Saltwater

Katy Hays

Saltwater

Katy Hays
52 pages1-hour read
Fiction
Novel
Adult
Published in 2025

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Part 1, Chapters 12-21Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussions of graphic violence, substance use, addiction, physical and emotional abuse, sexual content, and death, including death by suicide.

Part 1, Chapter 12 Summary: “Lorna (Hours Before Lorna’s Disappearance: 16)”

Lorna and Helen join Ciro and his two friends, Lorenzo and Giuseppe, on a boat. Ciro takes them to the Marina Piccola to drop off a bag, and Lorna observes that he is deceptively strong. She is wary of the men and notes that Helen is acting unusually carefree.


Lorna recalls how Stan pressured her to spy on Marcus for information, implicating the Lingate family in Sarah’s death. Lorna formerly worked as a party girl, during which time she attended Stan’s events and stole from wealthy men like him. Stan is using Lorna’s past as leverage against her.


On the boat, Ciro brings them past Casa Malaparte before stopping in a secluded inlet. He tells them it’s where the Roman emperor Tiberius used to throw people from the cliffs. Ciro convinces Lorna and Helen to go swimming. Lorna gets tired, but Ciro pulls up the boat’s ladder, pretending to abandon the women. Lorna panics, grabs Helen, and accidentally pulls her underwater. Ciro dives in to rescue the Helen. Back on the boat, Helen dismisses the event as a joke and asks Lorna not to tell Freddy. Lorna agrees but suspects Helen is protecting Ciro.

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