Driving down to Baltimore, Patrick kept the windows open and let the wind keep him cool. He had left Flora at the boatyard with Angelo, his friend and sometime dog sitter, because he wasn't sure how long his investigation would take, and he didn't want to leave her shut up in the car. But he missed her company, so when his cell phone rang, he was happy to hear Liam's voice.

“Any more signs of Edward?” Patrick asked.

“Not since that one time,” Liam said. “I haven't let Rose out of my sight.”

“Good,” Patrick said.

“I want to be with Lily in Hubbard's Point,” Liam said. “But she thinks that keeping Rose away is somehow safer.”

“She might be right,” Patrick said. “Edward can't be in two places at once. I think the reason he was at the hospital that day is that he's nervous about Maeve coming out of the coma. She's making progress, and he has to be afraid she'll talk.”

“Is there any evidence he was involved?”

“One partial fingerprint on the hot-water heater. It will be interesting to hear what Maeve has to say about what was going on right before she collapsed.”

“Do you think she'll wake up, Patrick?”

Patrick drove in silence for a few seconds. He pictured Maeve's bright, determined eyes, thought of the way she protected Lily's secret so selflessly these last nine years. “Don't count her out,” he said quietly.

“I hope you're right,” Liam said. “For Lily's sake.”

“I know. They were very close; this has to be incredibly hard on her. Especially having to worry now about what Edward plans to do about Rose. I think you should stay where you are for now. Just keep a close watch on her. Don't let him near her.”

“Don't worry,” Liam said sharply. “He'd better not try. Besides, we've spent most of our time on the water, in a friend's boat. In fact, that's one reason I'm calling.”

“What is it?”

“There's a guy from Cape Hawk,” Liam said. “Gerard Lafarge. He's a fisherman with a bad reputation for netting dolphins and whales. There's an oceanographic anomaly going on here in Rhode Island—big ocean waves pulling in lots of unusual species, lots of activity. . . .”

“Not just in Rhode Island,” Patrick said, thinking of how he'd seen thousands of small fish break the water's surface of his normally quiet cove.

“Lafarge isn't fishing, and there's no law against him cruising the area,” Liam said. “But he's here for a reason, and I want to know what it is.”

“Have you called up to Cape Hawk?” Patrick asked.

“Yes—I've asked my cousin, but he doesn't know anything.”