“What do you--”
“Let’s go in the kitchen.” The bald gangster said as he stood and nodded to the back room. “Adam?”
“Yeah, boss.” I put the small revolver in my pocket and grabbed onto Jackal’s arm. I’d been with the Yakuza long enough to know what was about to happen. Jackal would need to be punished so others would know he offended Byron. It would have to be some sort of torture that everyone could see, like removing a finger.
And I was going to have to do the cutting.
I pulled Jackal past the counter of the small restaurant and told myself that he was a crime boss. He was a murderer, a drug dealer, and had probably been dealing with the slave trade in the station. He was an evil man, who would have likely gotten a kick out of torturing me, or women, or children.
I told myself that I needed to do what I could to free Eve.
I still didn’t like it though. It was one thing to beat someone up in a fight or kill them in combat, but my stomach began to twist as I pulled the man in the kitchen, and I had to take a few deep breaths to steady my nerves.
“Ahh good! The grill is still on,” Byron said as he gestured to the long sheet of metal in the kitchen. A large greasy man was cleaning up there, and he bowed his head when he saw Byron.
“Take a few minutes off, Gus,” the bald gangster said, and the cook ran out of the room.
“Isn’t personal, Mate. Okay, well, maybe it is. Adam, let’s give our new friend here a facelift.”
“Got it, boss,” I said as calmly as I could.
I thought of Eve again as I grabbed the screaming man, and I reminded myself once more of the evil he had probably wrought on his district of the station.
Then I pushed the right side of his face onto the smoking hot grill.
“Ahhhhhhhhhhh!” I only held him down for three seconds, but I knew the damage had been done. He’d probably have to go to a hospital and either spend a lot of money to get skin grafts or spend the rest of his life with an ugly scar there.
“Ehhh. I’m a fan of symmetry. I think we should do his other side,” Byron said as he rubbed his chin and inspected the ruins of Jackal’s smoking face.
“No! No! No!” the burning man screamed. I imagined his shouts were loud enough to hear through the walls of the coffee shop, but no one was coming in here.
“You gonna be a good boy?” Byron’s eyes narrowed.
“Yes! Yes, I will! Please!”
“Alright.” The bald man nodded to me, and I let go of Jackal’s neck. He fell to the greasy floor of the kitchen and began to sob.
“I don’t want to see your half-face until tomorrow morning, be here at nine, so we can talk about what you are going to be doing for me. You get it, Mate?”
“Yes!” Jackal cried.
“Now get the fuck out of here.” Byron made a half-assed kick, and Jackal took it before he got up to his feet and rushed out the door of the kitchen.
“Ahhh. That’s a problem fixed.” Byron still had his cup of coffee in his hand, and he set his eyes on me as he took a sip. “Let’s go talk to my girls.”
I followed the man out into the restaurant. The twin blonde women were still the only people present, and they stood as we approached. Both of the women wrapped their arms around their man, showered his face with kisses, and then the three of them turned to look at me.
“I like this one,” Paula whispered into Byron’s ear, and I could only hear it because of my heightened senses. “I like his woman also. She is delicious. Give him money and have them meet us tonight with Kar.”
“You did good, Adam,” Byron said as he reached into his coat pocket. “Here’s a few thousand R-credits. Take your woman out today and buy her something sexy to wear tonight. I’m talking hot, Mate. We are going to be meeting one of my business partners, and I want to introduce you to him.” Byron pulled out four R-credit cards and handed them to the twin that hadn’t whispered in his ear.
“Sounds good,” I said as Paula stepped toward me.
I held my hand out to take the cards from her, but she stepped into my chest, slid her hand over my pecs to open my coat, and then pushed the cards into my pocket there. Her lithe body was pressed against mine, and I looked at Byron with surprise. The man didn’t seem to care that his woman was grinding against me.
“There you go,” Paula said as she withdrew her hands from my pockets. Then she licked her finger suggestively, ran the tip across my lips, danced her fingers down my chest, and rubbed the crotch of my pants. I didn’t know if I should pull away from her, or stand there and let her fondle me, or… I couldn’t think through my surprise. Byron just laughed, and the woman smirked at me before she gave me one last gentle squeeze.
“Thanks, Paula,” I said with a careful smile.
“Oh, I’m Kasta.” She winked and blew me a kiss.
“Shit, sorry.”
“I like him,” the one who I now knew was Paula said to Byron.
“Of course you do.” He chuckled and then shrugged to me. “Dames eh? Maybe you might want to do a swap later tonight? My two for your one?”
“I’m not--”
“Think about it,” Kasta said as she slid her tongue across her full lips.
“Where should I meet you tonight?” I asked to change the subject.
“Place called Benjo. We’ll have dinner there. Eight sharp,” the man said. “Don’t forget to buy your girl something sexy. She’s a looker.” Byron gave me the kind of grin that made me want to punch his face in, but I kept my anger in check.
“Great. See you then,” I said, and we made our way out of the restaurant.
Chapter 9
I returned to my hotel room to find Z stepping out of the shower. She was just wearing a towel around her chest, and the bottom barely covered the tops of her thighs. Her cheeks turned bright red as soon as she saw me enter, and she closed the door halfway with her foot.
“How did it go?” she asked.
“I did what I had to do. I’ve got a small revolver and a few extra thousand R-credits. We’ve got a dinner meeting tonight at eight with Byron, his two women, and Huyan Kar.”
“Damn, good job. We are moving along. I was a little worried when we got turned away from the club last night, but now we have over ten grand and a meeting. If we keep this up, Eve will be freed by tomorrow night,” Z called out from the bathroom. I looked in the direction of her voice and caught a glimpse of backside as she unwound the towel from her body. I quickly turned away and moved to sit on the chair facing the opposite direction.
I had to push this aside and focus. Eve needed me.
“So…” I heard her call out.
“So?” I asked over my shoulder.
There was a pause, and I feared she was going to bring up last night.
“What are we going to do all day?” The way the blonde hacker asked the question made me think she had an idea, but I didn’t want to ask her.
“Byron wants you to wear something sexy, so you could go dress shopping,” I said.
“Ewww. That guy is so gross.”
“I think the twins like you. They told him to invite both of us tonight,” I said.
“They are both beautiful, but I think they are into some kinky shit. One of them let Mr. Ugly get her off at the casino.”
“I get that feeling as well,” I said as I remembered what the one did to me when she gave me the card, but then again, I’d walked with Paula to the coffee shop, and the conversation had been normal enough.
“I’m not really one to wear dresses. I’m more of a jeans and t-shirt person, but I liked what you got me last night…” her voice trailed off, and I almost turned around to look in the direction of the bathroom.
“Yeah. It looked nice on you,” I said.
Z didn’t say anything for a few moments, and I wanted to scream. We’d made significant progress in our mission in twenty-four hours, but I felt as if everything was now a hundred times more complicated.
“Will you go shopping with me
?” she finally asked.
If this were yesterday, a yes or no answer wouldn’t have meant anything. Now I felt as if my decision would have a drastic impact on our relationship.
“Yeah,” I said, even though I knew it was probably the wrong answer. “I’d like that.”
“Great. Maybe we can start with the plac--”
“Hold on,” I interrupted her as my transponder began to pulse. I fished the device out of my pocket and unwound the screen. The redheaded security officer was displayed, and she wore her usual sour expression.
“How did it go?” she asked.
“Byron has taken over the operations of the Bettas gang from a man named Jackal. You know him?”
“Yep. He’s a little asshole sniffer. This is an interesting turn of events. From everything I knew, Byron was going to get murdered at the meeting today,” the woman said as she pulled a cigarette out of a new pack.
“You knew he was going to get hit, and you knew I was going to be at the meeting, but you didn’t tell me?”
“That would take the fun out of it.” She smirked, and then put the cigarette between her lips and lit it with a match.
“I thought you were interested in me finding proof of Izetta Baccala’s involvement with the slave and drug trade?” I tried to keep my voice calm, but the beast in my stomach wanted me to walk to the police station and kill the woman, free Eve, and blast away from this place.
“You are a resourceful guy. I had no doubt you’d get out of that without a hitch.” She shrugged her slender shoulders and blew out a long plume of smoke. “Awwwww. Don’t get all mad, handsome. I’ve got something that will make you feel better.”
“Yeah?” I asked with a snarl I couldn’t control.
“You know what they say about good work?” she puffed a perfect O-ring of smoke and then smirked.
“The reward is more work,” I said. “I don’t know how that is good for me.” I saw Z step out of the bathroom with her jeans and t-shirt on, and the hacker sat on the couch next to me so she could hear better.
“Here’s the deal: I suspect one of my colleagues is buying slaves from Baccalas. If any of my own people find out, it would be disastrous for morale. Personally, I don’t really give a fuck about that sort of stuff, but the troops need it to feel better about themselves. I want you to take your pretty spaceship, fly around to District E, stake out the spot where I think the exchange is going to take place and snap some photographs of the deal. The meeting is in two hours, so you best get moving.”
“I’m not your bitch.” My voice came out in a growl that made Z’s eyes open wide. “You’ve captured one of my friends, threatened her life, and then--”
“Listen, scum,” the woman’s green eyes narrowed and her growl matched mine. “You don’t understand your role now. I had every right to throw you and your two bitches out of the airlock when you killed the bank robbers. Sure, you can whine all you want about it being fair, but it’s our law, and my job is to uphold it. I’ve done you favor after favor, and you seem to be ungrateful. With a snap of my fingers, I could have you hauled in again, throw you out into space, and then take your pretty ship. I don’t want to hear any more bullshit from you. I had actually thought about giving you a reward for completing this little side job, but now I’m going to--”
“What was the reward?” Z leaned into me and rested her hand on my arm. Her touch actually relaxed me a bit, and I was able to keep the tiger in my soul from taking over my mind.
“Oh, I don’t think it is even worth--”
“Please,” Z begged uncharacteristically. “Forgive Adam. He’s a bit stressed out. We do miss our friend. We want to help you, but you have to help us help you.”
The redhead puffed a few more times on her cigarette while she seemed to debate changing her mind. Z’s fingers gripped my arm, and just like when we had gambled together last night. I knew she didn’t want me to do anything.
“Alright. You’ve convinced me to be forgiving. Is this yours?” the redhead said as she lifted a device that looked about the size of a transponder. There was a white cord coiled around the thin cylinder, and I heard Z’s breath catch.
“Yeah, that’s my computer,” my friend said.
“Can your computer interface with a camera that has a BATA wireless interface?”
“Yes. Easily,” Z said quickly.
“Good. I’ll have the camera, and the computer waiting for you at your ship. If you help me, I’ll think about giving you your R-credit card back. I imagine you are about to run out of money staying in the hotel you are in. We have a deal?” She looked at me and took another long pull from her smoke.
“Agreed,” I said. I didn’t want the job, but I knew having Z’s computer would really help. The money would be useful also. We could use it to begin the process of buying food supplies for Persephone and Jatal’s people.
“We need our ship’s transponders.” Z leaned over me so she could see more in the camera.
“Hmmmm.” The woman’s lips twisted as she thought about the request. “Very well. Meet me there in ten minutes.”
“It will take us thirty to walk--” Z started to protest, but then the transponder turned off. The blonde woman let loose with a string of guttural curse words in a language I didn’t understand.
“It will be alright. We just need to do this. At least you’ll get your computer back.” I shrugged and stood.
“Yeah, that will be useful. I feel like we are walking around the city blind. That is, if this redheaded wench even gives us our shit. I have a feeling she’s gonna doublecross us. Ugh!” Z put her head in her hands and let out a sigh.
“We’ll get through this. We’ll save Eve,” I said to reassure her.
“Yeah. I know we will. Just feels like we are walking around with giant ‘kick me’ signs taped to our backs, and everyone is taking their turn. My ass is so fucking bruised. When are we going to catch a break?”
“We did win really big at blackjack last night, and we seem to be in Byron’s good graces,” I said.
“Yeah, but we shouldn’t have even gotten into this mess. Should have just let them rob us.”
“I was going to, but then they hit you,” I said without thinking about what the words meant.
Z and I stared at each other for a few moments. I thought she would have a smart ass remark, but she nodded and then looked down at the carpet.
“Why?” she whispered.
“I’m not going to let anyone hurt my friends.”
“Friends? You’ve saved my life too many times to count.” She raised an eyebrow, and our eyes met again.
“We talked about this before, and I need to change,” I said to change the subject.
“Yeah, I guess it would be hard to sneak around when I’m wearing jeans, and you are wearing a suit. Ugh, we aren’t going to have time to buy a dress. Gonna sound strange, but I was actually looking forward to shopping with you. I imagined you’d have that dour look on your face when I loaded your big arms up with tons of bags.” Z let out a laugh.
“Yeah. Does sound like fun. Almost normal. I haven’t been normal for a long time,” I said as I walked over to the dresser where I’d hung my clothes and began to take off the suit I’d worn for breakfast. I’d washed my street clothes back on Persephone, but they smelled like they needed it again, or they needed to be thrown in a dumpster. Maybe I’d buy new ones if we had time today.
I took off my shirt and hung it up before slipping my shoes off and removing my pants. Z cleared her throat, and I glanced over my shoulder to see her watching me from her seat on the couch.
“You can look away,” I said as I put on my jeans.
“Sorry, I forgot to,” she said with a snicker. I turned my head around again to look at her, and I saw her face was red.
“You blush a lot,” I said.
“Yeah.” She shrugged and then seemed to blush more.
“We are going to have to hurry. Get your shoes on,” I ordered.
“Ay
e, Captain,” she said as she put on her shoes and then met me at the door.
We moved through District B at a jogging pace. I knew how to get back to the police station, but Z told me we would need to take the public tube transit system three stops to reach the harbor. Then it would take us another few minutes to get to Persephone. There was no way we were going to be on time, and I just hoped the redheaded woman didn’t decide to hurt Eve because we were tardy.
I didn’t know what to expect when I got to our dock, but I recalled my captor telling me that Persephone would be guarded. We didn’t see any men around our part of the dock, but the tube entrance was cracked open.
“You’re late,” the redheaded woman said as we stepped into the tube.
She sat on the lip of Persephone's opened bay door. She was wearing tight blue jeans, and a thick leather jacket over a cream colored blouse. Her boots were the same color of brown leather as her jacket, and the sides rose up almost to her knees.
“You didn’t give us enough time to get here,” Z explained.
“I don’t care about your excuses,” the woman glared at Z, and the blonde hacker returned her scowl.
“You have my computer?” my friend asked.
“Here,” the redhead said as she pulled the device out of her jacket. I saw that she also wore twin handguns holstered there, and I guessed her thick jacket was also armored.
“And our transponders?” Z asked as she took her computer from the policewoman.
“Hmmm. I have them, but I’d rather wait until after we return.”
“We?” I asked. “I thought that--”
“I thought about just sending you two, but then I changed my mind. I want to catch this fucker myself and make the arrest as soon as we have the digital proof. Also, I still don’t trust you to come back for your woman.”
“Lady, we’ll come back. We want our friend, and the money you stole from us,” Z said.
“I didn’t steal any money from you, scum,” the woman sighed. “You are criminals and have no possessions I can’t take.” The redhead looked back to Persephone and smiled. “Including your ship. She is really nice. I don’t have time for a tour though. Take me to the bridge and let’s jet over to the other side of the station.”
Zeta Hack: A Paranormal Space Opera Adventure (Star Justice Book 3) Page 10