ORLANDO, FLORIDA

First thing Monday morning, Sarah called Jake and Tony to her office at Sea Lab Headquarters, and with their help, put together a detailed report summarizing the attacks that took place off the coast of Paradise Island.

Afterwards, she met with Director Hardy and Cat O'Donnell, along with everyone who had been assigned to The Bahamas and Tahiti. They discussed the events that transpired from Ben's death to the mysterious sailor who tried to kill Kevin and Rachel. Jake agreed with Kevin that there was a link between the monster fish at both locations. By late evening, after recapping last night's dive, everyone filed out of her father's office and took the elevator to the seventh floor laboratory where their resident computer guru had been analyzing the fragment Jake discovered.

Sarah tried to ignore the awkwardness she felt from being around Rachel—like being in the same room with the person who stabbed you in the soul—even if that person didn't realize how much it hurt. Rachel stood to one side talking with Kevin and Tony while, magically, fate seemed to pair Sarah with Jake in his crisp charcoal slacks and black button-up.

She pried her lingering eyes away from her ex and focused on the lab chief.

Vincent "Vinny" Patistilli was a wiry man in a white lab jacket. He motioned them over to a thirty-inch computer screen that displayed a scanned image of the plate-like object in the upper left-hand corner. A long list of sources and images filled the right half of the picture, changing by the second as the high-powered system tackled the daunting task of identifying the fragment.

"As you can see," Vinny said, "using databases from around the world, we've had no luck in putting a label on your find, yet. It would've been nice if that fish hadn't taken such a big bite out of it."

"Do you have a time-line on when we'll know something?" Director Hardy asked. The crinkles on his face revealed a simmering impatience.

"Theres no such thing with an exhaustive search like this. It could take hours, days, even weeks, we just don't know. But then again, it could lock onto something in a few minutes too."

"That doesn't sound promising."

Hardy's cell phone chirped, and he excused himself from the group, allowing Vinny to go about his daily routine while he took the call. Cat followed him off to the side, her sandy hair falling to her shoulders, contrasting with a white blouse and navy colored skirt. Her heels clicked on the lab's tile floor as she walked away.

"I know this is sudden," Jake said to Sarah. "But what do you think about dinner tonight... as friends?" He grinned a nervous mouthful of teeth. "There, I said it."

"Wow, you're not wasting any time."

"Just to talk. Tony can come too."

"I guess it wouldn't hurt. But..."

"But what?"

"What would we talk about? The past?"

"The future."

Sarah's response clung to the tip of her tongue. She'd given up all hope of a relationship with Jake. "Oh, I, I don't know."

"I know... I know a future without you is no future at all."

Warmth crept into her heart, something she hadn't felt in a long time. Her lips parted, but a reply couldn't escape, the words unable to form.

"Listen up," Hardy said. "I just received another report of depleted fish populations around an extensive coral reef formation."

"Where?" Sarah asked.

He paused, a touch of doubt in his eyes, likely in the group assembled before him. It could be he didn't want to send them into harm's way, or he wasn't sure which team to send.

"The Great Barrier Reef," he finally said.

"Australia?" Jake raised a brow.

"One of the largest formations in the world. Sarah, are you up for the challenge?"

"Count me in."

Hardy hesitated again like he wanted to elaborate on something else, but wasn't sure how to phrase it. He shook his head with a sigh and then let it rip. "I have an idea that could catch flak considering the relationship issues with some of you."

"And what might that be?"

"That the five of you work together on this one," Cat answered. "The barrier reef is gigantic. We need real teamwork for this expedition."

"Not a good idea." Sarah gazed around the room. The expressions etched on the faces gathered together seemed in agreement.

Hardy aimed a fatherly finger at her. "It's time you did what you were told for a change. Two people are dead in a single twenty-four-hour period. I need all of you watching each other's back. I'm not giving anyone an option on this one. It's an order."

Sarah swallowed the lump in her throat. "Then when do we leave?"

"Tomorrow, I've planned for a—"

An electronic chime rang out in the lab. Everyone's eyes turned to Vinny's computer.

"That was fast," Cat said.

Jake and Sarah followed Kevin, Rachel, and Tony over to the other side of the room. They huddled around the monitor, hoping to solve at least one aspect of the mystery that eluded them.

To herself, Sarah read the results in the lower right-hand corner of the screen. It spelled out in bold letters, INSUFFICIENT INPUT.

"That fish robbed us." Vinny slapped the countertop.

"Well," Hardy said, "that was a dead end, so forget about it. But there is one more thing." He ran his eyes over his assembled team and stopped at Sarah. "I heard you talking about dinner tonight. Cancel your plans. Did you forget about the shrimp festival at Cocoa Beach? Attendance is mandatory since Sea Lab is a major sponsor of the event."

Sarah thought the room moved. The corporation had held its twentieth anniversary party on the same beach on the first day of October, six months ago. She remembered the fight with Jake and how she left early that night to put more time in on a project while he stayed behind for the festivities. He was furious she didn't spend more time with him away from work. Then the whole thing with Rachel happened.

Too much had transpired in the last four days. She had just started to believe his side of the story and now this. Sarah wondered if she could put her finger on the truth and accept it.

As everyone dispersed, she headed for her office on the twenty-fifth floor. Sea Lab reserved the entire level for its marine biologists and their assistants. She tried to reign in her emotions. The wounds, the betrayal. Jake's version of what occurred that night. She grabbed her laptop case and purse.

Back in the hall, she passed Kevin and Rachel, avoiding Rachel's eyes as she pushed forward to the elevator.

In the underground parking deck, Jake and Tony piled into her Chevy Tahoe. They would ride with her to the shrimp festival for convenience, since all three of them would stay at Jake's beach house to be closer to the airport in the morning. But first they had to stop by her house to check on her dog and grab her suitcase.

As Sarah turned the key in the ignition, she sensed fate had drawn them together, whether she liked it or not. She braked at the exit to check for oncoming traffic. While she looked both ways, Sarah noticed Jake seemed preoccupied with something outside the passenger window.

"What are you looking at?"

"Just a man parked at the curb in a black Mercedes."

"What's so strange about that?" Sarah hit the gas and turned onto Orange Avenue.

"Nothing besides the fact he's behind us right now. Does anyone remember Kevin and Rachel's encounter in Tahiti? A certain Japanese sailor."

"He's following us?"

"Someone is," Jake said with a jaw hardened like flint.