Page 360 of Hidden Depths

“You’d better.”

I stepped onto the broken walkway.

Metal groaned beneath my weight.

The chain swung over the water.

I gripped the railing and moved forward.

One step.

Then another.

The gate shuddered beneath me.

A wave struck the underside of the walkway, throwing it sideways.

“Storm!” Ward shouted.

My foot slipped.

I caught the railing with both hands.

Pain tore through my shoulder.

The water roared below me.

“Don’t look down!” Mom yelled.

I pulled myself up.

Across the cavern, the wounded kidnapper stood beside the wheel.

Blood covered his arm.

Grandpa’s key remained in the mechanism.

He looked at me.

Then smiled.

“You Sinclair women never learned when to let go.”

I stepped onto the far ledge.

“No.”

I reached for the controls.

“We learned that from Grandpa.”

The man lifted his gun.

A shot exploded through the cavern.

His body jerked.

Then toppled into Blackwater.