jesse tackled him, pinning him to the floor. "Cellar door under the cannery—that's where they meet!" the Mayor spat. "You'll never survive it!"

I snatched the Sheriff's keys off the wall and freed myself. Jesse yanked me into the storm, the Mayor's threats chasing us.

The cannery loomed ahead, its broken windows like hollow eyes. Rain lashed our faces as we pried open the cellar doors. A staircase plunged into darkness, the air smelling of wet earth and decay.

Jesse clicked his flashlight. "Stay close."

The beam lit up stacks of rotting crates, a rusted anchor chain, and—

"Ellie." Jesse's voice cracked.

A body lay sprawled in the corner.

Lila.

Her blue dress was torn, her skin pale as wax. But it wasn't the bruises on her neck that made me gag—it was the symbol carved into her palm: an anchor inside a circle.

"The Mariner's Mark," Jesse whispered. "They brand traitors."

A floorboard creaked above us.

The Ferryman stood at the top of the stairs, his hook glinting. He threw something—a glass bottle smashed at our feet, spraying liquid.

Gasoline.

A match flared in his hand.

"Run!" Jesse dragged me toward a rotting grate in the floor. We kicked it open, dropping into a tidal tunnel just as flames exploded above.

Seawater soaked our knees as we slogged through the tunnel. The Ferryman's boots splashed behind us.

"Here!" Jesse shoved me into a side passage. We pressed against the wall, holding our breath as the Ferryman sloshed past, his raspy breathing fading.

The tunnel opened into a cave. Moonlight speared through a crack in the ceiling, illuminating a wooden door etched with an anchor.

The cellar door.

My hands shook as I fitted the ruby into a notch in the carving. It clicked. The door groaned open, revealing a stone vault.

Gold bars gleamed on shelves. Dusty ledgers labeled "The Mariner's Circle" filled a cabinet. But it was the photo on the wall that stopped me cold: Clara and Evelyn, teenagers, standing with Mayor Caldwell's father. Behind them, Mac—young, in a police uniform—looked away, guilty.

"He knew," I whispered. "Mac knew the Circle framed Clara."

Jesse flipped open a ledger. "Ellie… look."

Page after page listed "shipments"—not fish. People. Dates matched old missing persons cases. The Circle had been trafficking runaways for decades, sinking the boats after.

A shadow filled the doorway.

Mac stood there, soaked, his gun aimed at us.

"You lied," I choked out. "You knew about Evelyn. About everything."

His face crumpled. "I tried to protect you. The Circle threatened your mom if I talked. But now… it's too late."

"Help us end this," Jesse said.

Mac lowered the gun. "Take the ledgers. Get to the docks. I'll hold them off."

We bolted as shouts echoed down the tunnel. The Ferryman, the Mayor, and two Circle thugs closed in. Mac fired a warning shot, his roar chasing us: "Go!"

The docks were slick with rain. Waves churned like the ocean was alive. Jesse's motorboat bobbed in the shallows.

"We need to get these ledgers to the state police!" I yelled over the wind.

A gunshot cracked. Jesse stumbled, clutching his arm.

The Ferryman emerged from the mist, flanked by the Mayor. "Give. Me. The. Ruby."

I backed toward the boat, the ledgers tucked under my arm. "It's over!"

The Mayor laughed. "You're right. Time to join Aunt Clara."

He lunged. I swung the ledger, hitting his temple. He crumpled. The Ferryman raised his hook—

Boom!

A shotgun blast tore through the air. Mac stood on the dock, blood soaking his shirt. "Get. Out. Now!"

Jesse revved the engine. I jumped in as the Ferryman slashed at Mac. The boat roared into the storm, the ledgers safe in my grip.

But as the dock vanished in the rain, I saw it—Mac, falling. The Ferryman's hook, flashing red.

And the Mayor, crawling toward the water, a lit match in his hand.