Liam pulled his laptop out of the case, booted up, and waited for the predator program to load. He tapped in some coordinates, watching weather data flash across the screen. A tropical storm had swung east of Hatteras, north to Nova Scotia; a rare vacuum effect had been created, sending a whirl of monster rogue waves back in its wake.

“What we're seeing here is extremely rare on the East Coast,” John said as a surfer made the drop and rode one wild wave to the screams and cheers of onlookers. “This sort of thing is seen on Maui's north coast in Hawaii, a notorious surf-towing spot—”

“It's called Jaws,” Liam said. “For obvious reasons.”

“Exactly,” John said. “Just like Mavericks—a giant wave spot off Half Moon Bay, just north of San Francisco. Shark infested as well . . .”

“Just like Ghost Hills,” Liam said. He had finally logged into the predator program and was looking at the incredible number of purple dots blinking in the immediate area.

“Green dots for whales, purple for sharks?” Rose asked, frowning.

“Yes,” Liam said, giving her a reassuring hug.

“So, one of those green dots could be Nanny?”

“She's not here,” Liam said, scanning the screen for MM122, Nanny's tag number.

“I'm glad,” Rose said. “Because look at all those sharks.”

It was true; Liam marked down the identities of all previously tagged sharks, swimming just below the surface: makos, tigers, two bulls, and, circling far beneath the others, two great whites. Some surfers dared the rip, oblivious to what was beneath their boards. Liam felt an adrenaline rush, as if he were riding a monster wave himself.

He thought of the car cruising so slowly down their street. With all the sharks down below in the tumultuous sea, he knew there were human predators much worse. They were just as hungry, just as vicious. Liam put his arm around Rose, held her close. There were fins all around the boat, but he stared past them, straight toward the road that meandered past their borrowed house, all the way back to Lily.

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Lily knew that something big had happened as soon as she stepped off the elevator on Shoreline General's fifth floor. Several doctors were huddled outside Maeve's room. They looked up fast, and her heart started thudding.

“Ms. Malone!” Dr. Mead said. “We were just trying to call you.”

“What is it?” she asked, steadying herself against the wall.

“Good news,” she said. “Your grandmother has been responsive today.”

“She's out of the coma?”

“Not completely,” Dr. Mead said with a touch of hesitation in her smile. “But she opened her eyes, looked around, and responded with marked improvement to some neuro tests.”

“Did she say anything?”

“She said ‘Mara,'” Dr. Mead said, smiling for real now.

“I have to see her,” Lily said.

“Of course you do,” Dr. Mead said, and she and the other doctors stepped aside for Lily to enter the room.