The Discovery

Sam's POV (Alive)

My phone buzzes at 3 AM, pulling me awake from another nightmare about the Mendoza case.

"Detective Rivera?" The voice is terrified, breathless. "This is Dr. Carver. I need your help. Eleanor has my nephew, and she's going to—"

The line goes dead.

I sit up in bed, my heart pounding. Dr. Carver sounded scared. More than scared. He sounded like a man who knew he was about to die.

I grab my gun and badge, throw on clothes, and race downstairs to my car. But when I get to Dr. Carver's house, it's totally dark. His car is gone.

Something's very wrong.

I drive to my office above Murphy's Diner, my mind spinning. What did Dr. Carver mean about Eleanor having his nephew? And who the hell is Eleanor?

Back in my office, I try to focus on my first real case in Tidewaters. Insurance scam at Henderson's Antique Shop. The place burned down last week, and the insurance company thinks the owner might have set the fire himself.

It should be easy work. Take some photos, question witnesses, write a report. Easy money to help me get started in this town.

But I can't think. Dr. Carver's worried voice keeps echoing in my head.

At dawn, I give up trying to work. I need fresh air and time to think. The beach is only two blocks away, and walking always helps me clear my head.

The morning fog is thick as I make my way down to the sand. Waves crash against the rocks with a sound like thunder. Seagulls scream overhead, diving for fish in the shallow water.

I walk along the tide line, letting the cold ocean air wake me up. This is going to be my fresh start. No more crooked cops. No more lost kids I can't save. No more dreams about cases gone wrong.

Just simple insurance theft and quiet beach mornings.

Then I see it.

At first, I think it's just driftwood washed up by the tide. But as I get closer, my blood turns to ice.

It's a body. A young boy, lying face-up in the wet sand.

I run toward him, already knowing it's too late. His skin is pale gray, and his eyes stare up at nothing. But what makes my gut twist are the cuts on his chest. Deep, precise symbols carved into his skin.

This isn't a mistake. This is crime.

I pull out my phone to call 911, but stop when I see something that makes no sense. The boy's lips are moving. Just barely, but they're definitely moving.

I lean closer.

"Help..." The word is so quiet I almost miss it. "Help me..."

But that's impossible. This kid is dead. His eyes are glassy, his skin is cold, and there's no pulse when I check his neck.

Dead people don't talk.

I stumble backward, my heart racing. Maybe I'm losing my mind. Maybe the stress of moving here and starting over is making me imagine things.

But then the boy's eyes focus on me.

"Detective Rivera," he whispers. "You have to stop her. Before she kills again."

I fall down hard in the sand. "What? How do you know my name?"

"Eleanor Blackwood. She's the one who killed me. She's going to kill Lisa Chen next."

"Who are you? How are you talking to me?"

"My name is Marcus Thorne. I died three days ago, but I can't rest until someone stops Eleanor."

This can't be happening. I'm a reasonable person. I believe in proof and facts, not ghosts and impossible things.

But the dead boy is still talking.

"She's had Dr. Carver helping her for fifteen years. He changes our wounds to make it look like accidents. But we weren't accidents, Detective. We were sacrifices."

"Sacrifices for what?"

"To keep the town prosperous. To keep the old families in power. Eleanor made a deal with something dark and hungry, and it feeds on children's blood."

I try to stand up, but my legs won't work. "This is crazy. People don't make deals with monsters. This is real life, not some horror movie."

Marcus sits up in the sand, and I can see right through his body to the ocean behind him.

"Three days from now, during the Founder's Day festival, Eleanor will sacrifice Lisa Chen in the basement of the town hall. Unless you stop her."

"Why me? I'm nobody. I just got here."

"Because you're not part of their conspiracy. You're not afraid of them yet. And because..." Marcus looks sad. "Because you understand what it's like to fail a child who needed help."

My chest tightens. He's talking about the Mendoza case. About seven-year-old Carmen Mendoza, who disappeared while I was investigating her family's neighborhood. I never found her. I never even found her body.

"How do you know about Carmen?"

"The dead talk to each other, Detective. She's been waiting for you to find someone you can actually save."

Tears burn my eyes. "I tried to save her. I tried so hard."

"I know. That's why you're the only one who can help us now."

I hear footsteps behind me and turn to see Chief Kellerman walking toward us with two cops. But when I look back at Marcus, he's gone. Just a dead person lying in the sand again.

"Detective Rivera?" Chief Kellerman studies the body with no surprise at all. "Tragic accident. Poor kid must have fallen from the cliffs during the storm last night."

I look at her. "Accident? Look at those cuts on his chest. Someone carved symbols into him."

"Rocks can do strange things when you fall on them at high tide." Kellerman's voice is flat, final. "We'll take care of everything from here. Why don't you go home and get some rest?"

"I want to examine the body. I want to call the state police."

"You're not a cop anymore, Rivera. You're a private investigator working insurance fraud cases. This is police business, and I'm telling you to stay out of it."

One of the cops steps forward. He's big, with cold eyes and hands that rest on his gun. "The Chief said go home, lady."

I know I should walk away. I know I should mind my own business and focus on my old shop case.

But I can't forget Marcus's voice. I can't forget the way he knew about Carmen Mendoza.

And I can't forget that somewhere in this town, a girl named Lisa Chen is about to be killed if I don't do something.

"Fine," I tell Kellerman. "I'll go home."

But as I walk away, I'm already planning. I need to find out who Eleanor Blackwood is. I need to learn about this town's past. And I need to figure out why a dead boy thinks I'm the only one who can save anyone.

Back at my office, I start researching on my notebook. Eleanor Blackwood, age 78, town council leader and descendant of Tidewaters' founder families. Her great-great-grandfather was one of the founding settlers in 1892.

I dig deeper into the town records. Four teenagers have died in "accidents" over the past five years. All during big town celebrations. All found with injuries that don't match their claimed causes of death.

My phone rings. Unknown number.

"Hello?"

"Detective Rivera, this is Dr. Carver. Are you alone?"

"Dr. Carver! Where are you? I got your call earlier, but—"

"Listen carefully. Eleanor has my eight-year-old nephew. She's going to kill him tonight unless I burn the evidence I've been collecting about her murders."

"What evidence?"

"Photos. Real crime scene photos of every child she's killed over the past fifteen years. Proof that they were murdered, not accidents."

"Where are you now?"

"Heading to the town hall basement. It's a trap, but I don't have a choice. She has Tommy."

"Wait for me. I'm coming with you."

"No! If Eleanor sees you there, she'll know I talked to you. She'll kill Tommy for sure."

"Then what do you want me to do?"

There's a long pause. "If I don't make it out tonight, the photos are hidden in my home office. Behind the bookshelf, there's a loose board. Use them to stop her before she kills Lisa Chen."

"Dr. Carver, don't go there alone. We can figure out another way to—"

The line goes dead.

I grab my gun and head for the door. I don't care what Dr. Carver said about staying away. An eight-year-old child's life is at stake.

But as I reach for the door handle, it turns by itself.

The door swings open, and Eleanor Blackwood steps into my office. She's a small, old woman with silver hair and kind eyes. She looks like someone's sweet grandmother.

Except for the bloody knife in her hand.

"Hello, Detective Rivera," she says with a warm smile. "We need to talk."

Behind her stand six guys in dark coats. They're all carrying guns.

"Dr. Carver was right about one thing," Eleanor continues. "This is a trap. But not the trap he thought it was."

My gun is still in my pocket. Eleanor's men have their guns already drawn and pointed at me.

"You see, my dear, we've been watching you since the moment you arrived in Tidewaters. We know all about your sad little case in Los Angeles. We know about Carmen Mendoza. We know how desperately you want to save a child this time."

Eleanor steps closer, and I can smell death on her breath.

"So we're going to give you that chance. You can save Dr. Carver's nephew. All you have to do is take his place."

"What do you mean?"

"The ritual requires young blood, but it will accept the blood of someone who carries great guilt and pain. Someone haunted by the children she failed to save."

Eleanor lifts the bloody knife, and I realize whose blood is on it.

"Dr. Carver tried to be a hero tonight. He tried to destroy my photographs and rescue his nephew." Eleanor's smile goes cold. "He failed at both. But his sacrifice did buy little Tommy a few more hours of life."

"You killed Dr. Carver."

"I killed a traitor who broke his oath to this town. Just like I'll kill you if you don't cooperate."

"And if I do cooperate?"

"Then Tommy goes free, and you take his place on the altar tomorrow night. One life for another. It's a fair trade."

I stare at Eleanor and her men. Six guns pointed at my chest. A bloody knife in the hands of a woman who's been killing children for fifteen years.

But somewhere in this town, an eight-year-old boy is crying for his uncle who will never come to save him.

Just like Carmen Mendoza cried for me.

"I need time to think," I say.

"Of course. You have until sunset tomorrow. After that, we kill the boy and come for you anyway."

Eleanor and her men back out of my office. At the door, she turns back with that terrible smile.

"Oh, and Detective? Don't try to leave town. We've made sure your car won't start, your phone won't work outside the city limits, and the roads have a way of leading you back here no matter which direction you drive."

The door closes, leaving me alone with the most impossible decision of my life.

Save one innocent child by dying myself, or let him die and spend the rest of my life knowing I failed another kid who needed me.

Outside my window, I can see the town hall where Dr. Carver died trying to be a hero.

And somewhere in the darkness, Marcus Thorne's ghost is waiting for me to decide if I'm strong enough to finish what he started.

But there's something Eleanor doesn't know.

I'm not the same broken officer who failed Carmen Mendoza.

I'm someone who's got nothing left to lose and everything to show.

And tomorrow night, one of us is going to die.

But it won't be Tommy.