Mike Omer - In the Darkness

“You know what’s good?” she said.

“What?” Tatum asked.

“Beer.”

He raised an eyebrow. “You probably drank enough from that good beer.”

“You’re not my mother,” she drawled.

“Thank god for that.”

“My mother is unbearable. I don’t understand why Andrea went to stay with her.”

Tatum sighed. “She’s probably not that bad.”

Zoe didn’t argue the point. “Tatum, you know that night?”

“What night?”

“The night when I said maybe you shot that guy because you thought he deserved it.”

“Yeah.” He took a long drink from his glass.

Zoe was pretty sure she was supposed to apologize, though she suddenly wasn’t sure what had triggered the argument in the first place. She still thought she might have been right, though that probably wasn’t the best thing to say at the moment. “I was dumb,” she finally offered. It wasn’t something she said often—or, in fact, ever. But it seemed like a safe bet.

“Well, thanks for saying that.” He smiled at her gratefully.

She had no idea how she’d managed to navigate through that thorny issue. It was like she’d been running with a blindfold in a minefield, missing the mines by pure chance.

“I also wanted to thank you for saving Andrea.”

“I didn’t save Andrea,” he said, surprised.

“Yes, you did. You told your grandfather to look out f or her, and he shot Glover and saved Andrea. So I owe you Andrea’s life. Or she owes you her life. Or maybe we split it. Split the tab.” She let out a small hiccuping laugh. “Each of us owes a bit of Andrea’s life.”

“Okay, you definitely had enough to drink. Let’s get you home.” He got off the barstool.

“Wait.” She grabbed his wrist. “Not yet.”

He sighed, sat back down. “You’ll have a hell of a hangover tomorrow.”

“I don’t get hangovers.”

“You’re in for a surprise.”

“I think I don’t dehydrate easily.”

The song in the background changed to Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Want to Have Fun.”

“Oh, I love this song,” Zoe said.

“You would.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing.” Tatum smirked at her.

They sat in silence for a bit, listening to the song.

“I need to find Rod Glover,” Zoe said, the words sobering her up slightly. “I know it makes me sound obsessive, but—”

“You’re right.”

“What?”

“You’re right. You need to find him. And I’ll help.”

“Okay then.” She had a strange fuzzy feeling that had nothing to do with the alcohol in her bloodstream. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” Tatum pried the glass, still almost half-full, out of her hand. “Partner.”

She tried to be serious; they were talking about an important matter. But that warm feeling settled in her stomach, and girls just wanted to have fun in the background. A smile crept to her face and wouldn’t go away. For the first time in days, she felt almost safe.

This book would never have seen the light of day without my wife, Liora. She’s there to brainstorm with me, read and edit my work, and supply endless support whenever I need it. Although she often asks that I write about flowers and butterflies, she’s always there to help me write about murderers and psychopaths. One day I will write a flower-and-butterfly thriller just for her.

Christine Mancuso, who taught me much of what I know about writing, received the first draft of this book. She gave me a lot of notes, helped me develop Juliet Beach and the interactions between Zoe and Joseph, and much more.

Jessica Tribble, my editor, gave me amazingly helpful editing notes. With her help, I trimmed what desperately needed trimming, fixed the mystery so that it actually works, and completely rewrote the book’s start, making it punchier and stronger.

Bryon Quertermous did the developmental editing on this book. He fixed glaring pacing problems, helped the dialog shine better, and assisted in removing two unnecessary and weak chapters.

Stephanie Chou did the final editing on the book, smoothing out my clunky grammar and endless spelling mistakes and catching some sneaky errors, among them a sunset that lasted for way too long.

Sarah Hershman, my agent, showed faith in me and helped this series get published and succeed as much as it did.

Thanks to my friends in Author’s Corner, who gave me support and help and cheered for me when this series first went live. I couldn’t ask for better friends. Thanks to my parents, for giving me all the support I needed in this roller coaster ride called “being an author.”

Photo © 2017 Yael Omer

Mike Omer has been a journalist, a game developer, and the CEO of Loadingames, but he can currently be found penning the next in his series of thrillers featuring forensic psychologist Zoe Bentley. Omer loves to write about two things: real people who could be the perpetrators or victims of crimes—and funny stuff. He mixes these two loves quite passionately into his suspenseful and often macabre mysteries. Omer is married to a woman who diligently forces him to live his dream, and he is father to an angel, a pixie, and a gremlin. He has two voracious hounds that wag their tails quite menacingly at anyone who dares approach his home. Learn more by emailing him at mike@strangerealm.com.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Text copyright © 2019 by Michael Omer

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.

Published by Thomas & Mercer, Seattle

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Amazon, the Amazon logo, and Thomas & Mercer are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc., or its affiliates.

ISBN-13: 9781503990425 (hardcover)

ISBN-10: 1503990427 (hardcover)

ISBN-13: 9781542040594 (paperback)

ISBN-10: 1542040590 (paperback)

Cover design by Christopher Lin

First edition