The circular chamber smelled of rust, wet stone and seawater.
A metal staircase spiraled upward.
Somewhere above them, a door slammed.
Finn pointed.
“She’s up there.”
They climbed.
One floor.
Two.
Three.
At the fourth landing, Lena discovered something impossible.
Electric cables.
New cables.
Running along the wall.
Finn touched one.
“Someone installed these recently.”
The lighthouse had supposedly been without electricity for nine years.
At the next level, they found a locked metal door.
Finn listened.
Voices came from behind it.
Iris.
And a man.
“Tell me.”
“I will.”
“You promised.”
“I know.”
“Is Daddy alive?”
Silence.
Lena stepped toward the door.
Finn stopped her.
“Listen.”
The man finally answered.
“No, Iris.”
A small sob came from inside.
“Then why did you sound like him?”
“Because you needed to trust me.”
Lena’s expression changed.
She stepped backward.
That voice.
Without the heavy radio distortion, something about it felt familiar.
Very familiar.
Iris spoke again.
“Why couldn’t I tell Mom?”
“Because there are things adults don’t understand.”
“You said she’d die.”
“Only if you told her what you saw.”
Finn looked at Lena.
Lena’s heart pounded.
What Iris saw.
Not what happened to Daniel.
What Iris saw.
Lena leaned closer.
The voice continued.
“You remember that night, don’t you?”
Iris began crying.
“I don’t want to.”
“You have to.”
“I saw Daddy leave.”
“Yes.”
“You were with him.”
Lena froze.
“Iris,” the man said softly. “Some memories hurt people.”
“You were shouting.”
“I was trying to help him.”
“No.”
The child’s voice suddenly became stronger.
“You were angry.”
Lena’s eyes widened.
Inside the room, something moved.
Then the man said, “Your father made a mistake.”
“What mistake?”
“He found something that didn’t belong to him.”
Lena pushed the door.
Locked.
She stepped back.
Then kicked beside the handle.
Nothing.
Again.
Metal bent.
Finn joined her.
Together they hit the door.
Once.
Twice.
On the third strike, the lock broke.
The door flew inward.
Iris stood at the other side of the room.
Wet.
Barefoot.
Shivering in pink pajamas beneath Daniel’s old sailing jacket.
Beside her stood a portable transmitter.
And standing near the lighthouse window was Marcus Keene.
Lena stopped.
Marcus stared at her.
For once, he had no reassuring smile.
“Iris.”
The girl turned.
Her eyes widened.
But she said nothing.
Lena moved toward her.
Marcus stepped between them.
“Lena, listen to me.”
“Move.”
“This isn’t what you think.”
“Move away from my daughter.”
“Lena.”
Finn raised his radio.
“I recorded everything.”
Marcus looked at him.
Something dangerous entered his expression.
“You shouldn’t have come here.”
Lena pulled Iris behind her.
“What happened to Daniel?”
Marcus stared toward the window.
Outside, lightning illuminated the black ocean.
“Daniel discovered boats using the eastern channel at night.”
“What boats?”
“Smugglers.”
Lena felt sick.
“He found altered harbor records,” Marcus continued. “Cargo registrations. False weather closures. Ships that officially never entered Blackwater Bay.”
“You changed the records.”
Marcus said nothing.
“Daniel found out.”
“He was going to report me.”
“So you killed him.”
“No.”
The answer came quickly.
Almost desperately.
“No. I never meant for Daniel to die.”
“What happened?”
Marcus looked at Iris.
She immediately moved closer to her mother.
“Don’t look at her,” Lena said.
Marcus lowered his eyes.
“Daniel confronted me at the harbor. We argued. He was furious.”
“You went onto his boat.”
“Yes.”
“Iris saw you.”
Marcus nodded.
Lena remembered.
That night Iris had fallen asleep inside the harbor office while waiting for Daniel to finish his shift.
Or that was what everyone had assumed.
“Then what?”
“I removed his emergency tracker.”
Finn stared at him.
“Why?”
“To frighten him. To stop him from going out.”
“But he went anyway,” Lena said.
Marcus closed his eyes.
“The distress call came unexpectedly.”
“And you let him sail into a storm without a tracker.”
“I tried to stop him.”
“You let my husband disappear.”
“I didn’t know the storm would turn that quickly.”
Lena’s voice shook with rage.
“You knew afterward.”
Marcus looked at her.
“You knew why they couldn’t find him.”
“I panicked.”
“You watched us search.”
“I know.”
“You stood beside me.”
“I know.”
“You stood at his memorial.”
Marcus said nothing.
Lena’s hands trembled.
“And Iris?”
Marcus’s face changed.
“I realized she’d seen us arguing.”
“So you frightened a nine-year-old child into silence.”
“I never planned this.”