Tray rubbed his jaw, feeling the sting as if she’d physically struck him.
Hawk let out a breath, the memory of home making him twitchy. “I just meant to protect her,” Hawk said, finding the liquor cabinet and sniffing the drinks until he found something to mix with orange juice. “She’s not going to explode my head, is she?”
It had always seemed funny threatening Hawk with that, but now it was just sad. Because of their experience with hybrids, Hawk still believed it was possible. Tray was beginning to believe it himself. “No,” Tray smiled. “Hawk, I have something to confess.”
“I’m sorry I shot you,” Hawk said, swaying slightly as he mixed his drink.
“I know. I forgive you,” Tray said, putting a hand on Hawk’s shoulder. Hawk tipped off balance and fell against Tray, plastering him to the cabinets. Tray hugged him, giving him the moment. “We’re still friends, Hawk.”
“Trial friends?” Hawk asked, echoing a conversation they’d had weeks ago.
“Real friends,” Tray said, squeezing him harder. “Brothers.”
At the hospital, all Chase could do was sit in the waiting room and keep kicking himself for screwing up. Alex had more broken bones than they’d realized, and he and Danny were lucky they hadn’t paralyzed Alex by moving him the way they did. He’d screwed up with Sky, Hawk, Danny, and now Alex. Seeing Danny at the hospital gave Chase the excuse he needed to leave and find consolation elsewhere. He felt guilty as hell for cheating on Noelle with Danny once, and the more he was around the man, the more he contemplated repeating the mistake.
But he needed comfort. He needed consolation. And so he went to Olcott to find Noelle.
The swimming arena was an artificially created reservoir at the mouth of one of Olcott Bay’s tributaries. The water passed through a treatment plant before entering the reservoir, and was treated again before passing into the bay. Docks and stands were built around it. Within it were small islands, shallow pools, and a few spa seats. Everyone from kids to professionals shared the training facility. All kids were required to get certified in water safety as a part of schooling.
Chase had never been a fan of water. He was okay with boats, so long as they were the kind with an engine. As a teenager, he’d built a few vehicles for drag races, and he always lamented that the speed of land transports never matched those for water or space. Personal vehicles were not feasible, given the resources they had and the pollution it would produce. The Bobsled was supposed to change all that. Now that he knew it was possible with a small grav source, he could take the idea to Sienna. If he could produce more, it would change the way people moved.
The Olympic trainees weren’t hard to spot. Their swim lanes took up more than half the reservoir. Chase joined a few other spectators and watched the practice, but he couldn’t pick Noelle out of the group. With every blow of the whistle, the swimmers started a different stroke. There was one petite girl with a blue cap that always seemed to lead the group, and two others that fell behind whenever they switched to backstroke. Chase was glad when the coach finally blew the whistle signaling the practice’s end, and the swimmers removed their goggles and climbed onto the deck. He thought sure he’d recognize Noelle’s long legs, but she wasn’t in the group.
Then he saw her, fully clothed, coming next to the coach. She argued with him heatedly, and then they stalked away from each other. Chase didn’t catch up with Noelle until she’d reached the shore.
“Noelle!” he called, tapping her arm before she could disappear into the ladies’ locker room.
Noelle screeched, first in surprise, then in elation. She threw her arms around him, laughing and kicking her feet up. Chase spun her around, then set her down so that he could kiss her.
“What are you doing here?” she asked between kisses, bubbling with excitement.
“I wanted to see you,” he replied suavely, touching her face, and covering her with kisses. She was more beautiful than he remembered. He slid his hands under her jacket and around her waist. “Why are you dressed?”
“Oh… injury. I should be back in the water in a day or so. It’s better to play it safe at this point,” she said dismissively. He thought he caught something in her voice—a hint of guilt that didn’t jive. There was probably a long story that she didn’t want to tell, or else she’d have called him the moment it happened. Or it was possible his own guilt was clouding his view.
“So if you’re not training today, does that mean you have time for lunch?” Chase asked hopefully.
“I’d rather take you back to my apartment and tear all your clothes off,” she said, sliding her hands up his chest and her tongue into his mouth. Chase hummed eagerly, keeping his body pressed to hers as she led the way. Every time it occurred to him to look for danger, he felt her tongue against his skin, and his mind went blank.
Noelle’s apartment in Olcott was a fully furnished luxury studio, filled mostly by the king-sized bed in middle of the room. The giant window looked out over the city, and projections from the neighboring businesses were filtered to keep the incoming glow serene. Chase and Noelle didn’t close the curtains before making love, and when they finished, the sheets covering their bodies were for warmth, not modesty. They were making googley eyes and exchanging love nips, laughing and waiting to see if the inspiration struck for another go.
Chase adored Noelle. He should have followed her here sooner. He traced her thick, dark lips with his knuckles, trying to make a full circle before she devoured his fingers. He pressed his body to hers, enveloping her, and coating her skin with playful kisses.
“Marry me,” she whispered in his ear, then she pulled her face from his, watching his response.
Chase felt butterflies at the invitation. They hadn’t known each other that long, and so far, everything was magical and new. She was always uplifting, always encouraging, and always patient with him.
“Okay,” he agreed breathlessly.
They smiled and then she sat up, letting the sheet fall behind her, exposing them both. His hands slid from her waist to her hips, and he stared, mesmerized by her beauty. Leaning over to the nightstand, she pulled a ring box out of the drawer, then opened it, revealing a slender, silver band. Chase was stunned. His dream was coming true.
“Oh, my,” he murmured, touching the edges of the ring box, afraid it would all disappear.
“It’s not going to fit. I just wanted you to have something,” Noelle said, turning the box, and looking critically at the ring inside.
Chase still felt elated. He pulled her into a kiss, and she rolled on top of him, kicking at the sheets between their legs. They made love again, and Chase’s whole body tingled. Afterward, he spooned against her, and set the ring box on the pillow in front of them, unable to take his eyes off the precious gift.
“I’m glad Sikorsky let you go,” she said.
Chase sighed. Normally, he’d pretend to sleep to avoid these chats, but he didn’t want to lie to his future wife. “He hasn’t been watching me too closely. I think he just brought me there to impress Sky. She’s a former lover. Of mine. Before I met you.”
Noelle laced her fingers with his, turning their joint hands to look at his. “Is it safe to go back to your shop?”
“I don’t know what’s safe anymore,” he said. “I’ve had so many weapons in my face. And then Danny Matthews came back from the dead. He was the one who told me to go home.”
“Stinking swanks,” she hummed, turning in his arms and giving him a kiss. She kissed away his anxiety, then wrapped a leg around his hips.
Chase laughed bashfully. “You’re not going to have any energy to train, come morning.”
Noelle paused, her face clouded with guilt. It was her turn to be honest. “I may have to drop out of the competition.”
“What? Why?” Chase asked, worried that Sikorsky had gotten to her. Or Genova. They were in Genova territory. Her giving up her Olympic dream was huge. He sat up, pulling a pillow over his hips, wondering if he needed to be clo
thed to have this talk.
Noelle pressed her lips together nervously, fingering the bed sheet, but not pulling it over herself. “I’m pregnant.”
There was a fleeting moment of pure ecstasy, followed immediately by the confusing knowledge that the child could not be his. “How? I’m on the cap. I’m sterile.”
“You’re not, actually,” Noelle said, shifting uncomfortably, and touching the ring box on the pillow. “I’ve been swapping out your pills with sugar pills. We talked about having kids, and I… I know it was wrong, but I got a little crazy, because I love you and I didn’t think this Olympic thing was ever going to happen. Now it’s all happening at once.”
The more she lied, the faster she spoke. Chase did not take birth control in pill form. His pills were for calcium processing, and if even one had been replaced, he’d have known. She could have killed him without ever pointing a stunner at his face. Jumping from the bed, Chase found his pants and pulled them on. “I need to think.”
“Think about what?” she asked, wrapping the sheet around her shoulders and standing to confront him. “I love you. You love me. We’re having a baby.”
“I cheated on you,” Chase confessed. The words had been waiting to leap out since he’d come here, but Chase had buried them, knowing it was better to say nothing at all.
Noelle looked stunned for a moment, then shrugged it off. “We weren’t engaged before. We never even talked about being exclusive. All is forgiven. I want to marry you.”
“It was an impulse. I saw an old friend,” Chase continued. He thought about telling her Danny was an aristocrat, and he just did it for the money.
“I don’t need the details,” she said, clamping her hand roughly over his mouth. “We’re going to have a baby, Chase. Don’t ruin it.”
There was surprise in her eyes, but not anger. They’d never fought—never seriously. It was like she didn’t care about anything, and her forgiveness started to feel cheap. He pulled her hand away from his mouth.
“I thought he was dead; he thought I was dead,” Chase said quickly. “It was just the one time—the one moment. I told him about you, and he—we didn’t do it again.”
“He? You cheated on me with a man?” she asked, laughing incredulously. What would it take to make her angry? He was furious with himself for his infidelity.
“One time,” he emphasized. “How many times did you cheat on me to make this baby?”
She didn’t answer, but she looked guiltily at the ring box. Chase scanned the room, too—four walls and a bed with luxury sheets. A ring on the pillow that had no hope of fitting his hand. Not a single swimsuit hanging to dry.
“Did you come here to propose to the father?” Chase asked.
Noelle shook her head, getting teary-eyed. “You said you wanted children.”
Chase picked up the ring box and opened it.
“This ring is for him,” Chase said, his heart crumbling with the realization. “But he rejected you. That’s why you’re trying to convince me that the baby is mine.”
Noelle stamped her foot, finally showing a hint of anger. “You shouldn’t need convincing. I told you; I swapped your pills.”
“I get cap by injection. You know that. If you had swapped my pills, I’d be dead,” Chase snapped, grabbing his jacket and stalking out of the room.
37
The Clover detention center backed up to river, and a handful of shallow water boats were docked. Danny maneuvered the Bobsled onto a protected dock, drawing a glower from the dispatch officer monitoring the river-way. The river channels were kept safe and clean for the shipping industry, and a single boat took almost the entire width of the river. Tray had wanted to come by water, but given the windy path, it would have taken hours. Flying was faster.
The dock was tiny and the path protected from natural sunlight. The river was clean and clear, taking on the slight pink shade of lights along the side. The lamps had an ever-changing hue, slowly rotating their color through the full spectrum. Minnows and small amphibians swam through the water. Occasionally turtles ventured upstream, but most sea life preferred the natural sunlight closer to Olcott. Danny scanned for danger, not trusting anything now that Dem had explained why the Matthews name had been feared in Quin for so long.
“Need help?” Danny asked. His brother reached over the side of the ‘sled, taking Danny’s hand.
“At least I’m not sea sick,” Tray joked. He still looked sick, but he smiled nervously. After five years of seeing Tray cringe at any mention of his wife’s name, Danny didn’t know what to expect from the ride home.
Tray moved slowly, using a single walking crutch, only occasionally tapping it to the ground. He stood straight, chin raised, but eyes looking inward. Danny called it propriety without presence. Tray was thinking of his future, but this building brought Danny to the past. After their mom died, Danny’s proclivity for acting out had landed him in these offices at least twice a month. Steven never bothered to come collect him. He just paid the fines and made Danny walk home alone.
“I have an appointment with Judge Abernathy,” Tray told the clerk upon entering. “Apparently, I need to be here in person for the release of my wife.”
The young man flinched and cowered behind the desk, responding to Tray’s icy tone and apparent wealth. “Judge isn’t here,” the clerk said quietly.
“Danny Matthews,” a short, dark-haired detective called from a desk inset behind the clerk’s. The building had no sight lines front to back, and the detention area was small compared to the offices.
“My name is Tray Matthews,” Tray said, forcefully taking attention. “I am here to see that Mikayla Wright is released.”
The detective and the clerk exchanged glances, and the clerk quickly typed in something on his keyboard.
“We’re not holding Mikayla Wright here,” the clerk said. “And Judge Abernathy is currently listed as retired.”
Tray sucked his cheeks in and clenched his fists. “I don’t understand. I spoke to you an hour ago.”
“Not to me, sir,” the clerk said.
“Mr. Matthews,” the detective tried again. “Either Matthews. I would like to speak to you about a matter of extreme urgency.”
“What is urgent is getting my son’s mother out of this legal shuffle and back home!” Tray cried. “Where is she? Was she transferred to another facility?”
“Mr. Matthews,” the detective said, using his Virp to project an image of Amanda. The picture caught Danny’s attention immediately, though Tray continued to argue with the clerk. “This woman was kidnapped from the Pierce hospital several days ago. You came up as a known associate.”
“Associate. I spent ten years looking for her,” Danny said. Alex has said Amanda came back, but after Coro’s attack, both Amanda and Jen had gone into hiding. Or missing. “Where is this sketch from? I haven’t seen this one of her before.”
“Witness composite,” the detective replied. “She’s now a person of interest in a murder case.”
Danny cringed. It was too much to hope she’d escaped a battle with Coro unscathed. “If she killed anyone, I’m sure it was in self-defense.”
“That excuse didn’t fly for her on Terrana, and it won’t fly here,” the detective snapped, his cheeks darkening. He turned his face, nostrils flaring, and a moment later, his anger was covered by a stoic mask. Danny had seen Saskia do the same thing a thousand times, and the realization hit him like a ton of bricks. This was Saskia’s dad!
He smacked Tray’s arm. “Saskia, Saskia,” he hissed at his brother.
“Yes, I realize who he is. He’s been a thorn in Saskia’s side since we arrived,” Tray growled, turning on the old man. “Are you going to accuse Saskia of murder, too? Or have you already done that? Is she missing because she’s in the same legal limbo as Mikayla?”
“I have a feeling it’s a much simpler matter of incompetence,” the detective spat.
Tray’s face reddened and his fists clenched. Danny took his brother’
s shoulders and pulled him back.
“Who was the victim, sir?” Danny asked, hoping he could confirm that Amanda had done them a favor.
The detective projected a picture of a smiling couple on the Olcott docks—Alex and Jennifer. Tray rolled his eyes and stamped his heel.
“This isn’t right,” Danny said, his voice quivering. “They were attacked by Coro, not Amanda.”
“Is this a crime you reported?” the detective said, a sneer breaking through the stoic mask.
“No. When a crime boss breaks your ribs, you take the hint and keep your mouth shut,” Danny sighed, rubbing his arms. “But Amanda didn’t hurt him.”
Detective Serevi nodded, his eyebrows twitching. “I would still like to find her. I am almost certain Coro is not responsible for the death of the woman, either.”
The happy couple was replaced by a gruesome projection of a crime scene. Jennifer lay crumpled in a pool of her own blood. Danny recognized the religious icons around them; she’d died in a temple. Her blood was spattered over an angelic icon reaching heavenward.
“This is the work of a serial killer and Amanda is my only lead,” Detective Serevi said. “I tried to warn Saskia, but she didn’t listen. Now, I fear I will find her body like this one.”
“Danny,” Tray whispered, linking his hand through Danny’s elbow.
The chill spread through Danny’s body, and he felt too sick to speak.
“Shut it off. He doesn’t need to see that,” Tray said, his voice strained, but his propriety in tact.
“You’d better not be a part of this, Matthews,” the detective threatened.
Tray cleared his throat with a low growl, standing taller than before. “I am tired of being accused of this kind of evil. I am sick—”
Tray cut off abruptly, a ripple of tension passing through his body with a dry heave.
“Does Alex know she’s dead?” Danny croaked.
“I was on my way to tell him,” Detective Serevi shrugged, crossing his arms, surveying them both for signs they were lying.
The Gray Market: A Space Opera Adventure Series (The New Dawn Book 5) Page 30