by E. R. Paskey
Anna didn’t know whether to frown or to laugh; another darting glance at Colin told her he had chosen the former. “You don’t have to call me that. It was an accident.”
“So we’ve been told.” Mondego shot a merry look at his captain. “You certainly have a talent for these things, don’t you, Colin?”
Colin grumbled something under his breath, but Anna’s eyebrows shot up. “Does he often accidentally marry women?”
Everyone except Colin laughed, even Deek. “No,” Tatiana said cheerfully, “he just has a tendency to get himself into scrapes when the rest of us aren’t around.” She shook her head at Colin. “We leave you for less than a week and you — ”
“That’s enough,” he interrupted, glowering. “I’m clearly not the only person unaware of the rules on Plimus.” He nodded to Anna.
“In my defense,” she said with a shrug, “I’d never been there before.” She had a split second to relish the wide-eyed, betrayed look he sent her before he schooled his features into impassivity.
Mondego howled with laughter. “I like her,” he said, looking at his wife with a wide smile. To Colin, he added, “Can we keep her when this is over?”
Colin waved a hand. “She has a brother and a ship of her own. Can’t imagine she’ll want to stay here.” His voice was light, but Anna detected a slight tension in the line of his shoulders that hadn’t been there before.
Tatiana noticed it too, and swiftly changed the subject. “Where are we headed now, Captain?”
“Raveena Space Station,” Anna said promptly.
Everyone looked at her, startled. Colin raised an eyebrow; she held his gaze and shrugged. Given their conversation the night before, it was only logical.
Deek glanced back and forth between them uneasily. “We’re going to see Scarlet Rhyn?”
Colin gave Anna the slightest of nods before turning to his first mate. “Aye, that we are.” He glanced at Anna again. “After we finish a couple of jobs we’ve contracted. I have people depending on me.”
Anna shrugged. “Business is business.”
“Why Scarlet?” Deek sent Anna a suspicious look before turning to his captain. “She’s — ”
“ — responsible for putting Anna and her brother’s crew in touch with Lobai.” Colin smiled—a wolfish expression that made him look rather dangerous. “We’re going to find out if she had any inkling of an impending double-cross.”
“Say that five times fast,” Mondego murmured to his wife, who promptly elbowed him in the side.
Anna had to bite down on her lip to keep from smiling.
Chapter 11
ANNA RESTED HER HEAD AGAINST the viewport in the living compartment as the Galaxy’s Way settled into an approach vector to Raveena Space Station two weeks later. The rest of Colin’s crew was actively engaged in performing their duties; she was grateful to have a few moments to herself. Hope fluttered wildly in her chest; Viktor might have left a message here for her.
Either that, or I’ll be able to leave a message for him, she thought, catching her breath just as she always did when she saw the world of Raveena.
Raveena Space Station orbited a cold, gaseous blue planet. It had started life as a mining station the size of a small asteroid, but as the edges of the known galaxy expanded over the decades, it had ended up becoming a moon-sized waypoint between many different space trade routes. Here, traveling from level to level was like viewing a slice of galactic society—one could meet everyone from thieves and prostitutes to traveling politicians (not much difference there, as far as Anna was concerned) and rich people with far too much money than sense.
Her heart began to race with excitement, even as a pang of homesickness shot through her. Please, let him be here. Or let him have passed through recently. Vik needed to know what had happened, and she needed to be back aboard the Iliana.
Colin and his crew were welcoming enough—Deek’s suspicion aside—but she was still the outsider and they all knew it. I want to go home.
Space Station Control directed them to a berth, and Anna waited until Colin docked the freighter to leave her seat and head up to the cockpit. He heard the hatch slide open and sent a nod over his shoulder at her, but continued speaking to Deek. “Tell Mondego I want him and Tatiana to stay here and keep an eye on the ship. You and I will take Anna and call on Scarlet.”
Oh, this should be fun, Anna thought.
~oOo~
Fifteen minutes later found Colin, Deek, and Anna making their way through the corridors along the space station’s docking berths. “I’ve never been on this level before,” Anna said thoughtfully. “We usually berth three levels up.”
Colin’s blue eyes were amused as he looked down at her. “Any difference?”
“Not really, no. They look pretty much the same.” Anna raised one shoulder in a shrug. “I guess you get used to it.”
She kept a sharp eye out as they threaded their way through the masses of people who either lived on or were visiting Raveena, but by the time they reached the level block where Scarlet Rhyn kept an office, she had yet to encounter a familiar face. Disappointment tried to bloom heavy in her chest, but she fought it off. Too early yet, she reminded herself. There are a lot of people here—odds are good you’re bound to run into somebody eventually.
Scarlet’s office was a dingy little suite on Sub-level 17. Anna suspected the woman probably could have afforded better, but the shabby decor provided the illusion of both anonymity and the prospect of a good deal. Every time Anna had visited, a steady trickle of spacers moved in and out of the office. Only rarely did customers ever visit her; they usually got in touch via other means.
As they stepped out of a hydro-elevator and rounded a series of corridors to approach their destination, Anna sidled closer to Colin—close enough to smell his cologne. She approved, but it was hardly the time or place for such realizations. “I’d suggest letting me talk to her first, seeing as how she got us that job.”
Colin slung an unexpected arm around her shoulders and leaned in until his breath tickled her ear. Anna wanted to elbow him away and tell him that was a little much, considering the situation, but she found she couldn’t breathe. “Under normal circumstances, lass, I’d agree with you.”
“But?” she asked between her teeth. She felt him smile against her ear.
“Scarlet likes me. I think we’ll do better if she sees me first.”
Anna considered that for all of ten seconds before she shrugged and slipped out from under his arm. “Fine.” Deek was giving them both the stink-eye; she returned his glare until he was forced to look away.
Colin led the way into the office and greeted the receptionist—an older woman with blue hair and a face that could have been carved from granite—with a smile and a cheeky wink. “Lacy! It’s been too long.”
Anna was shocked to see a slight thawing in the receptionist’s stern face.
“Captain Dupree.” She bestowed a small nod upon him. “What brings you to Raveena?”
Colin leaned toward her, partially blocking her view of Anna, and dropped his voice. “I find myself in need of a moment of Scarlet’s time.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes. It’s a matter of some importance.”
“I see.” Lacy’s sharp, dark eyes darted from Colin to Deek, to Anna and back, before she glanced down at her boss’s schedule.
Anna let out the breath she’d been unconsciously holding. She didn’t recognize me. It was a little surprising, considering she and Vik had been here just a few weeks ago, but then, who would have expected her to arrive in Colin’s company?
“If you can wait a half hour or so, we can squeeze you in.”
Colin gave Lacy a grateful smile. “Thank you, madam.” He motioned for Anna and Deek to take seats, and the three of them settled in to wait.
It was closer to forty-five minutes before the door to Scarlet’s inner office opened and a short, pixie-like woman with s
lanted eyes and black hair pulled up in an elaborate topknot came storming out in high dudgeon. She did not spare a glance for anyone else in the waiting room, but sent Lacy a scathing look as she exited the office.
“She’d have slammed the door, that one, if there’d been a door to slam,” Colin observed in amusement.
Anna was less amused; she wanted to know why the other woman had been so upset.
So did Deek. “This doesn’t bode well, Cap’n,” he muttered under his breath, from Colin’s other side.
“You’re overthinking this,” Colin assured him.
At her desk, Lacy spoke into a comlink. After a brief exchange, she looked at Colin. “You can go in now, Captain Dupree.”
“Thank you.” Colin unfolded from his seat in one fluid motion and beckoned for Anna to follow him.
Lacy’s voice cracked through the room. “Just you.”
“Oh, did I forget to mention she’s coming with me?” Colin shot Lacy an apologetic look over his shoulder, but there must have been steel in it, because the receptionist dropped her eyes and muttered something else into the comlink. To Deek, he said in an undertone, “Stay here and keep an eye on things.”
Colin palmed the door release and the door slid open. He strode through, Anna trailing at his heels, and greeted Scarlet with a smile. “Scarlet Rhyn, you look lovelier every time I see you.”
“We’ve been over this before, Captain Dupree,” Scarlet said in a husky voice. “Flattery will get you nowhere.”
“Ah, but is it flattery if it’s the truth?”
Oh, please. Anna rolled her eyes and had to squelch the rise of instant and immediate dislike that always threatened to engulf her whenever she and Scarlet were in the same room. She moved up to stand at Colin’s side.
“And who is — ” Scarlet broke off mid-sentence. “Well, this is an interesting turn of events. The last time you were here, my dear, it was with that delectable—but taciturn—brother of yours.”
Colin raised an eyebrow at Scarlet before turning that same expression on Anna. She ignored him, too focused on keeping her body language neutral. Scarlet Rhyn always set her on edge.
Scarlet was not a tall woman, but the chunky black boots she wore helped with that. Her name—as far as anyone knew for sure—was actually Scarlet, but Anna was willing to bet her natural hair color was not that shade of flaming red. She always wore lipstick as red as her hair, and her eyes were always dramatically lined to give a sultry appearance, but she was ruthless when it came to enforcing contracts. She leaned back in her chair, crossing one black-clad leg over the other, and folded her hands in front of her glittering silver blouse. “What brings the pair of you here?”
“A contract,” Colin said smoothly. He motioned to one of the chairs in front of her desk. “May I?”
“Oh, please do.” Scarlet’s fingertips were, surprisingly, a bright, vivid purple tipped with silver.
Anna wanted to gag at the sugary sweetness coating the other woman’s voice, but held it back and stiffly took the other chair.
“Now,” Scarlet leaned forward to prop her elbows on her desk and her chin in her hands, giving them both a tantalizing glimpse down her blouse, “I haven’t very long before my next appointment, so you’ll have to be brief.”
“Gladly. We all have things to do.” Colin smiled, but it was a brief flicker before he pounced. “How many captains have you procured to do business with Lobai?”
That’s his idea of subtle? Anna’s eyebrows shot up a fraction.
Scarlet’s red lips spread in a slow smile. “You know I can’t answer that kind of question, Colin. What sort of middleman would I be if people can’t trust my discretion?”
“He double-crossed us,” Anna said flatly.
“What?” Scarlet’s dark eyes snapped to her.
“Both of us, independently.” Anna tilted her head to indicate Colin. “But he double-crossed Vik and me on Plimus, stole the items we procured for him, failed to pay us, and had one of his henchmen toss me over a cliff into a lake in the middle of a cave.”
Scarlet blinked once, twice, and slowly sat back in her chair. “That is an…interesting tale.”
“And a true one,” Colin said candidly. “Because you see, lass, he did the same to me just a few hours earlier.”
“That’s how we met.” Anna motioned to Colin. “We escaped together.”
“Suppose for a second that I believe you.” Scarlet arched a perfectly-plucked eyebrow. “Where is your brother in all of this?”
Anna grimaced. “One of our crew was working for Lobai. He was supposed to be watching my back, but instead he sold us out. Vik got away, but we were separated.”
“Which leads us back to my original question,” Colin said smoothly. “How many captains have taken jobs for Lobai in the last month?”
The words and how many of them have been betrayed? hung in the air between them.
When Scarlet did not answer, Colin settled a little more comfortably in his chair. “You don’t have to answer, lass. This is all information we can procure via other means. It just seemed simpler to come to you first.”
“Particularly since we got that job through you,” Anna said, idly examining her nails. They were ragged, and needed to be filed.
“Are you threatening me?” Ice spread through Scarlet’s husky voice like a fractured cobweb.
“Not at all,” Colin assured her. “Anna here was merely hinting at the notion that once word of this gets out, your business might experience a little…shall we say?…dip.”
Scarlet glanced between them, obviously weighing her odds. “What’s your stake in this, other than the obvious?”
That wolfish smile stretched across Colin’s bearded face again. “I intend to find Lobai.” He did not need to say anything more.
“I see.” Scarlet surveyed them a moment longer before leaning forward to tap her comlink. “Lacy, hold my calls. When Chubby gets here, tell him I’ll be with him when I get to it.” She did not wait for a response.
This is it. Anna darted a glance at Colin, feeling her heartbeat pick up again.
“You saw the woman who just left?”
Colin laughed. “I should say so. If looks could kill, poor Lacy would be a smoldering pile of ash.”
Scarlet was not amused. “Yes, well, she took a job for Lobai a week or so before you did,” she glanced at Anna, “and she came storming in here to report that he screwed her over.”
Anna and Colin shared a glance. “That’s three confirmed cases,” Anna said.
Scarlet raised her silver-tipped fingernails to gently press her temples on either side of her head. “There are more.”
“How many more?” Colin sounded lazy, but they both heard the sharp undertone.
“At least three. And that’s just the jobs he sent out through me.”
Anna sucked in sharp breath, ready to ask where Colin had gotten his, job, but Scarlet beat her to it.
“Who made you the offer? One of your regulars?”
“Aye.” Faint disgust played over Colin’s face. “Sounded easy enough, all things considered. Not too easy, mind you, but not impossible.”
That’s an interesting range, Anna wanted to say, but she held it back. She couldn’t keep her lips from twitching, however.
Scarlet looked at him through her eyelashes. “If I asked you who it was, would you tell me?”
“I’d at least think about it. Can you tell me what the others were hired to procure?”
Scarlet’s eyes danced between the two of them before settling on a point on a wall to her left. “Tell me who referred you to Lobai and I’ll give you a list.”
Colin pronounced a strange name. The man lived on a world Anna had heard of, but had yet to visit, as pirates weren’t exactly welcome there. “Know him?” he asked afterward.
“No.” Scarlet looked thoughtful. “My colleagues in this business tend to know each other—or at least of each other—com
paratively speaking, but it’s a big galaxy.”
“That might have been part of the reason he chose you.” When both Colin and Scarlet stared at her, Anna shrugged. “Think about it. If he finds matchmakers he suspects don’t actually know each other, his odds of pulling this over increase because you can’t send out warnings in time.”
Scarlet gave her a grudging nod, before her stern expression dissolved into frustration. “But, why?” she demanded, smacking a hand flat on the surface of her desk. “It doesn’t make any sense. None of it.” She slashed her other hand through the air. “Lobai has been a trustworthy—if somewhat frightening—buyer for years. Why would he risk his reputation now and essentially destroy any future business relationships?”
“Unless he pays everything upfront,” Anna interjected. And stops betraying people, she added silently.
“You’re right.” Colin shook his head. “It doesn’t make any sense. That’s why we need that list.”
“You’ll have it.” Scarlet tapped her computer screen. “Just give me a moment.”
Anna bit the inside of her lip. It was now or never—once they left Scarlet’s office, they were unlikely to return any time soon. “Scarlet, if you happen to hear from my brother, will you tell him I’m safe and aboard the Galaxy’s Way?”
The other woman’s dark eyes lingered on her a moment, before she dipped her head in a gracious nod. “Yes.”
~oOo~
Five minutes later found Colin and Anna departing Scarlet’s office, list in hand. “I hope you find him,” she called after them. “When you do, give him a punch in the gut for me.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Anna noticed a heavyset man give them a strange look. He was seated across the room from Deek, and one of his legs jiggled as though it had a life of its own.
Deek shot out of his chair as Colin strode toward the door. He said nothing, just gave Lacy a grudging nod and fell in behind Anna.
They wound their way back through the maze of corridors and massive halls full of people to a hydro-elevator. As they crowded into it with a group of other spacers, Colin tucked the list into Anna’s hand. They were pressed up against the wall at the back, and his arm had somehow found its way around her again. “Memorize this and give it back,” he murmured in her ear.