“Earth?” Vyrex asked.
Siril nodded. “The council has offered to send me many times for a vacation. I think it’s time I took them up on their offer.”
“I sometimes take a rotation at the Terran station in Kentucky, if they give you a choice of where to go. I think you’ll enjoy the town. There are of course other places across their vast planet. You could see the Eiffel Tower, the castles in Ireland, and I’ve heard London has a lot of interesting sights. It’s amazing how different each place is there, and how different the humans are depending on where they live.”
“If you think I’ll enjoy Kentucky, I’ll request to be sent there.”
“Take care of yourself, Siril. And who knows, maybe you’ll come home with a bride.”
Siril shook his head. “It’s doubtful. I’ll enjoy my time off and return ready to get back to work. In all the years I’ve been a warrior, I’ve never taken a vacation. I think it’s time.”
“Just remember to visit the clinic at the Terran Station, or wherever you end up, if you start to feel sick.”
“I will,” Siril vowed.
They shook hands and Siril left to inform the council he was ready for a break. He went to his home and tried to reach the council on the Vid-comm, but no one answered at the council headquarters. He’d heard that Larimar was recently mated, so he didn’t want to bother him. Instead, he contacted Borgoz, the chief councilor. The chief councilor’s mate answered the call, a smile on her face.
“Good morning, Siril,” she said in her sing-song voice.
“Good morning, Charlotte. Is Borgoz available?”
She nodded. “I’ll get him. He’s in the garden with Arabella.”
She vanished from view and several minutes went by before Borgoz filled the screen. He looked like he was in a good mood and didn’t seem to mind being disturbed at home.
“The mission was a success?” Borgoz asked.
“The pirates won’t be bothering anyone ever again,” Siril said.
“Good. Were you wanting to file a report?”
“Not exactly. I can upload something today, but I was hoping to take the council up on their offer of a vacation. Am I still permitted to travel to Earth for a week?” Siril asked.
“Of course,” Borgoz said. “Do you know where you want to go? We have two shuttles leaving today and one tomorrow.”
“Vyrex suggested I might like Kentucky, wherever that is.”
“There’s a shuttle leaving for Kentucky in about two hours, if that gives you enough time to prepare. If not, another will depart later in the week. We have a shipment of brides coming from there. Some arrived two days ago, but most have already paired with someone.”
“I’ll be ready to leave on the shuttle today. I’ll file my report and pack my belongings.”
“Our reports show that it’s a season called spring in Kentucky which means warm mornings and cooler evenings. Whatever clothing you own should be sufficient, but there are plenty of local stores there where you could purchase more things.”
“Thank you, Chief Councilor. I look forward to the break and will return refreshed and ready to get back to work.”
Borgoz smiled. “Take as long as you want. We’ll be fine while you’re taking a break. Just enjoy your time on Earth.”
Borgoz disconnected the call and Siril began filling in a report on what happened with the pirates. When he was finished, he packed a bag with several changes of clothes and waited for the shuttle departure. He was a little sad about leaving his position if only for a short time, but he knew he needed a break. It was beyond time. He only hoped nothing bad happened while he was gone.
Chapter Two
Jennifer Montgomery was beyond worried. Her eighteen-year-old daughter had claimed to be staying with friends for a few days, but more than a week had gone by and Lila still wasn’t answering her phone. Jennifer had called all her daughter’s friends, and they had all seemed nervous about talking to her, but each had assured her that Lila was fine. Had Lila run away? She’d packed a week’s worth of clothes, but most of her things remained. Surely, she wouldn’t have taken off and left so much behind? But if she wasn’t staying with her friends, then where the hell was she?
She’d been loath to toss her daughter’s room, looking for something that would tell her where Lila was, but as the days dragged by, she knew she had to do something. If she didn’t find any clues or reach her daughter today, she was calling the police and filing a missing persons report. Truthfully, she should have done it sooner, but Lila’s best friend assured her that Lila was safe and being taken care of. That was the only thing that had kept her from completely losing her mind.
She rummaged through Lila’s drawers, under her bed, all through her closet. With her hands braced on her hips, she surveyed the room, hoping for something to pop out and scream “look here” but everything looked in order. Except… Did the mattress look a little crooked? It wasn’t off by much, but it definitely looked like it had been moved at some point, and she didn’t think she’d done that when she tossed the bedding off it in her mad search.
Jennifer moved toward the bed and picked up the edge of the mattress, feeling underneath it. Her fingers brushed what felt like an envelope and she grasped it, dragging it out of its hiding place. It was plain white and was no longer sealed, looking as if it had been ripped open in haste. It was addressed to Lila and had come from the Terran Station nearby. What the hell? Oh, please no!
The letter inside was missing, but Jennifer had the sinking feeling her baby wasn’t on Earth anymore. At eighteen, Lila was considered an adult, and would have been permitted to sign up for the bride program. But why had she done it? She was still a baby, barely out of high school. They’d been talking about college, even though Jennifer had no idea how they would afford it. Had Lila thought this was her only option? Things would have worked out somehow. Yes, they struggled, but she’d always taken care of her daughter to the best of her ability, and she’d thought she was doing a pretty damn good job. Until now.
She had to get to the station and sort out this mess. A glance in the mirror over the dresser made her pause. It was one thing to march down there and get irate with them for letting her baby leave this planet, and it was another to look like an escaped lunatic while doing it. Her hair stood out in disarray, the knots and snarls from a restless sleep giving new meaning to the term “bed head.” Her sweats were faded and sagged on her, making her look more like a blue blob than a human. No one would take her seriously if she showed up like this. She smoothed a hand through her hair, wincing when it pulled the strands. Her nose wrinkled. All right, shower, decent clothes, maybe a little make-up to hide the dark circles, and then she would give the aliens a piece of her mind.
She placed the envelope on Lila’s dresser and went back to the bathroom in the hall. Turning the hot water on all the way and the cold just a tiny bit, she waited until steam was billowing around the curtain and then stripped and got into the shower. Using the comb she kept on the built-in shelf, she worked the tangles from her hair before soaking it. The rosemary and mint scent of her shampoo calmed her a little as she lathered her hair, rinsed it, then drenched it with conditioner.
Jennifer soaped her loofa before scrubbing herself head to toe, pausing to shave her legs and under her arms. Good lord! When was the last time she’d shaved? Maybe she’d fallen apart more than she’d realized when Lila had vanished. For so long, it had just been the two of them. And now that Lila was gone, Jennifer wasn’t certain what to do with herself. She’d been a mom for eighteen years, a single mom at that, and without her daughter she felt adrift. She’d known that one day Lila would spread her wings and move out, but she hadn’t thought she’d sneak away. She’d always imagined a tearful goodbye and a lingering hug as her daughter started the next phase of her life. But no, her daughter had crept away, lied about where she was going, and just vanished without a trace. Why?
Jennifer rinsed her hair and body, then shut off the wa
ter and towel dried. The mirror had steamed and she ran a hand towel across it. The woman looking back at her seemed tired and worn out. And was it any wonder? She’d not only been concerned about her daughter, but she’d been working double shifts at the dollar store, trying to put money aside for the summer vacation they’d been planning for two years. She was both angry with Lila and concerned about her. The girl she’d raised wouldn’t have been so thoughtless as to have done something like this. Had she gone wrong somewhere along the way, sent her daughter mixed signals, or said something that would make Lila think this was okay?
Jennifer put detangler in her hair, sprayed it with a heat protector, then blew it dry. She was already looking a little more human. She dabbed concealer under her eyes, smoothed it out to hide the shadows, then dusted her face with a light powder foundation. A tinge of blush and a tinted lip moisturizer and she was done. Looking down at herself, she amended that to “done as soon as she got dressed”. Although, showing up in nothing but a towel might get her some attention.
She shivered as she opened the bathroom door and marched down the hall to her bedroom. Pulling out her rather plain-looking bra and panties, she grabbed a pair of skinny jeans from another drawer, then rummaged in her closet for a shirt that looked decent. She chose an off-the-shoulder, three-quarter-sleeve navy top with pink flowers across it, and snagged her sexy brown cowgirl boots with the cutout floral pattern from the bottom of the closet.
When she was finished dressing, she looped her locket around her neck. It was a silver oval with Mom engraved across the front. One half of the frame had Lila’s baby picture and the other half had her high school graduation picture. She wore it every time she left the house, so her baby was always with her. Raising Lila hadn’t been easy, especially without a college degree or a stable job. Going it alone had been scary, but there had been no way to track down Lila’s father. He’d been a one-night stand and they’d only exchanged first names. While their town was small, no one at the bar where they’d met had remembered him.
Jennifer grabbed her keys and her purse, then locked up the house and climbed into her ancient Honda and drove to the Terran Station. The wind kicked up as she pulled into the parking lot, making her poorly sealed windshield whistle. She seriously needed a new car, but it wasn’t in the budget. Parking as close to the door as she could get, which still felt like it was a mile away, she locked her car -- not that anyone would want it -- and trudged across the parking lot to the front entrance.
A perky blonde behind the reception counter smiled brightly at her. “May I help you with something?”
Penny, her tag read. “Penny, I need to speak to someone about someone who recently entered the bride program.”
The receptionist’s eyes went wide. “Oh, we can’t discuss our candidates. Not unless they left permission during the application process. You could check with records and see if your name is on the approved list.”
Jennifer ground her teeth. “And where is Records?”
Penny pulled out a map and highlighted the way, then handed it over. Following the neon line, Jennifer made her way through the station, trying not to scowl at every alien she passed. It wasn’t their fault her daughter had run off to get married to some stranger on another world. When she reached Records, the alien behind the counter smiled at her.
“My name is Zwyk,” he said. “Is there something I can help you with?”
“I think my daughter joined your bride program and I’m trying to find out if she’s already been sent to your world.”
His eyebrows rose. “I see. And your daughter’s name?”
“Lila Montgomery.”
He tapped away at his computer, a frown marring his face before he looked up at her again. “Mrs. Montgomery, I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you where your daughter is right now.”
“It’s Miss,” she bit out. “So, either you really don’t know, or she did join your program and said you couldn’t tell me where she was.”
He looked pained, which was all the answer she needed. It felt like steam was going to billow out of her ears at any moment. They’d allowed her baby to sign up, and now they wouldn’t even tell her if she’d made it to their planet safely. Assholes. No, that wasn’t completely fair. It wasn’t entirely their fault. Lila was just as much to blame for this mess, if not more so.
“Who is in charge?” Jennifer asked.
“Tyril. He’s…” Zwyk looked over her shoulder and pointed. “Over there.”
She turned and looked, seeing two aliens having a discussion in the middle of the station. One was taller and broader than the other, his hair was long and thick; a rather sexy eye patch covered one eye. The smaller one was dressed nicer and looked more… tame. She glanced from one to the other again, and hoped it was the tamer looking one that was Tyril. The taller one looked like he could break her in half without breaking a sweat.
Jennifer approached them and the taller one stopped mid-sentence to look her way. Though he only had one eye, his gaze was appreciative as he took her in from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. A sexy smirk graced his lips when he met her gaze. Oh lordy. Now that was a man who was sexy as fuck and knew it. She forced herself to look away and focus on the smaller of the two.
“Are you Tyril?” she asked.
He nodded and gave her a pleasant smile. “If you want to apply for the bride program, the application center is at the front of the station.”
“I’m actually here about someone who already signed up.”
“I’m afraid we can’t divulge information about our potential brides without their permission. You’ll have to speak with Zwyk and see if you’re on the approved list.”
Jennifer folded her arms under her breasts, pushing them up, and stared at Tyril. His gaze momentarily dropped to her chest before he looked up again. Good. She had his attention, or at least part of her did.
“My daughter received something in the mail from this station, and she’s been missing for over a week. Your precious Records person won’t tell me a damn thing and I demand to know if my daughter is safe. Do I need to go to the police to file a missing persons report, or is she not on Earth anymore?”
Tyril’s eyes widened a little. “Your daughter? We would never allow someone underage to…”
She held up a hand. “Lila is eighteen and grown enough I suppose, but sometimes she still acts like a child. Much like now. She disappeared only saying she was going to a friend’s house, packed enough clothes for a week, then made sure her friends wouldn’t tell me where she was, and she wouldn’t answer her phone. I found the opened envelope under her mattress and the letter inside was missing. I guess if she’s off-world that would explain why she’s not answering her phone.”
Tyril looked sympathetic. “I want to help you, but I can’t. We have rules in place for a reason. If she did sign up for the program and didn’t put you on the approved list of contacts, then there’s nothing I can do.”
Tears of frustration welled in her eyes and her hands clenched into fists. “So I’m just supposed to wonder for the rest of my life what happened to my only child?”
The taller of the two moved closer. “You have a daughter old enough for the bride program?”
“Yes.” Jennifer bit her lip. “I know she’s technically an adult, but she’s my baby. She’s all I have. Isn’t there something you can do?”
“The only way any human is going to our world is as a potential bride, or part of an already mated pair,” Tyril said, his gaze sliding over her. “And as you’re old enough to already have an adult child, I doubt either is a possibility for you.”
Jennifer’s cheeks flushed with anger, and without thought, she hauled back her hand, made a fist, and punched him right across his jaw. Tyril stumbled back a step, his eyes wide and incredulous, as his hand cupped the injured area.
“You hit me!” he said in outrage.
“And I’m going to kick you in the balls next if you don’t help me,” Jennifer said.
“And I’m not old, dammit. I’m only thirty-eight.”
Tyril cupped said balls and took another step back.
The one-eyed alien smiled broadly. “I like her.”
“Call security,” Tyril said. “Someone needs to escort her from the premises.”
“I’m not leaving until you tell me where my daughter is,” she shouted at him.
“You’re a menace,” Tyril said.
Jennifer growled and advanced on him, whacking his biceps with her open palm before cracking her other hand against his cheek. They were not going to keep her child from her.
The sexy alien behind her gave a full-belly laugh and wrapped an arm around her waist, hauling her back against his rather impressive chest. His body shook with merriment as Tyril glared at them, looking more than a little irate at her attack. She supposed she should be thankful he hadn’t tried to hit her back. While he might not be as built as the alien holding her, he wasn’t exactly weak looking either. One punch probably would have knocked her out.
“I believe you’ve met your match, Tyril. Why not tell her what she wants to know? She’s fierce and doesn’t seem to be taking no for an answer,” the sexy alien said.
“Stay out of this, Siril. We have rules. Policies. I can’t go breaking them just because she wants to know where her daughter is. If she’s not on the approved list, I can’t even confirm whether her daughter was here or not.”
Some of her anger deflated and she felt utterly helpless. “You can’t even tell me if she was accepted into the program? I just want to know that she’s safe. Do you have children? Wouldn’t you want to know if they were okay?”
“I do not,” Tyril said, but some of the anger seemed to drain from him. “I’m truly sorry, but I can’t help you.”
“I’ll help you,” the alien behind her said.
“Siril, you don’t have access to the information she wants,” Tyril said.
“No, but she can travel with me back to our world. I was leaving on the morning shuttle.”
Jennifer and the Alien Badass Page 2