Determination: Age Of Expansion – A Kurtherian Gambit Series (Precious Galaxy Book 3)

by Sarah Noffke

“And apparently she’s lost it all again, otherwise why would she have been on Gamble station,” Bailey said, shaking her head. “I’m not surprised, scoundrels like her can never hold on to money.”

  Lewis stood and strode over to the decanters on the side table. Maybe he did want that drink after all. “I’m not sure she’s lost it all. Maybe she has… It’s a lot to lose, though.”

  “Then why do you think she was asking about Monstre Corp in the Prickly Cactus?”

  Lewis held the decanter of bourbon out to Bailey. She nodded in response, and he poured two glasses. “I’ve been wondering that ever since you told me about your conversation with her. Monstre Corp has a strong hold in this galaxy; the only corporation that holds more power is Precious Galaxy Coffee.”

  “Well, let’s start with what we know about Melanie,” Bailey suggested, taking the glass Lewis offered her.

  “She’s a thief,” he stated.

  “A thief who is probably running low on funds and looking to do another job.” Bailey took a sip. “And it’s is very likely that there’s something of great value located at one of the Monstre Corp locations.”

  Lewis lifted his glass, but then lowered it, shaking his head. “It doesn’t make any sense. There’s no way that Melanie is out of money. She could have bought several planets and still had enough funds to last several lifetimes.”

  Bailey let out a breath, swirling her drink in her hand. “Well, I don’t know, but if you want my help looking into all this, I’m more than willing.”

  Lewis paused just as he was about to take a drink. “You want to help me clear my name?”

  “Look, you weren’t straight with me, but I can’t really blame you. If I’d lost everything I’d worked for and had to go on the run, I would be pretty untrusting, too.” Bailey sort of smiled and looked off in thought for a moment. “Actually, you not telling me everything from the beginning probably worked in your favor. I got to know you. Trust you. So when I uncovered your dark secret, I knew none of it could be true.”

  “I think it’s easy for those who truly know you to figure out you didn’t do it, but unfortunately, all the evidence says you did.”

  “Yes, but Gringotts didn’t know me. Only my reputation,” he said.

  “But I know you. And I want to help you clear your name, because we’re friends.” Bailey finished her drink and set it on the table. “But also, I want to do this because I signed on to fight for justice, and what Melanie did to you was despicable, and she needs to be punished.”

  Lewis stared down at his own drink, which he hadn’t yet touched, just as the song “Come Together” finished playing. He never thought he’d have a partner again, not after what happened with Melanie, but he was suddenly grateful for the strange surprises that life had thrown at him. For the first time in a long time, he saw a sliver of a life where he could show his face freely in Federation territory. He’d all but given up hope, but looking at the determination in Bailey’s eyes, he felt that a long-ago wish might still come true.

  “Thank you. I would appreciate the help,” Lewis said, finally taking a sip. “And since we’re already investigating Monstre Corp, we might be able to kill two birds with one stone.”

  Jack cleared his throat by the entrance to his office, gaining both their attention. He smiled genuinely at Lewis. “I’ve been trying to help you clear your name from the beginning.”

  His nephew shook his head. “And I’ve been telling you since then that you can’t get mixed up in this. It’s better not to draw attention to the fact that we’re related. I’m a fugitive.”

  “You think it’s best for me,” Jack said, striding farther into the office, his eyes resting appreciatively on the record player.

  “You still have a reputation, one that shouldn’t be tarnished by trying to bail me out of this,” Lewis argued.

  “You know I’m a very powerful man who can’t lose my reputation so easily, right?” Jack asked. “I have the general on speed dial.”

  Lewis shook his head, amused. “No one says ‘speed dial’ anymore, Jack.”

  “My point is that I’ve always been in a position to help you, and yet—”

  “You’ve respected my wishes when I asked you not to,” the detective said firmly, cutting him off.

  Jack opened his mouth to say something, but closed it, only shaking his head.

  “I appreciate it, but if anyone is going to save me, it has to be me,” Lewis decided. “I can’t have my powerful uncle, high up in the Federation, bail me out.” He shot Bailey a grateful look. “However, if my partner wants to help me investigate on the side, I don’t see anything wrong with that.”

  Jack let out a sigh of surrender. “Okay, I get it, Lew. And I actually respect the hell out of you for not wanting my help. It’s honorable that you want to clear your own name.”

  “Well, and also strangle Melanie with my bare hands,” Lewis added with a wink.

  “All in good time,” Jack said, agreeing with a nod. “Right now, we’ve got to focus on Vance. He knows we’re onto him. Losing our mystery has seriously cost us an advantage.”

  “Yes, they are guarding Makare fiercely,” Bailey stated.

  Jack nodded again. “And I suspect the other databases, as well.”

  “So, what’s the plan?” Lewis asked.

  That’s what his uncle was great at: plans. He was the best strategist the Federation had, but Lewis was, admittedly, a little biased.

  “I don’t have one,” Jack said at once and, upon seeing the look of surprise on Lewis’s face, added, “Not yet.”

  Lewis set his drink on the table, no longer interested in it. He needed his head clear rather than his tension eased.

  “I need some time to consider our options,” Jack began. “In the meantime, I want you two working on formulating the drug that DJ needs to survive. Lew, you said you had a contact that could make it if we provided the formula?”

  “Yeah, I do,” he confirmed. “There’s a guy named Vernon on Onyx Station who keeps a low profile. He has a lab, and makes drugs with no questions asked.”

  “How exactly do you know this Vernon?” Bailey asked, a teasing quality in her voice.

  Lewis cut his eyes at her. “I threatened to expose him if he didn’t give me information on a case I was working years ago.”

  “So you can’t be the one to get the drug from him,” she said with a laugh.

  “No, but I know how to find him. It’s not easy, though.” Lewis gave Jack a meaningful expression. “And I know the people he works the hardest for. The ones that can get him to do quick jobs.”

  “Which means our shapeshifter will come in handy,” Jack said, getting Lewis’s drift immediately.

  “Do you think Penrae will agree to do it?” Bailey asked.

  Jack nodded at once. “Penrae wants to help in any way she can. She’s brave and resourceful, and we’re lucky to have her on the team.”

  “Okay, then it looks like we’re headed over to Onyx Station,” Lewis said to Bailey. “Will you drive?”

  She was about to answer him when Jack cut in.

  “Yes, I want you three together on this—it’s an important mission, and DJ’s future depends on you being successful—however…” Jack paused, a sobering ache in his eyes. “Lew, be careful. Get Penrae in there and keep your head down. If you don’t want me bailing you out, then you’d better not get yourself caught.”

  Chapter Seven

  Deck 31, Onyx Station, Paladin System

  “You know,” Bailey said, unable to suppress the grin on her face, “you’re not wearing that fedora, it’s wearing you.”

  Lewis pulled the black hat down, covering his eyes more. “Ha-ha. I get teased for wearing a hat, even though she’s got a shark’s face.” He pointed to Penrae on the other side of him.

  Bailey leaned forward to look around Lewis at Penrae, who had taken the form of a Trid they’d encountered on their way into the station. It was the identity she needed in order to get into the next pl
ace, according to Lewis.

  “She wears it well,” Bailey decided. “Blends in. You, on the other hand, look like a guy who is trying to hide something.”

  Lewis pulled up the collar of his wool jacket, hiding his face more. “Just the fact that I’m a fugitive. And if you look around, a lot of these guys seem like they are trying to hide something.”

  Bailey agreed with a sneer, staring at the hoodlums passing them. “That’s what you get on these lower decks—lowlifes who the Federation has to clean up after and keep from spoiling everything for everyone else.”

  “Do you miss it?” Lewis asked, referring to the job Bailey used to have, policing Onyx Station.

  “Only at night, when there’s nothing else to do and the rest of you are sleeping,” she joked.

  “I know, us lazy mortals have to sleep sometimes.” He indicated a narrow passageway that ran between two stalls, which were run by shifty, nearly toothless characters.

  Bailey never would have seen the alleyway if Lewis hadn’t pointed it out, hence the reason he had to come along. His photographic memory not only made him an excellent detective, but also incredible with finding things. “You sure you’ll be safe in this place you’re taking us to?” she asked, scanning their surroundings.

  “It’s called a safehouse, so yeah, I think I’ll be all right.” He led the way, squeezing between the two stalls and keeping his head down. He actually fit in better that way; everyone here seemed to be hiding in their own way.

  Apparently, this safehouse on Onyx Station was where Lewis had hidden out while he tried to pull leads together to follow Melanie. The guy that ran the safehouse, Tomas, was apparently close with Vernon; a drug request coming from him would be taken seriously and expedited.

  “It’s really not me that I’m worried about,” Lewis said in a hush, sliding through the cramped passageway. He had to turn sideways to fit through.

  Bailey turned back to Penrae, who was getting stuck several times trying to negotiate down the corridor. “Pen is doing all right. It’s going to take her a little bit to get to the other side, though.”

  Lewis turned back, a smile on his face. “I wasn’t meaning Pen.”

  Bailey’s mouth popped open. “Me? Why are you worried about me?” She could have cleared that passageway in seconds or even scaled the walls. She didn’t know why Lewis would be concerned about her.

  “Because you’re too polished, with that hair and face,” he answered. “You look like a do-gooder.”

  She looked down at her black combat suit and shrugged. “Sorry that I brushed my hair. If it helps, my fingernails are sort of dirty.”

  “It doesn’t,” Lewis replied.

  She let out a breath. “Fine. When we get to an open space, Pen, I’m going to need you to punch me in the face. Rough me up a bit.”

  “I’m not sure I can do that,” she said in a hush.

  “Even if I insult your mother?” Bailey asked, as they continued down the alleyway.

  “Us Saverus aren’t close to our mothers. They abandon us at birth, actually.”

  “Dammit. Well, do it as a favor to me. As a friend.”

  “I’m afraid I might hurt you, though,” Penrae said in a low voice.

  “I’ve been punched by more than one Trid, and it never hurt, but it did leave a mark, which is what I’m counting on.”

  “You’re going to get a shiner in order to keep your cover?” Lewis asked, looking impressed as he glanced back at her.

  “Hell yeah. I’ll heal, and if I don’t, I’ve been wanting a scar for as long as I can remember,” Bailey stated. “Maybe something right above my left eye.”

  He chuckled. “You know, you’re all right, Tennant.”

  “For a fugitive, you are too, Harlowe.”

  Lewis should have been surprised that Bailey didn’t even flinch when Penrae brought her massive Trid fist across her face. However, Lewis’s stomach clenched, and he sprang forward to catch Bailey.

  She didn’t need his help, though. Standing steadily, she held her hand up to her lip, and her eyes lit up. She pulled her hand away and spit. Blood oozed down from her cracked lip, which was already swelling.

  “Nice, the lips bleed something awful. Good call, Pen,” she praised. “Give me another one.”

  Lewis stepped forward, blocking them. He shouldn’t have allowed it in the first place, but Bailey could be adamant. “I think that’s enough.”

  “Thank goodness,” Penrae said with audible relief. “I couldn’t do that again. I’ve never hit a friend.”

  Bailey smiled. “But because you just did, you probably saved my butt, so thanks, friend.”

  “Life is ironic,” Lewis said dryly, hurrying around a corner.

  He pointed to an unmarked door in the distance that didn’t stick out among the other boarded up doors around it. Peeling paint and the smell of rotten fish spoke of the area’s neglected nature. The passed-out man in front of the door reminded Lewis of the clientele who frequented these parts. He shivered, thinking of the time he’d spent here at Tomas’s safehouse. Afterward, shoveling shit and sleeping in a barn had felt like a five-star hotel.

  “That’s where we need to go. Follow me,” he directed.

  “That’s shocking,” Bailey said, staring at the unconscious man by the door.

  “That’s Gomez,” Lewis informed her as he pointed. “He often sleeps outside the place as a lookout.”

  “Cute cover, and here I thought he was drunk,” she said with a laugh. “I was just thinking it’s surprising that there’s no wreath on the door. At least tell me that the doorbell makes a nice chiming sound.”

  “It doesn’t,” he stated, humor bouncing around in his eyes as he looked back at her.

  He strode forward and nudged Gomez in the shoulder with his shoe.

  “Whatcha want?” the man said, rolling over and staring up at Lewis. He looked about to tell him to sod off when his face shifted with recognition. “Well, if it isn’t ole Suits himself, come back for more help.” Gomez pushed up to a sitting position, swaying slightly.

  He was wearing an old Federation uniform that he’d stolen from a laundromat on one of the upper decks. It was baggy on him, since all he ate was canned green beans. Gomez always said a consistent diet kept him ‘spritely’.

  “I need to see Tomas,” Lewis said in a whisper. He pointed his thumb back at Penrae, who lurked a whole head taller over him and Bailey. “I’ve got someone who needs his expertise.”

  Gomez blinked like he was trying to clear his vision as he looked up at Bailey and then Penrae. “Who’s your friend?”

  Lewis threw his head in Penrae’s direction. “This is—”

  “Not the Trid,” Gomez cut him off, pointing a thin finger up at Bailey. “I meant the girl.”

  “Oh, that’s—”

  “Tootsie,” Bailey said, taking a step forward, her hand on her hip, and smacking her lips like she was chewing gum.

  “What happened to your face?” Gomez asked. He was always full of questions, which Lewis never found endearing.

  “They had me down in detention, trying to get me to sober up, until I decided I’d had enough,” Bailey answered, slurring her words in all the right places.

  Gomez didn’t look quite convinced. “How many guards they keep in the main area down there?”

  “Four,” she answered at once. “Two on the front and two back with the detainees…I mean prisoners.”

  Lewis held his breath. For a moment there, she sounded too well versed on the operation.

  Gomez laughed abruptly. “That’s right, except when I’m down there, they always add an extra guard.”

  Lewis checked over his shoulder, doing his best paranoid act. “Hey, we’re sort of in a hurry. Tootsie and I can’t stay long, we’re only here to drop this one off.” He indicated Penrae, who seemed completely paralyzed, like a shark that had been put in the walk-in freezer overnight.

  “Yeah, yeah. Sure thing.” He beat on the door once, twice, and then rapp
ed with a double knock.

  “That’s the secret knock?” Bailey whispered over Lewis’s shoulder. “I could have figured that out.”

  Lewis shook his head. “It changes every day.”

  Bailey looked over her shoulder. This area was deserted, the other doors boarded up. It was astounding that this place hid so well from prying eyes.

  The door opened a moment later, and a figure wearing a baggy hoodie looked out at them. Tomas hadn’t changed a bit—still as dirty and unwelcoming as ever. He stared out from under his hood, giving them all a cold stare. He looked down at Gomez, who pointed up at Lewis.

  “Suits has returned and he brought some friends,” Gomez said.

  Tomas turned at once and strode into the place he called home. There was nothing homey about the small flat, which usually had three to five people in each room. The place smelled of sweat and dirt and was always dark. Lewis held out a hand to Bailey and Penrae, indicating they should follow.

  The sounds of two males arguing echoed from the first room they passed. Snoring could also be heard from that room, although someone would have to be quite drunk to sleep with the loud bickering nearby.

  Tomas led them to the second room, which was smaller than the others and served as his office, although there wasn’t a desk or even chairs, only crates of shipments that would be going out in the next day or two.

  Lewis observed Bailey; she appeared to be having a hard time in this place. She’s probably recording the violations in her head and itching to take these guys down. However, some criminals served a purpose, and they both knew they needed Tomas.

  “Hey, Suits,” Tomas said, raising his chin in Lewis’s direction. “I heard you got off the station.”

  “I did,” he replied, leaning against a nearby wall and then thinking better of it, as it was coated in grease and other questionable substances.

  He was a lot dirtier the last time he was in this place, and mostly concerned with surviving. Jack had thought he could bail him out, but there was no escape from death, which he was pretty certain would have happened if Harrison Gringotts got hold of him.