Dark Deeds

  Dark Deeds

  By Anne Marie Becker

  Book four of The Mindhunters

  Walking away from sexy Detective Diego Sandoval was one of the toughest things security specialist Becca Haney ever had to do. But her past is a direct threat to his future, to the career he’s working so hard to rebuild. Now, with a witness from a horrific case implicating Diego, Becca must decide whether to listen to her head or her heart.

  Diego is a big-city lawman used to cracking the hardest cases, but he’ll never understand why Becca ended their passionate affair. When he’s assigned to help keep her safe from a human trafficking ring, he’s determined to stay by her side and learn about the woman behind the passion—scars and all.

  But Becca has another admirer. Known only as “the Fan,” he believes he’s the perfect partner for her—and he’ll kill to prove it. When the stakes are raised in the killer’s deadly game, Diego will be called upon to save lives—including Becca’s.

  90,000 words

  Dear Reader,

  I know many of you have been waiting for the next installment of New York Times bestselling author Marie Force’s thrilling romantic suspense series. Fatal Jeopardy is finally here, and Nick and Sam are as good as ever!

  But that’s not all the great storytelling we have in store for you with the March releases. This month, we introduce debut author Matt Sheehan and a book that had the Carina Press acquisitions team in hysterics. Be sure to check out Helmut Saves the World, in which there’s magic, fistfights and one-liners with the best, most handsome and, of course, humble detective Helmut Haase and his apathetic sidekick Shamus O’Sheagan.

  If you’ve been longing for a great historical romance, we’ve got two this month. Juliana Ross finishes up her erotic Improper trilogy. In Improper Proposals, a lonely young widow learns to live—and love—again as she and her ambitious publisher, the most captivating man she has ever met, work on a forbidden guide to sexual pleasure. It’s An Heir of Uncertainty by Alyssa Everett and it’s also the answer to Colonel Win Vaughan’s prayers when he learns he’s the heir to the newly deceased Earl of Radbourne—but the beginning of a deadly mystery when he arrives to claim his inheritance, only to discover that the earl’s lovely widow is carrying a child who could displace him.

  If you’re looking for something hot, with an unusual hero, Solace Ames releases erotic romance The Submission Gift this month. A young husband offers his wife an unusual gift—to fulfill a fantasy she’d always set aside. But what starts out as a onetime session becomes something precious shared between three—one of them a male escort. Solace Ames brings something new to this story and if you love erotic romance, you’ll want to check this out.

  Also in the hot category is Up in Knots by Gillian Archer. Still bruised over the death of her boyfriend two years ago, Kyla Grant is determined to get back into the kinky dating scene, and bad-boy top Sawyer is just the man to help her. Joining Gillian, Juliana and Solace in the erotic romance category, Nico Rosso’s Slam Dance with the Devil, from his Demon Rock series, brings entertainment to a new level. Wild rock star Kent Gaol’s dark past goes back even further than private investigator Nona Harris could’ve imagined, and one night onstage surprises them both by slamming her into his supernatural world.

  March shapes up to be a good one for erotic romances because Emily Ryan-Davis brings us the follow-up to Ménage on 34th Street, which she coauthored with Elise Logan. In this next installment, Dial M for Ménage, it’s a new year and a new way of life for Katrina Holland, who started 2014 by waking up with two men in her bed. Now, she, Owen and Hunter struggle to define, and redefine, their relationships with one another after the first rush of newness fades.

  Paranormal romance author Lorenda Christensen follows up her funny, entertaining Never Deal with Dragons with the next in the series, Dancing with Dragons. If Carol Jenski knows anything, it’s fashion—and it’s in fashion to consort with dragons, even though they’ve coexisted with humans since WWIII. Still, she would never have agreed to take part in a plot against them. Now a dragon lord has called for her head, her boyfriend is MIA and she’s been abandoned in a foreign country.

  Stacy Gail’s paranormal romance miniseries, The Earth Angels, comes to an exciting conclusion in Dangerous Angel, where the heroes and heroines from all the previous books combine their efforts to avert a demonic apocalypse. In Kathleen Collins’s Death’s Daughter, Realm Walker Juliana Norris hunts a serial killer targeting Altered children while an enemy from her past closes in.

  This month we have two titles in the science-fiction genre. First, join the adventure At Star’s End! A galactic treasure hunter and an astro-archaeologist race across the galaxy in pursuit of the last remaining fragment of da Vinci’s Mona Lisa in this space opera romance from Anna Hackett.

  And we’re pleased to welcome T.D. Wilson with his debut, The Epherium Chronicles: Embrace. Set in the mid-twenty-second century, Embrace is the first book of an exciting new space opera series where Earth’s newest warship, the Armstrong, must make contact with fledgling colonies in nearby solar systems amid the threat of an alien attack.

  If you’re ready for a cozy mystery to keep you guessing as to whodunit, look no further than Julie Anne Lindsey’s latest release. Most islanders celebrate the reprieve of summer tourism with cider, mums and cocoa, but sharks, birders and a possible serial killer seem intent on ruining autumn for Patience when Murder Comes Ashore.

  Anne Marie Becker returns with another suspenseful installment in her romantic suspense series. In Dark Deeds, SSAM security expert Becca Haney is hiding a past that could hurt her ex-lover, NYPD detective Diego Sandoval—but the true threat comes from a “fan” whose conscience urges him to kill.

  Coming next month: contemporary romance Taken with You from New York Times bestselling author Shannon Stacey. Also, sports week and six irresistible sports romances!

  Here’s wishing you a wonderful month of books you love, remember and recommend.

  Happy reading!

  ~Angela James

  Executive Editor, Carina Press

  Dedication

  For Andrea—beta reader and alpha sister.

  You are amazing. I love you.

  P.S. I only used “crushed” twice.

  Acknowledgments

  Thank you to my readers and to my agent, Jill Marsal; my editor, Deb Nemeth; and Angela James for their support.

  To my husband and kids, who tolerated Mommy being on deadline this summer, I love you so much.

  To my sisters in the Ruby-Slippered Sisterhood and my fellow members of Northern Arizona RWA®, your talents, camaraderie and giving spirits are always inspiring.

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  About the Author

  Copyright

  Chapter One

  Friday, 4:03 p.m., early February

  Hoboken, New Jersey

  Becca followed the instructions—both parts—to the letter. She’d told no one, and she arrived at the diner alone. The window that separated her fr
om the sleet-slick street outside proclaimed the breakfast specials in ketchup-red and mustard-yellow stencil, which only accentuated the day’s shades of gray.

  Then again, it was February. In Hoboken.

  “Another refill?” The waitress’s attitude had gone from cheerful to weary over the past hour.

  “No, thanks.” Three cups had already shifted her usual state of heightened awareness into downright jittery territory. It went against all her self-protective instincts—and in a personal security specialist and bodyguard, those were strong—to continue to sit and wait, but she wanted this interview. Had worked for months to chase down this lead that might provide new information about Samantha Manchester’s disappearance. The trail had been cold for twenty years, which was why Becca needed Selina. So she didn’t protest when the tired waitress misheard her and moved to top off her cup yet again.

  Her hand shook slightly—adrenaline and caffeine were a potent mix—as she lifted her cup to her lips. She set it down too hard, sloshing a bit over the rim, splashing droplets onto the table. As she reached for the napkin dispenser, the tiny diamond stud in her nose reflected in the metal surface, winking at her like sun on snow. During the weeks they’d exchanged emails, Becca had learned that eighteen-year-old Selina loved piercings, extreme hair color and all things city-chic, so Becca had opted to wear the stud she normally removed for her daily job. Her nearly white-blond hair was a constant. Still a year shy of thirty, Becca was short enough, her appearance young enough, to get away with wearing ripped jeans and a T-shirt advertising a popular punk band.

  Another minute ticked by. Resigned, she took out her phone and sent the text she’d been composing in her mind. So sorry. Going to miss rehearsal but will be at party. Will make it up to you.

  She was, technically, in New York City to serve as a bridesmaid in a wedding, but the proximity to this lead in Hoboken had been crucial to her decision to fly in early. However, she hadn’t counted on her lead being late for their appointment. She was going to miss the next train back to the city.

  A moment later, Vanessa texted a reply. Because of Diego?

  Becca’s body went still. Months ago, she’d reconciled herself to seeing her ex-lover again, since Diego was the groom’s best man. She was dreading it, but she would pull on her big girl panties for the sake of her friends’ wedding. Vanessa and Noah deserved happiness.

  She texted back. No. Work.

  I know this weekend is tough for you. If you want to talk, I’m here.

  Though Becca appreciated the offer, sharing wasn’t in the cards. Her two-week affair with Diego last summer would be forever locked away in a vault in the back of her mind. Unfortunately, her masochistic side occasionally whipped out those memories like little jewels and re-examined them in all their sparkling, stunning detail.

  A young woman peeked through the diner’s ketchup-and-mustard window and Becca hastily returned Vanessa’s text. See you soon.

  Swallowed up by a trench coat that appeared secondhand, the woman looked all of twelve years old, especially when she rapidly blinked away snowflakes as if she were lost and confused. But the highlights in her hair were expensive—not homegrown, but from a quality salon. She winced as the tinkling of a bell announced her entrance, then she spied Becca in the corner.

  With halting steps, as if she were facing a firing squad, she made her way to the table. “Becca?”

  “That’s me.” Becca smiled warmly and gestured to the opposite side of the booth. “Thank you for coming.”

  After another glance around, Selina slid onto the bench. “I almost didn’t, but I had to meet the woman who thinks she can take down the Circle.” Selina’s gaze flicked over her. “Kind of small, aren’t you?”

  “The best things come in small packages.” It was something Becca’s brothers used to say to her, before ruffling her hair. Or trying out the latest wrestling moves on her. Not that they’d dared to attempt such a thing in years, not since she’d shown up to a family dinner wearing her black belt in Tae Kwon Do. “I’m tougher than I look.” And at five and a half feet tall, she wasn’t that tiny.

  “Me, too.” For an eighteen-year-old, Selina’s eyes were hard with life experience, her jaw set in concrete.

  “You’d have to be tough, to survive what you’ve been through.”

  The waitress approached, some semblance of her cheerful smile back in place at the prospect of another paying customer. Selina ordered a cup of coffee, then waited until the waitress was at the other end of the diner before speaking. “How’d you find me?”

  “I’d been looking for anything about the Circle. You were mentioned in a police report.”

  Selina stiffened. “There’s not supposed to be anything to connect me to them.”

  “It was under your previous name, not your new one. That took some more digging. The rest you know.”

  “You bribed my friend for my email address.”

  “Pretty much.” There had been weeks of trust-building there, too, during which they’d exchanged increasingly lengthy emails until Becca had convinced Selina she could be trusted.

  Selina ducked her head, pretending to be absorbed in stirring her coffee. “You believe the police report?”

  Becca sensed her response was critical to the success of this interview. “There was very little to it, which surprised me. You were a witness, a survivor, one of a kind, who could have testified against a major crime syndicate. But then you disappeared. I’m guessing the former is the motivation for the latter.”

  Selina set aside her spoon and met Becca’s gaze. “I’m only here because you think you can take those monsters down. I want to help, but...”

  “But you’re afraid. I don’t blame you for not trusting anyone. I know what the Circle is capable of. I’ve been gathering information on them for months now. I’ve read every police report I could get my hands on from Chicago to New York to Las Vegas.”

  “To find out if they took this Samantha Manchester girl like they took me.”

  “Yes, but she was taken in Chicago, so it’s a little different. My boss at SSAM—”

  “Damian Manchester...he’s Samantha’s father?”

  Becca nodded. “Sam was thirteen years old when she was taken from a mall in the North Shore area of Chicago twenty years ago. A year later, they found her skeletal remains in a wooded, rural area outside of the city.”

  Selina shuddered. “That could have been me. If I hadn’t been rescued, death would have been the easy way out.”

  “Except she might not have died.”

  Selina looked up sharply. “What?”

  “Recently, we found evidence that suggests it might not have been Sam’s body in that shallow grave after all. The Circle may have taken her, then faked her death and identification to throw the police and Damian off the trail.” It was precious little to go on, but it was something new, when hope of finding justice had nearly been lost.

  Becca waited a moment and watched Selina absorb her words before she continued. “From what I’ve learned, I believe the Circle deals in the trading of human flesh, including sex slaves and children for pornographic purposes. You were almost one of their victims.” That was only a part of their extensive operation, and looking for information about Samantha had been like trying to chip away at an iceberg, searching for that one bit of helpful information.

  “Help me stop them,” Becca pleaded when Selina remained quietly thoughtful.

  “You don’t know for sure that the Circle was involved in Sam’s disappearance.”

  “True. That’s why I need your help. You’re the only person known to have escaped the Circle and survived.” Others had been killed before they could testify. Selina had taken off before she could suffer the same fate. And the police report had been notably vague.

  Selina seemed to weigh this, then sat back, her shoulders dipping a notch as she made her decision. “It’s not a pretty story.”

  “In my line of work, few stories are.”

  �
�You see this kind of thing at SSAM often?”

  The acronym for Damian’s agency, the Society for the Study of the Aberrant Mind, was a tribute to his daughter Sam. SSAM’s clientele enlisted Becca and her fellow agents to hunt violent repeat offenders when local law enforcement agencies or FBI failed to apprehend the criminals, for whatever reason—often a lack of resources or a case that had gone cold or fallen out of the public eye.

  Like Samantha Manchester’s case.

  Becca leaned forward on the tabletop scarred by water rings and knife marks. “I can teach you ways to protect yourself. You’re doing a good job hiding, but I have a lot of experience in staying safe.” And plenty in getting hurt, too, and how to avoid it in the future. “My job, my entire world, is all about personal security.”

  Selina pressed her lips together, then shook her head. “I’m here now, and I’ll talk. But then we can’t meet again. I can’t risk it.”

  “I understand.” Becca hoped to get what she needed and leave this woman in peace.

  “I hope so, because it’s a matter of life and death...and not just mine.” Absently, Selina’s left hand rubbed her upper right arm as if warding off a chill.

  Who else was she protecting? “I made sure nobody followed me,” Becca assured her. “I haven’t told anyone I’m here. Not even my boss.”

  Selina stared out the window for so long Becca wasn’t sure she would share her story after all. When she spoke, it was in a bitter, miserable tone. “I was at a party where there was alcohol. I was out beyond curfew. My parents didn’t care. I’d run away so many times, they’d stopped trying to get through to me. Besides, I was going to be eighteen in a month. An adult.” She huffed out a breath. “As if I knew what that meant. I was an idiot.”

  Stealing Selina’s innocence was yet another of the Circle’s crimes.

  Selina shook off her self-flagellation and refocused. “My phone’s battery died so I went to the car to charge it while I called a friend who was supposed to meet me. Before I could dial, two guys opened my door and yanked me from the front seat.” She paused and swallowed. “It was dark, and everything happened so fast. They put something over my head and tied me up so I couldn’t see or move. In a matter of seconds, they had me...it was all so efficient. I was scared, but that was just the beginning.” Remembered fear contorted her face.