She grabbed his arm. “Don’t be a jackass, Nick. This is more important than your sex life.”
He glared at her. “I’m not in a relationship with Reese and even if I was, I wouldn’t let it blind me to the situation. I’m not saying this because I’m interested in him: I’m saying it because I trust him. He saved my life on Ocean.”
“You’re way too trusting, little brother.”
“I’m older than you are,” he reminded her.
“Not in the ways that matter. Just don’t put our lives at risk over this.” With that she turned and left him alone and, without his sister there to argue with, Nick found himself wondering whether or not he actually should trust Reese, who he already knew was a liar. He hated himself for doubting Reese like this but he was confused by all the secrets and lies.
He returned to the room he shared with Reese, hoping to talk to him, only to find the other man already asleep or giving a good imitation of it.
Nick sighed and walked into the bathroom.
The next day would arrive far too soon and didn’t look likely to be any less complicated than the recent ones had been.
Chapter Twenty-Two
NICK HAD already got dressed and left the room when Reese woke up the next day. He rubbed his eyes and sat up, wincing as movement made his bruised cheek throb with pain. As the cloud of sleep left him, he remembered everything that had happened yesterday, including the threat that Tanya might fire him at any time. Reese liked an adventurous life but this was getting ridiculous.
Offering Iain money hadn’t done any good and, anyway, it was too late to stop the rumours now. His heart lurched at the thought of Nick and the rest of the crew knowing the worst things about him. He had wanted Nick in particular to see him as someone brave and maybe even a bit heroic, instead of as the person no one had ever cared about, even his own parents.
Staying here wouldn’t save him so he pushed himself out of the bed, determined to find Larsha even if it was the last thing he did as part of the detective team. He shaved, dressed and headed to the canteen. Once again his arrival caused a moment of silence followed by a quieter level of conversation. Iain really hadn’t wasted any time.
He grabbed some fruit and a hot drink of some nameless herb. Poppy and Nick were sitting together and Reese steeled himself to join them, smiling and trying to act as if he didn’t have a care in the world. Nick had his first aid kit on the seat beside him and he took a good look at Reese and then silently filled a needle and gave him another shot of painkillers.
“Thanks.” Reese hadn’t realised how much he needed it until the constant dull pain in his face vanished. Nick must have been concerned about him to have the kit out and Reese felt a swell of gratitude and fondness for him that more than made up for what everyone else thought. “What’s the plan of action for today?”
“Your outing last night seems to have got us the most leads,” Poppy said, her words not tallying with the coldness in her voice and eyes. “We should pursue that for now.”
“We need to find out the real name of this Lors person,” Nick added as he chewed on some wrinkled fruit that looked as if it should have been thrown away some time ago. “I have a feeling that he could be important.”
“All right,” Poppy said. “Reese can try to find out his real identity while you and I interview the gamblers who took an interest in Larsha.” It was obvious that Poppy was trying to keep her brother away from Reese and he saw that Nick frowned at her over this.
“I’ll go with Reese,” Nick said to her in a firm manner and, while Reese was warmed by the support, she rolled her eyes.
“Fine.” Her expression said that it wasn’t the least bit fine. “Keep in touch.”
She got up and left them alone together. Reese sipped his drink and tried not to notice the pointed looks other people kept throwing at him and their whispered conversations. Acting on impulse, Reese leaned towards Nick. “You’re going to hear some disturbing things about me and I can’t even tell you that they won’t be true, but I’ve grown up a lot since then. You can trust me.” He stopped, not sure what else he could say, or why he’d thought such a vague reassurance would do any good. He’d just needed to try to keep Nick’s support, the idea of losing it making his heart lurch.
There was a pause, Reese hating the fact he couldn’t confide properly to him, but then Nick smiled. It wasn’t just a quirk of his lips but a warm smile that took away Reese’s worries and unhappiness, replacing them with a sense of contentment.
“Okay.” That was all Nick said but, coupled with the way he patted Reese’s arm and the affection in his eyes, it was more than enough.
Reese had no idea why Nick still believed in him but he would do everything possible to be worthy of his trust. With Iain determined to wreck his life, it was the worst time to fall for someone, but Reese needed Nick in a way he’d never felt before.
Their conversation turned back to the subject of Larsha, prompting them to contact Stickler to come and look at photos of all the station guests to try to work out who Lors was. She refused outright until Reese offered her money and then it was just a matter of haggling with her over an amount.
They met her at the docking bay door and she studied the vessels and attack ships there with all the interest of a potential buyer before they got her to focus on the task she’d agreed to, eager to make progress on finding Larsha
After ten or so minutes of sitting checking holo-images, Stickler stared down at a picture on Nick’s computer and said, “That’s him.”
Reese took the computer from her but he didn’t need to look to see who the man’s real name was. “This is Jean Korloff, the man who told us about the gambling.”
Nick leaned over his shoulder to see the three-dimensional image. “We have to find him straight away.”
“Money,” Stickler reminded them and Reese got out his wallet, handing over the promised fee.
She took it with a smile that revealed a mass of sharp, pointed teeth. She got up and headed towards the door, saying over her shoulder, “Lors has a knife, by the way.”
“Thanks,” Nick said and they hurried past her, out of the docking bay and into the station. They jogged through the corridors to the room where they had met Korloff. Nick got there a second before him and pounded on the door. There was no answer. He kept going while Reese contacted the station’s security and – after wasting time checking with Paul Ninety, the station’s owner – security sent a couple of people to override the door.
Both men waited impatiently while an officer swiped the door ID with a card. The door swished to one side and they got a good look inside.
Korloff wasn’t simply missing but had emptied the place of all his possessions.
Reese swore. They had been close to finding Larsha, he was certain. Beside him, Nick’s phone rang and he put it on speaker as the security officers left. Poppy said, “Keith has managed to trace which room the recording of Larsha and the kidnapper came from before he moved her.”
“Jean Korloff’s room?” Reese suggested.
“No. It’s a restricted part of the station.”
“Where?”
Chapter Twenty-Three
POPPY AND Keith joined Nick and Reese at the room where Larsha had first been held after she was kidnapped. It was empty but they had already known that. What was important was the evidence it might leave behind about whether the kidnapper was the man they suspected.
The room was a storage area for emergency supplies. Nick and Poppy scanned every bit of it and checked the results. “I have a match for Larsha’s DNA,” his sister said.
“Me too.” Nick checked for a match to the other sample and, when he saw the result, he looked over at Reese.
“Jean Korloff?”
“Yeah,” he confirmed.
“Who are you talking about?” Poppy demanded and they filled her in on what they knew about the man, which was little more than that he had done a good job of getting them to chase their own tails.
“How did he know about this room?” Reese asked and the others looked over at where he stood staring at an upturned chair. One that a kidnap victim might have been tied to. “The guests aren’t supposed to have access to any of this section.”
“They’re not supposed to go to the lower deck to gamble illegally either,” Nick reminded him.
“True but look at how carefully this room was chosen.” Nick did as instructed but couldn’t see what Reese meant until he added, “It isn’t just a storage room, which might have had staff coming in and accidentally finding Larsha. It has items that would only be needed in an emergency situation, so no one would have any reason to come in, and it needed a special key to get in here.”
“Perhaps the kidnapper has an accomplice,” Nick said.
“A member of the station’s personnel,” Reese agreed, his eyes sparkling as they pieced the information together.
“Korloff has a criminal record,” Poppy said, looking down at her computer. “He’s committed a number of crimes, minor ones so far but we have more than enough to arrest him as soon as we find him.”
“I can use the voice sample on the crime database to find other recordings of his voice on station cameras,” Keith said and Poppy nodded.
“Hurry,” she told him before he left to do it.
“We’d better speak to Paul Ninety about what we’ve discovered,” Reese said. “He might be able to help us find the accomplice.”
“Agreed.” Poppy started towards the door and the men followed her, heading through the winding maze of corridors with their clashing colour schemes. They took a wrong turn and found themselves in a park area with electronic swings and rides.
Six people sat having a picnic except, when he got a good look at them, Nick saw that they weren’t lifeforms: there were four human-sized teddy bears – each a slightly different shade of brown and one wearing a bonnet while another wore a bowler hat – and two giant dolls – the kind of dolls that have ringlets and look like little girls from a bygone age – and they were eating metal disks and drinking what looked like engine oil. The toys turned their heads to stare at the intruders and Nick, Poppy and Reese looked back, no one saying anything.
“We wanted the command centre,” Nick finally ventured.
“Head back the way you came,” one of the teddy bears told him, “and, at the intersection, take the blue corridor.”
“Thanks.” He shrugged at Reese, who glanced once more at the scene in front of them as if hoping it was suddenly make sense, before shrugging back.
They turned away.
“Don’t tell!” one of the dolls called after them.
“Okay,” he said and they walked away, taking the route the teddy bear had told them to. He had the sensation of being watched until they turned a corner.
“This space station is weird,” Poppy whispered.
“Yeah,” he agreed with feeling.
“Agreed,” Reese said with a confused grimace.
They reached the command centre without any more unexpected detours and it was a relief to see people in uniforms, doing normal things. Paul Ninety heard about their discovery of where Larsha had been held in silence, thought for a moment and called for his personnel manager. He gestured to the picture of Korloff. “Do you recognise him, Onda?”
“Yes.” Onda had a small round body on long thin legs and no visible head or perhaps the body was also her head. “He worked here on the entertainment staff and left a couple of years ago. I’ve seen him staying here as a guest before but there didn’t seem to be any harm in it, so I didn’t think it was a problem.”
Reese snorted and Nick grimaced. An accomplice would have made their lives much easier: someone they could find and convince to help them. If Korloff knew every part of this station he would have no problem finding safe places to hide Larsha.
“Didn’t you know he had a criminal record when you hired him?” Reese asked her.
“An old one, I believe. We like to give people second chances.”
Reese’s tone was wry as he said, “I’m sure Korloff is grateful.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
“I CAN make another announcement to all the station and tell them Korloff’s name and alias. Someone must have seen him,” Poppy said, gesturing to the communications section of the command centre, where a tannoy system and hy-phone sat on top of related equipment, beyond which was a long window showing the blackness of space punctuated by stars and a nearby planet.
“No way,” Nick disagreed, Paul Ninety standing behind him in his navy uniform. “Larsha’s safety is far more important than arresting Korloff and, if he knows we’ve found out his identity, he might panic and kill her.”
“Without other people’s help it could take us another week to find him and he could get her off the station in that time or still hear about what we’ve found and murder her.”
“I agree with Nick,” Reese said.
Poppy glared at him. “No surprise there.”
He ignored this and added, “Let’s at least give it another couple of days and see what progress we can make in finding him ourselves. Don’t forget that we have his DNA and voice sample now so we can begin to track down where he’s been and where he might currently be.”
Poppy looked from one to the other of them with pursed lips. “Two days and, if we haven’t found him, I’ll make the announcement.”
“Agreed,” Nick said at once and Reese echoed this.
“I can ask my people to discreetly look out for Korloff,” Paul Ninety suggested. “That should save time.”
“No,” Nick refused again. “If he worked here, he must have had friends, who might tip him off. Besides, just because it’s possible for him to do everything himself, he could still have an accomplice amongst the station personnel.”
“I find that difficult to believe.” Ninety frowned as if troubled by the possibility. Despite the vibrant image his multi-coloured hairstyle gave, he always seemed to be worried about something. “Despite what you might be thinking because of Korloff, we do choose our people carefully and treat them well. This kidnapping jeopardises the trustworthiness of the station as a place people want to visit. No one would risk sales plummeting and me having to fire people by helping Korloff and I’m as determined as you are to see Larsha safely found.”
“I believe you,” Nick said, “but, with someone’s life at stake, we can’t take risks.”
Ninety looked from Reese to Poppy then, clearly seeing that they agreed with Nick, he nodded. “All right.” He glanced down at his personnel manager. “I’ll make sure no one who’s seen you here reveals what you’ve discovered.”
Nick gave him a quick smile. “Thank you.”
Poppy got a call on her hy-phone just as they were leaving and said that Keith wanted to see them back on the ship, so they hurried back there, careful not to take any more wrong turns. Reese had no idea what strange people or events they might find in the station at this point.
Keith was at his usual place in the heart of the vessel, seated in front of his computer. He barely waited for them to get inside the control room before he said, “I’ve used the voice sample to find every camera recording of Korloff’s within the last week.”
“Is there anything from the last two and a half days?” Reese pulled a chair forward to sit beside Keith. “Something that might tell us where Larsha is now.”
Keith checked the date stamps on the recordings. “This is the latest one, from about two hours ago.”
Nick sat down, leaning forward eagerly to listen, while Poppy perched on the edge of one of the consoles. Reese had been expecting another sound recording but an image of Larsha and Korloff appeared over their heads as tiny 3D people so, although it didn’t look different to other station bedrooms, he took a photograph of it to see if the room shown could be tracked down. Larsha was tied up but, thankfully, she seemed to be unharmed and Korloff was pacing up and down the room.
“I tell you that my father will
not pay anything for me return,” Larsha said and, having begun to get used to the Hom speech pattern, Reese recognised that she was talking of something that had already happened, not something about to happen.
Korloff confirmed this, stopping at the chair to glower at his prisoner. “Yes, you were right. Your father sees you as completely useless and doesn’t care whether you live or die. Is that what you want to hear?”
Reese winced in sympathy, knowing the comment had to hurt, although there was no visible change in Larsha’s expression, her Hom physiology as unreadable as her father’s. She said, “He is not care what happens to me but I want to survive. If he is not willingly pay, I help you steal far more money from him than you ask for in the ransom demand. We take enough for us both to go away and have better life.”
Korloff studied her for a long moment. “I will think about it.”
The recording vanished and they all stared at each other. Reese realised his image of Larsha’s personality had been wrong, created with too little information, but he found he didn’t blame her for doing anything she could to survive the abduction.
“We can’t show this to Uxor,” he said, fearing how their employer might react to Larsha’s words.
“We have to,” Poppy told him. “If he’s robbed and finds out we knew what was intended and didn’t warn him, he could ruin our reputation as detectives.”
“I don’t think we should show him,” Nick said quietly.
“Then we’ll let the captain decide,” Poppy said and the two men agreed.
Tanya’s reaction, when she had come to the control centre and seen the recording, was concerned but decisive: “Tell him.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
BEFORE THEY went to see Uxor, Nick spoke to Keith. “Could you watch all the recordings and see if they reveal where Larsha is currently being held or, if not, anything that might help us find her?”
“Okay,” Keith agreed without much enthusiasm and said to his computer, “Play earliest recording showing people identified as Jean Korloff and Larsha.”
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