He shrugged. “Maybe. Since I wasn’t family, she wouldn’t tell me anything more than that.”
Could Caillen have come up with the money and just not had time to tell her?
Excusing herself from Thad, she went to check.
To her relief, the line inside the spartan business office was short and she only had to wait five minutes before a pinched-faced clerk motioned her forward.
Shahara stepped up to the waist-high counter.
The woman looked bored and irritable as if she’d been here way too long and wanted to go home. “Patient name?”
“Tessa Dagan.”
She typed it in. “And how may I help you?”
“I need to know how much we owe.”
“And you are?”
“Seax Shahara Dagan. I’m the one responsible for the bill.”
The woman huffed as if annoyed with Shahara’s presence. “I’ve already gone through this with a man. Can’t you people understand? The account is paid. You don’t owe any money.”
Shahara stared at the billing clerk in disbelief. It couldn’t be. “That can’t be right. Please. Check again.”
The woman turned her computer screen to face Shahara. “You can see for yourself. Tessa Dagan’s account was paid in full three days ago by Sheridan Belask. He also left an open balance in the event we needed more for her treatments, and gave her and her family credit for the cafeteria and hospital store should you need something.”
Shahara blanched. Sheridan Belask?
Syn?
The man whose location she’d turned in to the Ritadarion officials had paid for her sister’s treatment?
Suddenly the light gray walls around her seemed a little too close, a little too bright. She felt as if someone had just delivered a debilitating blow to her stomach.
How could Syn have done such a thing after she’d gone after him?
Why would he have done this?
It didn’t make sense. No one would do such a thing. Kindness was not in people’s natures. Ever.
Especially not someone with Syn’s brutal past.
No, he must have wanted something from her. Something more than just her oath. That was it. That made sense.
It was a good thing she’d made her pact with Merjack because C.I. Syn would have eventually come to her for repayment. Without a doubt.
Wouldn’t he?
“Thank you.” She turned and left the office.
But what if she was wrong?
You’re not wrong. He raped and murdered that poor girl in cold blood—you saw what her father said. Her fellow tracers wouldn’t be terrified of him without just cause.
And her own interaction with him had proven just how cold and dangerous a person he was.
No one would ever do a good deed without expecting payment for it. Gaelin had taught her that. And she’d learned her lesson well.
Her mind whirling, she didn’t bother to stop in and say goodbye to Tessa. At the moment, she couldn’t face anyone. Especially not her gentle sister who would never understand why she’d gone back on her word and turned Syn in. Even if it meant Tessa’s life.
I didn’t go back on my oath. Technically. She’d sworn not to stalk him. She hadn’t sworn not to call the authorities and tell them where to find him.
You’re arguing semantics.
Tessa would be the first one to beat her up over that, but then Tessa could afford the luxury of naivete. She couldn’t.
In a daze, she made her way home.
Shahara pushed open her front door and saw Kasen sitting on her sofa, munching her last handful of friggles while she watched a small handheld viewer.
Kasen’s strawberry blond hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail that curled around the nape of her neck. Out of all her siblings, Kasen was the only who shared her eye color, which had come to them through their maternal grandfather. Big-boned and stocky, Kasen was cute enough on the outside, but her churlish personality was sometimes rather difficult to stomach.
“Hey, Sis,” Kasen said absently as she kept watching her show.
“Hey, Kase.” Though she loved her sister, she wished Kasen would leave. She really wasn’t in the mood to deal with her right now.
Kasen frowned. “You look like you were chewed up by a wolf and shit down the wrong side of a mountain. What’s wrong?”
I just remanded a man to custody who bailed me out and I feel like crap over it.
That was something she couldn’t share with Kasen and her acerbic personality.
So she shook her head as she dropped her blaster on her kitchen counter. Kasen was not one to confide in. She left such things to Caillen. But not even he could help her right now because if she dared tell him what she’d done, he’d have her head. He didn’t like the idea of her being a tracer to begin with, but their desperate financial situation had made him accept it. If he ever learned that she’d taken a mission to travel alone to apprehend a man of Syn’s reputation, he would absolutely flip.
Kasen went back to eating. “So how do you know Syn?”
Shahara went cold at the unexpected question. She looked up in shock from her laptop, wondering how Kasen knew of their encounter. “What do you mean?”
Kasen pointed with one crispy-fried friggle to the jacket Syn had loaned her. The one that was still slung over the back of her chair where she’d placed it after he’d stormed out of her condo three days ago. “I know that jacket. It’s one of a kind. Syn bought it three years ago from some big-name auction house. Gave something like four thousand credits for it. It was the jacket High Commander Gillian was wearing when he signed the treaty that ended the Colonial Wars.”
Shahara looked at the jacket, awed at the price. Just how much money did Syn have?
But then, how long did it take to steal a fortune?
Kasen dug around the bag, scrounging for crumbs. “I can’t believe he’d let it out of his sight. He’s real possessive when it comes to his stuff. Worse than Cai is with us.” She gave a dreamy smile that was at odds with her usual caustic personality. “Syn’s a great guy, isn’t he?”
Shahara cocked a brow and stared at her sister, who’d returned to watching her program. Kasen never respected anyone, and the admiration in her voice when she talked about Syn was not something she needed to hear at the moment.
She cleaned up the juice spills Kasen had left on her counter and tried to appear nonchalant as she pumped her sister for more information. “Have you known him long?”
“I only met him about four years ago. Him and Cai go way back. They met through Caillen’s friend, Darling. And according to what Darling’s said, Syn practically raised him and still watches out for him.” She threw the last bit into her mouth. “Syn’s the friend who’s always paying our fines and boosting Cai from jail after his fights. Hell, he even paid to repair my ship last week after I had that run in with those Gondarion officials.”
Shahara froze as she realized who Syn was. Caillen had never mentioned his mysterious friend and benefactor by name. He’d always told her that she wouldn’t approve if she knew and so she’d never pressed the issue.
Now she wished she had.
The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. Syn had to have known who she was.
Why hadn’t he mentioned the fact that he was Caillen’s friend? His benefactor?
His boss?
Maybe because you were trying to kill him?
Like that mattered. And why hadn’t she caught his slip and asked him about it?
Because he threatened Caillen and you were scared . . .
Forcing herself to calm down, she said as conversationally as she could, “Syn didn’t tell me he knew you guys.”
Kasen snorted. “No duh. As possessive as Caillen is when it comes to you, I’m sure Syn figured Caillen would rip his tongue out just for speaking to you.”
Biting her lip, she considered Syn’s threat to Caillen’s life. Had that been a ploy, or would Syn really hurt Caillen? “Syn indicated to me that he mi
ght want to hurt Cai.”
Kasen laughed so hard she choked. After several coughs, she cleared her throat. “Syn hurt Cai? Lay off the hallucinogens, Sis. Syn would sooner cut off his own balls than hurt Cai . . . I’m sure it was a joke. Syn’s got an odd sense of humor. Takes a while to get used to him.”
She couldn’t believe this. Kasen had to be wrong. She had to be.
“Hey, now,” Kasen said as if an idea had just occurred to her. “Why were you with Syn anyway?” Her face turned serious, frigid. “You didn’t do anything to him, did you?”
Trying to act as nonchalantly as possible, Shahara wrung out her dishrag. “What do you mean?”
Kasen stepped up to the counter and glared at her. “You know what I mean. You don’t hang with men and definitely not people like Syn, you hunt them down.” Her look intensified. “If you’ve done anything to him, I swear I’ll tear you apart.”
She gaped at her sister’s threat. “You would choose him over me after all I’ve done for you?”
“No, I love you. But me and Cai would both be roasting our ass in prison if not for him. Syn even took the blame for me when I got caught filching files, and covered my tracks so that I wouldn’t get arrested.”
“You did what?”
“Don’t you dare get mad at me.” She pointed one bony finger in Shahara’s face. “I’ve had it with your moralizing. Tessa needed the money and you didn’t have it as usual. I did what I had to, to help out. Besides, I already had my ass chewed sideways from Syn over it. I don’t need to hear any more lectures.”
Kasen scratched her nose. “Like Caillen, I get tired of always borrowing money from Syn to cover things. Even if Syn doesn’t say anything, I still don’t like it.” She gave a short laugh. “Course I won’t do any more filching. I stink at it and I’m not about to get Syn into any worse trouble.”
Shahara blinked. She couldn’t be hearing this.
Had Syn paid off the hospital because of Caillen? Honestly, she couldn’t fathom anyone being that nice. Not unless he was getting something out of it.
“Why does Syn help the two of you? What do you and Caillen do for him?”
She shrugged. “Nothing really. Syn’s never asked for the money back or asked us to do anything for him—come to think of it, he never asks anyone for anything. Caillen makes a few runs for him every now and again, but Syn always pays him for it. Personally, I think Syn has more money than he knows what to do with.”
Another gut-wrenching thought occurred to Shahara. “Do you sleep with him?”
Kasen snorted. “Oh please, I wish. He’s gorgeous and ripped to the devil and back. I would give just about anything in the universe for a taste of that deadly Syn. But he’s never been interested in me, and the last time I made a move on him, Caillen almost tore my arm out of its socket. Lesson learned. Syn off limits.”
Shahara bit her lip as she processed that latest bit.
What had she done?
You arrested your brother’s best friend. Idiot!
She had the terrible feeling that she’d made a horrible mistake. One, by turning him in. Two, by signing a deal with the devil to help out her family.
If half of what Kasen said was true, Caillen would never forgive her for doing this to his friend. A friend who’d helped all of them over the years . . .
What was she going to do? She didn’t want Caillen to hate her. Or even Kasen for that matter.
They were her family.
The only family she’d ever have. She couldn’t hurt them any more than a mother could hurt her own children.
What a way to pay a man back for helping you. Gah, I suck as a human being.
Her thoughts spinning, she felt a sudden need to be alone. She had to think through this. To find some way out of the mess she’d created.
She tossed the towel into the sink. “I’ve got some errands to run. If you leave before I get back, lock my door.”
“Get some more friggles while you’re gone.”
Shahara barely heard her over the buzz in her ears. She couldn’t accept this latest mission. Someway, somehow she’d to find a way to get them to release her from her million credit contract.
So much for release. Merjack was a bastard of the first order and he’d insisted she see her contract for the chip through or lose her license.
Then where would she be?
In the gutter with the rest of the rats.
Disgusted, Shahara glanced at the outside of the toughest prison in the Ichidian Universe. Inside the twenty-two-foot high, white-speckled walls resided the most dangerous felons who’d ever lived.
Never in her life had she been more afraid. She still couldn’t believe she was doing this. What had she been thinking when she’d made her agreement?
Tessa’s life.
And the money, of course. But right now, staring up at the force field that surrounded the high walls, money just didn’t seem all that important. Especially not when her life was about to be on the line.
Just one slip, and she was sure Merjack would toss her into a cell with Syn.
Or worse, Syn would cut her throat.
She sighed wearily. “Dang, Caillen,” she whispered. “I really wish you’d pick a better class of friends.”
Her throat tight, she walked down the cold, gray walkway where six armed guards eyed her warily.
Easy, girl. No fast moves.
Men of this caliber were like animals. They attacked whenever they sensed weakness.
Curling her lip at them, she approached the search station where they scanned people for weapons and credentials. She had to remain composed if she was to live through this mission.
You will be completely on your own. No one will acknowledge you as working with us. You will be a fugitive on the run the same as Syn until you return with the him and the chip. Only then will you be cleared of this matter. Do not fail.
Because if she did, they would execute her too. Heck of a leverage tool they were using on her.
Closing her eyes, she wished she’d never even heard the name C.I. Syn.
“Papers?” the guard asked.
She handed them over. It’d taken four days to get the “forged” papers she needed to release Syn from prison. And as each day passed, she’d feared more and more for her life. Especially if Caillen ever found out.
If only Tessa would learn her lesson about gambling and get-rich-quick schemes . . .
Yeah, like that would ever happen. Thanks Dad for that life lesson.
Once the guards cleared her, she headed for the Vice Warden’s office and pressed the buzzer for entrance.
“Yes?” a sharp, irritated voice asked over the intercom.
“I’m here for a prisoner transfer.”
A click sounded and the steel gray door slid up. This was it. Just one more step and then there would be no turning back. Her heart hammering, she entered the green office, the color reminding her of mold.
There were no pictures on the walls, probably to keep some prisoner from breaking one and using the glass or frame as a weapon. Two brown, steel desks were set beside a larger one that must have been designated for the Officer in Charge. All were bolted to the floor.
At present, only one man occupied the office. A greasy little fellow who looked up from the first of the two smaller desks. “Papers?” He extended his frail hand.
She stepped up to his desk and handed the disc that contained the forgeries to him.
He put the disc into his reader and glanced at the orders for a moment, then looked back at her. “These are for Syn.”
Keep your composure, Shahara. Don’t move a facial muscle you don’t have to.
“Yes, I know. He’s also wanted on Gouran for the rape and murder of Princess Kiara Zamir. I’m here to escort him over for trial.”
The little man pushed his glasses back up on his nose and frowned. “Minister Merjack won’t like this. I think we should wait until he gets back tomorrow before we release C.I. Syn to you.”
&nb
sp; Shahara shrugged. “Fine. You can call President Zamir and tell him that you’ve authorized the delay. I’m sure he’ll be understanding. After all, she was his only child.”
The man gulped, his eyes widening in fear of the notoriously brutal president and military commander who was rumored to have once gutted a man for just ogling his daughter while they dined. “We . . . we wouldn’t want him upset, would we?”
“I know I wouldn’t want him upset at me. But you’re the power in charge here. How did you spell your name again?”
He shuffled several papers on top of his desk as if debating, then finally he reached for his link. “Warden Traysen, I have a Seax Dagan here who is waiting to transfer Syn to Gouran. I need your approval, sir.”
“I’ll be right there.”
Shahara took a deep breath in relief. So far everything was going as planned. Just a few more minutes and she’d be safely away.
But how long each second was turning out to be . . . When Traysen showed up, she reminded herself not to acknowledge that they knew each other in any way.
He eyed her with a cool, warning stare.
Without a word of greeting, she followed him down a series of locked and guarded hallways until they entered the detention area.
Scanning the facility, she couldn’t squelch her revulsion over the living conditions of the prisoners. The lower into the facility they went, the worse the conditions in each cell—which literally were holes cut out of the masonry. Holes that were barely large enough for a small child, never mind the men and women who were forced to live inside them.
Unidentified odors assailed her until she could barely breathe. Human excrement littered not only the floors of the cells, but also spilled over into the hallways.
Little to no light reached the prisoners who moaned and begged for death and mercy as they passed.
The seax in her rebelled at their inhumane conditions and she vowed to see to it that the overseer’s council was notified of this violation. No one, regardless of their crimes, should have to live like these people did.
How did Traysen work here day after day and not report it?
“Merjack ordered me to keep Syn penned in solitary.” Traysen swung open an armored door which led to an underground area. A brisk, cold wind blew up the stairs, freezing her. “I warn you, he’s one tough son of a bitch.”
Sherrilyn Kenyon - [League 02] Page 9