“Kendra won’t like that,” Sean said.
“Because she’s the senior courtesan Kendra’s been told and sworn to secrecy. I have to trust you because of Ms. Rogers here.” Sam jabbed a thumb in Catherine’s direction. “Kendra was upset but agreed we needed to take all precautions to keep Catherine safe along with each other. The last thing we need is a lot of accusations and backstabbing without any evidence. If Belle overhears anything funny she’s going to act if necessary, then call me. I will bring the wrath of Sam Keller down upon their heads.”
Sean dipped his head down trying hard not to smile.
“At the end of this I’ll let them all know and we’ll deal with the hurt feelings later.” She turned to Catherine. “If you feel in danger at any time you speak up and she’ll act accordingly.”
“What’s the depth of the surveillance inside the cabins?” Catherine asked.
“Audio only. Belle’s never had video access.” Her attention flashed to Sean. “As far as we know.”
Catherine opened her mouth to say something and paused, sensing the tension in the air.
Better you don’t ask, Sean thought.
“Grendel’s going to be annoyed,” Sean murmured.
“Grendel doesn’t know yet. I’m sure someone will rat me out sooner or later but right now my concern is keeping her alive and if that stomps on the Guild’s contracts with the courtesans I’m fine with it. Let the lawyers fight it out later if they want.” She scratched her chin. “Daniel thinks I’m within my rights as captain to do so and I’ll take his word on it.”
“He’s not interfering?” Sean couldn’t resist a bit of teasing despite the circumstances.
“We’re working on it.” He saw a hint of a smile quickly tamped down.
“A million credits is a lot of money even for a Mercy woman. Or man,” Catherine said.
“Not our people,” Sean interrupted before Sam could speak. “Not the Belle’s crew.”
“No one? Are you sure?” Catherine asked. One edge of her mouth twisted upwards. “Forgive me for being blunt but I’ve seen courtesans break the Guild rules before.”
Sam didn’t respond. She looked at Sean, tossing the invisible bomb into his lap.
“Not something this big. It wouldn’t be worth it,” Sean continued. “He or she would be found out by the Guild and blacklisted immediately. You can’t dump a million credits into a courtesan’s account without some sort of accounting and the Guild would be on that within seconds.” He rubbed his hands together. “But let’s say this mystery courtesan kills you, collects the money and somehow gets off the Belle before we get to her, before the pirates board us. Aside from having to run from the authorities and stay underground she’d have to make the million creds stretch from here to eternity to make it last the rest of her life—she’d never be able to work again.”
Catherine cocked her head to one side. “Why would she? I thought it was all about the money.” She ran a hand through her damp blonde hair. “Set herself up in some colony and live the good life.”
Sam made some sort of noise with her teeth.
“It wouldn’t be such a good life,” Sean said. “The Guild is somewhat unforgiving when it comes to choosing unwisely. I doubt she could hide long enough to enjoy much of her ill-gotten gains.”
He wanted to believe no one on the Belle would take the offer and risk it all.
He wanted to believe in goodness winning out over greed.
He’d lost that bet before.
“We won’t let anything happen to you,” Sam said. She nodded at Sean. “And you’ve got him. He’s as honest as they come.”
Catherine looked like she wanted to say something but instead stayed silent.
“I don’t know and I don’t care what your problem is with him,” Sam snapped. “But I’d trust him with my life so you trust him with yours.”
“What about the marshal?” Catherine asked.
“He’s working with Etts and Jenny to try and boost our defensive capacity and isn’t available to be your cabana boy right now. If you’ve got any other ideas I’m open, but please realize the more people who know about this threat the worse it might get.”
Catherine fell silent.
“I suggest you stay in your cabin as much as possible.” Sam got to her feet. “Thank you.”
Catherine stood up as well. “Thank you, Captain, for all your help. It’s been an interesting experience so far.” She spun on her heel and headed for the door.
Sam waited until the hatch shut before spinning on Sean, her eyes blazing.
“What the fuck did you do?”
“What?”
She wagged a finger at him. “Don’t ‘what’ me. You slept with her, I got that. I’m not surprised. But aren’t you supposed to leave them in a good mood, not a kill-’em-all mood?”
Maybe he could bluff his way out of this—
“Don’t even try,” Sam snarled. “She looks like you burned her Bible and killed her dog.”
“You picked up on that.” He tried to hide his surprise.
Sam snorted. “I may not be certified by the Guild but I’m a woman and we tend to twig on things like this. So spill.”
“Nothing happened. I mean, nothing more than usual. Strictly business.” He tapped his chest. “I’m doing my job. You do yours and we’ll get her off the Belle safe and sound.” He strode by her, not caring if she wanted to keep talking or not. “Now if you’ll excuse me, Captain—I’ll pick up my messages and get back to my bodyguard duties.”
He resisted the urge to punch the wall on the way out.
* * *
Catherine sat on the edge of the bed, cradling her head in her hands. She had a headache but she’d be damned if she’d call Sean to ask for some pain pills.
This wasn’t what she’d expected when she’d decided to seek justice.
She didn’t think it’d be easy to testify against her former friends and essentially destroy her company, the one she’d worked so long and so hard to build but this—this was beyond belief.
Assassins. Pirates. Bribery.
She looked around the cabin.
All of these people could be next. Her enemies had managed to get inside the justice system and make that disgusting offer to the courtesans.
She shifted into business mode, assessing her fellow shipmates.
Kendra—not likely. She seemed almost above worrying about a simple thing like money.
Harry—not a chance. He wanted justice to be done and a million creds wouldn’t make that happen.
Bianca—maybe. Catherine didn’t know enough about her to make a call either way.
April—same as Kendra. Of course, if she wanted her dead it’d be simple enough to make it happen.
Sam, Jenny and Daniel. She lumped them into one category because they weren’t courtesans but they could easily kill her and the rest of the crew, hiding behind their status to throw the law off their trail. Sam had made a good argument about why they wouldn’t.
Sean.
She growled out at the memories flooding her mind.
Sean stroking her skin, murmuring as he touched her.
Sean under her, begging for release as she teased him right to the edge.
Sean telling Belle it was all just part of the job.
She pushed him away, locked the memory into a box. She had bigger problems to concentrate on.
Even if none of them took the offer there was still the chance the killers had been able to corrupt the UNS ships on their way, ensuring destruction of the Belle and everyone inside.
She drew a shaky breath and forced the headache into a tiny black pill that she shoved into a corner of her mind.
She couldn’t afford to worry about it right now.
S
he was going to die.
The only question was when.
* * *
Sean stared at the cold tea sitting in his mug. He could drink it but it’d taste like crap and reheating tea was a sin akin to murder.
He felt awful.
He could easily dip into his cabinet of licensed medications for that. Mild tranquillizers, headache pills, he had plenty of those.
But nothing for what ailed him. His old and new life had collided with the power of a nuclear meltdown.
The message had been there waiting for him, a neutral request with a return number to be called when the job was done. He had no doubt Daniel was tracking that. It wouldn’t lead to anything concrete.
These people didn’t leave traces behind for someone to follow, unless they wanted you to.
It was a good sign that they thought someone on the Belle would offer up, not only a passenger, but also the rest of the crew on a platter for them to murder. Whoever it was, they hadn’t had much experience with Guild personnel, which could be useful in some way.
Guild courtesans were loyal to a fault.
Except, a little voice in the back of his head screamed, except when they weren’t.
Dane Morris.
He shook his head to rid himself of the memory of one of their own gone bad. Dane had murdered Halley Comet in her own cabin and tried to kill Sam in an abortive attempt to escape. It had reminded them there was a world outside of the Belle, outside of the Guild, where the rules they lived by didn’t apply.
Like when dealing with Catherine Rogers.
“She’s an executive businesswoman, bloody hell.” He stood up and paced around the arrival room. “What were you thinking?” His knuckles smashed against the side of his head. “What were you thinking?”
He strode through his suite until his feet ached and then walked more, his penitent patrol of his rooms continuing until he was exhausted.
A series of sit-ups and push-ups finished him off and sent him to bed sore and tired, hopefully not to dream of anything or anyone.
* * *
“Sean?”
The familiar voice dragged him out of a dark void leaving him with a sense of horrible, needless loss.
“Sean?”
He twisted around in the sheets, momentarily confused and expecting to see someone inside his room. Instead the picture image on the far wall shimmered, indicating an incoming call.
It took a minute for him to place the voice. “April.” He sat up and scrubbed his face with the palms of his hands. “Screen activate.”
The image resolved, showing April. She stared at him with her usual stoic look, her hair pulled up into a tight bun and held in place with chopsticks. “Can I help you?”
“I was wondering if I could have an audience with Ms. Rogers.”
“Why are you calling me?”
“Because you seem to have developed a rapport with the woman. I doubt she’d open the door to me alone given recent developments.”
The assassination offer.
“What do you want to talk to her about?”
“Our captain contacted me. She thinks I should teach Ms. Rogers some self-defense techniques.” She tilted her head to one side with a sly smile. “Although I’ve heard she’s already displayed some proficiency at that.”
“Why you?” Sean didn’t bother to hide his annoyance. “I’m as qualified as anyone else to give her the basics.”
April raised one eyebrow. “True. Perhaps the captain thought both of us would be able to give her proper guidance.”
Sean read between the lines in a flash.
Sam knew Catherine was pissed at him and wanted to offer a chance for Catherine to work off some energy without trying to rip his balls off.
Catherine would probably have to wait in line behind Kendra, Sam and April, the way things were going.
“Good idea. I’ll ask her. Standby and I’ll call right back.” He watched the image fade to black.
He could be a coward and call through the intercom. It’d be impersonal and a way of avoiding a face-to-face confrontation.
The only problem was even if he made the appointment for April through the screen, he couldn’t avoid Catherine Rogers forever. At some point he’d want to leave his room or she’d leave her room. Better to get this over with now.
Sean reached for his jeans and pulled them on, trying to find the right words.
This wasn’t going to be pretty.
Chapter Fourteen
Catherine scowled when she saw who was at the door.
At first she’d welcomed the distraction from trying to get some rest.
She’d spent sleepless hours going through more old movies and soap opera episodes than she could count, dozing off for a few minutes each time when her body demanded a break. Every time she woke up she wondered why she couldn’t get a decent rest.
Then she remembered why she was in such a pissed mood and who’d put her there.
Who the hell did Sean think she was?
She wasn’t one of the mining employees desperate for a man’s touch. She wasn’t a single woman willing to pay for the false love of a Mercy man.
She was Catherine Rogers, damn it. She was nobody’s fool.
A nagging little voice at the back of her conscience reminded her she had been a willing participant.
She shook her head and glared through the crack at Sean, banishing the memory to the furthest reaches of her mind.
If he thought he was going to waltz back in here—
“April wants to visit you,” Sean sputtered, his face red. He looked like a little kid returning to the scene of the cookie theft. He stuck his hands in the front pockets of his jeans, looking down over his white shirt.
“And?” She didn’t open the hatch any further.
“And she asked me to be here to make sure you were comfortable, given the situation.” Sean looked left and right down the corridor. “She didn’t want you to have any problems with her visit.”
“As long as she doesn’t charge me the going rate.” She spun on her heel, leaving the door open. “What the hell would she want to come visit me for anyway? I’m not interested in women. Or a threesome.”
“Look,” Sean stepped inside and closed the door behind him. “I know this is difficult for you—”
“Difficult? Difficult?” It was hard for her not to raise her voice to a shout. She pounded her chest. “I let you in here, into my bed. I was so stupid.” She strode into the personal bedroom and stood by the bare mattress. Her fingernails dug into her palms, the pain dampening her rage.
She’d already stripped off the sheets and tossed the quilt, removing all traces of their lovemaking. It’d been hard to resist shoving them all into the garbage chute.
If she could have shot the bed out into space she would have.
He’d followed her in and now stood there at the bottom of the white blank mattress, still staring at the floor.
“Tell me, does it make a difference which bed you screwed me in? Would it have cost more if we had used the one you’d fuck your clients in?”
“Catherine—”
She charged, stopping shy of crashing into him. “Do you give an itemized bill? After all, I wouldn’t like to cheat you out of your deserved payment.” She made a motion of writing on an invisible pad of paper. “Do I get a discount if I screw Harry as well? Two on the same trip? Or in the same day or night or whatever cycle we’re on right now?”
He spread his hands and licked his lips, searching for the words. “It’s not—”
The rapping at the door stopped her rage before it hit the point of no return.
She opened it to see April in black leather pants and a black corset.
April swept past her into
the arrival room, seemingly oblivious to the yelling she had to have heard. “Good day.”
Catherine crossed her arms. “Not for all of us. What can I do for you?”
April didn’t look at Sean, who had come to the bedroom door. “The captain asked me to assess your self-defense skills and perhaps offer some tips. If these men do get on board we’ll all need to defend ourselves and I believe she wants me to decide how much assistance you’ll need.”
Catherine was sure there was blood dripping off her hands, her nails were digging in so deep. She ground her teeth together before speaking. “I’ve taken classes with the best trainers at Global Transport, experts at personal security. Who the hell do you think you are?”
“If you’d seen my portfolio, you’d know.” April picked up one chair and moved it against the wall. “And I’m the woman who might have to save your life if those assholes get on board and get past us.” She walked past Catherine to shift the other chair. “So get that stick out of your ass and show me what you’ve got.”
Her rage twisted her vision to show only the courtesan, the dark-haired bitch in the tight black leather.
It wasn’t Mike’s whore but it was good enough.
She ran at April, intent on showing this bitch Catherine Rogers wasn’t anyone’s fool.
A second later she was facedown on the table previously between them, gasping in pain. Her right arm was twisted behind her at an abnormal angle, an obscene angle she couldn’t possibly survive for more than a few seconds.
“Lesson one.” April wasn’t even breathing hard. “Don’t fight angry. Anger will get you killed and you can’t take revenge.” A tweak on Catherine’s wrist forced a scream. “Understand?”
“Yes.” She yelled again as the pressure increased. “I get it.”
Out of the corner of her eye she saw Sean standing in the doorway, his hands at his sides. He wavered back and forth as if trying to decide whether to interfere or not.
“Don’t do it.” April’s skills also included mind reading, it seemed. She wasn’t even looking in his direction. “Let her fight her own fights.”
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