by Autumn Dawn
“I leave for a little while, and this is what I come home to,” she grouched as she walked in. She looked around the hotel room. Unimpressed, she dumped her bags on the floor.
Gem gave her sister a weary smile. “I’m glad you’re home. Are you okay?”
“I’m tired and I’ve been interrogated half the day. Why haven’t you hired a lawyer? How did we get mixed up in drugs? The cops explained, but I still don’t believe it.”
“Tomorrow would be better, sis. We’re both tired, and I have the mother of all headaches.”
Xera’s eyes narrowed. “As if I could sleep.”
Her sister’s fierce glare amused Gem. Of course, after the two shots of scotch she’d had, everything was looking rosier. It was a sad thing, to be a tavern owner and such a cheap drunk. Nonetheless, that was the case.
She poured some more scotch into a glass and slid it across the table. She’d had the bottle fetched from The Spark. “This’ll help.”
Xera eyed it suspiciously. “You’re drinking the good stuff?”
Gem grinned. “Why shouldn’t we drink the good stuff if we want? I’d say the occasion calls for it.”
Xera looked nonplussed. “You hate scotch.”
“Never say it.” Gem took another drink to prove how wrong her sister was. The more she had, the better it tasted—probably because her taste buds were going numb.
Lips pursed, Xera fiddled with her glass but didn’t drink. “Where’s Blue?”
Gem smiled without humor. “Where’s Blue? Who’s Blue? We all have questions for him. Your answer is: in the hospital. He got shot.”
“Shot? What happened?”
Eyebrows raised, Gem sighed fatalistically. “He took a bullet for me. Sad, isn’t it?”
Xera looked at her funny. “Okaaay. I think it’s time you went to bed. Come on.”
Even drowning in fifty-year-old scotch, Gem recognized the expertise Xera used as she smoothly rounded the table and helped her upright. Friendly, unobtrusive. The girl knew a thing or two about handling drunks. How could she not, after all the time they’d spent together in The Spark?
Gem giggled in self-mockery. “Aren’t we a pair? I sell the booze to drunks and you’ve got to deal with them. No wonder you left.”
Xera grunted. “Good thing you don’t drink often. You’re crazy as a squirrel on crackweed when you do.”
“What’s a squirrel?”
“Never mind. Watch your feet—I don’t feel like carrying you.”
“Why not? You should put all those push-up muscles to good use. I think Mama was on steroids when she carried you.”
“Jealous, aren’t you?”
“You bet. Sure you don’t want a drink?”
While a little hazy on the details of how she had gotten to bed, Gem woke up the next morning feeling every one of the shots she’d drunk pounding in her brain. The swirling in her stomach took care of itself. As she hung over the rim of the commode, Gem promised herself she’d find a healthier outlet for her anger.
Xera came in as Gem was brushing her teeth. Crisply dressed and groomed, she set a glass of red tonic on the bathroom counter, along with a white pill.
Gem rinsed her toothbrush and popped the pill, grimacing at the taste of the tonic she used to wash it down. “Thanks,” she murmured.
“Hm.” Xera sipped from a steaming mug of tea. Arms crossed, cup resting against her arm, she said casually, “I had an informative conversation with Zsak this morning. Amazing, what the man will say when dragged out of bed at five AM.” She paused for a moment to study Gem’s bloodshot eyes. “I assume you’re going to visit Blue today? He’s been moved out of the ICU.”
Gem nodded. “Well, if they let us out of protective custody. If they do, I also have to check in with our manager—I want him to give bonuses to those staff members who’ve stayed with us. And I want to visit Brandy. When we’re done with her we can tackle Blue.” She brushed past Xera and headed for the dresser, eager to grab some clean clothes and take a shower—and also to end the conversation.
Xera followed. “Does he need tackling? Where did I lose track? Between you falling in love and him getting shot protecting you, at what point did he become an enemy?”
Pricked by the annoyance in Xera’s voice, Gem looked at her sibling. “He’s a cop, sis. He and Zsak and who knows who else, they’re all cops who’ve been investigating The Spark. They’ve been lying to us. This whole time he’s been working his way closer, lying every step of the way.” Faintly satisfied by the shock on Xera’s face, she gathered a pile of clothes and headed for the shower.
“What do you mean they’re cops? Blue was just a drifter…”
Xera trailed off in confusion as Gem climbed into the shower. Over the sound of running water, Gem called, “Cirrus brought by some papers that show the evidence. I’ll get them for you when I get out of here. For now, just know that I’m mad at Blue for a good reason.”
“Well, yeah! I can’t believe Blue used you like that. I knew I didn’t like him.”
“Just don’t pick a fight with Zsak yet. Not until I confront Blue.”
“Definitely. We’re going to tear him a new—”
“Ah, no. Not we. I own this one, Xera. Say what you like to Zsak, but Blue is mine.”
Xera frowned. “Possessive, are we?”
Gem took her time to answer carefully. Her emotions were a hornets’ nest, but angry as she was, there were unresolved issues between them. Logic even argued that the man was doing his job, and she’d benefited from it twice, if not more. The key now was to discover just how much of Blue’s actions had been business.
She decided to simply say: “I’m just not finished with him yet.”
Blue hurt. They’d taken the breathing tube out of his throat, but there was still a mechanical leech attached to a tube in his chest that sucked fluids into a quart-sized plastic bag, which the nurse changed regularly. There was an IV in his left wrist and various tubes and wires he didn’t like thinking about, but that wasn’t the worst thing.
Gem hadn’t come.
Zsak had visited, and Blackwing and Azor, though the latter’s visit had been official. He and Azor didn’t like each other much. The important thing, however, was that Gem hadn’t come.
Maybe he was worried for nothing. Zsak said she’d been pretty torn up. People reacted funnily to things like this. Maybe she was the type who couldn’t bear to see someone she cared about hurt.
But that hadn’t stopped her from seeing Brandy.
Restless, he shifted and paid for it with a stab of pain. Stupid painkillers weren’t doing their job.
Just as his mind started to cycle through its loop of worries again, Gem walked in. Blue lit up, until he saw the guarded expression on her face.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
A cynical smile curled her mouth. “I was just wondering whether to address you as Blue or Officer Santana.”
He stilled. Tension squeezed down on his chest, making already painful breathing harder. Fighting it, he concentrated on each breath as it came, his eyes glued to hers.
A shadow of worry darkened her eyes as she glanced over the tubes and wires poked into him, but she crossed her arms stubbornly. “I was wondering when you were going to tell me. After you bedded me? After you arrested me?” Her voice grew harsh. “Just how close are you supposed to get to your subject, Indigo?”
A horrible crashing started inside him, the fall of all his recent fantasies about happily-ever-afters. Wounded, he fell back on sarcasm. “Is there something to arrest you for?”
“You know there’s not,” she shot back. “I’m not sure exactly what information you thought you could trick me into revealing. When all this is over, I’d love to see you fry in court. I have a feeling you passed the bounds of acceptability, even for an undercover agent like yourself. Scum.”
“Scum?” he growled. “You let this scum do some pretty remarkable things to you, baby. Are you willing to have those details passed aroun
d in court?” Just the memory of their escapade made him want to relive it, especially now that it was too late: She was never going to let him touch her again.
Fury lit her eyes, but her voice never rose beyond a normal pitch. “Jaq thinks I should let you come back to the inn—keep an eye on your enemy, and all that. Me, I’m not willing to make that mistake. Your cover is blown, Officer. There’s no point in continuing the ruse, and I’m not letting anyone else get close to me, so you can forget that tack. As soon as I get home, Zsak is getting the boot, too.” And with one last poisonous smile, she turned to leave.
“Forgetting something, girl?” he called out, desperate to make her stay. Pain lanced his chest, but this fight needed to happen. He couldn’t let her walk away. “I’m lying here because I took a bullet for you. Zsak took out the sniper. We saved your life. Doesn’t that count for something? And what are you going to do with us gone? You think that sniper was the only one after you? Your little sister is home again, isn’t she? You think you can protect the both of you by yourself?”
Gem froze with her hand on the door. Her eyes upon it, she ground out, “Didn’t you know? We’re in protective custody now.”
Blue sighed in relief. “Thank God for small favors. You can’t solve your problems by yourself, Gem. Not this time.” He let that soak in for a moment, then added, “No more games. You know who we are. Fine. It’ll be easier with the truth between us.”
Slowly, she turned and gave him a brittle smile. “What will be easier? You think I’m going to trust you again?”
He ignored the question. “I won’t be here forever.”
Her eyebrows rose. “In the hospital? So what? What do you think you’re going to do when you get out? You’re going to be too weak to even take care of yourself for some time to come, let alone try to interfere with me again.”
“Then you shouldn’t feel threatened by me coming home.”
A vulnerable flash in her eyes gave him hope, but then she looked away. “The Spark is not your home.”
He played on what he’d seen, praying it would work. Quietly he said, “It’s more home than anywhere else. Please.” He would have held his breath, but pain made that impossible.
She wouldn’t look at him. Keeping her eyes trained on the wall, she finally said, “I’m not even home right now—at least, I’m not living there. I’m not even sure where they’re keeping me, or for how long. You’d only complicate things.”
“We’ll see,” he replied.
She stalked out of the room, sparing him only one last dark look.
Blue went limp. After a lifetime of avoiding romantic entanglements, he’d finally fallen in love with a gorgon. God had a wicked sense of humor.
“How’d it go?”
Gem kept her eyes forward. Xera had been waiting outside the door, eager to hear the results. Maybe the lack of shouting had worried her.
It worried Gem, to be honest. She hadn’t liked how hollow she’d felt, seeing Blue so pale and tethered to a bed by wires. He’d almost died for her. Seeing him today…Well, it had been too close.
“Gem,” Xera said warningly.
Frustrated, Gem glanced at her sister, forced a smile. “Zsak is all yours.”
An evil smile lit Xera’s face. “I can hardly wait.”
Unfortunately, Gem’s sister’s enthusiasm was blunted by the urgent expression on Blue’s friend’s face. Zsak pulled them both into an empty room and shut the door. “They’ve found Hamish Nasser’s body,” he said.
“Who?” Xera demanded.
Gem took a cautious breath. “The man who beat up Brandy. I think I’m getting a little behind, Zsak. I thought the sniper you caught was Hamish Nasser.”
He frowned. “No. Why did you think that?”
“Well…it seemed too improbable that they would be two different people.”
Xera held up a hand. “Hold it. You’re saying two different groups are attacking our family? How likely is that?”
“Very, since they both link back to the drug case,” Zsak replied.
“I see. And how close are you to solving that case, Officer?” Xera asked. Her tone was caustic.
Zsak stiffened. “I can’t say.”
“Typical.”
Blue’s friend drew a calming breath. “There are things in progress.”
“You can do better than that,” Gem snapped.
“I’m sorry. Some of it’s restricted information. I wish I could tell you more but I can’t.”
Xera moved forward. “Let me hit him. Just once.”
Gem grabbed her biceps. “Don’t.”
Xera shrugged, rolled her shoulders. She shook her head and told Zsak, “Well, I guess we should hear about this Nasser guy. Where does this take our case? Where was he found?”
“That’s need-to-know right now. But I can tell you that the body was quite decomposed by the time it was found.”
Gem winced, but Xera pushed for more gruesome details. “How long ago did the murder happen? Any suspects?”
“We imagine the man who sent Nasser after Brandy was the one to kill him. Perhaps police presence was too high, and maybe he feared discovery.”
“Who do you suspect?” Xera asked again, watching Zsak intently.
Blue’s friend glanced one way and then another, as if considering his options. Finally he sighed and admitted: “Cirrus.”
There was a beat of silence. The two sisters exchanged glances.
“Cirrus? Why?” Gem asked.
Zsak looked around again. “Look, not here, okay? Let’s go somewhere more secure before we discuss this.”
He waited until they were back in the hotel room where Azor had put them up. Then he shrugged and said, “Here’s what we think is going on. Cirrus has been living big, beyond his income. He needs money. He’s already got his fingers in the illegal exports gig, and would like to break into drugs.”
“He does?” Gem interrupted, shocked.
Zsak frowned. Maybe he ought to have kept that nugget for himself.
“Anyway, he gets word that Jean Luc is making a bundle selling spiked beer, beer used to export an illegal substance. He tries to get Jean to come work for him, but Luc is cautious, doesn’t want to draw attention to himself. He refuses, in fact, so Cirrus tries to beat the recipe out of him through Hamish Nasser. Later he kills Hamish to cover his tracks.”
Gem shook her head. “Is any of this possible? Is it all conjecture—or fantasy? And are you supposed to be telling us?” She stared at him in incredulity. “I’d think you’d get in trouble with someone.”
Zsak shook his head. “I’m only sharing the barest details. The important thing for your safety is that the big boys, the heavy drug runners, see you as competition. Jean Luc may have been the manufacturer, but you distributed the beer, ran the actual business. Naturally they think you’re involved. They want to eliminate the competition, so they sent a sniper. Luckily for you, Blue was in place and saved your life.”
“He was investigating us,” Gem muttered.
“He was trying to find the source of the drugs, yes. You’ve got to understand the misery this stuff is causing—people have died from it, and even if you live…well, it ruins lives. Blue and I want to stop that from happening, and he’s got more incentive than most.”
“How is that?” Gem snapped. She wondered if it had anything to do with her, and if she should be worried.
Zsak considered, as if he could guess her thoughts. He took his time about replying. “Blue grew up in the slums of Enjor. His father was an addict. It made life at home pretty rough.”
Gem digested that. “He told me he was kicked out pretty young.”
“He told you that?”
“Why are you surprised?”
“He’s usually so quiet about his past. I wouldn’t have thought he’d open up to you.”
Zsak looked so speculative that she couldn’t hold his gaze, not with Xera sharing the same expression. Gem studied the table. She didn’t really want to thin
k about this now, not with witnesses.
Brandy grunted and swung the conversation back on track. “So, what about these ‘big boys’? These smugglers. How do we convince them we’re not competition?”
Zsak smiled grimly. “We put you on trial.”
Chapter Thirteen
Xera stared at Zsak silently for a moment. “You know, Officer, so far I’m not liking your solution.”
“Hear me out,” he implored. “If they think you’re going down, they might pull back the assassins. Why waste manpower and money when the law will take care of their problems for them? And with luck, the law will decide you’re harmless and back off.”
“And without luck?”
Zsak shook his finger at her. “Don’t be a jinx.”
“She has a point,” Gem spoke up. “You’re talking about a lot of bad publicity. It will be hard on business.” More to the point, she didn’t want her family’s name sullied like that.
Zsak shook his head. “You’ll have to testify at trial, anyway—or are you forgetting that it’s your brewmaster who’s up on charges? Right now the investigation’s centered around him and your sister Brandy, but—”
“Brandy is innocent,” Xera interrupted hotly. “Why does she have to go through this?”
He pinned her with his eyes. “We have to prove she’s innocent—or at least that she was working under duress. That’s the way the law works. At least, that’s how it works when you’ve been covering for a drug smuggler.”
Xera muttered under her breath and turned away.
Gem wasn’t happy, either, but there wasn’t much choice. She tried to look at the bright side: “At least we’ll have time to catch our breath. The trial is probably months away.”
“Weeks,” Zsak corrected. “Strings were pulled.”
Gem stared at him. “Weeks? That’s not possible!”
“Anything is possible under the right circumstances. We have all the information we need to prosecute, and HQ decided it would be less expensive to move the case up the docket than spend money and manpower guarding you. Some minor cases were rescheduled. You’ve got three weeks to choose a lawyer and prepare for the trial.”
