by Dena Christy
“Well, what is it?” Jace was not in the mood to coax the information out of him. Sinclair had a habit of dancing around subjects instead of getting to the point, and Jace would not play that game today.
Sinclair cleared his throat as a flush crept up his cheeks and his eyes lost some of their enthusiasm.
“Clancy’s alien has escaped, sir.”
“That’s interesting.” Dawson fought a smile. Enjoying his commanding officer’s misfortune was not an acceptable reaction, but he hated Clancy. More than anything, Jace’s ambition demanded that he take Clancy’s position, but the older man had held fast to it. His losing his alien could only work out in Dawson’s favor. “Is your source reliable? How did it happen?”
“My source works at the lab where the alien was being studied. Apparently Dr. Avery’s secretary let him out, and he walked out the door with her.” A grin spread across Sinclair’s face and Dawson let him enjoy his moment. As long as he continued to provide information like this, Jace was willing to overlook how irritating he was.
“Clancy’s staff must be very lax if they let an alien walk out the door. “ Something seemed odd about that. Jace’s mouth drew down in a frown. There had to be more to this because no one was that stupid.
“The alien took the form of Dr. Avery, and the guard was fooled. He let him go out the door, and by the time they discovered Dr. Avery, unconscious in the observation room, the alien and secretary were long gone.”
“That’s interesting. It’s too bad they lost him before they could figure out how the alien could impersonate another being. Something like that would be very useful to penetrate enemy territory. Have they recovered him?”
“No, sir. It would seem the alien has disappeared.”
“So we have the only alien in existence on the planet.” Jace stroked his hand over his lower jaw. He’d have to be careful not to let his alien slip through his fingers. Clancy would want a shot at him, not that his own was gone, but the alien was going to be Jace’s ticket to glory. There was no way he was going to give him up.
“It would seem so, sir. Also Dr. Avery is missing.”
“I’m sure Dr. Avery is dead. Clancy wouldn’t let someone fuck up as royally as Avery has and let him live.” One thing he and Clancy shared was a tendency toward ruthlessness, and it was the one thing that Jace respected about him.
“How can you be sure, sir?”
“It’s what I would do.” He flashed Sinclair his best shark smile, and the lieutenant’s Adam’s Apple bobbed when he swallowed and looked away. “Speaking of aliens, how is ours doing? Have we been able to get any information out of him yet?”
“So far he’s not talking.” Sinclair turned his head back to face him, but would not meet his eyes. The smile dropped from Jace’s face.
“Then we must not be doing enough.” He pushed away from his desk and stood. Sinclair scrambled out of his seat to stand at attention. “Stand down. I don’t need you for a while, so go about your business. I think I’ll pay a visit to the prisoner and see if I can’t get something out of him.”
Dawson pulled open the top right-hand drawer of his desk and pulled out the remote control for the electro pad strapped to the prisoner’s back and put it in his pocket.
Sinclair saluted, turned on his heel and marched out of the office. Jace followed him out and went in the opposite direction. His walked down the hall with a long legged stride. The corridor took him down to where the cells were located, and a sentry stood outside the door containing their only prisoner.
The sentry saluted and stood at attention. Jace was pleased to see it. The previous commander of this installation had been lax about protocol, and the men following him were just as lax. It had taken time, but Jace had turned this place into a well-oiled machine. He’d brought in his own men and cut away a lot of the deadwood that was the legacy of the previous commander.
He put his hand up to the panel beside the door, and the locking mechanism beeped and the light above the panel turned blue. He pulled the door open and stepped inside.
The prisoner watched him with wary eyes as he came to stand in the middle of the cell. If he hadn’t been found in the aliens shuttle, Jace would not have thought him anything other than human. The evidence of his men’s attempt at interrogation were clear in the cuts and bruises on the alien’s face and body. He looked Jace directly in the eye and said nothing.
Jace pulled the remote out his pocket and held it up for the prisoner to see. Apart from a minuscule widening of his eyes, the prisoner remained stone faced.
“I’m sure you are familiar with this. We can do this the easy way or the hard way, your choice.”
The prisoner stared at Jace, his face betraying nothing. Jace wasn’t perturbed by the alien’s lack of response. The hard way was his favorite.
“I’ve leaned a little about your species, since we had one of your compatriots in another facility. It’s become apparent that your kind can impersonate other beings. Do you want to tell me about that? Along with why you have come to this planet?”
The prisoner stared, without even a twitch of his face muscles. Dawson pressed the button on the remote, and the prisoner’s body stiffened and bowed backwards as electricity poured through him. To his credit, he didn’t cry out or make any noise of distress. Unfortunately he couldn't remain upright, and his body folded in on itself as he dropped to the floor.
Jace took his thumb off the button and the electricity stopped pouring into the alien. He approached the trembling creature and drew his foot back. A swift kick to the alien’s midsection only netted him a pained grunt.
“I’ll ask you again.” Jace kept his tone conversational, and his face bland. He was in no hurry and could take as long as he needed to get to the truth. “What are you doing on this planet? Are there any more of you hiding here?”
The alien pulled himself up to stand in front of Jace. Silence stretched out between them. Jace took a deep breath, pushing down on the hard edge of anger that wanted to rise up inside him. Losing control would only let this bastard win, but a stronger show of force was necessary to get the conversational ball rolling. Jace drew back his fist and slammed it into the prisoner’s face.
The blow stung Jace’s hand, and turned the alien’ head, but he remained stubbornly on his feet. A cut opened up on his lip and blood trickled down his chin.
“How many of you are there? What are you doing on this planet?”
The prisoner turned his head to look at him, and his cheeks pulled in a fraction and his mouth pursed. Had he broken him already? His men hadn’t tried hard enough if the creature was ready to talk with his only spending a little effort on getting the truth out of him.
The prisoner spat, and a combination of blood and saliva hit Jace in the middle of his face. Jace sighed. Apparently this creature was eager for more pain.
Jace pulled a handkerchief out of his pocked and wiped his face. As soon as he finished, he pressed the button on the remote. The prisoner dropped to the floor like a stone.
Jace pulled his foot back and kicked the alien in the side, over and over. The anger and frustration he’d tried hard to repress took hold of him and a red haze clouded his vision as his boot moved in continual motion.
By the time his vision cleared, the prisoner lay unmoving on the floor of the cell. Jace stared at him for several seconds. Was he dead?
He reached down and pressed his fingers to the side of the creature’s neck. The alien’s pulse beat strong under his finger tips. Thank God. HIs superiors would not understand how such a valuable prisoner had died in his custody. At least he was saved the trouble of finding a convenient scape goat to get through such an incident unscathed.
He straightened up and turned toward the door. He schooled his features into his usual expression and straightened his jacket. He needed to look as immaculate as he had when he walked in here. He glanced back at the prisoner one last time.
“Keep your secrets for now. I’ll get your answers. Eventually
.”
Chapter Three
Was she being stupid and too sensitive? Collette paced in front of her apartment door while she waited for Evie to arrive. Her friend had generously agreed to take her in, and she would no longer be under Reggie’s thumb. Was it even necessary? Had Reggie been as bad as he’d appeared yesterday?
When she’d called Evie, she’d had her mind made up. She was leaving, and it would be for good. The wait for Evie to arrive was no kind, and doubts pounded through her head. The questions had a voice, and it belonged to her mother. She couldn’t make it on her own, a chippy was all she could ever be, and she was foolish to leave here. The voice insisted that it knew best until the spot behind her right eye throbbed and she wanted to scream at it to shut up.
The only thing keeping her from calling Evie and telling her that she’d changed her mind was because she recognized her mother’s voice for what it was. Fear. She had to get past it if she had any hope of moving forward. Pushing through it felt like walking through mud, but she needed to do it. Otherwise she might as well call Reggie and tell him that he could treat her like shit because that was all she deserved.
Despite what her mother’s voice said, she knew she deserved more than her life offered her. She’d never made a choice on her own since leaving her mother’s house. Her first protector had been chosen for her when she was seventeen, with her mother negotiating the contract and keeping most of the money. But her mother was dead and gone now. It was time her voice was silenced.
There was a knock on the door, and she rushed to answer it. Evie smiled at her when she opened the door, and Collette ushered her inside. Evie walked in and her eyebrows climbed up her forehead. She’d told Evie on the phone that she was leaving Reggie, and that she needed a place to stay until she could figure her life out. Looking at the two suitcases that sat in the foyer, it didn’t look like she was going anywhere for a long duration.
“Is this everything?” Evie looked at the two suitcases, and then up at Collette.
“I have nothing else. This is what I own outright, the rest belongs to Reggie. Are you sure you don’t mind my coming to stay with you?” She’d already asked Evie this twice on the phone, but she needed to be sure.
“I told you it is.” Evie embraced Collette, offering the comfort that Reggie refused her yesterday. “You can stay with me as long as you need to.”
As Evie stepped away, her mother’s voice in her head finally shut up. This was the right decision.
Evie took one suitcase and Collette took the other, and together they walked out of the apartment. Collette didn’t look back, and when the door closed behind her, her steps felt buoyant for the first time since she’d moved in here. Today was the first day of the rest of her life, and she was looking forward to it.
They went out the back of the building and Evie led her to a nondescript van. Collette stowed her suitcase in the back along side the one Evie had carried down and walked around to the passenger side and climbed in.
“Ready to go?” Evie put her thumb on the panel beside the steering wheel and the van started.
Collette took one last look at the building which had been her home for the last two years and she nodded.
“Do you want to talk about why you did this?”
Collette shook her head. The decision to strike out on her own was too new and too fragile to speak of it out loud. There was also some shame in how she’d allowed Reggie to treat her for years, and she didn’t know if she could adequately explain to Evie how blind she’d been. She’d always gotten the impression that Evie didn’t approve of her profession, and she didn’t want to get into it with her.
“If you want talk about it, I’m here.” The van went forward and pulled out the parking lot. The apartment building faded in the rearview mirror, and the pit on Collette’s stomach grew. Was this really what she wanted? The surety she’d felt when Evie arrived slowly faded now that she was taking action.
She still had a safety net. She hadn’t followed up with Reggie and told him that she’d vacated the apartment. Going back was still an option although she didn’t want to. This was her one chance to flee the cage her mother had built for her, and if she went back into it, she would not have the opportunity to escape it again.
The trip passed in silence until they reached an old warehouse in the east end. The place looked derelict, and Collette looked over at Evie. Were they making a stop here?
Evie shut the engine off. This was their final destination. Collette took another look at the place, and her trepidation did not abate.
How could she possibly stay here? She’d never thought of herself as a snob, but apparently living in luxury on a rich man’s money had raised her standards. She schooled her features into what she hoped was a neutral expression.
“I know it doesn’t look like much on the outside, but i think you’ll be comfortable here. I’ve changed a lot since you knew me. I help women change their lives, and this is where I operate out of. It looks like this because it doesn’t attract any unwanted attention. You can settle in and I’ll help you figure out what you want to do. Miranda is here too although it looks like she had her life figured out.” There was a tightening of Evie’s mouth. She got out of the van and walked around to the back.
Collette climbed out and joined her and grabbed a suitcase. Evie led her inside the warehouse, and they walked down a set of spiraling stairs into the subterranean part of the building. Collette followed her down a long corridor with doors on each side. Evie came to a stop and opened a door. Inside was a plain, clean bedroom.
“This will be your room. I’m sure it’s not what you’re used to, but it should be comfortable enough. You have your own bathroom, which is through that door.” Evie pointed to the door on the far side of the room. She walked in and set the suitcase down beside the bed. “I’ll let you get settled in, and we’ll talk about what I can do to help you.”
“How did you get started in all this?” Collette set the bag she was holding beside her other suitcase and turned to Evie. Evie paused in the doorway, and there was pain in her eyes for a second before she quickly masked it.
“I started this because I didn’t want other women to go through what I did. After Adam died, I couldn’t go back to my normal life, where every move I made was scrutinized, and no decision was my own. I’m sure you won’t be surprised to learn that there are a lot of women in this world who go through the same thing.”
“What do you do?” Perhaps calling Evie had been the right thing to do in her situation. If she specialized in giving women a second chance, then maybe this was the place for her.
“I provide women with an opportunity to become a different person, to start over. It’s a big decision, and a lot to think about. I can only reboot someone’s life once. Get settled in and we’ll talk more later.”
Evie walked out the door and shut it behind her. Collette looked around, and while it wasn’t the lap of luxury she was used to, it was better than the alternative. The room was much smaller than the one in her old apartment, but there was a bed and chest of drawers, which was all she needed. It was also a safe place where she could figure out what she wanted to do next.
She couldn’t stay with Reggie any longer. Maybe she wouldn't have to find another protector at all. If Evie could reboot her life, she could be something other than a rich man’s toy.
It was a scary thought. She wasn’t trained for anything else. Evie said it took time to figure this stuff out, and she could stay here until she did. She would think long and hard about what she wanted the rest of her life to look like.
Ryce walked down the hall toward his room, his military style books making little noise on the shiny industrial floor. Evie didn’t appear to like him or Synn much, but at least she’d been generous in giving them a place to stay and the use of her resources while they found Cynric. Her setup provided them with what they needed, but there’d still been no sign of their commander.
The more time that passed with
out a trace of their commander, the more he and Synn felt forced to conclude that he was dead.
He shoved that notion aside. Cynric was alive and they would find him. Once they did that, they could put this planet far behind them. From the moment their ship had been pulled toward this planet, the mission had been a disaster. The only positive thing to come out of this whole mess was Synn’s relationship with Miranda. She was his friend’s true mate, and while Ryce was happy for him, there was a small twinge of envy mixed in there too.
There was a sound behind him in the hall and he turned his head to see who it was. Collette stepped out into the hall, and his heart picked up speed when she looked up and smiled at him. When did she get here?
Was he dreaming this? She couldn’t be a projection of his mind, she looked too real and solid for that. She looked better than she had yesterday, which he hadn’t thought was possible. Her hair shone like polished gold and her skin was dewy soft. Subtle cosmetics covered the damage done by Dr. Avery, and if he hadn’t witnessed what had happened to her, he would never have guessed that she’d been through any of it.
He turned away. Focus on Cynric. Mooning over her, while a pleasant diversion, would not find his commander. Besides, she was so far out of his league that any thought he might have had of being with her was laughable.
Even if they’d been on Latroth, she would still be far out of his ordinary world. He was a soldier, and a woman like her would not be for a man like him. She was used to finer things and finer men then he.
He walked forward toward his room and shoved thoughts of her out of his head.
“Ryce.” Her voice wrapped itself around him and stopped him in his tracks. All she’d said was his name, but it had never sounded like that. It flowed over him, caressed his ears and he closed his eyes. It would be so much harder to ignore her if she insisted on talking to him. He swallowed and slowly turned around.
The hard light overhead did nothing to detract from her soft beauty, and he clasped his hands behind his back. He couldn't touch her, no matter how touchable she looked. She came to stand in front of him, and her scent invaded his senses. Images of diamonds, silk and lush female flesh flashed through him, and he took a deep breath. Focus on Cynric, not her.
