Page 8 of Get Kraken

They hadtheir first outing barely a week after she first volunteered. It was meant to be only a test exercise, but as far as Chase was concerned, it was still too soon to put Olivia through the paces.

It wasn’t just the three of them, either. There was an entire team watching and participating. The AILE and ATTF weren’t about to clear a civilian for a mission if she presented any sort of liability. She had to prove herself in this test.

In a way, Mike and Chase were also being tested. They had to show everyone that they could work together, and professionally, despite their personal situation.

The exercise wouldn’t last long. Mike was to be the biggest fish in the water, aside from Olivia, and that meant that the smaller water shifters faced certain risks with being in the water too long. Larger fish eat the smaller fish and don’t stop to ask their meal if they’re actually a shifter. The last thing they needed was for an agent to become a snack.

Mike would be with Olivia, but at a distance.

But not too much of a distance.

Chase might be jealous as fuck that he couldn't go into the water with them, but that didn't mean he was stupid. He wasn't about to risk the life of his mate. He had to trust Mike.

Olivia, on the other hand, would be only shifting halfway. Meaning, her top half would stay in its human form, and, well, her bottom half would be showing a few more tentacles.

Chase hadn’t been sure of this plan at first. But then he realized the entire point was to draw attention to themselves. Rather, for Olivia to draw attention to herself.

If this was another kraken shifter they were dealing with, then they wanted him, or her, to have a chance to see that Olivia was one of them.

Kraken shifters were rare, and there was a good chance that if one heard about another, that they’d want to meet. If their kraken suspect heard about Olivia, they might be compelled to track her down.

And then they hoped to make contact. Which would be followed by a swift and smooth suspect apprehension.

The beaches where the bodies had washed up were still closed to the public. Thanks to a team of dedicated security, the only people who would be on the premises would be those assisting with the mission.

"Carol, are we good to go?" Chase asked from his spot in the van as he tapped his fingers on the consul in front of him.

"Eyes and ears are up in the air, cameras have been set down below, we should be good."

“Should be, or we are?" He checked the monitors, seeing the cameras above the clear, almost crystalline turquoise water shimmering with the light that reflected off its surface. It was beautiful.

And the last place in the world he would've expected a killer to be lurking.

"We're good," Carol answered.

Chase could feel her looking at him, trying to figure out what his problem was. "If you're worried about Mike—”

“I'm not.” He swiveled in his chair to look at her. “And what makes you think I’m worried about anything, anyway?"

She shrugged and turned her nose back to the screens in front of her. “No reason.”

Clenching his hands on his knees, Chase turned back to the screens that needed to be watched. There were so many coves and caves where something or someone sinister could be hiding.

Tiny underwater cameras had been set up in as many nooks and crannies as they could manage. Sonar systems measured the noise below the water, but no one would be communicating with Mike, or Olivia, or any of the other agents down there.

All Chase could do was watch and wait.

ChapterFour

The mission was to keep within sight of the cameras. For this exercise, they would be sticking to more shallow waters. The deeper, darker waters, where the light struggled to penetrate and the cameras would likely pick up little, would come later.

Olivia's heart raced. She forced herself to breathe deep through her gills, which were barely noticeable on her human neck. She had on a bikini top and carried a bag.

This was it. This might be the day she met someone else just like her. Another member of her kind.

Someone who was probably a serial killer.

So, not fun.

---