Breakaway

by Michelle Diener

  “Just in case they've bugged you, say nothing,” Leo whispered in her ear, and got a jolt himself as she shivered when his lips touched her ear.

  She stepped through the door, and he followed her in, taking time to look around in a way he hadn't the first time he'd been here.

  She went through to her room, and when he looked through the doorway he saw her carefully folding clothes into a large, soft fabric bag.

  “We'll need a hover,” he said to Finkle.

  “Better not. We're more unpredictable when we're on foot. And no one followed us out of that tunnel.” Finkle glanced through at Sofie's packing and winced. “Can she take less?”

  Leo shook his head. “She's given up a lot already. She brings whatever she wants.”

  Finkle sighed. “I suppose knowing about the tunnel alone is worth it.”

  Leo turned to him. “We get one thing straight. Yes, the tunnel is a massive advantage, so are the passageways up on the Under Deck and the Deck itself. The people we can spy on . . .” He shook his head. “But if she refuses to lift one more finger to help us, it doesn't matter. She's valuable in her own right.”

  “Besides, now we know about the tunnels. It's not as if she can stop us using them.” Finkle's tone was satisfied.

  Leo got a grip on his temper. Finkle was thinking like a security chief, not a man in the hold of . . . something else. Not a man wrapped around a certain woman's finger.

  “Oh, we can't use them. Or, not all of them.” He kept his voice level. “Not without her.”

  Finkle's eyebrow went up. “Dee and I watched what numbers she punched in the whole way.”

  Leo shrugged. “They won't work if you go back and try them. But she did give me a code that will get me in wherever the resistance can go, so yes, we could probably use those passageways. But all the really interesting places, like the Under Deck?” He shook his head. “She'll have to take us, or we don't go.”

  “She won't tell you how to get there?” Finkle sounded like he respected that. It was certainly something everyone on his team would understand--keeping a tactical advantage.

  Leo kept his gaze on Sofie as she reached up to get something from her cupboard, and decided he didn't even trust Finkle enough to share her secrets. “Something like that.”

  Sofie looked around her bedroom.

  There was so much more she wanted to take, but her bag was already full, and she could sense Finkle's impatience.

  To his credit, Leo looked like he was prepared to wait all night for her.

  It wasn't as if she wouldn't be back here, she told herself. This was temporary. A precaution in case the Cores came looking for her.

  But she couldn't quite believe it.

  This was different. This seemed final. Like either they won, they beat the Cores, or they died.

  There wasn't any retreat from the course she'd put herself on.

  She fiddled with her bracelet, the only thing she had of Rach's, and realized it was all she really needed.

  Everything else was replaceable.

  The bracelet gave a tinkling chime as the crystal beads knocked together, and Sofie looked down at it.

  Most of the crystals were tiny data stores full of interviews Rach did with children and people on the street, talking about their experience on Garmen.

  Rach said if the people of the VSC could only see it, it would be like what happened in the Halatian Incident, when the investigative journalist Darline Xan had snuck onboard a smuggler ship and filmed what was happening to the Halatians imprisoned there--most of whom were children.

  Captain Drake of Parn's Special Forces had seen the footage, and had led a team onto the ship and taken it from the smugglers, freeing the children, and turning the tide on the smugglers.

  Every other Verdant String planet had followed suit.

  She'd told Rach the VSC had to know what was happening here, had poured cold water on her sister's optimism time and again, but she touched the beads now, and vowed if she could, she would get them out on the interplanetary comms.

  Rach deserved that and so much more.

  “Ready?” Leo ran a hand along her shoulder and down her arm, and she realized she'd been standing in the middle of the room staring into space.

  She nodded. “I spent a long time making this place a home for myself. It's hard to leave it.”

  “It'll still be here,” Leo told her, and she nodded again, but she didn't believe him.

  Sam came in and picked up her bag, and even though it must have been heavy, he lifted it onto his shoulder and walked out as if it weighed nothing.

  “If you've forgotten something, we can come back,” Leo told her when she hesitated in the doorway.

  Again, she nodded. She hoped he was right.

  “Time to go.” Finkle tried to keep the impatience out of his tone.

  And so she followed Leo Gaudier's henchmen out into the night.

  There was no doubt about it, she was about to lie down with the devil.

  Chapter 20

  They were halfway to Leo's house when she remembered Zyr.

  “We need to let him know he has a mole.”

  Leo's grip on her hand tightened. “He has to know it. And what if he's the one who sold you out?”

  “No.” That, she could never believe. “Zyr's been a friend since before Tether Town was even Tether Town.”

  “Where's his family from?” Leo asked.

  “Parn. His mother worked for the Cores in mineral exploration. When she was killed in a mining accident, he ended up on the streets. There is no way he'd sell me out.”

  Leo said nothing, and she stopped dead.

  “I'm not asking permission, Leo. I'm going to tell him. He needs to know.”

  Leo turned, and she sensed the tension in the team around her as they all came to a halt.

  “I'm not trying to be difficult.” She resented that she even had to say it. “But you don't have a say over what I do, either. It's inconvenient, I know everyone would rather be going home, but someone sold me out tonight, tried to have me killed, and that person works for Zyr. He's vulnerable, because whoever handed me to the Cores could hand him over at any time, too.”

  Leo inclined his head in acknowledgment. “What do you suggest?”

  “I can't send him a note. All the systems are suspect, now. I have to go to him in person. And if whoever betrayed me to the Cores knows I'm not dead, that I'm running around and can start shouting traitor, maybe they'll panic and try to kill the one person who will definitely be coming after them, no matter what.”

  Finkle made a sound that she suspected was a grunt of annoyance.

  “You're welcome to go home to bed, Fink,” she said sweetly into the darkness, because she couldn't see him properly where he was standing in the shadows.

  “How will you contact him?” Leo ignored the byplay.

  “Go to his house.” She rubbed at her eyes. “I'm tired too, but if something happened to him . . .” She cleared her throat. “It won't take long. I just want him on his guard.”

  “Zyr strikes me as a man who is seldom off his guard,” Leo said, but he didn't sound as if he was trying to persuade her against it.

  She turned to the left, and glanced over as Leo joined her. She didn't bother checking where Finkle, Dee and the others were. She assumed they were sliding through shadows all around them.

  She knew she'd assumed correctly when she saw a dark shape dart from an alleyway as if to attack, and then suddenly fly backward with a cry that was quickly cut off.

  “They're handy to have around,” she murmured to Leo. “I should ask Fink who the person was who dealt with those oppos for me the other day and thank them.”

  “My understanding is you wouldn't have had to deal with the oppos if Fink's watcher had stayed out of sight to begin with.” There was something implacable in his voice.

  “Yes, but whoever it was probably didn't know at the time I worked for the resistance and could spot a tail. He thought I was
a clerical worker.”

  Leo gave a grunt. “So did I. But you have a point.”

  She slowed as she came to the narrow alleyway that led to Zyr's apartment, looking up to see if the secret sign he put up to let others know he was in was displayed. When she saw it, she crouched beside the ally entrance and moved a piece of wood to one side to expose an open pipe, bent down and put her lips almost against it. “It's Sofie,” she whispered.

  She stepped back into the street to wait.

  No one said anything for a long time, and just when she was sure Fink was going to complain, Zyr stepped out of the darkness.

  “You brought a whole team, Sofie-girl?”

  “I wouldn't let her come alone,” Leo said. “Tether Town was where I was to watch her, remember?”

  Zyr shifted. “I remember. What's going on?”

  “I set up a meet with you after work today.” Sofie stepped close to him, lowering her voice so just she, Leo and Zyr could hear.

  Zyr angled his head toward her. “I didn't get the message.”

  “I hope not.” Leo's voice was cold. “Two Cores guards were waiting for her in your office. They used a laz on her, and took her up to the Under Deck.”

  Zyr went still. “This true?” he asked her.

  She nodded. “Someone told them where I'd be, and that I was Leo's lover. That he'd come for me if they used me as bait.”

  “So what I want to know,” Leo kept his voice low, too, “is who you had watching Sofie in Felicitos, and who in your system took that message and sold Sofie out?”

  “Not me.” Zyr vibrated like Felicitos in a hurricane.

  “I know it wasn't you.” Sofie sent a quick, angry look to Leo. “Who could it have been?”

  “I'll have to check the roster. Have to check everyone.” Zyr lifted a hand and ran it down his face in a way that spoke of pure exhaustion.

  “I wanted you to know there was someone actively working against us. I don't want you taken unawares.” Sofie touched his arm.

  He sent her a smile. “I'd say that's unlikely, but I would never have thought someone would have done this to you.”

  “How long is the list of people on the roster?” Leo asked him.

  “Long enough.” Zyr stared him down. “I'll clean my own house, Gaudier.”

  “See that you do.” Leo stepped back, held his hand out to Sofie.

  She sighed. Leaned forward and kissed Zyr's cheek. “Watch out for yourself.”

  “You, too.” He drew her in for a tight hug, and the scent of him, spicy, familiar, had her hugging him back even tighter. When he stepped back, he flicked a look at Leo and then vanished back into the shadows.

  Sofie slid her arm through Leo's, but as they started down the road she dropped it and slid her arm along his waist and fitted her head on his shoulder.

  He hesitated for a moment, and then with a hum of contentment, drew her in close.

  Leo's house was a surprise.

  It faced away from Felicitos, over the flat plains that surrounded the tower, and toward the high mountains of the escarpment in the distance.

  Everything was hard and sharp, as if he refused to give himself any comfort.

  “Not as welcoming as yours,” he said, as if he could read her mind.

  She looked at him in surprise as he hung his jacket and hers on a rack that looked like a work of art. “You liked my place?”

  He simply gave a nod.

  Her bag sat between them, dropped there by Finkle, and they were alone at last, in the part of the house that was clearly Leo's private domain.

  “So.” He reached down and picked it up. “Come through.”

  She followed him from the lounge, with its massive picture window, into a bedroom that was a little more textured, a little softer, than the rest of the house.

  The bed covers where light gray and looked smooth to the touch.

  “I don't even need to clear space for you, I have more than I need.” He set the bag down inside a walk in closet, and Sofie stepped up right next to him, so the small space became crowded.

  “Thank you.” She murmured it, letting her breath warm his ear.

  He turned to look at her, his body brushing hers. “Sofie, if you want me to sleep on the couch--”

  She angled her head.

  What was it that was weighing on him, making him retreat now, when he'd been all in with her, enthusiastically all in, up until now?

  She lifted up on her toes and nuzzled his neck. “That would be pretty silly of me, since I've been looking forward to this moment since about the second time I went out with you.”

  She felt the tension leave him, his whole body relaxing as he pulled her close, and she caught a glimpse of a smile on his lips. “Is that so?”

  “It is.” She gasped as he lifted her up and took the few steps to get them to the bed.

  “Well, I can do one better. I've been looking forward to this since we met.”

  “I know.” She grinned up at him.

  “Oh, do you?” He slowly lifted her shirt up her body and then tugged it over her head.

  She nodded, her hands going to his own shirt, pushing it up and reveling in the feel of his hot skin under her palms.

  He looked down at her, his gaze burning wherever it touched her. He reached forward, undoing the delicate hooks at the front of her bra and then pushing the garment off her shoulders.

  She pushed his shirt off the same way. “I knew you were trouble the moment I saw you. I knew getting involved with you was going to change things for me. And I also knew if things between us were going to be the way I thought they would, it would be worth it.”

  He drew her forward, so her breasts pressed against his bare chest.

  She closed her eyes and tipped back her head, and he brushed a kiss along the top of her shoulder.

  “You had an unfair advantage.” His lips followed a path downward. “I didn't know who I was getting involved with.”

  She caught his chin and tilted it up so he could look her in the eye. “Would you have run the other way, if you knew?”

  He looked straight at her, and there was something lurking at the back of his eyes; something she couldn't interpret. “No.” He feathered a kiss on her forehead. “No. I'd have had more arguments with Finkle, but nothing else would have changed.”

  “What's wrong?” She reached up and cupped his cheek with her hand.

  “There are things I have to tell you--” He shook his head, “but my mind isn't working so well right now.”

  She felt a spike of desire as he bent his head to suck the tip of her breast into his mouth.

  Then he lowered her down and stood over her, bare-chested, his body blocking out everything behind him.

  “Maybe we can leave the questions and answers until later.”

  “I can do that.” His voice was hoarse.

  He put a knee on the bed and leaned forward, caging her between his arms.

  Then proceeded to show her just how ambitious he could be.

  Chapter 21

  Finkle, obviously showing some deference to the new situation, contacted Leo on his comm set, rather than knocking on his bedroom door, as he would usually do.

  Leo heard it, but with Sofie nestled up against him, he was loath to turn and pick it up.

  The comm set chimed again.

  Leo sighed.

  “I think Fink is trying to tell you something.”

  He looked down, saw Sofie staring up at him with the warm, laughing spark in her eyes that had drawn him in from the start and fascinated him so much.

  “Finkle is used to my full attention.”

  “I don't think he's the type to interrupt for no good reason.” Sofie strained up a little, kissed his chin, and then rolled away from him, off the bed, and disappeared into the bathroom, the slim line of her naked back and the curve of her buttocks a pleasure to watch.

  Leo rubbed his chest, a bone deep satisfaction that he didn't think he'd ever felt before settling over him.<
br />
  The comm set chimed again.

  “Yes?”

  “We need to talk. There's trouble at the mines.”

  Mention of the mines sent a prickle of adrenaline racing through him as he listened to the water fall in the bathroom.

  He would have to tell Sofie today about what he'd done with her father's legacy. The thought made him curl his fists.

  “Sir?”

  Leo rolled out of bed, pulled on his pants and walked out to the lounge.

  The view of the mountains was obscured today, the clouds low and gray, and rain fell soft and steady against the window.

  Finkle stood at the kitchen bench, two mugs of jah in his hand, and Leo took one with a nod, then walked past his security chief to start making another cup.

  It took Finkle a moment to work out what he was doing, and Leo saw him blink when he realized who the third cup was for.

  “I can do it,” Finkle said.

  Leo shook his head. “You said there's news from the mines?”

  “The scales have reset.”

  Leo froze, looking up at Finkle as the jah machine merrily ground the pods. “When, exactly?”

  “Nearly two days ago. That's how long it's taken them to get the word to us. Someone rode here from Phansi on a small hover almost without a break when they realized.”

  The jah machine shut off, and there was silence for a moment.

  “The Cores will get a daily transmission, but they may not notice the anomaly right away.” Leo took a sip of jah, and saw Finkle was shaking his head.

  “The daily transmission isn't happening. The tower suffered an inexplicable breakdown.” Finkle's tone was dry.

  Leo grinned. “Of course it did. The Cores will notice they didn't get their numbers, will try a few times to see if it's just atmospheric interference.” He set his mug down suddenly. “If we leave in the next few hours, we might be able to beat them there.”

  “And do what?” Finkle asked. “Unless you can put the scales back the way they were?”

  Leo shook his head. “But I need to go. It'll be seen as a betrayal if I don't. That's why someone raced here to let us know.” He also wondered, if he took Sofie with him, would she see something that none of them could? See some way to take back the advantage?