by KD Jones
She kept glancing at her phone, hoping for Drako to call soon, but he didn’t. The legal advisor was there for at least an hour explaining everything to Mary. Carolina didn’t like the man all that much because he was so official and impersonal. She wanted to yell at him about some of the stuff he was saying to her friend, but she knew he had to read over the paperwork with Mary. It was all part of the conditions of the trial her husband was forcing her to go through. She knew it was the guy’s job, and he couldn’t let emotions get in the way of him doing what had to be done. Luckily, though, once the custody issue was settled, they wouldn’t have to deal with any of this other than the first year’s check-ins, to ensure Melanie’s well being.
Carolina could see the pain all of this was causing Mary. The woman was practically torn apart by it, and that was really bothering Carolina. Which just made her think about Drako even more, because he was usually the one she talked to about this. She wished he would call her soon.
When the legal advisor finally left, Mary and Thesos went to Mary’s bedroom. Melanie was still in class; she wouldn’t be finished for a few hours, and Mary was emotional and Thesos wanted to comfort her. Carolina smiled; she knew exactly how Thesos was going to comfort Mary, and she approved of his methods.
Not even an hour after the legal advisor left, there was a knock at the door. Carolina had been staring at her phone so intently that the knock startled her enough to make her almost fall off the couch. She opened the door to a strange man; she had no idea who he was, but he barged in immediately, pushing the door out of Carolina’s hand.
“Where the hell is my daughter?” he demanded. “And my wife?”
“I don’t even know you.” Carolina tried to make her way over to her phone to call for security, but the man grabbed her arm.
“I’m Mary’s husband. Where the hell is she?”
“Let me go!” Carolina yelled.
“Dick, what are you doing here?” Mary froze in the doorway of her bedroom. Thesos was standing right behind her. Both of them were breathing hard and flushed; anyone would be able to guess what they’d been doing.
The man stared in shock at Mary. “What the hell is this? You’re with an alien, scumbag Squid now?”
“Thesos is not a scumbag. He’s a wonderful man.”
“You’re whoring around with our daughter in your care?” Dick accused.
“You do not ever speak to her that way!” Thesos was furious.
“You alien scum tried overthrowing our planet years ago. Now you’re trying to take my wife and child?”
“You abandoned them on a dying planet. You gave up your rights to them. I would never leave them like that.”
“You aliens are all alike. Think you can come to our planet and take whatever you want. Deny it all you want, but you guys are profiting off of us humans.”
“Dick, just leave,” Mary begged.
“How could you embarrass me by lowering yourself enough to be with that … thing?” He yelled, pointing his finger at Thesos.
“You don’t even know him.” Carolina argued, getting fed up with Dick’s prejudiced comments.
“I don’t need to. I can already tell you that he is a piece of shit alien just by looking at him. How can you stand to be with that thing? You’ve ruined yourself.”
*****
Thesos could handle Dick badmouthing him, but he lost it at him saying that about Mary.
“You’re going to pay for that, Terran scum!” Thesos completely lost control of his anger as he drew his fists back and swung hard, striking the human male in the face, arm, and stomach, and knocking him back on his ass. Thesos tried to calm down, but every time the Terran male opened his mouth, he swung again.
*****
Carolina and Mary kept trying to pull Thesos off of Dick, but they didn’t have the strength for it. He was consumed with rage on behalf of Mary and Melanie. Carolina had never seen him that angry before, nor did she ever want to see it again. As she fought to get him off of Dick, all she could do was hope that the teacher didn’t bring Melanie home early.
Frighteningly, Carolina and Mary soon realized that they wouldn’t be able to get Thesos off of him on their own. They needed help, and fast.
Carolina tried calling Turk, but he didn’t answer. She knew he was usually in the control room at that time of day, so she started running in that direction, hoping to get Turk back to the suite before Thesos killed Dick.
Carolina barged through the control room doors.
“Captain Turk, a fight broke out in my suite and we can’t get them off of each other,” she said, getting his immediate attention. “It’s Thesos and Mary’s husband.”
Turk stood up and started out of the control room. “When the hell did that man get on my ship?”
“I don’t know,” Carolina answered, trying to catch her breath as she kept pace beside him
Turk started running. He knew the whole situation; he’d helped Drako look into it, and kept an eye on things for him while he was gone. Turk talked to Thesos often, and had heard everything from him.
“Don’t wait on me, you’re much faster!" Carolina yelled. She slowed down to a fast-paced walk, trying to catch her breath but hurry at the same time. She looked around, suddenly feeling like she was being watched. She looked behind her and didn’t see anyone, but then Carolina started hearing footsteps; she knew that she was being followed.
Unsure of what else to do, she picked up her pace to a jog, but she lost her balance and tripped. Before she knew it, Carolina was being lifted off the ground. She tried to scream, but a strange-smelling rag was shoved in her face. She became light-headed, and then everything went black.
Chapter Sixteen
Drako was frustrated. He should have been done with this ship already, but there was something fishy going on. Every time he got ready to question the crewmembers, they were pulled away for an emergency. He was tempted to cite the captain and the crew for obstruction of an investigation.
He slammed his fist on the table, startling the crewmember he was currently questioning.
“I’m sorry, did I say something wrong?” the man asked, obviously frightened.
“No, it’s just that this investigation has gone on longer than expected,” Drako answered, knowing it wasn’t the guy’s fault. He had to take down statements from witnesses to submit for his full report. It was a pain in the ass, and all he could think about was Carolina.
“You seem like you don’t want to be here right now,” the witness commented.
“I just was hoping I was would be done by now. What did you say your name was again?”
“My name is Gary; I’m a card dealer on the casino level of the ship,” he answered.
“What suspicious activity did you observe?”
“The alien card dealers have ‘special’ games set up so that they can ensure anyone they want can win the bets that are placed. The victims are usually Terrans.”
“You’ve seen this yourself?” Drako questioned as soon as he finished writing everything down.
“Yes, and I overheard the two guys you arrested talking about it after work.”
“What tipped you off that this was happening?” Drako asked, a little annoyed at all the questions he had to ask to get so little information.
“A few humans kept complaining that they were losing all the time, but that the aliens always won.”
“What are the names of the individuals involved in this?” Drako glanced at the watch on his wrist. It was going to be another late night; he wasn’t going to be able to call Carolina until the next morning.
“I know of Shawn and Paul, but I’m not sure if they’re the only ones. There are two other card dealers that I work with.”
“What about the manager of the casino level? Does he know anything about this?”
“I don’t know. I have no idea who knows about it and who doesn’t. All I know is that it’s happening, and the two people I overheard talking about it are doing it. I thought
you already took Shawn and Paul into custody?”
“I have to question you and the others to make sure that all guilty parties are found. Do you know any of the victims?”
“Not by name. There are a lot of Terrans who go to the casino level.”
“Alright, I’ll be in touch with you if I need anything else,” Drako said as he stood up. “Thank you for the information. Your name and the details of our discussion will stay strictly confidential.”
God, this investigation was never ending. Just when he thought he had the two main culprits, suspicions arose about more people possibly being involved. This was going to take forever.
Drako dialed Carolina’s number. He needed to speak with her, even if it was only for a minute. The sound of her voice calmed him. Her phone rang three times and went to voicemail. He was disappointed to have missed her again.
“This is Carolina Andiva. I’m either busy or not with my phone; please leave a message and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible. Thank you!” Her voice, even in a recording, was like music to his ears, but it was barely enough to keep him sane. He needed to hear her, not her damn voicemail.
“Carolina, it’s Drako. I’m sorry, I’ve been really busy. Please call me back, I don’t care what time of day or night it is.” He hung up the phone. God, he missed her.
“Where are you off to?” A woman’s voice came from behind him.
“Captain Rena.” Drako turned to face her. She was a beautiful woman, and she had the curves to match, but she didn’t come close to Carolina in his eyes. He knew that his friend Turk also had a history with the pretty Aquadratic. “I’m heading to my room for a small break.”
“You seemed to be in a hurry to get there. Is there a fire you need to put out? The only fire I can see is … you,” she flirted.
Drako looked uncomfortable. “There’s no fire.”
“We could make our own fire, if you want." She put her hand on his chest, and started to move it down his torso, but Drako grabbed her hand. She smiled. “I bet we could burn the ship down.”
“It won’t happen,” Drako informed her.
“I’ve heard of you. You have quite a reputation with the females,” Rena returned. “I find myself curious to know if it’s true or not.”
“I’m sorry, but there’s only one woman in my life now,” Drako told her, removing her hand from his body.
“I’m confused. The rumors about you say that you’re not the settling-down type.”
“With Carolina, everything's different.”
“I can sense your need, Drako. I could ease your tension,” she said. “Why make yourself suffer? I can make it all go away, and you just have to lay there and let me do whatever I want.”
“I do need relief, but not from you. If you’ve heard of me, you also know whom I’m friends with. I think this attempt at seduction is a way to get back at Turk, and I’m not about to help you with that.”
Captain Rena glared at him. “Fuck you!” she said, and stormed off.
He needed to get off this ship. The investigation was one thing, but now he had a sexy and beautiful female captain making advances towards him. He snorted. That never used to be a problem, but now it sent him running to his room. He would never do that to Carolina; he loved her more than anything in the universe, and he wasn’t going to mess it up.
Drako went back to his room on the ship and put every detail he had down on his report. If it was up to him, he’d take the next shuttle back to the Brave Star, but he knew that the Terrans deserved fair treatment, and he wasn’t going to jeopardize the investigation for his own needs or desires.
He tried Carolina’s satellite phone again before he laid down. God, he longed to hear her voice. He felt like he had lost a part of himself when he had to leave her, and it got worse with every day. He was starting to worry. Carolina had never been away from her phone for this long.
*****
Ambassador Clen stared at Carolina Andiva. He had her tied up in the seat on the pod he had stolen from the spaceship. His father would be pleased with him for getting the woman that he wanted, no matter the obstacles. Damn woman should have never told him no; it would have made things a lot easier for the both of them.
Unfortunately, her satellite phone kept ringing, so he’d smashed it to pieces. He couldn’t stand seeing that other man’s picture pop up one more time. She was his now, and that was all that would matter. That damn Quadruped would never find her, he would make sure of that. He’d already completely covered his tracks.
Carolina’s eyes opened. The severe headache that came with consciousness made her cringe, but she struggled through the pain as everything started to become clear. Her vision stayed blurred for a second, but then she realized who was sitting in front of her.
“Ambassador Clen.” She tried to move, but felt the resistance of the rope. “What are you doing?”
“You’re mine now, all mine, and you can never leave.”
“This is kidnapping! Let me go!” she yelled, struggling to get loose.
“No. I love you. You’re what I want, and I always get what I want.” He laughed maniacally. He didn’t care what she said, he was going to do whatever he wanted with her. He could hear his father’s voice telling him, “Teach her whose boss, and don’t let her talk to you like that." Ambassador Clen narrowed his eyes at her. He was looking forward to showing Carolina Andiva who her master was.
*****
“You can’t just take people as you please, let me go now!” she yelled, furious and scared, unsure of what was going to happen to her.
“It’s simple, really: you will marry me and have my children.”
The thought almost made her puke. She didn’t want his children, and she didn’t want to marry him. “You touch me, and it’s rape! You already have kidnapping charges to deal with, and if Drako gets to you first, you won’t live long enough for a trial.”
“I’m an ambassador. Even if I’m caught, they cannot kill me outright without repercussions. I can pretty much do whatever I want.”
Carolina was beyond frightened. She had no idea what Ambassador Clen was capable of, and she didn’t want to find out. She hoped that someone realized she was gone, but without Drako there and with all the stuff Mary was going through, she doubted that anybody would notice right away. Still, she held out hope that someone had realized she was missing and would figure out what had happened to her.
That was her last thought before Clen began hitting her.
*****
Drako woke up and called Carolina’s satellite phone again. It went straight to her voicemail, this time without ringing. He got worried at that; Carolina always kept her phone on, and she’d never let it run out of battery. Something was wrong, Drako could feel it. Then he thought that maybe he was overreacting. She could have just shut it off because she wanted to sleep without being woken up, or maybe because she just didn’t want to speak with him. Still, he needed to know how she was, so he dialed Turk’s number.
“Hello?” his friend answered.
“Hey, have you seen Carolina? She’s not picking up her phone or calling me back.”
“I had to break up a fight with Thesos last night; I saw her before that. She was actually the one who came and got me, but I haven’t seen her since,” Turk told him.
“Was she alright? She didn’t get hurt, did she?” Drako asked, knowing he sounded like a stalker.
“She was fine, not a scratch on her,” Turk answered.
“Did you see her after and talk to her?”
“No, I didn’t even see her in her suite afterward. I figured she’d gone to check on Melanie.”
“Well, if you see her, can you have her call me?”
“Sure.”
Turk hung up before Drako could ask him anything else. He dialed Carolina’s number one more time, but it just went straight to voicemail again. What if she’d moved on? What would he do then?
Drako rushed through the rest of his investigation as qu
ickly as he could, but Shawn and Paul weren’t giving him anything that he needed. They seemed to have their stories planned out in advance in case something like that happened. He kept glancing at his phone, hoping he’d missed a call from Carolina so he would have an excuse to call her again. He texted her a quick, ‘Call me,’ and then continued questioning the two men. He still got nothing from them, so he went on to the other two dealers who worked the casino level, then the waitresses that went down there from time to time. None of them knew anything.
He continued his investigation with the casino manager. He still hadn’t gotten anywhere through questioning, so he put small cameras underneath the table and at the back of the card shoe, plus a few larger ones concealed overhead. Dammit, he was going to crack the investigation and get it over with no matter what. He needed to be with Carolina, not investigating some crooked gamblers. Why did the Terrans and the aliens have to hate each other so much? It was such a pain in the ass for him, and it was ridiculous. He just wanted it all to stop so he could do what made him the happiest — being with Carolina.
Chapter Seventeen
“What the hell did you just say?" Drako demanded.
“Ambassador Clen took her off the ship. We had to look through the security tapes to find the feed," Turk told him again, sounding frustrated.
“Where did he go?" Drako was making his way to the control room.
“We’re trying to track the pod he took now.”
“Let me know the coordinates." He hung up his phone and stormed into the command center.
“GPO Drako?" Rena looked up at him in surprise.
“I need your help.”
*****
Carolina felt groggy. “Wha...?" Slowly awareness came back to her, as did the pain. Clen had beaten her until she passed out. He’d probably broken her jaw, because she could barely move her mouth. Carolina looked around and found herself naked, her arms strapped down to a bed. She tried to look for signs that he’d abused her while she was unconscious, but she didn’t see anything.