Page 57 of Hidden Depths

"I've had practice."

She looked back toward the horizon.

"What do your instincts say?"

He stood beside her.

For a long moment, neither of them spoke.

Finally...

"They're waiting."

Storm nodded slowly.

"I thought so too."

"They haven't made a move."

"No."

"They're studying us."

The words hung between them.

Neither one liked where the conversation was headed.

Storm looked toward the old brass bell.

Then toward Grandpa's chair.

Quietly...

Almost too quietly to hear...

She said,

"We'll bring them all home."

Ben looked at her.

There wasn't fear in her voice.

Only determination.

He smiled.

"I don't have a doubt."

Twenty miles away...

The trawler drifted silently beneath the stars.

A man lowered his night-vision binoculars.

"They're cautious."

Another man nodded.