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)
The shop’s front door opened. Martha Morgan entered, her hands steadier than they’d been in years. The discovery of Lily’s remains in the tunnels, Gerald Aldrich’s arrest, the validation of everything she’d known for twenty-five years—it had transformed her grief into something sharper. Purpose.
“I found something else.” Martha spread documents across the counter. “Hidden in my attic. Lily must have given these to me before that last trip to the lighthouse, but I didn’t know where to look until after you found her camera.”
Vivienne examined the papers. More shipping manifests, more coded entries, more photographs of the Aldrich operation. But these were different—they showed connections to other families, other towns, a network that extended far beyond Westerly Cove.
“She was mapping the entire East Coast operation. Not just the Aldrichs, but everyone they worked with.”
“Twenty-five years ago, my daughter understood what we’re only now beginning to see.” Martha’s voice carried a mother’s pride mixed with anguish. “She died trying to expose something much bigger than a local smuggling ring.”
Vivienne’s phone buzzed. Brooks.
Brooks Harrington
Agent Porter wants to brief you on the evidence from the lamp room. Can you come to the station?
She texted back confirmation, then turned to Martha. “Come with me. Agent Porter should see these documents.”
Vivienne called up to her apartment. “Dawn? Can you watch the shop for a few hours? I need to meet with the FBI.”
Her cousin appeared at the top of the stairs, already dressed for the day. “Of course. Go. I’ll handle things here.”
The state trooper assigned to her, drove Vivenne and Martha to the station, where Brooks met them at the entrance. His expression was composed, but Vivienne caught the exhaustion around his eyes. Neither of them had slept much since pulling Melissa from the tunnels.
“Hello, Martha.”
“Detective,” she said, stopping in front of him. “Thank you again.”
Brooks nodded. “Just doing my job. I’m sorry it took someone this long to give you the closure you needed. Agent Porter’s set up in the conference room.”
Brooks held the door for them. “Are you joining us?” He directed his question toward Martha.
“If it’s okay.”
“Fine with me. I think Agent Porter has some questions for you too. Fair warning—she’s got questions about the three sets of evidence Lily hid. How you knew their exact locations.”
“I saw it in a vision when I touched her journal. The same way I saw everything else.”
“I know. But Porter’s going to want details. Specifics about your process.”
The conference room held more people than Vivienne expected. Agent Porter sat at the head of the table, surrounded by other FBI agents. Chief Sullivan occupied the far corner, his face carefully neutral.
“Ms. Hawthorne.” Porter stood, gesturing to an empty chair. “Thank you for coming. We’ve recovered all three sets of evidence you identified. The lamp room cache, the church garden burial, and the set Mrs. Morgan kept. Together, they provide comprehensive documentation of the Aldrich smuggling operation dating back to 1947.”
Vivienne took the offered seat, Martha beside her. Brooks remained standing near the door, his detective’s instinct to observe rather than participate.
Porter continued. “What we need now is your help understanding the spiritual component. Lily Morgan’s camera contained photographs of what appear to be protective symbols carved into the tunnel walls. We need you to interpret them.”
She clicked a remote. Images appeared on the screen—the same symbols Mathilde had drawn, the same protective marks Vivienne had seen in her visions. But these photographs showed them as they existed in the physical world, carved into stone a century ago.
“My great-great-grandmother designed those protections when she helped build the tunnels during Prohibition. They were meant to guard against misuse of the passages, to mark safe routes and dangerous ones.”
“And they work?” Porter asked.
“They create unease. Discomfort. Most people who encounter them feel a strong urge to turn back without understanding why.” Vivienne studied the photographs on screen. “But Lily didn’t find the central chamber because she could sense the protections. She found references to the symbols in old construction records and maintenance logs. She mapped their locations from historical documents, then followed that map through the tunnels.”
Porter nodded, making notes. “So she used the symbols as navigation markers, not supernatural guides.”
“Exactly. She was a researcher, not a psychic. She pieced together where the symbols were located, and that led her to the hidden chambers.”
“And Melissa Clarkson?” Porter asked. “How did she find the central chamber?”
“The same way Lily did—through research. Melissa was investigating the lighthouse’s history, following the same documentary trails. Old construction records, maintenance logs, historical society archives. The symbols marked specific structural locations. Anyone doing thorough historical research would eventually piece together the pattern.”
Porter clicked to the next image—one of the shipping manifests Lily had photographed. “These coded entries. Can you interpret them?”
Vivienne leaned forward, studying the document. The codes were complex, layered, designed to look like legitimate business transactions to anyone who didn’t know what to search for.