by K. D. Jones
“But that’s just it. Special Agent Roberts would have access to those files and maybe even the items confiscated.”
A light of hope sparkled in Zara’s eyes. “Do you think he would be willing to help me though?”
“I’m sure if you ask nicely…okay…maybe you could have Rachel ask him for you.”
“Rachel is not my biggest fan.”
“I’ll ask him then.”
Zara shook her head. “It would probably be a waste of his time.”
She wanted to help Zara but what else could she do? She went over to where Taurus was sitting on a sofa pretending to read a book. He wasn’t really reading it. She could feel his eyes on her the entire time. She sat beside him and he reached to pull her close to him.
“How are you holding up?” he asked her.
“Fine. You look bored.” She smiled when he tried to pretend that he wasn’t. “Come on, Taurus. Are you really reading the…” she grabbed the book out of his hands and turned it over to look at the title on the front of the cover.
“The Life and Times of a Galactic Centipede.” She looked into his eyes and they started to laugh.
“Okay, so the reading material is a little lame. But I’m glad to be here for you.”
She leaned up to kiss his lips quickly. “Thank you. I appreciate you coming with me. I feel safer with you around.”
He wasn’t satisfied with the quick peck. He cupped the back of her head and brought her lips back to his. He sucked her bottom lip into his mouth and nibbled it. She moaned with pleasure.
“I think I am going to be sick,” Zara called out from the other side of the room. “Can’t you guys keep your hands off one another for an hour?”
They pulled apart. Taurus frowned but Maya blushed. “You could leave us alone,” Taurus grumbled.
“Oh no. If I leave the two of you alone you’ll be having sex in a matter of seconds. That will not be a good impression for the little people who live here.”
Rachel and Trig walked back inside and they were followed by a pretty little girl in pigtails. The moment she saw Maya the little girl’s face lit up.
“Maya!” She ran over and gave Maya a hug.
“Hi, Lucy. I’m glad you remembered me. These are my friends. You met Zara already. This is Taurus.”
The little girl looked up at Taurus in awe. “The Ape Man?”
Maya watched in amazement as Taurus’s usual reserved persona faded away. He gave the little girl a huge smile and made monkey noises, which caused the little girl to break into laughter. Maya giggled, too. The sight of Taurus with the little girl did funny things to her heart. Would he be this way with their children? She had to quickly look away for fear that Taurus would see it in her eyes. Most males feared commitment like a wife and family.
Maya turned back to the little girl. “Lucy, have you seen your brother? Did the Sampsons come again?”
The little girl pouted. “They came but still didn’t pick me. I begged them, but they refused.” A tear ran down her little cherub face.
Maya picked her up and sat her in her lap. She gave her a gentle hug. “It’s going to be okay, sweetie. Did they say why they didn’t want to adopt you?”
Lucy nodded her head. “The male argued with the female about needing a stronger male child, preferably a Biclops.”
Maya looked up at Trig and Rachel. Trig held up a folder. “I’ve got their file. Rachel and I are taking it back with us to the GCFA ship to review.”
The little girl looked up at Maya with hope. “Are you going to adopt me? I wanted to be with Luke but that doesn’t seem to be happening.”
Maya looked over at Taurus. “I wish that I could. I’m not married and they usually only let married couples adopt children. But if I were to adopt anyone, it would certainly be you.” She kissed the little girl’s cheek.
“I think it’s time to head back,” Trig said.
*****
The man with the silver ring paced back and forth in his room. He jumped when his phone rang. “Yeah?”
“What have you been doing?” a man’s angry voice demanded over the phone.
“Nothing. She was supposed to have a photo shoot but it was postponed for later. She was surrounded by agents the whole day. I couldn’t get near her. Then she left the damn ship.”
The unseen man on the phone continued to yell. “She accompanied the IDJ agent to the orphanage! We are going to have to completely cut all ties and connections there.”
The man with the ring paled. “All ties? Does that mean me as well?”
There was a long pause. “It will be if you do not carry through with my orders.”
The man with the ring hung up the phone with a shaky hand. It was his life on the line now. He would not die over this. He walked to the closet and opened the door. The man tied up looked at him with frightened eyes.
“Time’s up.”
* * *
Chapter Twenty-One
Taurus paced up and down the suite. “Why can’t Coco do the photo shoot?”
Maya finished putting on her costume from rehearsal. She had to go for touchups on her hair and makeup, then do the postponed photo shoot and commercial.
“Coco already did her takes earlier. They need me for mine. I won’t be long.”
Taurus glared at the two IDJ officers standing at the door of the suite. Neither male looked at him. Maya walked out of the bedroom and frowned at Taurus.
“Stop growling at them. You should be thanking them for guarding me during the photo shoot while you are at your GCFA fight.”
Taurus shook his head. “It’s their job, I don’t have to thank them.”
“You are so rude!” She turned toward the two males at the door. “Thank you for protecting me.”
Both males turned a slight red shade. Then Officer Jenkins spoke without looking at her. “It is our honor and duty.”
She grabbed Taurus as he began to approach the male officer. “We need to go. You have a fight coming up and I have a photo shoot. If I finish before you I will have the officers take me to the healing facility to wait for you.”
“Fine,” he grumbled. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her breathless.
“Taurus.” She blushed when he released her.
He turned to leave, stopping at the door to stare down at the blond IDJ officer. “You keep your hands to yourself and you keep her safe.” Jenkins nodded without looking at Taurus.
Maya sighed. There was just too much testosterone in the room for her liking. She was ready to get out and be around a more feminine environment. “Come on, officers, let’s get down to hair and makeup.”
*****
He watched from the darkened corner of the hallway as the fighter called Taurus left his suite. Unfortunately, his mark was still being protected by two IDJ officers. He would be patient until he found the opening he needed. Just one slip and he would have the irritating woman where he wanted her.
The man held his breath when the door opened again and the woman walked out. She acted like she had no cares in the world. How could a woman so small and inconsequential cause so much trouble for him?
The boss was going to kill him if he failed. He needed to get this problem taken care of, before it ended him.
*****
It was kind of uncomfortable standing in the enclosed elevator with the IDJ officers. Especially after all the glaring and growling Taurus did earlier. The males barely looked at her. They watched the surroundings though.
She looked at her hands feeling like she forgot something. She frowned. “Oh no.”
The two officers were at her side in a heartbeat. “What’s wrong?” Officer Jenkins asked.
“I changed into my flats for hair and makeup. But I need the high heels that wardrobe gave me to do the photo shoot.” The doors to the elevator opened and they all walked off.
“Maybe wardrobe can get you another pair,” Officer Browning suggested.
“We can go by there on the way to hair an
d makeup.” Maya smiled at the males and led them to wardrobe.
She knocked on the closed door but no one answered. “They may have stepped away for a break. I’ll try again after hair and makeup.”
She walked a few doors down and entered the little room set up for hair and makeup. She would get her hair done first, then the makeup. She didn’t mind this part. It kind of reminded her of all the times she would sneak into her grandparent’s room and put on her grandmother’s makeup.
Once she had applied lipstick around her lips instead of on her lips, put on big fake eyelashes, and then used white perfumed body powder all over her face and arms. By the time she was done, she had gotten the white powder everywhere. On the dresser, the floor, and the bedspread. When her grandmother walked in and saw what she had done, instead of getting angry, she had burst out laughing. Then she took a picture of Maya. To this day her grandmother pulls that picture out whenever she brings anyone home with her. She smiled a sad smile. She really missed her grandparents. She hoped they were okay.
*****
Taurus paced the holding room at the spaceport arena where all the fighters waited until called for their match. He didn’t want to let Maya out of his sight, but she was being guarded by two officers. The GCFA ship was under lockdown, the only ones getting on and off were the GCFA fighters. He just didn’t have a good feeling about it.
“Sit down. I’m sure she is fine,” Zara said from a nearby chair. She had finished her match quickly and was just hanging out with the other fighters. If Taurus didn’t know better, he would think she was there to give him support.
Taurus grunted but sat down. He kept looking at his watch and the television showing the match with Talon and a full Leptan. He had asked to have his match bumped up so he could leave early. The coordinators agreed. He would fight right after Talon’s match.
“Rachel and Trig…I mean…Special Agent Roberts said they had a lead and would be checking it out. They may have the culprit arrested and locked away before your match ends,” Zara told him.
“I hope so.” He wanted the threat to Maya eliminated. He hated feeling helpless. Thoughts of another little girl with brunette hair were surfacing and making him feel even more anxious.
*****
Maya walked out of hair and makeup feeling ridiculous. Her hair had been spiked up like a punk rocker and her eye makeup looked like a cat’s eyes. This was more like Earth’s custom for dressing up in costumes for Halloween. The two IDJ officers who stood guard in the hallway looked her up and down with interest. Thank goodness Taurus wasn’t here or he would have beat the crap out of the males.
“Did anyone come back to wardrobe?” she asked them, walking closer to get a look at the closed door.
“No one had been by at all,” Officer Jenkins told her, taking a long glance at Maya’s backside.
“Crap! I really need those heels. Could one of you run up to my suite and grab them? They’re sitting right next to the bed.”
Both males looked unsure. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Come on. One of you could go inside the room with me for the photo shoot and I could take a few headshots while the other grabs the shoes. Twenty minutes is all it would take.” She gave them a few batting of her eyes and a smile that seemed to work on the male fans in the arena. It worked with these two as well.
“Fine, I’ll stay with you while Officer Browning goes grabs the shoes.”
Officer Browning nodded his head. “Twenty minutes. Don’t go anywhere else until I am back.”
Maya led Officer Jenkins down the hallway to the photo shoot. She wondered how Taurus’s match was going. She wished she could have been there to cheer him on. She missed him.
The moment she walked into the room the photographer directed her to a seat so he could take a few headshots. He yelled at a new light guy to move the light in a different position to keep from casting shadows.
She was getting a weird vibe from the new light guy. She could feel the male’s eyes on her. Something about him seemed familiar. She tried to look at the IDJ officer to give him a signal but the lights were being shined right into her eyes. It nearly blinded her.
The next thing she knew, the lights had been turned away from her. She could hear but was still unable to see good. Everything had white spots on them.
*****
This was his moment. The man with the silver ring turned the light in the direction of the IDJ officer and turned the power way up blinding the man temporarily. He then pulled out his gun and shot him in the chest two times.
The photographer was frozen for a second, but then he tried to jump behind a nearby sofa. He shot at the sofa as he made his way to the bitch he came for. He wasn’t sure if she had seen his face back at the orphanage, but since she had not immediately recognized him when she walked into the room, he suspected that she had not. But now she had. She couldn’t live through this. He wanted to kill her right there, but he had to get information from her first and they needed to move right away because someone had to have heard the shots.
He grabbed the woman’s arm and dragged her out of the photo studio. “Come on, bitch. I have some questions to ask you.”
* * *
Chapter Twenty-Two
All hell had broken loose. That was the only way to describe the scene that Taurus came upon when he returned to the GCFA ship. Local security was there preventing anyone from coming or going. He had gotten a message from Rachel that Maya was taken from the photo shoot. He had already been on route back to the GCFA ship. His heart fell to his knees and he knew he lost all color. Rage and Zara had come back with him.
An IDJ officer approached them as soon as they stepped out of the shuttle. “We need to see identification.”
Taurus frowned, he didn’t have time for this. He needed to help look for Maya. But Rage stepped up to the officer. “I’m Rage, this is Taurus and Zara. Special Agent Roberts is expecting us.”
The officer looked at the three of them in awe. “Of course. I’m sorry for not recognizing you right away. I was told to take you straight to him. If you will follow me.” His gaze lingered on Zara for a moment before turning and walking through the GCFA ship’s entrance.
They were taken to the main security office. A lot of people were crammed in the small room that was lined from wall to wall with small televisions. Rachel spotted them first and came over to greet them.
“How did this happen?” Taurus demanded.
“The perpetrator was hiding on the ship like we had suspected. He killed a man in a VIP suite so he could hide there. Just a little while ago, he killed the light man that was helping the photographer and took his place. He shot Officer Jenkins twice and took off with Maya. He could not have gotten off the ship. It’s still under lockdown.”
“Damn it! Where’s the other IDJ officer?” Taurus asked.
The man in question stepped up looking worried. “I apologize. Maya sent me back to the suite to get something she needed for the photo shoot. I was gone only twenty minutes. I should have stayed—” he didn’t finish because Taurus punched him sending him flying across the room and into other people.
Rage stepped up grabbing Taurus’s arms holding him still. “Easy, if you don’t control your emotions you will force them to restrain you. You won’t be any good to Maya then.”
Taurus took deep breaths calming himself down. He nodded his head at Rage and then he was released.
“We activated Maya’s tracking implant. And there’s a stairwell that splits off. We think he took her there.” Rachel pointed to a digital map on one of the computer screens. She touched the screen zooming in on what looked like a stairwell doorway. “He’s using the stairwells because there are no cameras there at all. He had inside information on the locations of the other cameras on the floors.”
“Inside information?” Taurus started looking around the room trying to find the traitor that endangered his mate.
“We have the regular staff all in custod
y and they are being questioned by more IDJ agents.” Trig walked in and nodded at Zara and Rage. “We’ll find the leak.”
“All I care about right now is finding Maya. Which stairwell did they take?”
Rachel pointed it out. “This one. But it splits up and goes in several different directions. Both pathways have access to the bottom level and the rooftop level. If he gets to either locations, it’s possible he could find a way off the ship.”
“Is she alive?” Taurus’s voice almost cracked. He was fighting back his emotions.
“For now we believe she is. But we need to find her quickly. He will get desperate and since he has already killed two people that we know about, he will probably…” Trig didn’t finish. The look of fear on the large fighter was heartbreaking. “We’ll find her. I have every available agent and officer here.”
“I want to help.”
“No, you would just get in the way.”
“Let me put it another way, I am going to help. I left her in your protection and she was taken. Her life is in danger. I will be looking for her.”
“We will help as well.” Rage stepped up beside Taurus, putting his hand on his friend’s shoulder.
Trig was about to argue but Zara spoke up, “It would be better to have halfsies join in the search. We have better senses and could take one whiff and tell where someone went.”
“Fine. We’ll need to split up. Rage will go with Rachel and several agents to take the split to the right.” Trig pointed to the doorway marked Red A. “I’ll go with Zara and Taurus and another agent to check out the split to the left.”
“We’ll find her,” Rage promised him.
He hoped so. He had so much to tell her.
*****
“Let me go!” Maya tried for the sixth time with tears running down her face. She didn’t think she was that emotional. But seeing Officer Jenkins get shot right before her eyes was traumatic for her. Would he kill her, too?