Kai's breath stilled as a feeling like panic swelled in his chest. He had no voice, and even if he had, how could anyone hear it over the racket his pulse was making in his ears? Ilsa was still watching him with wide eyes, and Kai moved on instinct, raised a hand to cup her cheek. Ilsa's lips parted, perhaps on a question, but Kai leaned down and in before she could speak.
She retreated before he could kiss her. A single backward step took her out of range, and her hand disappeared from his shoulder. Kai blinked in surprised disappointment and, after an awkward moment, let his arm drop once more to his side.
Ilsa was staring at him now not with worry or fear, but with wide-open shock. "What the fuck are you doing?"
She hadn't retreated any farther than that single step, but Kai had sense enough not to follow. The frantic pounding of his heartbeat took on a different timbre as he realized this wasn't going to go anything like he'd hoped. Ilsa should be in his arms right now, not gaping at him like he'd lost his mind.
"I just thought, now that we're not surrounded by gunfire we might..." He trailed off and an unwilling blush rose to his cheeks.
For several seconds Ilsa regarded him in indecipherable silence.
"I don't understand," she said finally, in a voice gone impossibly quiet. "You're not— If this is about Depsis and that kiss... I figured it was just the heat of the moment."
"It really wasn't." Kai's confession matched Ilsa's sudden quiet. He was watching her closely, and it troubled him that he couldn't tell what she was thinking. Her face was far from blank, but her indecipherable expression still gave nothing away. She watched him back for almost a full minute, wordless, her mouth pressed into a thin line.
Fraught impatience tugged beneath his skin, but Kai held himself perfectly still.
Disappointment squeezed his heart when Ilsa turned and made for her desk. She said only, "We have a job to do."
"Ilsa," Kai protested, taking a single step in pursuit before his feet froze uselessly to the floor.
"I can't talk about this right now." Ilsa still wasn't looking at him as she dropped into her chair. Her gaze focused determinedly on the haphazard arrangement of data screens atop her desk. "I've almost cracked through the final layers of data protection. I need to focus."
It was a curt dismissal, and it stung. Even consoling himself that he'd caught her off guard, that of course she would need time to consider what he was offering, didn't ease the feeling of rejection. She was right—they had a job to do—but Kai's heart and pride both smarted at being so easily brushed aside.
Kai was an attractive man, and he had spent a lifetime honing his charm. Romantic rejection wasn't a plight he'd faced often; this ambiguous dismissal was almost worse. Ilsa had already returned to her screens, and the deliberate blank of her expression—a poker face Kai himself had helped her perfect—gave no indication at all of what she might be feeling beneath the surface.
He had no choice but to walk away, leaving his confession to hover between them until the job was done. Awkwardly, and with heavy reluctance, Kai left Ilsa's room. He flinched at the hiss of the door closing behind him.
When Ilsa told him, later that very evening, that she'd broken through to the information she needed, Kai felt a sliver of relief. Though the fact changed nothing, it was reassuring to learn she hadn't been exaggerating when she said she was close. That night she summoned Kai and Dantes both, excitement and success in the bright timbre of her voice.
Her room was lit garishly when Kai arrived to find Ilsa and Dantes sitting on either side of the cluttered desk. Evening sunlight slanted through the open windows, leaving the air uncomfortably warm. The room was more spacious than the space-bound lodgings they'd been cramming themselves into one after another over the past few days, and Kai realized there was a third chair by the foot of the bed. He grabbed it and dragged it near the desk, then turned it so he could sit backwards and cross his arms over the back.
"You found her?" Dantes sounded hopeful, but also clearly braced to be let down.
"No," Ilsa admitted. "But I figured out where all her money went. After passing through dummy accounts and short term investments and backdoors, nearly all the funds ended up in one place. A small company with its base of operations on Praxica VI."
"And the name of this company?" Dantes pressed with an air of impatience.
"The Roy Vis Medica Group," Ilsa answered, and even Kai's eyes went wide at the name.
"That's no small company," Kai protested, his expression mirroring the shock on Dantes's face. "That's one of the largest pharmaceutical conglomerates in the entire quadrant. Even I've heard of Roy Vis."
"It's grown a bit since that initial investment," Ilsa conceded, glancing back and forth between the two members of her startled audience. "It was just a tiny research lab during the war. Vis Medica. But the sudden influx of capital allowed them to expand and compete on a wider scale once the war ended."
Kai could well imagine. By the time the Alliance had finally driven off the seemingly endless swathe of invaders, most of the existing corporate superpowers had been taken down a notch. While a well-placed few like Dantes had come out ahead of the game, most had suffered drastic losses in their business interests. Attrition, compromised trade routes, communications blackouts and supply shortages had done immeasurable damage to the galactic economy, even in sectors that had managed to avoid outright violence. The changing terrain would have been a perfect opportunity for an emerging player with capital to burn.
Kai turned to Dantes. "Had your company dealt with Vis Medica previously? Maybe there's some preexisting connection."
Dantes shook his head in a firm negative. "I remember them coming almost out of nowhere after the war, but I'd never heard of them until they started marketing to multiple sectors. They weren't exactly in my sphere before that. Praxica VI isn't a close neighbor to any of my holdings."
Kai readily conceded the point. Praxica VI wasn't a close neighbor to any of the places they'd traveled so far, either. Assuming a direct connection, it would still take them nearly two weeks to make the journey from Lanniah Ceti Three to the Praxica system. That was no hop-skip-jump. That was real distance.
"So we're operating under the assumption that Abigail is involved with this company?" Kai asked, glancing at Ilsa over the tops of her clustered screens.
"Not necessarily." The quick look Ilsa threw at Dantes before dropping her eyes seemed strangely furtive, but her hesitation made sense when she admitted, "At this point in the data stream, I've lost all track of Abigail. Until near the end, I could still see her fingerprints on every transaction, but by the time the money flows into the pharmaceutical company, there's no sign of her."
Dantes's brow knitted heavily and his mouth turned down at one corner. "How is that possible?"
Ilsa tapped a quick sequence into the bottom corner of one screen, then turned it so Kai and Dantes could look. Text only, a screen full to overflowing with what looked like personal information.
"The final investments were made by this woman. Tullia Roy." Ilsa pointed to a section of screen that seemed to provide some kind of corporate timeline, including the change of the pharmaceutical company's name from Vis Medica to the Roy Vis Medica Group. "She may have already been involved in the company in some capacity. Early corporate records are incomplete, so I can't be sure. But the mass investment of new capital was essentially a buyout. Roy took over operations and began making changes almost immediately. She turned the company into one of the most powerful economic engines in the entire sector, and she did it in under two years."
"Impressive as this is," Dantes interrupted, unclenching his jaw to speak, "I'm more interested in finding out how this woman got her hands on my daughter's money."
"That's what worries me," Ilsa admitted. "The money seems to have changed hands abruptly. One second I was following Abigail's trail, the next I was looking at completely different accounts. I did some digging, and this Tullia Roy doesn't exactly cut a reassuring history. What little I could
learn about her comes from sources so scattered I can't put together a coherent picture." She pointed to the screen that was still facing Dantes. "That's as complete a bio as I could construct, and there are dozens of holes in the timeline, not to mention a suspicious lack of photo identification. Whatever she was up to before Roy Vis Medica, I'd bet hard credits it was shady business."
Except shady business was only one possible reason for such a fractured history, and when Kai raised his eyes from the screen, he found Ilsa watching him pointedly. Kai didn't need her wordless admonishment to hold his tongue. He kept his thoughts to himself as the screen finished scrolling through information and then stilled.
"And Abigail?" Dantes pressed. "How does this get us any closer to finding my daughter?"
"It doesn't," Kai said, deliberately drawing Dantes's attention. Kai exchanged a quick glance with Ilsa, a split second of perfect understanding, and she nodded at him to continue. Kai forced himself to meet Dantes's glower and explain, "If the digital trail has run cold, there's only one way to find out what happened to Abigail. We need to talk to the only person who might know."
"Tullia Roy." The hard edges of anger didn't soften from Dantes's face, but they shifted inward so that Kai no longer felt trapped at the center of Dantes's displeasure.
Kai nodded. "She's the one who ended up with Abigail's money. It stands to reason that she and Abigail crossed paths while your daughter was in hiding. Obviously there's no guarantee she'll help us willingly, but if anyone can point us in the right direction, it will be her."
Dantes stood, and there was renewed impatience in the stiff line of his posture. "I'll book passage to the Praxica system immediately." It was a blatant breach of protocol. Their contract stated Kai and Ilsa had final say in all travel arrangements, and Dantes had so far abided those terms without complaint.
He didn't wait to see if Kai and Ilsa agreed with his announcement now, and Kai said nothing to interrupt his sudden retreat. A quick glance confirmed for Kai that Ilsa didn't intend to protest either. Neither spoke as Dantes removed himself from the room with all possible speed, rushing to see the business done.
After Dantes was gone, Kai turned to Ilsa and asked, "What do you really think?"
"I don't know what to think. Nothing's adding up the way it should, and when I try to dig deeper, the data just isn't there."
More quietly Kai asked, "Do you think Abigail is still alive?"
"Maybe." Ilsa scowled and began shutting her screens down one by one, methodical ritual in every tap and swipe. "I mean, I goddamn hope so. It's possible Abigail met Roy on the run and handed over her resources willingly in exchange for protection or some other consideration."
"Or maybe Abigail is Tullia Roy," Kai said. Valiant optimism made him add, "Just because there's been no sign of her doesn't prove something awful happened. Hell, for all we know, she could be avoiding her father."
Ilsa's scowl deepened. "You think I haven't considered the possibility?" She paused as the last screen fell dark, and for just a moment, she closed her eyes, her face smoothing into a calmer expression by force of will. When she opened her eyes again, they were still bright with frustration. "The war's been over for three years. Why should Abigail Dantes still be in hiding?"
Kai peered at Ilsa for a long moment, until understanding abruptly hit him. "You have a different theory. But you don't like it."
Ilsa crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair. "Tullia Roy didn't become a player in this drama until well after Helena Kanne disappeared."
Kai blinked in unhappy surprise. "You're saying Helena found Abigail after all."
"I'm saying it's possible." Ilsa breathed a quiet sigh, uncrossing her arms and slouching forward to brace her elbows on the desk. "I've got a bad goddamn feeling about all this. I should be able to find solid information about Tullia Roy. If she's someone trying to protect Abigail Dantes, there should be a connection for me to trace. If she's Abigail, she's done too good a job covering her tracks. And if she's Helena Kanne, then God only knows what we'll find at the end of this trail. I'm trying not to assume the worst when there are so many possible explanations."
"You don't have to assume the worst to prepare for it," Kai countered gently.
Ilsa's fierce expression softened, and she shook her head almost sadly. "I know. I just wish this search weren't starting to feel like a murder investigation. I don't want Abigail to be dead. I want to reunite her with her father." She shrugged helplessly. "I may not like Dantes very much, but I don't want to see him bury his only child."
Kai reached forward and covered her hand on the desk, giving it a sympathetic squeeze. The smile he offered felt sad on his face, and he wished he could join her in hanging onto hope by simple force of will.
"We'll find her," he promised. "One way or another, we'll find her." And if Abigail Dantes was dead, then Kai silently vowed they would see justice done.
Chapter Six
The Keau was more passenger liner than transport frigate, which should have made a pleasant change of pace. It was nice, Ilsa conceded, having the illusion of scenery behind panel screens masquerading as windows. There was nothing convincing about the illusion itself—the images presented were always of planet-side vistas, the better to keep passengers calm and at ease—but she found it pleasant just the same. There were even a handful of small botanical gardens scattered about the ship. Hydroponics mostly, but they still offered a generous arrangement of honest greenery and fresh air.
After the first couple days en route, Ilsa had to admit there was truly nothing more she could unearth about Tullia Roy. Ilsa spent most of her wakeful hours in a corner of a garden after that. The benches were uncomfortable, meant to offer the appearance of welcome but actually designed to discourage people from lingering.
But Ilsa had great patience for discomfort, especially when it meant spending the bulk of the journey pretending she wasn't in space at all.
Kai joined her occasionally, or sought her out to beg company to the commissary. He didn't once broach the topic of having kissed her on Depsis, but it was painfully obvious he wanted to continue the conversation Ilsa had shut down. Ilsa knew him too well not to notice the edge of impatience barely concealed beneath his easy exterior. Anxiety caught at her insides when she considered the fact that this reprieve was only temporary. The conversation was far from complete, and Ilsa knew she had left the door wide open for Kai to approach her again once they found Abigail Dantes.
Though she did her best not to remember the wounded surprise on Kai's face, she found it difficult to think of anything else. Ilsa didn't relish the thought of hurting her partner and best friend, but she couldn't imagine any other result.
The Keau put into port at the largest way station of Praxica's neighboring solar system, where every flight they tried to book was already full up. It was only after an irritable layover and some serious negotiating that Kai managed to convince a cargo transport to carry them the rest of the way.
Ilsa was glad it would be a short trip. Behind the cargo hold there were extra crew seats, with all the necessary harnesses and safety features. The accommodations were tight and claustrophobic, worse by far than anything Ilsa had experienced in recent memory. She spent the journey with her eyes closed, ignoring the occasional bursts of pointless conversation between her two companions, and counting down every moment until arrival.
Praxica VI had thirteen separate spaceports, not counting the two located on its largest moons. Dantes paid the Keau's captain extra to put down at Cita Miri, third largest city on the planet's surface and home to Roy Vis Medica's primary headquarters. Ilsa hadn't been able to pin down an address for the woman herself, so if they were going to find Tullia Roy, then this was where they had to start.
Once disembarked and settled in fresh rooms, Ilsa used several backdoor traces to access Roy Vis Medica's central terminal. She covered her tracks along the way, wanting to be sure no one could trace her efforts back to a physical location. The hostelry she and
Kai had chosen, to Dantes's reluctant agreement, was near the heart of the city. The location was better for Ilsa's digital access needs, but it wasn't perfect. She didn't relish the thought of having to book a hasty retreat so far from the nearest port.
At least here, practically on Roy Vis's doorstep, Ilsa could dig deeper. Within twenty minutes, she discovered that Tullia Roy was in Cita Miri, and that she was scheduled to remain in the city for at least three days. Another ten minutes and Ilsa managed to place a meeting on the corporate calendar for the very next day, under the guise of a sales pitch. False credentials for Ilsa and Kai would keep security at bay, and with any luck, only Tullia Roy would be in attendance at the meeting.
It could still be dangerous. Whether Roy was Helena Kanne or not, if she had killed Abigail Dantes, she wasn't likely to confess and turn herself in quietly. Ilsa had her gun, assuming her falsified credentials kept security from searching her too closely. She also had the element of surprise on her side. But there was no guaranty all these advantages would be enough, and Ilsa was anxious about the hazardous unknown.
The three met in Kai's room this time, all bracing for the next—perhaps final—step in their search. Ilsa threw Kai a querying look, and Kai met her with an expression both grim and wordless. Confirmation and agreement. With one will between them, they turned and informed Dantes that he would not be accompanying them to the offices of the Roy Vis Medica Group.
"The hell I'm not!" Raw anger raised Dantes's voice almost to a shout. "You work for me. I'm not staying behind while you go off and blow the one chance I've got at finding Abigail."
Ilsa rankled at the insult, but beside her, she could tell Kai had taken the words even harder. Already standing, he straightened to his full height and clenched his hands at his sides. There was an unmistakable threat of violence in the tense line of his shoulders. Ilsa was reasonably sure he wouldn't hit a client, even one who had just disparaged their abilities so carelessly, but she reached for him anyway. He steadied beneath the hand she set on his arm, subsiding and letting Ilsa take the lead.
Open Skies Page 8