Page 49 of Drowning in Darkness

A sigh escapes her. “No. Not with my heart. But then it was never his for the taking. That’s not who we are. I am his handler, and he’s the criminal under our control.”

Something about that answer unsettles me more than a warning ever could. “Do you think he’ll betray you?”

“Never.”

I throw my hands up. “You’re impossible.”

A quiet laugh slips from her. “James believes he deserves to suffer.” The humor vanishes as quickly as it arrived. “I’ve spent years interviewing people, profiling people, and trying to understand what makes them tick. Most people build stories about themselves. Some convince themselves they’re heroes. Others convince themselves they’re victims. James doesn’t do either. He believes he’s beyond saving.”

I toe off my sneakers and twist in my seat to look at her, one foot tucked under my thigh. The words don’t fit the man I met. I think about the way he looks at me when he thinks I’m not paying attention. The way he never seems comfortable receiving kindness. How guilt follows him like a second shadow. “You don’t believe that?” I check.

“No.”

The answer comes without hesitation.

“Neither do I.”

The admission leaves my mouth before I can stop it, and silence settles between us.

The phone mounted on the dashboard vibrates, and Camryn’s posture changes at once.

“What is it?” I wonder.

She doesn’t answer as a notification flashes across the screen. Incoming secure file. My stomach knots.

The file downloads while Camryn guides the car onto the shoulder. Gravel crunches beneath the tyres as she brings us to a stop and stares at the progress bar creeping across the display.

Neither of us speaks while it loads. When it reaches one hundred percent, she opens the file, and a video begins in darkness. The image shakes with the uneven movement of a body camera before gradually steadying. A timestamp from less than twenty minutes ago glows in one corner.

My pulse hammers.

Two figures step out of the vehicle we swapped. The decoys. The woman who looked enough like me to fool someone at a distance and the woman who could pass for Camryn under poor lighting. Ahead of them sits a small property surrounded by trees. Everything appears normal. One woman approaches the front door while the other scans the perimeter, and all hell breaks loose. Gunfire explodes across the screen.

My lookalike drops to the floor. Fake Camryn spins toward the sound, gun already in hand. More shots follow. Muzzle flashes erupt from the darkness surrounding the property, not from one position but several.

This is a hunt. The realization turns my blood cold. Someone knew exactly where they would be. Where we meant to be.

The camera jerks as the woman wearing it dives for cover. Branches and dirt fill the screen before another burst of gunfire rings out. The image pitches sideways, freezes, and then goes black.

I stare at the empty screen while a sick feeling settles in my stomach. My hand raises to cover my mouth. “Oh, my God.”

Camryn doesn’t move. She watches the darkness where the footage ended, her face stripped of expression. That frightens me more than anger ever could.

“Camryn?”

A long breath leaves her lungs. “I hate being right.” Her voice carries a certainty, not a hunch or suspicion. This is confirmed.

I swallow hard. “That means the location was leaked.”

“Yes.”

The single word lands like a gunshot as our eyes meet. Until now, there was room for another explanation. A mistake. Bad judgement. A coincidence.

Now there is only the truth.

The Assistant Director didn’t make an error. He handed over the safe house, and in the same breath, me. And now two more people paid for it with their lives.

How many more need to die to save one woman?