After the Dark (Killer Instinct 1)

He knew how to change...how to alter his speech, how to become nearly anyone at all.

He had changed, because he’d wanted to survive. Survive and thrive.

He’d been close to Samantha a few times. He didn’t think that she’d noticed. Sure, he’d never talked to her, because that would be too risky. If he talked, if he stood right in front of her, she might see who he really was.

She was the only one who’d ever come close to doing that before.

Well, Samantha and...one other person.

The person he was hunting right then. The person he had to find before Samantha did. I can’t let you end his work, Sam. He’s not done.

He reached for the door that led to the police station.

And I’m not done, either.

His reflection flashed back at him from the glass door. He didn’t look the same at all.

Smiling, he headed inside. He walked right up to the counter. “I’d like to speak to Captain Lewis.” He’d wanted to meet the man for a long time.

“I’m Captain Lewis.” The gruff voice came from the right.

Turning his head, he saw the man marching from his office. Lewis was a few inches shorter than he was, but, despite his age, the guy was fit, with broad shoulders and a quick stride. His dark gaze was assessing.

He almost smiled as he stared at the captain. Almost.

“Who the hell are you?” Lewis demanded.

He strode forward and offered his hand to Lewis. “The guys at the marina told me you were looking for volunteers to help in the search for...” He paused as if it were difficult to say. “For the remains of that woman who went missing. I...I’d like to help.”

“I don’t know you, son...” Lewis was obviously suspicious.

You taught Sam well.

“That’s because I’m new to town. Ex-Navy, working at building the combat ships out of Mobile.” He nodded and kept his hand extended. From that angle, the lines of his tattoo were obvious. A trident on his inner wrist. “I’ve got plenty of dive experience, and I’d like to help out in any way I can.”

Lewis slowly lifted his hand. He had a good grip. Strong. “Didn’t catch your name.”

And you won’t, not for a while. Not his real name, anyway. “Brock Chambers.” And Brock Chambers had served in the Navy. He’d been an excellent diver. And he’d owned one beauty of a boat down in Key West.

It seemed fitting that Brock was currently resting at the bottom of the Gulf, since he’d loved the sea so much.

“All right, Brock. We do need all hands on deck, but I’m running a check on all my volunteers.” Lewis huffed out a breath. “So give your contact info to the officer behind the desk. The FBI has a team down here now, their USERT guys, but if we need backup in the water and you pass muster, I’ll be contacting you.”

USERT. He didn’t let his expression alter. He’d hoped there would be fewer agents down there. This situation was turning into a clusterfuck.

Someone called for the captain. Lewis turned away.

And he never realized that he’d just met one of the FBI’s most wanted criminals.

Cameron Latham smiled as he stood in the middle of the police station.

* * *

“GOOD TO SEE you again, Agent Dark,” Josh Duvane said as he stood at the marina. “Didn’t realize I’d be running into you here.”

Here...that would be the makeshift base that had been set up for the FBI agents. Blake had brought her there to meet the USERT group, but apparently he’d forgotten to tell them a few things.

“You know I’m not with the FBI any longer,” she said to Josh, wanting to correct that wrong assumption right away.

His blond brows hiked. “But...when we spoke on the phone, Blake told me you were working the case with him. I thought that meant you were back and—”

“I’m a civilian on this one.” She held up her hands. “Purely freelance work. It’s Blake’s show.” Her smile felt bittersweet. “I’m along for the ride because the killer is trying to get to me.”

Josh’s face hardened. Josh Duvane...she’d met him a few times, mostly when he’d been training with Blake. Josh was usually quiet, intense. His hazel stare possessed intelligence and confidence. The guy didn’t show fear, and she’d heard others say he was the best diver in the Bureau.

“The killer is after you?” Josh’s gaze shot to Blake.

“And she wants to be bait,” Blake said grimly. “A plan we are not following.”

It was a plan he should follow. Damn him. Didn’t he get that she couldn’t have more blood on her hands?

Blake spread out maps on the table in front of them. “Samantha built a profile of the guy. She’s certain he’s dumped the body in the water, so that’s where we start. I’ve been studying the currents in the bay, and if our guy wanted to make sure the victim stayed down—long enough for any evidence to be washed away—I figure he’d go out through this point.” His finger traced over the map, heading away from Devil’s Hole and out toward Point Clear. “We need to focus closer to the mouth of the bay. Hell, if the guy didn’t want the body found at all, he would have dumped her out there, hoping the tide might drag her out into the Gulf.” He looked up at Josh and the two agents with him. “We aren’t letting that happen. Recovering the victim as fast as possible is an absolute necessity.”

Because the dead could still speak, if they got to Tammy fast enough.

“We’ve got a boat lined up to take us out,” Josh stated with a nod. “The sonar will give us a real-time look beneath the water. Whenever we have a potential hit, a diver will go down. If she’s out there, we’ll bring her back.”

“She’s out there,” Samantha said with certainty. Her gaze turned toward the water of the bay. So still out there now, almost like glass. She could see boats dotting the water. Fishermen. Yachtsmen. A few guys on sailboats. She’s out there...and he may be, too.

“Let’s get suited up,” Josh said to his team, his voice brisk. “Let’s bring our vic home.”

The other USERT agents turned away. Samantha knew they’d be grabbing their tanks and dive equipment from the shop that waited nearby. But Josh—he was staring at her.

Blake took a protective step toward her. “There a problem here?” And his voice wasn’t so friendly any longer.

“Hell, no, we don’t have a problem.” Josh’s gaze held hers. What she saw there made her stiffen. Sympathy. She’d always hated looks of sympathy and pity. They tended to piss her off. “Just want Agent Dark to know that she did have a few people in her corner.”

“It’s not Agent—” Samantha began.

“It should be,” Josh retorted.

Her lips thinned.

“Blake wasn’t the only one telling Bass he’d screwed up. I was in that line, too.”

Wait, there had been a line? Since when?

“You aren’t the first person to judge a friend the wrong way.” Now there was something else on Josh’s face. Something that looked a whole lot like pain. “I made that mistake, too. Trusted a guy with my life, and he wound up turning on me and every man in our unit. Lost two good SEALs that day. And every fucking day since then, I ask myself...why didn’t I see the truth about him sooner?”

Josh had just succeeded in surprising her. “I’m sorry.”

“And I’m sorry for the shit that went down with you at the Bureau. You got a raw deal.” His head jerked toward Blake. “He always said you were a class act, the best at profiling most of us have ever seen. The FBI lost out when they turned on you.”

“Tell that to Bass,” she said, her lips twisting.

“Blake did. I did. But some dumbasses just don’t hear reason very well.”

His words warmed her, when she hadn’t realized that she was even cold.

“You coming out

on the boat with us?” Josh asked her. “On the phone, Blake told me that you grew up in the area. It would be good to have your eyes out there on the water, especially since I’ve heard there are a lot of boat wrecks out there. Material like that is gonna flash on the sonar, and I’ll need help sorting out what we’re seeing.” He paused. “We could use you.”

She glanced back at the water. Once upon a time, she’d known every inch of that bay. The skies were clear now, but things could change in an instant...that was the way down there. Sunny skies one moment. Torrential rain or heavy fog the next. Fairhope was right at the mouth of Mobile Bay. The bay emptied out into the Gulf of Mexico, so that meant their little spot on the map was pretty special. Several rivers led to the bay, giving them a heavy swamp area to the north, while the water deepened and the waves roughened as the bay led farther south.

“Can I count on your help?” he prompted.

“I’ll be there.” He was right. There were plenty of wrecks out there—small boats, piers—the storms weren’t pretty when they ripped into the bay, and far too many materials had found their way into the water.

“Good.” He inclined his head toward Blake. “You diving with us?”

Now surprise flashed through her. She hadn’t realized that Blake dived—or that he’d ever trained with the USERT team.

Blake nodded. “I’ll be suiting up.”

Josh turned away and went to join the others. Blake started to follow, but Samantha grabbed his arm. “Can we talk for a moment?” She’d pushed him away back at the station. Things had gotten too intense between them. And when people got too close to her, she tended to have one response—to push away.

She exhaled slowly and waited until the others were gone. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

Was he really going to make her spell it out? “That I’m not who you want me to be.” A woman who’d give herself freely to her lover.

He caught her chin in his hand and tipped her head back so that she was staring straight into his eyes. “You are exactly who I want you to be.”

Her heart pounded like a drum, echoing in her ears.

“I’m not as good as you seem to think. Trust me, I’ve got my own dark places, too.”

“Yes, but those dark places aren’t ever going to send you out to murder innocent women.” The words just blurted out of her. “Not like—”

“Latham.”

She held his gaze. “I let him get close. I trusted him, for years.” When she’d pushed so many others away. “It messed me up. I can’t... I can’t make any more mistakes.”

“You think being with me is a mistake?”

No, she thought being with him was keeping her sane. “What do you want from me?”

And he smiled at her, a long, slow smile. “Are you sure you’re ready to find out?”

She wasn’t.

Josh called his name.

Blake didn’t look back.

“You need to get your tank, Gamble!” Josh yelled.

Blake’s hand slid away from her chin. “When we’re alone again,” Blake said, not looking back at the other man but still focusing totally on her, “I’ll show you exactly what I want.” He held her gaze a moment longer, then slowly turned away.

She realized she was holding her breath.

Samantha exhaled on a soft sigh. And maybe I’ll show you what I want. What I want...but can’t have.

CHAPTER TEN

BLAKE SAT ON the side of the boat. The farther they’d gone out into the bay, the rougher the waves had become. They’d already hit three dive sites, searching the murky water but turning up nothing. The bottom of the bay was littered with wreckage—old pier pilings that had been ripped away by the last tropical storm, broken boats that had been tossed like debris by the waves. The wreckage kept popping up on the sonar, but so far...

No sign of Tammy White.

His gaze slid to the left. Samantha was with the boat captain, leaning over and pointing at a small screen near the wheel. A faint furrow appeared between her brows. “Here,” she said. “This spot...it’s good. Drop the anchor here.”

The captain nodded and headed toward the front of the boat. Samantha took the wheel, putting the vessel in Neutral as the front anchor was deployed. The captain dropped in the dive flag as Samantha controlled their boat. “Got a reading on sonar,” Samantha said, looking back at Blake. “The depth is good here, and we’re about twenty minutes from Fairhope. It would have been easy for our perp to get out to this location. To drop the victim and then just slip away. This spot is fairly secluded, so if he wanted a dumping ground, well, this spot would be perfect.” She bit her lower lip. “It’s...it’s probably the spot I would use, if I wanted to get rid of a body.”

“Then that’s good enough for me,” Josh said as he lowered his body to the side of the boat next to Blake. “You know your killers, ma’am.”

The waves lapped against the boat.

Samantha had killed the engine. She stood near the wheel, but her gaze slid over Blake, Josh and the other two USERT divers—Sean Hastings and Fiona Webb. “Be careful down there. As with the other spots, visibility isn’t going to be strong. The bay is too murky—”

“That works to the perp’s advantage,” Fiona muttered.

Yes, it did.

“Don’t worry.” Josh flashed a half smile at Samantha. The guy was always cocky near the water. “We’ve got the buddy system in place. And trust me, we’ve all been in way worse conditions than this.” He peered around at the bay. “Way worse.” The smile slipped as memories seemed to darken his face. But then he motioned to Sean and Fiona, and they fell back into the water with a light splash.

Blake looked up and saw that Samantha’s gaze was on him. “Be careful,” she said.

Sounded like she cared. Good. But before he was done with Sam, it would be more than just caring. That was his mission. She just didn’t see it yet.

Blake made sure that his mask was in place, all of his gear ready. He pushed his regulator into his mouth and fell into the water, hitting first with his back and then turning to sink beneath the surface. Within seconds, he was no longer aware of the heavy weight of his tank. He cut through the water easily, aware of Josh swimming right at his side. His dive buddy. Right. Josh had been his buddy for years. Sometimes, you needed a friend who could understand the shit that followed you out of battle. Josh had plenty of his own scars. They talked about them some, over cheap alcohol when the memories got too bad. They talked about the things they wished they could change.

And the lives that had been lost.

Blake automatically checked his dive computer. He had plenty of bottom time left, he wasn’t worried about that, but checking the dive computer was just second nature to him. Smart diving. No one could take chances in the water, not ever. As they sank lower, following the boat’s anchor down, Blake pulled up his flashlight. He kept the flashlight hooked to his BCD on dives. The light cut through the darkness of the water, and as they neared the bottom of the bay, he saw the battered remains of a small, flat-bottom fishing boat. Hell, that must have been what showed up on the sonar.

But the team kept descending because they needed to be thorough. They had to check everything, and Samantha had said this spot was perfect.

Bubbles drifted around them.

Fiona reached the wreckage first. She put her hand on the side of the old boat, pulling herself closer to it, and then—

She jerked back, a fast, hard reflex. Her head whipped toward Josh, and she made a cutting motion with her hand.

Adrenaline flooded through Blake’s body as he swam closer to the boat. And...then he saw the ropes. Thick, rough rope that bound something—someone—to the wreckage.

It looked as if seaweed were drifting in the water near the boat. But the closer he came

, the more he realized...not seaweed.

Hair.

Hair was floating in the water. A body was tied to the old boat’s motor. Tammy White’s body was bloated, too white in the glare of his flashlight. Her head bobbed in the water, moving back and forth, and her hair kept drifting around her face.

Blake reached for the dive knife that he’d strapped to his ankle. They’d found Tammy’s watery grave.

Now it was time to take her home.

* * *

THE WATER BUBBLED near the side of the boat. “They’re coming up!” Samantha yelled to the captain. The team hadn’t been down long at all. A fast dive, just like the ones before. Frustration heated her blood. She’d been so certain that this spot would be the one. The location, the seclusion...it fit.

She saw the edge of a mask appear, and then she was staring at Josh’s face. His eyes held hers.

Then Blake broke the surface of the water. She reached out her hand to him, but he shook his head.

Her heart stuttered in her chest.

Josh pushed away his mask. “Like I said, you know your killers.”

She locked her gaze on Blake. “You found her?”

He shoved his mask back.

“Yes,” Josh said, and his face was grim. “We have her.”

Samantha’s shoulders sagged.

“Now,” Blake said, his voice rough, “we get him.”

* * *

HE CREPT TOWARD Samantha Dark’s house. She was gone, out searching for a body that she wouldn’t find, not for a while. He’d made sure that Tammy didn’t drift up to the surface—he’d made that mistake with Kristy. He liked to think that he’d learned from his mistakes.

It was time to move again. Time to play again.

He crept toward her house, excitement thick in his blood. Her car was there, but he knew she’d left with Agent Gamble. Her home was secluded, surrounded by all of those thick oak trees and all that swaying Spanish moss. No one would see him there. But then, no one would think to look for him—

At her house.

He went straight to her front door. It was locked, of course, but he was ready. He worked on that lock, sweating a bit until he heard the soft snick that told him he’d gotten inside. He’d worn gloves this time, just in case. But when he actually got ready to kill Samantha...he’d take his gloves off. He liked to feel his victims beneath his hands.