Dark Water (Cooper M. Reid Book 1) Read Free

now it was a reminder of a life that he had not used to its full potential. Of course, that had been before he had gone missing for three months. The things that had happened to him and the things he had seen—they all made the former Cooper, the one with the huge ambition and drive, seem like a careless fool.
    Oddly enough, he couldn’t remember the things he had seen or what had happened to him.
    “Cooper…it is nice to see you,” Stephanie said. “I can’t even begin to explain how nice it is. And I want to help you in any way that I can. But I don’t know that I’m going to be able to do anything illegal just to keep you a secret. If you have people in powerful places looking for you like you say, then how do you know they aren’t watching us right now.”
    “I’ve been extremely careful,” Cooper said. “Before I made the decision to come here, I reached out to the only other friend I ever had. It’s a guy I used to work with...someone I knew I could trust. He’s kind of like you. He’s a whiz with computers and spent some of his youth with hacker groups. Much like you, he’s revered in paranoid online circles. He and I spent about three weeks making sure that the people that I used to work with have no idea that I am back.”
    “How long have you been back?”
    “Nine months,” Cooper said.
    “All of the news reports said you disappeared while doing research for some weird case in Kansas. Is that right?”
    “Close enough,” Cooper said. “But like I said…I’ll tell you everything some other time. I just don’t know that I can get through it all right now.”
    She gave him a look that was partly playful but mostly hurt. “So for right now, you just need me to do some pretty sketchy favors for you, is that it?”
    “Yeah,” he said softly.
    “And will you expect me to just come running whenever you ask?”
    “Steph…it’s not like that. Really.”
    Stephanie put her sunglasses back on. Cooper wasn’t sure if this was some sort of defense mechanism or what. He had never been particularly good at reading women.
    The waiter came back with Cooper’s beer and tacos. Stephanie watched the waiter go, waiting for him to be out of earshot before she spoke.
    “Well, I’ve already done some of the favors,” she said. “The money, for instance. That’s taken care of. And I have the address you asked for.”
    Again, she reached into her purse. This time she took out a plain white envelope and slid it over to Cooper. She slid it behind the basket of popcorn shrimp and Cooper’s fish tacos so none of the other patrons would see. Cooper took it and didn’t even bother looking inside. He trusted Stephanie and knew she would have done as he had asked.
    “Thanks,” he said, stuffing the envelope into his back pocket.
    “That bank account only has about five thousand dollars in it,” Stephanie said. “Well, now that I withdrew that five hundred for you, it’s less than that. How are you going to get by without a real job?”
    “I have some extra cash. I took advantage of people thinking I was dead and had my friend help me sell some stuff online. My old journals, equipment, stuff like that.”
    “That’s fiendish of you,” she said, but couldn’t suppress the smile. “How much?”
    “About eleven grand.”
    “It might sound like a lot, but it’ll be gone before you know it.”
    Cooper grinned and rested his hand on the book that still sat on the table between them. “Well, if things get tight I always have this to fall back on.”
    “Writing? About your usual stuff?”
    “Maybe.”
    “I don’t see you ever using a pen name,” she said. “You’re too full of yourself.”
    He grinned, but the comment stung. The Cooper she had known had been entirely too full of himself. He really wanted to let her in on the kind of man he was now—about how he had changed. He wanted to tell her everything that had happened to him, but now was not the time. She had agreed to help him with a