by Susan Hayes
“Restraining field?” Eric’s brows raised. “I’m both intrigued and terrified to know more.”
She only blushed a little as she shook her head, rose, and rejoined them by Dante’s bedside. “Nothing like that. I just needed to keep my patient in bed instead of defying orders and trying to go back to work too soon.”
“Uh huh,” Eric drawled, looking annoyingly pleased. “Glad that’s working out for uh…him. We need our Buttercup back at full strength.”
Dante snapped his fingers in front of Eric’s nose. “Hey, Magi. The update, remember? What else do I need to know?”
“Well, it’s a good thing Blink thought to scan the whole crime scene with her cybernetic eye before leaving. Rossi went back this morning to do another sweep, and the whole place was gone. Torched. All we have to work with are Aria’s scans, the cobalt they recovered, the DNA Cris managed to pull from your mangled body, and whatever I can dig up on our dead man.”
The last bit was news to her. “What dead man?”
“According to his fingerprints and DNA, his name was Alan Darner. He was a low-level pharma dealer on Bellex 3, fully licensed, but behind in his payments to the corporation. I’m looking through data, trying to figure out what his role was. All we’ve got so far is that he’s the one who hired the assholes who drugged you at that bar. Local security rounded them up this morning, and Blink interrogated them. They didn’t know much, apart from Darner’s name and the fact they’ve done this for him before. You were right. These guys have been making people disappear for a while now.”
Dante grunted. “From what I saw, Darner was just hired muscle. He wasn’t too bright, and the other guy was definitely the one calling the shots. He was the only one hiding his face, too. Darner was clearly expendable. I still don’t understand how he ended up dead, though. He shot me before I could get my hands on him.”
“Rossi didn’t tell you?”
“He didn’t tell either of us,” Tyra interjected. “I would have asked to examine the body. I’m not a pathologist, but I should be able to find a cause of death.”
“You were busy with Dante and then with analyzing the cobalt.” Eric shrugged. “And the cause of death was pretty obvious, even to us non-medical types. After he shot Dante, he turned the weapon on himself.”
“He offed himself? Why the fraxx would he do that?” Dante went quiet for a moment, then blew out a slow breath. “He said running wasn’t an option for him. What the hell kind of people was he working for that leaving wasn’t an option, but killing himself was?”
“Where’s the body, now?” Tyra asked. The cause of death might be obvious, but she still wanted a chance to examine it if she could.
Eric gave her a wry smile. “Sorry, doc. Dr. Downs insisted on doing the autopsy herself. Trip observed the whole thing. It didn’t take long. I mean, the guy blew his head off. There wasn’t much to examine.”
Irritation sharpened her next words. “What happened to the plan to keep the Bellex reps as far away from the investigation as possible?”
Dante touched her arm. “If Rossi allowed it, there was a good reason. There always is. If it came to a choice between them having access to the sample of cobalt or the body, which one would you have picked?”
He had a point. Again. “I’d rather have the cobalt. Speaking of which, I won’t have a complete breakdown of its components for a few more hours. Once I do, Trip and I will start working on a way to safely neutralize its effects.”
“Which is going to save a whole lot of lives.” Eric agreed.
“I still don’t understand why no one told me.”
“Probably because Rossi didn’t want to distract you. After all, you were putting together his favorite team member,” Dante said.
Eric laughed. “I see your ego has already recovered. Does this mean you’re ready for your debriefing with Downs and her pet lackey?”
“No, he’s not. When did they find out he was even here?” There was no way in hell she was letting Downs anywhere near Dante until he was one hundred percent.
“Bellex demanded to know why our team left District twelve without clearing it with them first. Rossi opted to tell them because it was the fastest way to cut through the bureaucratic crap. They’re pissed they weren’t told we had another operative on the planet, but Rossi told them to take it up with the Nova Force brass.”
“You were eavesdropping again, weren’t you?” Dante asked.
Eric merely shrugged. “Monitoring our Bellex guests is part of my job. If that means I happened to overhear their rather heated discussion with our commander…well, that just means I have more information to share with the team.”
“Forgive Magi. He was a hacker before he decided to use his powers for good. Sometimes he forgets the rules are supposed to apply to him, now,” Dante said.
“You call them rules. I like to think of them as guidelines. Very flexible guidelines.”
“Given what we’re up against, I’m fine with flexible. Someone killed my team, damn near killed me, and is dosing an entire population with a drug we know almost nothing about. Now they’re kidnapping people and injecting them with exploding chips. They’re not playing by the rules, I don’t think we should, either,” Tyra said.
Eric beamed at her and uttered a dreamy sigh. “You’re my kind of girl. Seriously. If things don’t work out with Dante, feel free to give me a call.”
Dante bared his fangs and growled at Eric. “Out. Now.”
Eric threw up his hands in surrender. “Right. I’m leaving. I’m not a fan of bloodshed, especially my own. Before I go, though, Downs will be debriefing Dr. Castille this afternoon. Caldwell will be sitting in, and it will all be recorded, just like yours was, Dr. Li.”
“Thanks for letting me know. Once that’s done, Oran will be leaving, right?” she asked.
Eric paused before answering. “Eventually. Trin needs to finish up her investigation, first.”
“She’s not done yet? How long does it normally take to clear someone?”
“It depends on what we find,” Eric replied.
She didn’t like the way that sounded. Her review had been done in a matter of hours, and Trinity had been looking into Oran since yesterday afternoon. “I’m guessing that means she found something. I can’t imagine what, but I’ll wait to hear it from her.”
Eric nodded. “You’re both now officially up to speed on everything Rossi sent me in here to tell you, along with a few extra tidbits because I like you. Don’t take any crap from this guy, doc, and if you’re going to let him out of bed, please find him something to wear that covers his ass.”
“I’ll see what I can do. Thank you for the update,” she said.
“Get gone, kid. And don’t flirt with my girl again or you’re going to be sucking vacuum.”
Eric laughed all the way out the door.
Once they were alone again, she turned to Dante. “For the record, I haven’t been a girl in more than three decades. Furthermore, I don’t recall agreeing to be your anything.”
Dante’s lips curved up into a slow, sexy smile hot enough to melt hull plating. “Wrong. You’re already my doctor. The rest is a work in progress.”
“You wouldn’t have so much work to catch up on if you’d joined me for that drink when we first came on board.”
“Instead of that drink, how about I buy you dinner? I know a place. Local. Decent food. Amazing views.” He took her hand in his. “I’d like to do things right this time. If you’ll let me. I have it on good authority that I’m going to be on light duty for another day or so. Doctor’s orders.”
“I’d like that.” A thought crossed her mind right after she agreed. “But I don’t have anything to wear on a date other than some borrowed training gear and some shoes that are at least a size too big.”
“I’ll take care of that. You should have said something.”
“You were all focused on the mission, and it’s not like I was going to borrow a shuttle to go on a shopping spree
. These clothes are warm, comfortable, and clean. They’re just not date apparel, so I thought I should warn you. Then again, you kissed me when I was wearing rags and hadn’t showered in days, so I suppose you’re not too worried about it.”
“I kissed a very hot woman who was taking care of herself and everyone around her in adverse conditions, with no complaints. It was sexy as hell.”
“You’ve got some odd notions of what sexy means.”
He tugged her closer and wrapped her in his arms, but instead of kissing her again, he bowed his head so their foreheads were touching and they were looking into each other's eyes. “I think you’re sexy, Tyra. Doesn’t matter if you’re dressed to kill or wearing rags.”
Her stomach filled with butterflies and a delicious frisson of anticipation flowed over her. “In that case, you’ve got yourself a date, but not until tomorrow night. I’ve got work to do, and you need to rest.”
“But first, I get to shower, right?”
“Right. In fact, you might as well do that now. I can run the scans once you’re back in bed.”
He moved his head, placing his mouth right by her ear. “Are you going to help me shower, Shortcake? I’m still recovering, you know.”
She shivered as his breath caressed her ear and his words made her heart race a little faster. “Not this time. Ask me again after we’ve had a real date.”
He nuzzled her earlobe, letting one of his fangs graze her skin for a tantalizing second. “Believe me, I will.”
She believed him.
Chapter Eleven
Organizing a date while confined to the med-bay proved trickier than Dante expected. Not only was he rusty on the whole wine-and-dine concept, but he needed his team’s help to make it happen, since he couldn’t do it himself. Aria and Kurt were back on the planet with Cris, but they’d assisted in their own way. Everyone was happy to help – for a price. The bad jokes and non-stop teasing were worth it, though, because everything was ready. He even had a few surprises arranged, and it was time for him to reveal the first one to his date.
Tyra was seated at her usual workstation, her chin propped on one hand as she stared at the screen. She’d worked tirelessly, poring over the results of her tests of the cobalt sample. She barely slept, and the only reason she’d eaten was because he’d been around to remind her to. She needed someone in her life to take care of her, and he was starting to think he was the one to do it.
“Hey, warden. Is my sentence over yet?”
She looked up with a smile. “I think so. Your last scans came back clear. Just promise me you won’t overdo it for another day or so. I’d like to keep you on light duties for now. You’ve already had more than the recommended dosage of healing accelerant. If you get hurt again, I won’t be able to give you another dose.”
He rose from the bed and stretched. “You don’t have a lot of faith in my ability to avoid trouble, do you?”
“In the short time I’ve known you, you’ve been shot, stabbed, captured, and beaten up. In my experience, facts trump faith.”
“I had a bad week.”
She laughed. “I’ve read your medical file, remember? The number of times you’ve been hurt, you should probably just hire a doctor to be on stand-by.”
“You volunteering?”
Tyra’s mouth opened and then closed again without her saying a word. She was silent a few seconds, then finally spoke. “Working as a military doctor isn’t what I want to do with my life. I want to help those who don’t have anyone else to help them. I can’t do that in the IAF.”
He’d learned that and a lot more about her in the time they’d been thrown together. “I know, I was kidding…mostly. I’m not going to start talking about our future before we’ve had our first official date. A date I can’t take you on if you don’t clear me to leave medical.”
“Well, in that case, consider yourself cleared. You’re free to leave and get yourself organized for tonight. Do I get to know the plan, yet? I mean, apart from the fact we’re going to have dinner together and one of us will be severely underdressed.” She tugged at her too-large shirt.
“You won’t be underdressed. I called in some favors. If milady would like to return to her quarters, she should find some better selections for this evening. Also, Trinity and Blink would like me to inform you that you should have said something earlier. They both thought the other one had given you more to wear. Blink’s going to see what she can find in your size while she’s down on the planet. And before you say anything about paying her back, remember that she’s a stubborn, slightly bionic badass and she’s not going to accept your money.” He held up his hands. “Her words, not mine.”
“I didn’t say anything because they’d already given me the clothes off their backs, literally. I’ll find a way to thank them.” She smiled. “And you, too.”
“You don’t have to thank me. You saved my life. I’m pretty sure I’m going to owe you for that for quite some time.”
Her smile broadened. “You better believe it.”
“I’ll be by your room to pick you up in forty-five minutes.” He was tempted to kiss her, but he didn’t. He was going to do this right. No rushing.
“I’ll be waiting.” She shooed him toward the door. “I need to lock up after you go. Magi put about eight levels of security in place, and I need to activate all of them before I can leave.”
Downs had been demanding access to the med-bay, and Dante, since he’d been brought back. Until now, Rossi and Tyra had kept her away, but now he was out, she’d want to question him. It would be a waste of his time, but it had to happen. That was tomorrow’s problem, though. Tonight was all about Tyra.
Being back in his own quarters was nice, but he didn’t have much time to enjoy it. By the time he showered, shaved, and dressed, it was almost time to go again. He grabbed his comm and sent a message to Dax and Eric, who were acting as his wingmen.
Everything ready?
Rossi didn’t bother messaging, he called instead, and when his face appeared on the screen, he looked annoyed. “I’m insulted, Strak. I run military operations for a living. Do you really think I can’t handle setting up a simple dinner date?”
“Uh, no sir. I wasn’t questioning your ability, I was just, uh…” he scrubbed a hand through his hair. “I feel like I’m sixteen and about to go on my first fraxxing date. I already screwed this up once, and I can’t let anything go wrong.”
Dax laughed, and somewhere in the background Dante heard Trinity giggling. “Trin, help me! Your boyfriend isn’t being very helpful.”
Trinity’s face popped into view beside Dax’s. “That’s because he doesn’t know what to tell you. I’m the one who asked him out, remember? All he had to do was show up and remind me why I fell in love with him the first time. He had it easy.”
“I don’t remember it being all that easy,” Dax grumbled.
“You’ll do fine, Dante. All you have to do is be yourself. She’s seen you as a badass soldier and didn’t run screaming. Now it’s time to show her who you are when the uniform comes off.”
Dax groaned. “There’s a visual I didn’t need. You’re going to pay for that, Butterfly.”
“That’s not what I meant!” Trin insisted before winking at Dante. “Though, if things start going that way, remember to turn off the surveillance system. You don’t want Magi getting hold of something like that.”
“And this is why I asked for your help. You’re detail oriented. I’ll deactivate the damned thing the moment we walk into the room. Thank you, Trin.”
“You’re welcome. For what it’s worth? I really like Tyra. I hope everything goes well tonight.”
“We both do,” Dax added. “Good luck.”
Once the commander had disconnected, Dante set his comm aside and gave himself a final look over. His wardrobe consisted mostly of work clothes, workout gear, and casual attire, which meant his only option for tonight was his uniform. Normally he avoided reminding dates about his military connections
, but he didn’t have a lot of choice. Besides, Tyra already knew what he did for a living. The risks, the violence, all of it.
“Here’s hoping she has a thing for guys in uniform…or out of them,” he added, grinning a little as he recalled Trinity’s comments. He’d like nothing better than to have his shortcake for dessert tonight, but that was her call to make, not his. He’d grown up watching his mother being abused and controlled by the men in her life. By the time he was old enough to date, he already knew he would never be like those men.
His comm chimed again. Magi was checking in.
Operation Date Dazzle is a go. Everything’s in place. Good luck and try not to screw this up…again.
“Thanks for the vote of confidence, kid.” Dante switched the device to emergency mode and slipped it into his pocket. He was off duty and unavailable for anything short of an imminent attack. He only had one focus tonight, and her name was Dr. Tyra Li.
He arrived outside her quarters and pressed the door chime, eager to get the night underway.
“One sec!” she called out from the other side of the door.
He stood at parade rest, waiting. He was about to ask if there was a problem when the door opened, revealing a flushed and breathless beauty. Her hair was loose and fell around her shoulders in a curtain of midnight silk, and she was wearing a simple black dress that came to mid-thigh.
“Hi. Sorry. This dress fastens in the back, and I’m having trouble with it,” she explained as she looked him over. “And might I add, wow. You look amazing. I’ve never seen you in uniform before.”
“Would you like me to do up your dress for you?” He managed to get the words out despite the fact he was having trouble focusing on anything but the vision in front of him. The dress showed off her soft curves and golden skin, and he wanted nothing more than to bury his hands in her hair, haul her in close and devour her, and dinner be damned.