Page 384 of Hidden Depths

“The bullet grazed you.”

“That’s what I said.”

“You said you were fine.”

“For a SEAL, that is fine.”

Nathan looked at the wound.

“He’s right.”

Elanore glared at both men.

“Testosterone is not a medical diagnosis.”

Under different circumstances, I might have laughed.

Instead, I watched the opening.

The shooter had withdrawn.

That worried me.

He hadn’t been trying to hold the stairs.

He had been buying time.

We reached the surface.

The passage opened behind a wall of vines halfway up the cliff.

Rain struck my face.

Below us, the abandoned cannery stretched toward the black water.

A set of taillights disappeared along the coastal road.

“The SUV,” Nathan said.

Ross had escaped.

Ben found the vehicle left near the passage.

An old pickup.

The keys were still inside.

“Too easy,” I said.

Nathan inspected beneath the hood.

“No explosive.”

“That doesn’t make it safe.”

“It makes it faster than walking.”

Storm was already helping Elanore into the back seat.