Changing Tides

Books by Michael Thomas Ford

LAST SUMMER

LOOKING FOR IT

TANGLED SHEETS

FULL CIRCLE

CHANGING TIDES

THE PATH OF THE GREEN MAN

MASTERS OF MIDNIGHT

(with William J. Mann, Sean Wolfe, and Jeff Mann)

MIDNIGHT THIRSTS

(with Timothy Ridge, Greg Herren, and Sean Wolfe)

Published by Kensington Publishing Corporation

CHANGING TIDES

MICHAEL THOMAS FORD

KENSINGTON BOOKS

http://www.kensingtonbooks.com

All copyrighted material within is Attributor Protected.

Table of Contents

Books by Michael Thomas Ford
Title Page
Dedication
Author’s Note
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
CHAPTER 28
CHAPTER 29
CHAPTER 30
CHAPTER 31
CHAPTER 32
CHAPTER 33
CHAPTER 34
CHAPTER 35
CHAPTER 36
CHAPTER 37
CHAPTER 38
CHAPTER 39
CHAPTER 40
CHAPTER 41
CHAPTER 42
CHAPTER 43
CHAPTER 44
CHAPTER 45
CHAPTER 46
CHAPTER 47
CHAPTER 48
Copyright Page

For Mike Lever

CAPTAIN AND FRIEND EXTRAORDINARE

If one could be, for only an evening, whatever in the world one wished, what would it be? What secret would come out?

John Steinbeck
Sweet Thursday

Author’s Note

This is a work of fiction. Although it references real places and people, no actions ascribed to said people, or theories presented within the context of the story about said people, should in anyway be construed as factual. They are the thoughts and suppositions of fictional characters and, except for documented historical events, have no basis in fact.

Similarly, while the National Steinbeck Center, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and the Hopkins Marine Station are real places, they serve in this story only as backdrops for fictional characters and events. The characters depicted in the novel who are associated with these places are not based on actual people, living or dead, and my depiction of these places should not be construed as being representative of the real-life activities of either the institutions or anyone associated with them.

Finally, the manuscript referenced in the narrative as possibly being written by John Steinbeck is entirely fictional. Steinbeck wrote no such manuscript, and the creation of it is entirely my own.

CHAPTER 1

As Ben Ransome descended through the water, he had the feeling, as he always did, that he was entering a cathedral. Float like an angel, he told himself. The words of his Open Water instructor passed through his thoughts as if he’d been certified only yesterday, instead of the twenty-odd years ago it had actually been.

Instinctively, he pushed the valve on the front of his drysuit and felt a puff of air enter. The suit eased its restrictive grip on his body, and his speed decreased slightly. Finning lightly so that he was horizontal, he looked down at the bottom, estimating that it was about twenty-five feet away. The visibility was fantastic, especially for early summer, when algae blooms often turned the water into a cloudy soup.