by Sonia Nova
“Xeee?” he asked a little nervously, and Xeegan knew exactly what he meant. His friend was asking what they should do next.
But fuck if he knew… The safest thing to do would be to turn and run as fast as possible from the park. They should forget all about the female and hope they never ran into her again.
He didn’t trust the Alliance, not one bit. If she hadn’t turned him and Zorq in yet, it was only a matter of time. And who knew what other havoc she could wreak in their lives.
Though… Xeegan rapidly considered his other options.
There was an Earth saying he had always liked. “Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.” And not only was this female part of an organization he considered an enemy; she could also provide him with valuable information.
She clearly knew about these off-planet pirates. She mentioned doing surveillance, so she had some kind of information about what they were doing. The fact that she was continuing her investigation meant it must be good.
Any information she had could be valuable to him. Based on what he found out from her, he could decide if he and Zorq would pursue working with them.
No, he reminded himself. First, he had to find out about Zeon. These pirates had taken the Ezak-X, and there was foul play involved if that blood meant anything. They had to find out what had happened to him.
Xeegan had agreed to try to help him, even if it was begrudgingly. Just because he didn’t like the male didn’t mean he wouldn’t take the chance to try to find out if he was okay.
“Let’s stay and see if we can find out anything,” Xeegan muttered to Zorq. His friend nodded.
The female started to make her way back over toward the bench. Xeegan watched her hips move as she walked, marveling at how she had such pronounced curves on such a small frame. He couldn’t think of a time he had ever seen a female with a body like hers.
Her mouth was set in a straight line, her expression betraying nothing of her earlier conversation with the Alliance operative. If Xeegan hadn’t been able to hear the whole thing, he would have had no idea she was a spy. She was good.
There was one more reason for staying that he had to admit to himself.
This female was… intriguing. Not just because she was mysterious and a great liar, not just because she was involved in some kind of investigation of the off-planet pirates and knew more about them than he did, but… he had to know why her scent was so sweet to him. Why hadn’t he been able to get her out of his head since she had collided into him? It was as if they were magnetically attached and he had no choice but to find a reason to stay by her side.
“You’re still here?” she asked in a deadpan tone as she approached the bench.
“So you are an Alliance spy,” he answered, not waiting a second to confront her.
The female didn’t say anything for a long moment. He had caught her off guard. Inwardly, he grinned, gloating at finally getting through to her.
She pulled off her glasses and zipped them into a case before putting them back into her bag. Every movement was slow, as if she was deliberately putting off responding to his accusation.
“Why do you say that?” she asked finally. She looked straight into his eyes, not glancing away even for a moment. No hesitation.
Xeegan met her gaze just as confidently.
“Agent Medina,” he said. “Didn’t you study Ezak-X in your Alliance training? If I focus, I can hear anything within a hundred-foot radius of here. Zorq, too.”
The female’s cheeks flushed and her expression turned angry – whether she was angry at Xeegan for blowing her cover or angry at herself for letting it happen, Xeegan wasn’t sure. But she quickly collected herself and took on a more neutral expression.
“Alright then…” she said at last. “Considering you haven’t run off yet, I’m guessing there is something you want?”
Xeegan smiled at her. “There is. I have a request.”
“Do you now?” she said, her tone flat and sarcastic. Apparently, being found out hadn’t shaken her much, if at all. She didn’t seem threatened by his discovery in the least.
“I want in,” Xeegan said.
“In on what?” She started to gather her things and tossed her backpack over one shoulder, as if she was prepared to leave any moment.
“Your mission. Whatever you have going on.”
“And why would I want your help?” She raised an eyebrow. It was like she was just daring him to convince her. Well, he would take the bait.
“I have information you might be interested in.” He grinned at the female, knowing his information was good. Now, he just had to get her to trust him.
“An Ezak-X went missing today from The Crown,” he said, offering her that piece of information. “The Crown is the bar where you ran into me. I was keeping an eye on him when you showed up. When we got back, he had disappeared. Zorq and I tracked him, but all we found were signs of a scuffle and blood.”
The female narrowed her eyes. “Okay, but what does this have to do with me?”
“The off-planet pirates. The Mehelians. You’re spying on them, right? Or whatever the Alliance is having you do. Well… They’re the ones who took the Ezak-X. Zeon.”
Her eyes flashed at the mention of the pirates. He could almost see the gears turn in her head as she mulled over the information he had just given her.
Yes.
He had her interest now, for sure.
CHAPTER 8
KIRA
There was no way she was telling this asshole anything.
It was hard keeping the annoyance off of her face. Kira didn’t want the Ezak-X to know that he had gotten to her. It would only encourage him to bother her more.
How had she let this happen? Of course, the guy could hear her from the other side of the park. An Ezak-X could hear her from two blocks away. But when the call had come in from Agent Grimmor, she had been so anxious to take it and not be found out that the fact had just slipped her mind.
She had never worked much with the Ezak-X anyway, and definitely never against one. She hadn’t been thinking.
This was such a fuck-up…
There had to be some way to fix this. There was absolutely no way she was letting a couple of pirates “in” on her investigation like Xeegan had demanded. What would be the best way to lose him? Maybe she could pretend to have a lead that she needed him to go check out and then just disappear when he left. Or she could turn the two into the Alliance and get them arrested – except that she didn’t have any proof of any of their illegal activities.
Maybe she could fake her own death…
Kira sighed. There really wasn’t an easy way out of this mess, and it was all her fault.
“So? What do you say?” Xeegan glared down at her, clearly impatient.
“I–” Kira was about to tell him off, hoping to get him to leave with just a volley of hurtful and irritating words, when a realization came to her.
As annoying as Xeegan was, he was basically offering her something on a silver platter that she actually did need.
She could use him.
It would be helpful to have an inside man. The pirates on Riala had not been entirely welcoming to her or willing to chat about… anything. Getting leads had been like pulling teeth so far, even though she had been building up her connections for weeks.
Reputation was absolutely everything among the pirates on this planet, and she had come in without an introduction from other pirates and with a cover story that made her sound desperate. It had worked in a couple of situations, but not with any pirates that could give her valuable intelligence.
But if she had Xeegan…
He seemed eager to be a part of the investigation and to find his friend – the other Ezak-X – who had gone missing. Kira had a feeling that he would pretty much do anything she asked him to, in the name of the investigation. She could get him to talk to pirates he knew and ask about the Mehelians and the missing human women.
Working wi
th him could actually help bring those missing women home sooner.
“Okay,” she said. “You might be able to help me out with a few things.”
Xeegan and Zorq shared a look. Xeegan looked triumphant, but the Ezak-T’s expression was a little more unsure.
“Alright then,” Xeegan said. “Tell us more about the investigation. Why are you watching the off-planet pirates?”
Kira fought the urge to roll her eyes. “I said you could help me out with a few things, not that I was about to read you my entire case report. Let’s make sure we’re clear: I don’t trust you. You’re on a need to know basis.”
The Ezak-X smiled at her, baring his pointed teeth. Not the reaction she had been expecting.
“I don’t trust you either, spy,” he said. “You haven’t even told me your name.”
“Kira,” she said. “I’m Kira. See? Need to know basis. I don’t want you calling me Agent Medina when we’re out in public.”
Xeegan narrowed his eyes at her. “Kira,” he repeated. Something about hearing him say her name in that deep voice made her stomach do a flip.
“That’s me.” She glanced behind her toward where the Mehelians had been standing on the corner and groaned. Even without her night vision glasses on, she could see that the stretch of sidewalk was empty. “Shit.”
“The Mehelians? They left a few minutes ago,” Xeegan said, probably having followed her gaze.
“And you didn’t tell me?” There was no point in hiding her annoyance now. “This is not getting off to a good start. Going forward, if you know I’m conducting surveillance on a group of people, let me know if they start to leave!”
Xeegan just shrugged infuriatingly. “You weren’t watching. I thought you didn’t care anymore.”
Kira took a deep breath. She had made the decision to use these pirates, and she couldn’t go back now. There had to be a way for them to work together.
“The Ezak-X you mentioned going missing,” she started, changing the subject. “Is there anything else you can tell me about the whole situation? How do you know the off-planet pirates are involved?”
Xeegan had been right. The story had caught her interest. Kira wasn’t about to divulge classified information about how the human women were going missing, but it wouldn’t hurt to check out this disappearance. Logic told her the cases couldn’t possibly be related, but it was the biggest lead she had right now.
So far, her working hypothesis was that the human women were being abducted and sold as slaves. A random Ezak-X pirate being abducted by the same group just didn’t make sense. But, in the case that it was related…
“He was asking around about a job for me,” Xeegan answered her. His guarded tone told Kira that he was holding some details back. Maybe some big, important details. “I kept an eye on him at The Crown. Like I said, he disappeared right as you so carelessly ran into me. Before he disappeared, he was talking to one of the off-planet pirates. A Ghelian.”
“And the blood you mentioned finding?”
“In the alley behind The Crown,” he said. “But the trail’s gone cold already. It was a dead end.”
“For you,” Kira said. “I haven’t had a chance to investigate yet.”
Xeegan laughed. “You think you can find something we didn’t? With your weak human senses?”
Kira made fists so tight her fingernails dug into her palms. If only she was authorized to cause bodily harm in situations like this. Instead of slapping the arrogant Ezak-X across his face like she wanted to, she just looked up at him.
“I’ve had almost a decade of training in investigation,” she said. “Let’s see what I can find.”
“Sounds like I’m not going to be able to change your mind,” Xeegan said. “Zorq, are you up for another trip to the alley?”
The Ezak-T nodded.
Kira grabbed her backpack and took out her shades again. Xeegan gave her an odd look, but she hardly cared what the pirate thought of her. Once she had her night vision glasses on again, she started walking toward The Crown. It was hard to believe that earlier, she had been following the off-planet pirates down this same path with no idea of what the day had in store for her.
Xeegan and Zorq followed her closely. With their long legs matching their significant height, the two passed her on the sidewalk within seconds.
“It would be faster for me to just throw you over my shoulder and run,” Xeegan said, looking over his shoulder at her. His teeth were bared in an arrogant smile and there was humor in his black eyes.
Kira gave him a flat stare. “Keep your hands off me,” she said. She knew he was just messing with her, but she couldn’t help but react.
Among her fellow Alliance agents, Kira was known for being levelheaded and professional. This Ezak-X maddeningly brought out all the less than professional traits she kept under wraps during work. If news about how she was handling this investigation got back to the Alliance…
She was already starting to regret this decision, for so many reasons.
If this missing Ezak-X turned out to just be passed out drunk at home or had left the planet for some uninteresting reason, then Kira could be in trouble. She knew Agent Grimmor wouldn’t care if she bent the rules a little to solve the case, but he would care if she ignored convention and nothing at all came of it.
Something good had better come from this lead.
The Crown soon came into view, with its front doors propped open and the light from within illuminating the old painted sign. Laughter and the sound of some kind of acoustic stringed instrument came from within.
“Way too busy for us to come in through the front,” Kira muttered. “Let’s go around the back.”
They circled around the block, ducking into the alley behind the bar’s courtyard. Xeegan and Zorq led her to the spot where they had found evidence of a scuffle.
“Have at it,” Xeegan said, crossing his arms and leaning against the brick of a building at the edge of the alley. Zorq circled the area they pointed out to her, sniffing the air and looking uneasy. “Let her look,” Xeegan said. “She doesn’t want our help.”
Zorq joined him at the wall.
Kira did her best to ignore the both of them. If she found something useful here, it could mean turning her investigation in a whole new direction. She would have a real lead to go on, instead of just second and third-hand comments.
Adjusting the settings on her glasses to accommodate for close up vision, she squatted down and looked at the gravel. A few disruptions indicating rapid footsteps. A large disturbed patch that could indicate someone had fallen to the ground.
And a small dark patch that was clearly blood.
“Find anything we missed?” Xeegan called out mockingly. “A fingerprint? A map with directions to where they’re keeping him?”
Ignore him.
There had to be something helpful here. Something in the pattern of the blood, or maybe tossed between the trashcans on the other side of the alley. Kira took a flashlight out of her backpack, switched it on, and inspected the darkest shadows of the alley.
“He must be hiding in the trash. How did we not think of that?” Xeegan said sarcastically.
Kira didn’t answer, but after nearly thirty minutes of investigation while Xeegan made snide comments and gave unhelpful advice, she was done. There was no use in looking for anything else. Honestly, her best resource was going to be the nose on the Ezak-T and Xeegan’s pirate connections.
Not that she would ever admit that to them.
“I’m done,” Kira said, putting away her supplies.
“Told you so,” Xeegan said. “Next time, believe me when I say–”
“We made it clear there was no trust involved in this partnership,” Kira cut in tersely. She was being unnecessarily harsh, but it was nearly sunrise and she was exhausted. It was impossible to stop her emotions from coming out with her words – especially with an annoying Ezak-X male like Xeegan. “Is there anything else you can tell me about what happened
before we call it a night?”
“Not that I didn’t already tell you,” Xeegan said, his voice all business now and free of the mocking tone that drove her crazy. “The Ezak-X went missing when he was talking to one of the off-planet pirates about a job.”
“Okay,” Kira said. “What about his name? Anything else you know about him? It could help.”
“Zeon,” Xeegan said. “He… showed up a little while ago. I don’t know his story.”
Kira had the feeling he was keeping something from her, but she let it slide for now. If they were going to be working together, there would be no shortage of chances for her to get information out of him.
“I’m going to go get some sleep,” she said. “How about you ask around a bit and we meet up at the Crown at midday?”
Xeegan nodded. Kira looked at him in surprise. She had expected him to push back on her suggestion, if only because it had come from her.
“You’ll be okay walking back to wherever you’re staying on your own? I heard there are a lot of pirates around here,” Xeegan said, a smile playing on his lips. “Could be dangerous.”
Kira just rolled her eyes. There was that annoying tone in his voice again. Did he really think he was being funny?
“I’ll manage somehow,” she said. “See you tomorrow.”
They parted ways and Kira let out a sigh of relief. She couldn’t wait to get some rest and come back.
She wasn’t going to spend a waking moment on anything but this lead. Not until they found out where that damn Ezak-X had disappeared to, and if it led her to the human women.
CHAPTER 9
XEEGAN
“Another Ezak-X? I saw a guy in here yesterday. Thought it was you for a second, but this guy barely seemed like a pirate. He was all stiff in the way he walked. And he asked too many questions.”
“That’s him,” Xeegan said. He slipped Callum, The Crown’s bartender, a piece of silver jewelry from a stash he had been meaning to pawn. “Did you see where he went when he left the bar?”
The aging human male looked at the small silver ring appreciatively, but pushed it across the table back toward Xeegan. He frowned. “I didn’t see him leave. Keep this. I know you and your… friend… need it more than I do. And I can tell by your face I didn’t help you none.”