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)
“Don’t stay up too late.” Martha’s eyes followed her. “You look tired.”
“I won’t.” Another lie in an evening full of them.
She hugged them both goodnight, holding on longer than usual. Her father’s embrace wrapped her in strength and protection. Her mother enveloped her in warmth and comfort. She tried to memorize the feeling of safety they provided, knowing she would leave it behind forever.
In her room, she made her final preparations. Camera bag loaded with film, batteries, and flash equipment. Tunnel map tucked into her pocket. One last letter written, sealed, and placed in her desk drawer where her parents would find it.
Before leaving, she had one more stop to make. She gathered a manila envelope containing copies of her evidence and slipped out through the back door.
Emmeline Hawthorne’s door opened immediately when Lily knocked, as though the elderly woman had been waiting.
“Miss Morgan. I wondered when you’d come to see me.”
“Mrs. Hawthorne, I need to ask you something important.”
“Come in, dear. I’ve been expecting this conversation.”
Emmeline’s living room matched Lily’s expectations—herbs hanging from the ceiling, crystals on the windowsills, the scent of sage and lavender in the air. But the woman herself was sharp-eyed and practical, not the eccentric mystic most people assumed.
“I’ve been investigating the lighthouse,” Lily began.
“I know.”
“You know?”
“Child, I’ve been watching the Aldrich family for seventy years. I knew someone would eventually discover what they’ve been doing. I hoped it would be an adult, someone with resources and authority. But courage comes in many forms.”
Lily pulled out the manila envelope. “I’ve documented evidence of their criminal operation. I’m going back tonight to get more, but I need someone to have this in case something happens to me.”
Emmeline took the envelope with solemn reverence. “You’re planning to enter the tunnels.”
“How did you—”
“Because that’s where the answers are. And because you’re exactly like your aunt.”
“My aunt?”
“Margaret Thornton. She was investigating the same things in 1967. They killed her for it.”
The words hit Lily like cold water. “Margaret Thornton was my aunt?”
“Your father’s half-sister. The Aldriches eliminated her before she could expose them.”
Lily sank into a chair, mind reeling. “My father never told me.”
“Your father doesn’t know. The official story was that she had died in an accident. Only a few people knew the truth, and most of them are dead now.”
Emmeline moved to an old jewelry box and withdrew a silver pendant—a lighthouse surrounded by protective symbols. “This belonged to Margaret. She wore it the night she died. I’ve been saving it for someone brave enough to finish what she started.”
She placed the pendant around Lily’s neck. It was warm, as though it had been in sunlight, and she felt a strange sense of connection to the grandmother she’d never met.
“Wear it tonight,” Emmeline said. “Let Margaret’s courage be with you.”
Lily returned home through the back door and crept up to her room.
At half-past nine that evening, she shouldered her backpack and walked downstairs. Her parents sat watching the evening news, a scene of domestic tranquility that felt like something from another world.
“I’m going to Sarah’s house to study.” The words came out steadily. “I’ll be back before midnight.”
“Be careful.” Martha didn’t look up from her grading. “It’s Halloween night. Lots of kids out causing trouble.”
“I will.”
Robert glanced at her backpack. “Taking a lot of books to Sarah’s.”
“We have a big test tomorrow.”
He nodded and returned to the television. Lily stood in the doorway for a moment, memorizing the scene. Her father in his worn recliner, her mother surrounded by student papers, the warm glow of the living room lamps. Home. Safety. Everything she was about to risk.
“I love you both.”
“Love you too, sweetheart.” Martha’s voice drifted over her grading.
Lily stepped into the Halloween night and pulled the door closed behind her. The lighthouse beam swept across the harbor, calling her to the confrontation that would determine not just her fate, but the fate of everyone who might follow in her footsteps. She walked through Westerly Cove’s quiet streets. The Halloween festivities were winding down now. Porch lights were being turned off, and the last stragglers in costume headed home. A few smashed pumpkins littered the sidewalks—casualties of teenage mischief. The later it got, the fewer witnesses there would be to see her enter the lighthouse. Past houses where people settled in for the evening, unaware that their community’s darkest secrets were about to surface. Past the library where she’d started her research. Past the school where she’d given her presentation hours before.
The lighthouse grew larger as she approached, its beam cutting through the darkness. She could see the rocky coastline where keepers had guided ships to safety for over a century. Tonight, she’d discover whether the lighthouse’s legacy of protection extended to protecting the truth.
The photograph she’d taken the night before was safely hidden—multiple copies distributed to trusted people. The image showed Winston Aldrich clearly, his face illuminated by the boat’s lights as he supervised the loading of stolen artifacts. This single piece of evidence could destroy their empire, but only if she survived to ensure it was used.