by Autumn Dawn
Chapter Eight
Too keyed up to rest, Gem changed into more comfortable clothes and went to seek Brandy. Since her sister wasn’t in the family suite, Gem figured she’d try the bar. No luck.
To her surprise, however, she saw Chief Blackwing settling into a corner table, the very table Blue used to haunt. Intrigued, she went over and smiled at him. “What can I get you, Chief?”
He smiled slightly. “I didn’t expect you to be taking orders.”
“Just yours,” she admitted. “Though I’m not above fetching a drink or two. Spent many years doing just that before my father promoted me to accounts. So, what’ll you have?”
“Just a beer. The Nebula is my favorite. Please.”
Gem got them each a beer and settled down opposite him. “Found a night off, did you?”
“I have other responsibilities,” the man said.
“I know how that goes,” Gem admitted ruefully. “I wish I could hire an office assistant, but finding trustworthy help is hard. My sisters aren’t interested.” She laughed.
“Heard your younger sister joined the Galactic Explorers,” the chief remarked with faint interest. “Risky business, that.”
Gem frowned. “She wouldn’t be talked out of it. I guess I should be grateful that Brandy didn’t want to follow.”
“That one’s spoiling for a fight, all right,” the chief allowed. “Maybe the military would be a good fit for her.”
Gem snorted. “They’d never survive her. I’m sorry she was so difficult the other day, though. She’s like a bee-stung bear when she thinks her family is threatened.”
The chief nodded. “Has anything else happened?”
“Nope. Maybe whoever it was got tired of taking potshots at me and moved on to better things.”
“Or maybe your bodyguard is doing his job.”
Gem grimaced in doubt, but offered, “Want to meet him?”
Blackwing looked to the side. Gem followed his gaze and saw Blue coming their way. She nodded and then looked back. “Chief Blackwing, meet Hyna Blue, my bodyguard and general pain in the butt. Have a seat, Blue.”
Blue pulled out a chair, spun it backward and crossed his wrists over the back as he sat. “Chief.”
Blackwing looked him over without expression. “Ms. Harrsidaughter tells me you’re ex-special ops.”
“You’d know,” Blue replied.
“Just Gem,” Gem interjected. “Nobody calls me Ms. unless they owe me money.” She looked at Blue. “You never did tell me which unit you belonged to.”
“I can’t,” he said. He didn’t elaborate.
She scoffed. “Do I look like a reporter?”
“It’s classified.”
Blackwing smiled a little and said, “You’re not going to get more out of him than that.”
“What about you?” she asked lazily, flirting just a little. She was beginning to enjoy Blue’s reactions when she did that, and she felt rather than saw him tense.
The chief’s eyes slid toward her self-appointed bodyguard. “I don’t have to tell him to be discreet. He already knows.” Gem slanted a puzzled look at Blue, surprised, wondering what the man was saying.
“I know what I’m doing,” Blue remarked.
“You two know each other,” she realized slowly, reading the signals.
“By reputation,” Blackwing admitted, giving her a warm smile. “Word gets around in our field.”
He was handsome when he smiled, and she instinctively responded with teasing warmth. “And what’s your reputation, Chief?”
“Call me Joe,” he replied. “I hear Chief all day.”
She nodded and made a decision. “Well, Joe, you seem to admire our beer. How would you like a tour of our brewery? Jean Luc has slunk off for the night, so I can promise he won’t be growling over our shoulders the whole time.” She glanced at Blue as she said this. He said nothing.
Blackwing grinned. “Dangerously possessive, is he?”
“Territorial,” she allowed. “We built the brewery for him, never imagining he’d be like a junkyard dog with a bone. We barely get in there without passing some inspection first. He’s a first-rate brewer, though, so we put up with his quirks.”
She stood. “Bring the rest of your drink, Chief—you can work on it as we walk.” She took her own half-finished bottle, giving Blue an absent look as she rose. “Oh, you wanted to see the place, too, didn’t you? Might as well tag along.”
They left the bar and headed for the back of the inn.
Uncharacteristically silent, Blue was a step behind them on the short walk. Aware of his subdued state and feeling unusually powerful, Gem smiled at Chief Blackwing as she unlocked the door to the basement and the brewery.
“I know the basic ingredients listed in his beers, of course,” she said, “but even Brandy doesn’t know his secret ingredient. The only thing he’s ever told us was that it’s a native herb.” She snorted. “We could have figured out as much by reading the label! He keeps it in a locked, unmarked box down—”
She froze in mid-sentence as the door swung open, allowing out the sickly smell of blood and gore. All she could see were gleaming brass vats and pipes, but from somewhere arose something horrid.
“Get her out of here!” Blue whispered harshly, shoving her at Blackwing. “I’ll call you when I know more.” He ran into the brewery.
Gem had a sudden thought. “Brandy! She never came in. What if—?”
“Let Blue handle it,” Blackwing interrupted. He almost had to drag her away, shocked into immobility as she was. “You and I have to call for backup. Medics. We might need them.”
Having something to do broke her mental paralysis. “My office,” she said. They bolted for the door.
Blue saw the man as soon as he opened the door, his cybernetic eyes instantly adjusting to the dimness within. The bastard stood poised with one hand on Jean Luc; the other hand held a knife.
A mask hid his expression, but the man froze when he saw Blue. He glanced at Jean Luc as if undecided, then took off running for the back exit.
“Call 1,” Blue said, activating the code that sent his personal computer into action. It would automatically call for backup and paramedics. It would also alert Zsak, though that would be of little help. Zsak was running an errand far away from The Spark. He would be too late to help chase this guy.
Blue saw Brandy’s condition as he ran past, and since he saw she was breathing, he was glad she looked unconscious. She was slumped against a copper pipe, her hands tied above her head. Her head was hanging down, her red hair matted and sticky with blood. She looked like she’d be in a lot of pain when she woke. Badly as he wanted to stop, paramedics were just minutes away. And if he didn’t catch her assailant now, he might not get another chance.
The man was stocky and not very fast. Blue gained on him by doing a one-handed vault over a long workbench instead of running around it like the suspect.
The villain reached the back door and fumbled with the lock, but looked back over his shoulder and turned when he saw how close Blue was. He threw his knife. Blue barely deflected it from his face, and it left a long furrow over his cybernetic arm, exposing the metal within. It didn’t slow him, though. He drew his gun and aimed for the suspect’s back.
A sudden burst of light blinded him, and Blue cursed, suspecting a flash grenade. He reeled, listening to try and pinpoint his foe’s movements. There!
It sounded as if he was opening the door. He must have disengaged the lock. Blue blinked as his cybernetic eyes compensated for the sudden burst of light, but it was too late. By the time he got out through the door and swept the grounds, the suspect had gotten away.
Damn.
Chief Blackwing had to take the key from her, Gem was trembling so badly, but they got inside her office and he took over the communicator after sweeping the room with his eyes. He called the medics, pushing her semi-gently into a chair, but she couldn’t sit still. Other than an exasperated look, he gave no reaction to
her occasional getting up and pacing. Long minutes ticked by as she sat and wondered what was going on.
Blue appeared in the doorway so suddenly that Gem jumped. He looked grave and said, “Jean Luc is in a bad way, but he’s still alive.”
“Brandy?” Fear clenched Gem’s throat, making her words stick.
“She’s…unconscious,” he said slowly, cautiously. He caught Gem as she tried to dart by. “Whoa! The medics are working on her now. I let them in the back. Better wait, honey.”
Honey? The endearment terrified her. Something was horribly wrong if he was being sweet. “I need to help!”
Blue drew a slow breath and backed her up toward the couch. “She’s swarming with medics who are trying to save her life right now. If you get in their way…”
She fell backward more than sat. “What happened?”
Blue looked at Blackwing. “Someone broke in and—I’m guessing here; Jean Luc and Brandy obviously can’t talk yet—interrogated them. They have a few broken bones, and some lost blood from strategic cuts. I think we might have interrupted things, but I have to check the surveillance tapes to be sure. The police are going to have loads of questions.”
Gem put her face in her hands, unable to take everything in. Suddenly, a surge of strength surprised her. She looked at Blue and said, “I need to be with her now.”
He started to shake his head, but she got up from the couch and said, “They’ll have some forms for me at the hospital—or the medics will. There’s always paperwork. And I’ll…I’ll have to arrange for more protection. Protection for them while they’re recovering….” It was so hard to think past the fog of shock, but she needed to keep busy.
“Already done,” Chief Blackwing assured her. “The local police will be guarding your sister and Jean Luc twenty-four-seven, believe it. Gem, you need to think about going somewhere quiet until this settles down.”
“Not now!” Gem snapped. “If I have to hire ten men like Blue, I will. Someone just hurt my family and I want to find out who. I’ll do whatever it takes. I’m glad to be bait.”
“You don’t know what you’re saying,” Blue spoke up, his voice harsh. “You haven’t seen Brandy.”
“Then let’s fix that,” Gem snapped. “She needs me. Now.”
“What she needs is a full medical team and a week of sleep,” he growled, but he allowed her out of the room and followed.
Gem thought she was prepared, but her first glimpse of the stretcher holding Jean Luc was bad. Even surrounded by medics as he was, she caught sight of a deep slash that exposed bone down the bartender’s cheek.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then opened them in time to see her sister whisked by. Brandy’s eyes were swollen shut, her nose was bloody—and that was just the damage Gem saw in a quick glimpse as her sister was rushed past. The rest was covered with blankets, so Gem’s imagination started working overtime.
They traveled quickly to the hospital in a rented transport. Blue sat with Gem in the waiting room for hours. He didn’t say much, but he brought her hot drinks whenever she ran out and a plate of food from the cafeteria. He ate most of it, actually, but she got a little down and it steadied her.
A doctor explained what they were facing. Brandy had a broken nose, a fractured jaw and several loose teeth. She’d been choked, and every finger and some of the bones in her hands were shattered. She had fractured ribs, internal injuries and both of her shinbones had been broken. Dawn came and went before a tired surgeon in burnt orange scrubs came out with more news. The scrubs clashed with his sparse green hair.
“She’s heavily sedated,” he said, obviously trying to be considerate in spite of his fatigue. “We’ve set all the bones, but there’s going to be swelling, and you know that bruises get uglier as they get better. The important thing is that she’s alive and you’ll be able to talk with her, perhaps even tomorrow. Today you can have a short visit, but no staying in her room. The best thing you can do for her is to go home and get some rest. I promise you, she won’t wake up before you do.”
Gem shook her head, but the doctor was relentless. “Five minutes. Reassure yourself that she’s fine and then come back tonight, or better yet, in the morning. I promise you’ll have plenty of time to nurse her yourself when we send her home.”
“Come on,” Blue said gruffly, pulling her toward the ICU. “He’s right, and we both need to sleep.” He’d dozed in his chair off and on, but his voice still sounded scratchy with fatigue.
“I can’t sleep,” she said, though she felt awful from lack of rest.
“A few slugs of whiskey will solve that,” Blue assured her. “And remember, it could have been worse. She could have been killed,” he warned as he opened the door to her sister’s room.
Brandy did look awful, beyond recognition. Though Gem wished she were awake and well, it was some comfort to know Brandy wasn’t in pain. It was hard not to hold her hand. Her attacker hadn’t left many places intact, so Gem stroked her hair.
Tears burned her eyes. “Oh, Bran. Who did this to you? And why?”
They stayed until a nurse shooed them out. Gem wasn’t walking too straight, so Blue put a steadying arm around her waist. “Come on. We’ll go home, take a nap and then come back. There’s a lot to do tomorrow.”
Gem rested her head on the transport’s seat back on the ride home, exhausted, but once at The Spark she had no interest in going to bed.
“We’ll cure that,” Blue promised, dragging her into the kitchen. He got her a glass of water, then handed her a pill. “It’ll make you sleep,” he promised.
She tried to hand it back. “I don’t want—”
“Take it. Trust me,” he said sternly, closing her hand. “Staying up worrying won’t help right now. Get some sleep so you can be of use to your sister.”
Gem narrowed her eyes. “Are you going to sleep?”
“Absolutely,” he promised.
“Liar.” She swallowed the pill anyway, knowing he wouldn’t give in until she had.
It seemed she had just gone to bed when someone shook her awake.
“Eh? What?” she demanded, trying to roll back over and snuggle down.
“Gem, you need to get up,” Blue’s voice insisted. “There are some people who need to talk to you.”
She could feel the bed dip as he sat down, so she rolled over and settled against the low point of gravity. “No.” She snuggled against his thigh, hugging the warmth like a stuffed toy. Sleep came nearer.
“Gem, this is not the time to nap,” he said, peeling her hands off his leg. He quickly stood up. “Remember Brandy?”
That woke her. In the odd moment before she drifted out of sleep, she also realized something else. “Why have you gone away?”
“What?” He frowned.
She rubbed a hand through her hair and groggily threw the covers back. “You know what I mean. You’re here, but you’re not like you were. You…you’ve changed.”
There was a moment of silence. “What do you mean?”
“I mean…Oh, forget it.” She was wearing a white sleep shirt. Nothing fancy, but it only came to midthigh. She waved him out of her room. “Go. I need to change. Was there anything good in the kitchen? I’m starving.”
She frowned at the door as it closed behind him. He had changed. Not long ago he would have kissed her senseless if he’d caught her abed, half-dressed, and she’d have been lucky if he stopped there. Wistfully, she revised her thoughts: “Lucky” might have been if he pushed a bit further. These days he didn’t even flirt with enthusiasm. Either he was taking his job way too seriously, or she’d lost her appeal.
Not that she could blame him. She closed her eyes, fighting despair, which she didn’t have time for. Brandy needed her, and she still had an inn to run.
Blue hadn’t enjoyed waking Gem up. Sleeping, she was almost irresistible. Heavy-lidded and with tousled hair, with her nightshirt riding up her thighs, the vision had been almost more than he could handle. Professional or n
ot, he didn’t know how much more he could take. His attraction to the woman was messing with his head.
He closed his eyes and rubbed his face. Maybe Zsak was right. Maybe he did need to find a woman. A different woman. But then he shook his head, knowing it was no cure. If it were that easy, he wouldn’t be suffering right now.
He sighed and shook the idea out of his head, finger-combing his hair back off his face. He had work to do.
Gem was dry-eyed when she emerged from her room, but her face felt stiff. The first thing she was going to do was eat; then she’d go see her sister. Feeling better for having a plan, she headed toward the kitchen…and found Blue at the bottom of her stairs, looking carefully neutral.
“The police are here,” he said, imparting information he’d clearly held back when first waking her. “They want to ask you some questions.”
She closed her eyes and let herself slump for a moment, then rallied. Blue and Blackwing had kept the local police out of her hair last night, but now the piper had come to call and be paid. Drawing a strengthening breath, she said, “Okay, it’s got to be done. Have to eat first, though. Would you send them to the dining room and offer them coffee? I’ll be with them as soon as I can. Are they in the kitchen? Tell me when they’ve cleared out, please.”
She waited until Blue gave her the all-clear, then entered, sat down at one of the worktables and let Jamir smother her with sympathy and pastries. Being around her own people was just what she needed, and she drew strength from their company.
Finally, fortified, she retreated to her office and let Blue bring in the cops.
Chapter Nine
Gem’s first glimpse of the tall, lanky detective in the black narcotics uniform threw her. Long green hair tied back in a ponytail framed a cold face marked by an old knife wound that ran from forehead to temple. He was missing the tip of one ear, and a crystal stud winked from the lobe, as if drawing attention to the mutilation. Obviously the man’s main occupation wasn’t riding an office chair.
Blue took up a station against the wall. Arms crossed, he directed a cool look at the Narc’s two intimidating comrades.