by Dena Christy
A cold feeling washed over Rone as his mind reeled. Could this have been the cause of his brother's illness and death?
"When did they start shipping the food? How long before the outbreak that killed everyone in the colony?" If the shipments had started less than three months before the outbreak, then his brother's illness was just a horrible coincidence.
"Apparently the first shipment started five months before the colony was decimated. The first few formulations they tried had little effect, but they introduce a different one a week before the outbreak and it would appear that it was the lucky winner."
While the first shipments might not have had an effect on the prisoners, it had certainly damaged his brother. He'd left before the lethal strain of the deadly virus had been introduce, but he'd spent two months ingesting the other formulation and it must have been enough to introduce the disease that had killed him.
Landis continued. "The old government did everything it could to bury all the evidence, and I'm sure Hane did as well. Whoever put this file together had to have been building it for years. The question is what do we do with it?"
Rone looked over at Cheria. He wanted Remy to pay for what he'd done to her and for the damage that he'd caused his brother.
"What do you want to do?" He would let her decide what should be done since the betrayal for her was much more personal.
"He needs to pay for what he's done. They all do. But I don't want his blood on our hands." Cheria turned her attention to the computer screen. "Landis, is there any way that you could discreetly leak the information to the authorities? I'm sure they would be very interested in information leading to the prosecution of those who profited from the experiments of the old regime."
"I have a few connections. I'll get on it right away, and it shouldn't be long before those responsible for all this are dealt with. What are you two going to do now?"
Cheria glanced at Rone before turning her attention back to the screen. "We are leaving the planet. If we don't see you again after this, thank you so much for everything you've done for both of us."
"Yes, thank you Landis." Rone spoke as relief went through him. It was over and Cheria and he could now embark on their life together. While he wished he could see for himself the man responsible for what had been done to Cheria, Angis and his brother brought to justice, there would not be time for that now. Not if he and Cheria were going to start their new life together as soon as possible.
They spoke to Landis for a few more minutes before ending the call. Cheria closed the lid on the computer and turned to him.
"Now that that part is over, we don't have much time to get ready."
Get ready?
"What do you mean get ready? What is happening?"
"We need to be prepared for when Remy shows up. I know him, or at least I thought I did. He doesn't like loose ends and if he acts the way I think he will, we can expect him to come here to find out why he hasn't heard anything from his android."
The muscle worked in Rone's jaw. "And what are we going to do when he gets here?"
"I don't know. It depends on how he acts and what he has to say when he gets here. But we need to be ready."
Chapter 24
Cheria's nerves were stretched taut by the time early afternoon arrived. Had she gotten it wrong? She'd been certain that Remy would not be able to stand not knowing what was going on, that he would have grown anxious when he had heard nothing from his android. She was positive that he would have ordered the android to report to him immediately upon the successful completion of his mission. She'd worked for Remy for years and that was how he operated.
Or perhaps the government agents that Landis was going to contact had moved faster than she thought they would. Perhaps Remy was already in custody and would face his justice.
She wasn't sure how she felt about that, because while she wanted him to face the consequences of what he'd done, she also wanted to know why. Why he'd sent the android after her? She wanted to know if their entire relationship had been a lie.
She heard a movement on the stairs in front of the house and she looked at Rone. He ducked against the wall beside the opening to the sitting room, his blade out and held up. He was ready to protect her, and it offered her some comfort as she hurried down the hall and into the kitchen. Swiping the stunner off the counter, she moved so that she too was out of sight and she waited.
She heard the slight grinding sound of the door unlocking. The door opened and soft footsteps came into the house. She waited until she heard him move closer and judged him to be halfway down the hall. She turned and stood in the doorway of the kitchen, with the stunner in her hand but hidden from his view.
Pain went through her when she saw him, because even with all the evidence against him, even with all she'd learned about him, she'd still hoped that he hadn't been the one responsible. That this had all been one big mistake. But it wasn't.
There he stood, with a surprised look on his face. He quickly recovered and pasted a ready smile on his face.
"Cheria, you don't know how happy I am to have found you. I've been worried about you." He took a step toward her, his arms open.
"Why would you be worried about me?" She took a step back and he stopped short while he was still some distance away from her. A puzzled frown crossed his face, and was so convincing that she almost believed it was genuine. Almost.
"You've been in the news, you've been linked to several murders. I know you wouldn't do something like that, so I was concerned about you. But I don't want you to worry. I know some people, and I'll pull some strings and we'll get this mess cleared up in no time."
"Oh is that why you're here? That's a relief because I thought maybe you were afraid for me because I was being hunted by an android." Silence followed her pronouncement and she watched him carefully. His face paled a little but his masked stayed in place.
"Android? What on earth are you talking about? I think the stress of everything that has happened has made you confused. You need rest. Why don't you come home with me and I'll take care of you." He came toward her again and she raised the stunner, pointing it at him. He stopped immediately, his eyes darting to the weapon and back to her.
Rone moved out into the hall on silent feet and stood in front of the door. Remy hadn't noticed him, but if he decided that he was going to leave before she had her say, then he would have to get past her warrior.
"Do you know what the really sad thing is, if you had told me when you realized that I was the courier that had the information, I would have done everything I could to make sure you got it back. I wouldn't have even asked what it was. All you needed to tell me was that information had been stolen from you and that you needed it back. Did you know I was the courier when you sent your machine to kill my client and me?"
She looked him in the eyes, and she could see the calculation. Could see he was debating even now on whether or not he should deny what she was saying. She'd seen that look many times, but had been too blind to realize what it meant. She'd always thought he was being thoughtful, careful. But now she could see that that look meant he was deciding upon the course that would be best for him.
She saw a look of outrage cross his face and knew that he was going to go the route of denial.
"I have no idea what you're talking about. What machine? What client? Stress has made you delusional and I don't need to stand here and listen to these baseless accusations." He turned on his heel and stiffened when he faced Rone standing at the end of the hall.
"I think it would be best if you answered her truthfully." Rone's face was impassive as he looked at Remy. "My woman has asked you a question and you should answer her. Otherwise I might be forced to do what my instinct is telling me to do, and punish you for what you have had done to her."
Remy spun back around with a look of disbelief on his face.
"Are you going to let that Thonaxian talk to me like this?"
"Actually, you're lucky that you aren't ble
eding on the floor right now. He wanted to kill you and be done with it. I have convinced him to stay his blade in favor of talking. But if you don't give up this act that you have done nothing wrong, I see little point in not doing things Rone's way. So it is in your best interest to talk. It might make the difference between you leaving here, alive and well or going out in pieces, just like your android."
He stood there stunned for a moment. And when he scrubbed his hand over his face, she knew that he had realized there was no way he was going to be able to get out of this without telling her what she wanted and needed to know.
"I didn't know you were the courier until I reviewed the surveillance footage looking for an image to use for the bounty." His shoulders sagged and he looked deeply saddened. But even that was suspect. She couldn't trust anything he said or any moved he made.
"So if your android had found me at the hotel, I would be dead." The only thing that had saved her was the precautions she always took, booking in the room that had a way to keep her safe even though she'd never had cause to use it. "How could you do it?"
"You have to understand, I was desperate. If the information that Barton put together saw the light of day, I would be ruined. And not just monetarily. This new regime is no better than the old one. They have been spending their time since their rise to power purging anyone associated with the old government. Surely you can see that I had to do it."
"No, I can't. There were so many other ways you could have handled it. You have connections. You could have had someone make discreet enquiries to find out who was selling your stolen information. You could have arranged to buy it back. Or since you knew who stole the information you could have had him followed until he led you to the courier. It would not have been difficult for you to find the handler and come to some arrangement. But that's not what you did." Which begged the question of why he hadn't done that. And she had a suspicion about that too. "You were testing it, weren't you?"
"I don't know what you’re talking about." But there was a telltale shift in his eyes that told her he knew exactly what she was talking about.
"Yes, you do. I've learned that there is more to you than just a retired broker of stolen information. I've learned that you've been part of a company that manufactures foods and I also know that a company associated with it had a contract to make a super soldier. Such diverse interests you have. This was a perfect opportunity for you, wasn't it? A chance to send your prototype out in the world and see how it performed. And a way for you to eliminate everyone associated with this fiasco."
His face closed up and he stared at her impassively. And in that moment she knew that she was wasting her time. He would not unbend enough to tell her everything. And it hurt to do this, to look at him knowing that the years he had known her, the years that she'd given him her love and loyalty had in the end meant nothing. He'd issued a bounty on her so that she would run. The terror, the pain and the deaths that had happened had all been so he could see how his creature performed.
"Just go." She couldn't look at him anymore, and she’d learned about as much about his motivation as she was going to.
"You are just going to let me go?" He seemed surprised that she was offering him a chance for escape.
"Unlike you, I'm not a murder. Your deeds will catch up to you eventually and I don't want to have blood on my hands. If you walk away now, if you leave and never so much as think about me again, then I will forget everything I know about you."
He seemed to have a hard time believing that she would be so magnanimous. And in truth she really wasn't. The government would know what he'd been up to, and she was certain that he would be punished for his role in the extermination of hundreds of people. But it was more important to her that she moved past this. So she was not going to stoop to his level and use violence against him.
He must have realized that she was giving him a reprieve. He probably thought she was a fool. Perhaps she was.
He turned and walked down the hall toward the door. Rone stood there, and it seemed that he was not going to step aside.
"Let him go, Rone."
Rone looked toward her. "Are you certain?"
"Yes."
And he did as she wish, standing aside so Remy could walk out the door. Rone closed the door behind him and locked it.
Cheria put her arms around her middle. She had thought that when she confronted him that she would feel better, but she didn't. All it had done was tarnish the good memories she'd had with him and make her wonder if it had all been a lie. The sad part of that was she'd never know the answer.
Rone came toward her and ran his hands up and down her arms.
"He was never worthy of you."
She looked up at him and knew that he was right. Remy had not been worthy of her, but the man standing in front of her was. Rone had proven it through everything he'd done for her from the time he'd walked into her life until now. And she was ready to let go of her past and embrace her future with him.
She took him by the hand and led him toward the stairs.
"We have some time to kill before we have to leave this place forever. Let's do something with it that doesn't involve thinking about him. He's my past and you are my future."
* * *
Finally the day Rone had been anticipating for years had arrived. It was time to go home for good.
After her confrontation with Remy, Cheria had been quiet. Doubts had started to creep in on Rone. What if she'd changed her mind? What if now that the danger had passed she realized that what was between them wasn't as strong as it had seemed?
For his part he knew that he wanted her to be his mate. But what if that wasn't what she wanted anymore?
She'd spent most of the previous day on the computer that Landis had given her and she seemed intent on what she was doing. He left her alone, and did his best to occupy himself. But worry nagged at him.
He looked over at her where she lay in the bed beside him. She was looking back at him.
"Today's the day. We better get up and get started. I have something that I need to do before we board the ship." She moved away and got out of bed. The sight of her nude body distracted him as she moved about the room. She turned and looked back at him. "You want to go home, don't you?"
Yes he did, and relief went through him that she was going with him.
He packed his bag, moving quickly. The sooner they got out of this house, the better. He didn't want her to have any opportunity to think about what she was walking away from. Didn't want her to have a chance to change her mind. It was a big step, walking away from everything and moving toward the unknown.
Once everything was ready, they moved downstairs and Cheria took the computer that Landis had given them and put it in the case.
"I'm going to miss him." She gave him a sad smile.
"As will I, but there is no reason why we can't keep in touch with him. Perhaps even visit." He put his arm around her and tucked her close to his side. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head and moved away. "We need to go."
She nodded and picked up the computer case and moved toward the door. Rone took their bags and together they walked out of the house.
They walked away from the house, and he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. She didn't look back at it even once, only stared straight ahead as they walked away from her old life.
They came to the main thoroughfare and she walked straight to Wes' food stall. Rone stepped up beside her in time to see Wes' eyes go from her to their bags and a look of sadness crossed his face.
"I don't suppose I'll ever see you again, Cher."
"You never know what the future will bring. But I couldn't leave without saying goodbye and without saying thank you again. You helped save my life and I will always be grateful to you for that."
Wes wiped his hands down his apron and came out of his food stall. He walked up to Cheria, put his arms around her and hugged her.
"You don't have to thank me for that. Yo
u and I have always looked out for each other."
"I know." Cheria took a step back and Wes' arms fell to his side. "Which is why I've made arrangements with an attorney for my house here to be transferred to you. You can live in it if you want, or you can let your mother live there. You can sell it or do whatever you want with it. It’s yours. I've also arranged for the sale of my apartment in Tari A’Veloo. The proceeds from that will go into a trust account, which I want you to oversee."
A look of shock crossed Wes' face. "What is the trust for?"
"It's to help out the neighborhood. For people to start businesses, for them to build better lives for themselves. You are the best judge of who needs it."
"I don't know what to say. I won't let you down. This neighborhood will thrive with a little help." And the same look of sadness that he wore before came back on to his face. "It's too bad you won't be able to see it. Goodbye, Cher."
"Goodbye." Her voice cracked at little and Rone put a comforting arm around her shoulder. He looked at Wes.
"I want to offer my thanks for everything you have done."
"Like I said, you don't have to thank me." Wes moved away and went back into his food stall. "You just make sure you take care of her."
"I will." It was a promise Rone knew that he would have no trouble keeping. He nodded to Wes one final time and together he and Cheria gathered their things and moved down the street.
"That was harder than I thought it would be. I left this neighborhood once before, but it's grown on me in the past few days."
"There is no reason we can't come back here to visit."
She nodded her head and together they walked toward the docking station. She said nothing more as they went through the process of leaving this planet.
As they sat in silence on the shuttle that carried them up to the ship, tension coiled in Rone's muscles. He expected her to turn to him at any moment, telling him that she couldn't go through with it. That it was a mistake and she needed to turn back. To go back to her old life.
