by Nina Pierce
“You mean it’s about the Znedu’s boss?” Lilly asked.
After everything Dallas had said of course it was the one thing Lilly focused on. He turned to look at her, not sure how he should answer her.
“I know who Grebetz’s boss is,” she said. Okay, so that might not be the truth. Lilly suspected she’d seen Venair Grebetz’s boss. The hologram of the Braugtot had certainly flustered the otherwise confident Znedu. But if this was a bargaining chip to keep her from QAL headquarters, then she’d go all in.
Dallas walked up to her. “What do you mean you know his boss? Have you been hunting him?”
“She’s lying,” Thaegan said. “The witch is trying to buy some time.”
“Shut up, Thaegan.” Dallas kept his dark eyes focused solely on her. Her stomach did a slow roll that had nothing to do with fear.
“Lilly, tell me exactly what you meant,” Dallas said.
“I haven’t exactly been hunting him.”
“How about if you elaborate.” Dallas dragged the words out slowly.
He reached for the dagger in her hand and she gladly handed it over to him. What Lilly needed was for Dallas to trust her. She no longer wanted to get away from this man, quite the contrary as a matter of fact. It had been so long since a human male had touched her with the passion Dallas had, and Lilly wanted more of that even if Dallas didn’t believe she had control over his desires.
“I’ll tell you only if I still get the bounty for Grebetz,” she said bravely. Even male companionship wouldn’t keep her fed.
“I don’t think you’re in a position to make any kind of deal, Seraphelium,” Thaegan said.
Dallas turned abruptly to his partner. “Damn it, Thaegan, I’m warning you…” He breathed deeply as if steadying himself before turning back to Lilly. The hard expression on his face mapped emotions she couldn’t read. “Obviously there’s more going on here than we can tell you. We’re both a little on edge. This mission—”
“Oh, cut me some fucking slack.” Thaegan threw his hands in the air. “You may be team leader, but my ass is also on the line here. I don’t think a couple of quickies qualifies her to join the team.”
Dallas’ eyes narrowed to deadly slits. “Not that I have to explain anything to you, Ka’al, but we’re looking for something from her, the least I can do is explain why.”
“Oh, that makes perfect sense,” Thaegan said. “She’s some low-life criminal with a nice set of tits who botched up months of undercover work. And when we stepped in and stop her, she tried to gut you with a knife. When that didn’t work, she took me down with her fucked-up witchery. Then, when we’ve finally got her safely under control, she manages to screw your brains out and get you to release her because you didn’t believe a word I said and you let her get you sidetracked and thinking with your dick. And now we’re not going to interrogate the only person who might have some information we can finally use—because Gods forbid we might get all mean and nasty with a beautiful female who also happens to be a suspect.” Thaegan righted the chair where she’d been bound and stuffed his oversized body onto the tiny seat. “And now that I’m all settled into a sweet ringside seat—because I sure as shit don’t want to miss one minute of this crazy-ass show—why don’t we all just play nice in this cozy little sandbox and share a little top secret information? That just about cover it, partner?”
“How about if you shut up and let me handle this my way?” asked Dallas.
“You’ve done a bang-up job so far.” Thaegan leaned back, casually folding his hands behind his head. “By all means don’t let me stop you. Seems like your dick’s got one hell of a plan.”
Dallas flipped him the bird before turning back to her. “As I was saying, Lilly, the person we’re looking for may be the key to cleaning up a whole lot of shit that’s been thrown at us over the past couple of years.”
“Eleven months,” Thaegan muttered.
“Fuck you, asshole! I mean really. Fuck you all the way from here to Beta Mrenn.” Dallas trembled with anger.
“I’m just saying. It’s only been eleven months. If you’re going to spill your fucking guts and tell her everything, get your facts right.” Thaegan tipped the chair up on its back legs.
Dallas turned, his teeth grinding as he spoke directly to his partner. “What I was going to tell her was how dangerous this whole situation is and perhaps Lilly would just like to share what she knows and that would be the end of it.”
“Or perhaps Lilly would like to be part of the Znedu’s takedown so she’s guaranteed her cut of the bounty.” Lilly said, sending Dallas a smug smile when he turned to stare her down.
“And there you have it,” the Ka’al added. “Just like that the outlaw joins the team.” Thaegan began clapping.
“She’s not part of the team,” Dallas argued. “Lilly isn’t going anywhere near that takedown.”
“Well, then it looks like you’re on your own, Mr. Government Man. I’m a freaking awesome undercover detective, which is why I’m so good at my job. I can bring the Znedu in myself. But we both know that without my help you’ll be chasing dust trails trying to find Grebetz’s boss.” She crossed her arms under her breasts, challenging him.
“Oh, we are so not going there.” Dallas stalked away from her, his fingers plowing through the damp waves of his hair.
“Seems to me you’re the one who opened that door.” Thaegan’s chair banged down, emphasizing his words. “And now that we’re headed in that direction—”
“No! We get the information and take it back to headquarters. Nothing more. Lilly goes back to whatever she was doing before we crossed paths and stays the hell away from Grebetz. We can do this without her if we have to.”
Thaegan stared at Lilly, ignoring Dallas’ protests. “I don’t have to like the witch to see how helpful she could be. And I’m thinking she may be on to something.”
“Shut up, Thaegan. Really, just shut the fuck up!” Dallas shouted.
“Get your head off Canus Delta and back in the game here on Garalon Five, dickwad. You said it yourself. Someone’s been one step ahead of us everywhere we turn. Why? Because they’ve got someone on the inside. Now it’s our chance to put a ringer in the game. No one, not even our own team, will suspect her.”
“What the hell?” Dallas asked. “An hour ago you were ready to string her up from the rafters. Not five minutes ago you were bitching that I was sharing too much.”
“An hour ago she had me wound tighter than a virgin in a titty bar.” Thaegan raised his hands in the air and shrugged. “You two aren’t the only ones who released a little sexual energy and it’s making my head clearer. Now I’m thinking the vixen may be an asset to us.” He looked pointedly at Lilly. “As long as you keep your hands to yourself, I’m willing to discuss this.”
She locked her fingers behind her back. “Wouldn’t dream of touching you, Ka’al.”
“No. No. No. And hell no.” Dallas stalked around the room like a caged animal. “All we need is information from Lilly—”
“But Lilly’s not just giving up the information,” she said. “At the very least I need to know which government agency you’re working for. It might not be a team I can cheer on to victory.”
“Q’orsctan Aerlheit Lunivarsium,” Thaegan stated.
“What?” Lilly couldn’t believe the irony.
Dallas rolled his eyes. “In English, the space version of the FBI…QAL”
Laughter bubbled up unchecked, but there was no amusement riding on the sound. “Oh I know exactly what agency you’re talking about.” Lilly threw her hands in the air. “I knew karma was a nasty bitch and she’d eventually catch up to me. But I was hoping for a little more time.”
Both men looked at her as if she’d lost her mind.
“Ask me again why I’m in deep space, Dallas.”
“Lilly, it doesn’t ma—”
“Ask me again, damn it.” The pendulum swung from manic disbelief to hot anger. She clenched her teeth to keep t
he tears in check. “Ask me why a decorated Chicago detective is working undercover as a prostitute in deep space.”
“That was asked and answered.” Dallas took a step toward her.
Lilly held her hand up. “Don’t touch me. Don’t you lay one damn sympathetic finger on me. I don’t deserve anyone’s compassion.”
“Why are you out here, Lilly?” Thaegan dared voice the question.
“Besides paying penance?” The familiar pain of guilt coiled tight around her chest, making it hard to breathe.
“Sins die hard in deep space, Lilly,” Thaegan said evenly, his gaze momentarily flicking to Dallas.
“But no one can outrun murder,” she said.
Dallas’ head snapped up, his eyes narrowed. “You murdered someone in QAL?”
“Not in QAL. Because of QAL.”
Chapter Eight
The silence blew open a chasm that seemed to suck the air from the room. Dallas forced his lungs to work. He’d actually been considering sharing classified intel with Lilly. No doubt she’d upped her energy and softened Thaegan. It would certainly explain why the Ka’al was acting with so much compassion toward the woman. And though he hadn’t believed it had done anything to him earlier, Dallas had no doubt her little tricks were screwing with him now. He’d nearly put his team in the hands of a murderer. Talk about making one stupid-ass decision after another.
“There’s got to be more to the story,” Thaegan said. “We’re on the same side of the law, for Gods’ sakes.”
“Are we?” she asked.
“What the hell’s that supposed to mean?” Dallas wasn’t sure whether his irritation was directed at Lilly for playing them or himself for nearly falling for her act.
Lilly stared at him, her dark eyes glittering with emotion. “You said it yourself Dallas, the bad guys aren’t always wearing the black hats. Sometimes they look just like you and me. But deep down, pure evil chars their souls. There’s no redemption for men like that.”
“That doesn’t tell us who you murdered, Lilly,” Thaegan said gently.
“Ninety young men. Ninety innocent humans who didn’t deserve to die.” The words warbled as she spoke. “All because QAL screwed me over.”
Dallas leaned back against the counter, crossing his arms over his chest. The woman could turn the waterworks on at the drop of a hat. There was no way he was going to let them strike another sympathy chord in him. He’d already tried that tack once tonight and it hadn’t gotten him anywhere but mired in a deep pile of shit. Crossing one ankle over the other, he caught sight of the ragged tear down the thigh of his jeans. Despite everything that had transpired, he wondered again if Lilly had figured out who he worked for and sought him out at the tavern. “What the hell did QAL have to do with a mass murder?”
“Not all of QAL. Just one asshole at the training facility on Earth. It seems a woman—even if she’s the top recruit—doesn’t have the right to turn down the advances of her commanding officer.” Lilly’s derisive laugh rippled the curtain of tension hanging around them. She turned to Thaegan, his hard expression unreadable even to Dallas. “Hard to believe, Ka’al, but Serapheliums actually do turn down sex.”
Thaegan innocently shook his head and lifted his hands as if in surrender.
Dallas didn’t have the patience for the pity party she seemed to need. “You committed murder because some guy couldn’t keep his hands off you?”
“Yeah, Dallas, I got pissed off and took out—”
Thaegan growled low. “Ignore the asshole, Lilly. He’s a little testy when he hasn’t gotten his beauty rest.”
“Ignore me? I think this woman’s got an invisible hand wrapped around your balls. Where the hell is my partner who thought she’d mind-fucked him? Because I sure as shit think she’s at it again.”
“You’re choosing now to believe me. Now, when she’s actually not affecting me? Now when it looks like she might actually be on to something?” Thaegan shot Dallas a warning glare. “And you sure as shit don’t think she committed murder any more than I do. So why don’t you shut up and let the woman finish her story? In light of what we think’s going on with our own situation, doesn’t it seem plausible that QAL has more than its share of traitors walking among their ranks?” Thaegan turned back to Lilly. “Finish.”
“Anyway, not only did he not get what he wanted, but I managed to best him in a sting operation by collaring a Drikspa alien who QAL had been chasing down for several years. Turns out the dickwad alien had been kidnapping human males and selling them into the slave trade on Krystallos Three and no one could catch him…”
Lilly inhaled deeply, biting her trembling lip. She turned her eyes to the ceiling, no doubt to make the whole charade more authentic or perhaps to stoke up the energy that seemed to be controlling Thaegan.
Tears glistened in her eyes when she continued. “It turns out the QAL agent was making money working with the Drikspa. Seems my wonderful investigative talents ruined his side business and the agent decided I needed to be punished.” Her brows pinched in a deep furrow as she pursed her lips, trying to control the tears before continuing.
Damn, she was good.
“The alien not only managed to escape, but he kidnapped me and took me prisoner. I found myself imprisoned on a ship filled with sex slaves. Just before we left the planet, the QAL agent paid me a visit. Seems the Drikspa figured out what I was and shared that with the asshole. He got up in my face and made it very clear that if I ever managed to escape, not to bother to go back to Earth. He’d be sure to tell the whole world about my mother. He might as well have told me he would kill her with his bare hands. Earth doesn’t take too kindly to aliens with gifts.”
Dallas didn’t want the betrayal of QAL to sit cold in his gut. Didn’t want the statement about her parents to matter. And he sure as hell didn’t want the tears streaming down her cheeks to burn a path to his heart, but if she spoke the truth, then he and Lilly may have more in common than a couple of very satisfying sexual encounters.
“Still doesn’t explain how you killed a ship full of humans, Lilly.” The words came out flat and hard, just as he’d intended.
Lilly looked at him, hatred and pain clenching her teeth. “There was no way in hell they were getting me to Krystallos Three alive. Do you have any idea what they do to human females there? Just imagine how they’d treat a Seraphelium.”
Dallas flinched at the thought. Agencies throughout the Nebulae Galaxy were aware the president of the mining planet turned a blind eye to the underground sex trade business. Reportedly, buying, selling and exploiting humans earned more money per year than both the water purification and luna crystal mines combined. And of course that currency greased the bureaucratic wheels of the planet’s upper levels of government. No one, save for the newly Commander-elect, had even acknowledged the problem in a public forum. Yeah, Dallas could only imagine what would happen to someone like Lilly in that system. He ignored the cold fingers of nausea clawing at his throat.
“How did you get away, Lilly?” Thaegan asked.
Lilly looked through them both. Her eyes focused blindly on a memory only she could see. Her hands moved absently up and down her arms as if the room had chilled.
“At one of the docking stations, I managed to overpower one of the male guards and get myself and some of the young men off the cargo ship. But I couldn’t save them all.” She dropped her face in her hands, her shoulders shuddering with the sobs racking her body. “God help me, I couldn’t save them all.”
Thaegan walked over to within arm’s reach of the woman standing alone in the middle of the room, but he didn’t offer a touch of comfort. “You did your best, Lilly.”
“Did I?” Her gaze searched his face, seeking a truth the alien couldn’t offer. “I just wanted to survive. I told myself there were too many for me to guarantee our safety, so I took those in my path as I got the hell off the ship and stowed away on a frigate bound for Dallas Eight. In the end, I managed to take less than ten.” Ang
er and despair trembled along her chin as the agony of her decision brought on a new flood of tears. “There were almost one hundred scared young men and I saved only myself.”
Dallas couldn’t stand it anymore. The hard dam of doubt burst within him, flooding his heart with compassion. She wasn’t using her tears to control them. Lilly blamed herself for a situation that wasn’t of her making. No one understood better than him how that kind of guilt gnawed at the gut, eroded confidence and weighed heavy on your shoulders. He was across the room and pushing past his partner before he thought about his actions.
“It wasn’t your fault.” He tried to gather Lilly in his arms, but she shoved him away.
“Like hell it wasn’t my fault! Ninety. Can you comprehend that?” Lilly tapped her fingers against his forehead as if she could pound the information into his brain. “Ninety humans I sent to a living hell. Killing them would have been more humane.” Sobs racked her body. She covered her mouth with her hand and ran to the sink, her hard, dry wretches filling the air.
Christ, he understood that. How many nights had his body purged itself in penance for the ones lost on Canus Delta?
Walking to her, he rubbed her back until the worst of it was over. Dallas pulled her into his arms, hoping she thought he was offering her support, but in reality he sought solace from his own pain. The warmth of Lilly’s cheek brushed against his chest as she melted into him. Her arms snaked around his shoulders, pulling him hard against the softness of her body. He ran his hand down the silken waves of her hair. “But you survived,” Dallas whispered.
“At what cost?” Lilly stared up at him, her lashes still wet with tears. “My life is a fair exchange for ninety human souls going—”
“That’s enough, Lilly.” Thaegan had been so quiet Dallas had nearly forgotten they weren’t alone. “Guilt is a wasted emotion. It doesn’t leave you with anything but bitterness and ulcers. There isn’t one of us who hasn’t done something in the line of duty that we’ll regret until our dying day. That doesn’t make the decision we made any less valid. We all do what we have to do to survive. There is no right or wrong in this business only adrenaline-charged gut instinct.”