He sighed and met her gaze evenly as he lied. “You’ll be fine. I like babies.”
Smiki didn’t even flinch when she hugged him this time. Being a confirmed criminal had its upside. The Earthling had no idea how appalled he truly was.
“Great.” She beamed a smile.
Smiki stayed with her until she fell asleep that night and pulled the thin cover over her. This did not bode well.
For either of them.
Chapter 30
Mala and Baruk knocked on his office door and entered without waiting for Zadal to speak. He wanted to chide them for their actions but lately nothing mattered. Lindsey’s disappearance remained a mystery. The witness couldn’t give more details then a shadowy figure in black which meant the lead was a dead end.
“Grange is here with news,” Baruk announced.
That grabbed his attention. Zadal sat up straight as the officer entered behind them. It had been weeks since Lindsey’s disappearance. Six weeks with false alarms and rumors. Weeks of searches turned up nothing but seeing the man’s face sent Zadal’s heart slamming against his chest.
“I have a team waiting outside to take in Senate Leader Zadal for the kidnapping and possible murder of Lindsey Laars-Gatar.”
“What!” Baruk froze, his blue eyes never glancing in Zadal’s direction. “You told me you had something.”
“And I do.” Officer Grange unsnapped the weapon at his hip. “Are you coming in peacefully, Senate Leader Zadal?”
Zadal laughed. He didn’t care if they detected the bitterness in the sound. He’d lost his mother, his wife and his first assistant. Did it matter if he lost his freedom too?
Baruk obviously disagreed. “I think you’ll start at the beginning Grange or my legal team will begin proceedings to highlight the incompetence of this entire investigation.”
Grange’s lips pinched tight. “My investigation was not incompetent. You went outside Garulax authority and contacted the Jutak Commander.”
“Because it’s clear she was taken off world!” Baruk roared, fury in every line of his body. “Our wife is somewhere, possibly hurt and you insisted on going through the house three times. Three! Then your men searched the grounds after you found her vehicle outside Yalene’s store front as evidence Lindsey went to town. A witness saw her taken, fighting the whole way.”
Baruk dragged in a ragged breath, while a muscle ticked in his jaw. Unmistakable fury flashed across his face as he shoved both hands through his hair, mussing the strands. “The Jutaks are better equipped to hunt out criminal activity. So yes, I did use my name and power to get every resource possible on this.”
“Hmph. Well, maybe that wasn’t necessary. I thought there was something strange about this case from the beginning. We don’t have kidnappings in Teeve. One would expect a demand for likos considering the Laars fortune. It doesn’t make any sense for your wife to completely disappear unless your spouse partner had something to do with it.”
Grange shot Zadal a look but he had nothing to say.
Baruk, however, had plenty. “You’re going to need proof of some sort and not your feelings.”
Baruk’s defense of him felt good. During all of this, his spouse partner had been nothing short of amazing. Zadal pushed himself to his feet. “Baruk’s right, Grange. What evidence do you have? And why would I go through all of this if I’m the one who took Lindsey?”
“Does five hundred thousand likos sound familiar?” Grange pulled out his data pad. “One of our techs trolled a number of sites in hopes of coming across a request or demand for money. Instead he stumbled on an illegal open call bounty.”
Zadal stilled but Grange continued. “For this large sum, a request was made to remove one Lindsey Laars-Gatar from Garulax and it has your name, Senate Leader. Explain that.”
“I don’t have a half a million likos,” Zadal burst out in outrage.
Baruk approached and held out his hand. “Show me.”
Grange handed over the data pad without protest.
“Fuck.” Baruk’s gaze clashed with Zadal’s. “Did you sign anything, transfer any likos recently?”
“No.” He’d remember if he did.
“What about Zumei?” Mala broke her silence, going to stand next to Baruk as she read over his shoulder.
Zumei? Zadal frowned. He had signed things all the time if his first assistant put it in front of him. He tried to read most of it but typically it was business as usual. “I don’t recall.”
Mala rushed over to his desk. “Password?”
Her hands hovered over his keyboard.
Zadal flushed. “Lindsey1.”
The holo screen lit the air above his desk. Her hands swiped the screen and pulled up folder after folder until she paused. “You transferred the money here.”
Zadal leaned over to read the document she opened and highlighted. A frown pierced his brow. It looked vaguely familiar. It was the same day Lindsey received knowledge of Caris’ reporting of her. “Zumei said this was to accept the funds Baruk gave to me for the Triad.”
Baruk joined them. “That wouldn’t have been necessary, since I had Mala handle that. It’s a part of the original stipulation of the Triad marriage agreement.”
“You gave me five hundred thousand likos?” Since Zadal had never looked at those particular records, he was stunned. It was an unheard of settlement.
“No,” Baruk snapped and pointed at another document on the holo. “I gave you five million with monthly deposits of five hundred thousand for every month the Triad is sustained for the first two years.”
“He also made you majority owner in seven of his twenty companies,” Mala added.
Zadal couldn’t take it in. The humor, the jokes about his new found wealth. “You did this on purpose.”
Baruk grinned though his gaze remained strained. “Your lack of knowledge only proved what I already knew. You don’t care about my fortune.”
“Your fortune gave him the ability to pay to be rid of your wife.” Granger glared at all three of them.
“Don’t you see what this means?” Baruk shifted his stance. “Zadal didn’t do this, his former first assistant is responsible. Find him and you’ll find what happened to Lindsey. Do your job, Grange and find our wife instead of trying to pin this on my spouse partner.”
Zadal couldn’t take his gaze away from the screen. His earlier haunting thoughts came back. Why did he think he deserved someone to love? This was all his fault.
Chapter 31
Smiki ignored the singing from the cleansing unit and read the latest notice scrolling on his communicator. The woman in his care was wanted everywhere. Sweat trickled down his back, sticking to his shirt. Every vid alert asked for information on her whereabouts. Even the Jutaks were sweeping the hidden criminal sector. Having her presence was like waving a red sign and telling people to come find Smiki. The thought of life on a prison colony had more sweat dripping off of him.
Smiki wished he’d never taken the burden. He snorted. As if he’d had a choice. There was no way to reach the man who’d given her to him. The latest information he’d received said Torkel Alonson didn’t even have a brother. Only a sister. He’d been raised on Enotia. So who exactly could Smiki turn to?
“Smiki, how long before we can leave the ship?”
Smiki swiveled in his chair as the reason for his dilemma entered the cockpit. “Soon, Lindsey.”
She smiled and plopped in the seat beside him. Sharp twinges pierced his shrunken heart. Did she have to be so upbeat? He rolled his eyes and her blue eyes twinkled back. Of course she did. Smiki had the feeling Lindsey didn’t know any other way.
He shut down his screen before she could see what he’d been reading. “We can go now. I was waiting for you to finish your long bathing ritual.”
The Earth woman took more showers than anyone he’d ever met. Smiki was lucky if he remembered to clean once a week.
Lindsey leaned over and kissed him on his smooth head. “Thanks, Smiki.�
��
And that was another reason for the heart twinges he continued to have. She was a toucher. The few times he’d rebuffed her attempts to hug him, her blue eyes welled with tears. Smiki didn’t think he’d ever cried. Nor had he ever seen any of his kind cry. She claimed it was a manifestation of sadness caused by hormones.
Wasted emotion in his opinion but maybe that explained his thirty warrants. A little sadness could have helped him be wiser in his choices. Or maybe Lindsey was contagious and spreading her emotions to him.
Smiki stood and reached into the locker to loan her his fitted, black leather jacket with the inner lining made of laser resistant alloys. Lightweight and deceiving in its appearance, the jacket would offer some protection if things went upside down. No telling who’d be gunning for them.
Lindsey zipped it to the collar and flipped her hair up in a ball of some sort on top of her head. This would be their first time off his ship since he’d been given responsibility for her. Truthfully, Smiki needed the trip to give him some space and a break. Between her incessant chatter and sad faces because of her husbands’ betrayal, he wasn’t sure how much longer he could last.
When they landed on the planet’s surface, Smiki gave her the firm warning one more time. “Don’t step away from my side. Don’t drink anything I haven’t tasted and don’t look anyone in the eye.”
“Yeah, yeah and blah, blah.” Lindsey waved her hand in a side to side motion.
Smiki frowned. She didn’t have a translator and picked up the Chameleon he spoke quickly but for the life of him he didn’t understand half of the things she said. He pulled her hood up to further try and obscure her features. If they were caught, it would mean thirty to forty on a prison colony for Smiki. Too many people were looking for the Earth woman. “I’m serious. There’s a bounty on your head for confirmed sightings of you.”
That at least got her attention and she regarded him from solemn blue eyes, the humor usually lighting her gaze absent. “I understand.”
Smiki let out a breath. He hated when her shoulders hunched. Pitiful Earth woman. Weren’t they supposed to be beauties without equal and made of sterner stuff? He’d obviously been left with one of the defective ones. Lindsey was a beauty but she wore every emotion on her face.
“Well come on. We don’t have all day.”
She followed along, her step picking up the annoying bounce once more. Smiki slid his hand to the laser holstered under his waist. She might bother him with her incessant questions and occasional eye waters but he had no desire to let anything happen to her and Smiki wasn’t sure his reasoning was all due to the man who’d originally left her in his care.
***
“You. Are. Shitting. Me.”
Lindsey rolled her eyes. “It doesn’t sound the same if you’re all prissy about it.”
Smiki stomped over to the bar, tugging her behind and raised a hand to the bartender then signaled for two glasses. The Antare behind the long counter waved one arm, poured a drink with the second and washed glasses with the other two. His ability to multi-task at lightning quick speed held Lindsey’s attention for a full minute before she returned her gaze to Smiki.
“Talking of excrement eliminates any worries about…prissy,” Smiki countered at last. “I’m not sure why I find it as fascinating as I do.”
“Because.” Lindsey took a sip of her green beverage he gave her and grimaced. “Shit-isms are perfect for certain situations.”
“Shit-isms.” He’d switched to Chamele a language Lindsey had grasped quickly.
She responded in kind. “Well. Yes. You’re shitting me expresses doubt and surprise. You’re the shit is a compliment and same shit different day is a statement on how you feel—good or bad.”
“Shit-isms,” he muttered under his breath, then finished his drink in one swallow.
They argued the merits of her language versus the succinct speech of Chamele. A few times his reasoning left Lindsey chuckling uncontrollably. The laughter was a relief in light of the last few weeks of being on the run. She took Smiki’s warnings to be cautious very seriously and only wished Zadal and Baruk would give up the search for her. Wasn’t it enough Zadal had gotten rid of her? Why wouldn’t they let it go? Did they actually want her dead as well as gone?
Lindsey knew where she wasn’t wanted and had no intentions of returning to Garulax. Sending the Jutaks on her trails pushed the limits of decency and once more emphasized how little she meant to them. For a moment she considered asking Smiki for a way to contact Faye. Surely her friend would be able to call off her man if Lindsey asked. She didn’t want to be found if it gave Zadal another chance to end her permanently.
“Excuse me.” A hand tapped her shoulder.
Smiki tensed but Lindsey turned. “Yes?”
The man standing behind them grinned. He was handsome. And human. Dark hair fell carelessly over his brow, friendly green eyes glinted with humor and full lips curved up in a half smile. “You look familiar. Maybe I know you.”
Smiki pushed against Lindsey until they were shoulder to shoulder. “Move on. You don’t know this one.”
The newcomer’s smile faded and his gaze darkened. “Sure about that, Chamele? Hard to confuse a face matching one being flashed on reports daily.”
“I’m sure you’re mistaken,” Smiki declared in a dark voice, showing another side.
Lindsey inched back and lowered her head. Smiki was always congenial to her but now he appeared every bit the hardened criminal he confessed to being.
“I don’t think I am,” the stranger declared and reached over to snatch the hood back from Lindsey’s face. His green eyes widened with recognition. “It is you.”
“Isn’t that the Earth woman the Jutaks are looking for?” The multi-armed bartender called out, drawing several stares their way.
Others in the bar turned at his shout. Smiki pulled out his weapon and pressed it to the man’s square chin. “Step back now, Nevo Xyman! I know mercs like you only care for credits but this one isn’t for you.”
They stared at one another neither moving. Lindsey held her breath and reached for her empty glass. As soon as the guy’s gaze shifted in her direction she threw it at him. “Run, Smiki!”
Laser fire broke out. Not sure who started shooting, Lindsey ducked low. The one Smiki called Nevo flipped over the bar counter, knocking bottles aside and used a gauntlet on his wrist to whip out a long cable in her direction.
Smiki shoved Lindsey aside and the cord wrapped around the leg of a table instead.
“Go, go, go!” Smiki’s shout drew her attention to the only exit. Clear across the room.
She ducked her shoulders and ran, dodging flying glassware, a grabby hand and two others going the same way. Smiki ran up behind her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder as they burst into the night. Racing down the streets, they ignored the shouts behind them.
Lindsey pressed a hand to her side to still a cramp. Gasping for every breath, she kept glancing behind them. “I don’t see anyone.”
Smiki slowed to a half-trot and pulled Lindsey alongside an alley. The smell of old trash teased her sense of smell. Pregnancy vibes flared and her stomach pitched. When she covered her mouth and gagged, Smiki turned blazing eyes in her direction.
“Don’t you dare!”
Lindsey forced back the contents of her belly. After swallowing a few times, she took a calming breath through her mouth and exhaled. “I’m good.”
His lips curled. “I mean it.”
“Really,” she protested, standing straighter as if that proved her health. “I’m good.”
He muttered something under his breath and she was about to ask him to repeat it when a voice interrupted.
“Smiki, I never expected to find you in possession of such a prize.”
Lindsey jerked and looked up behind them. Smiki’s left hand swung in a smooth arc and aimed his laser in the direction of the voice. The man from the bar stood above them from a balcony, one foot braced on the meta
l railing, the other planted solidly on the grated flooring. He leaned forward and tapped a finger against his knee as he arched a brow at Lindsey.
“Keep going, Xyman. This doesn’t concern you.” Smiki’s arm never lowered and his skin darkened to a deep blue.
The man tsked and Lindsey couldn’t help but stare into his piercing green eyes. “I wish I could but credits are credits.” He waved a broad palm and the leather gauntlet around his forearm held her attention. Buckles on the underside glinted with the movement. “And she, my friend is worth a lot of credits.”
A length of cable shot from the gauntlet, catching on the balcony of the building where she and Smiki stood. He tugged on it for good measure and swung across the expanse. The controlled glide sent him flying in their direction with inhuman speed. Lindsey leaned back as far as possible and at the last second, the cable released and he landed in a crouch directly in front of them.
Smiki fired and the man rolled, coming up on his feet. With a spin, he ended up with Lindsey in front of him, her back to his chest. It happened so fast, Lindsey had no time to run. The arm without the cuff snagged about her throat in a firm hold. A tight flex warned her to not move.
“Let her go, Xyman.” Lindsey had never seen Smiki in such a rage. His eyes narrowed to pinpoints and the weapon in his arm never wavered.
Xyman nuzzled Lindsey’s cheek, causing her to shiver. “She smells so good, my friend.” He paused and the muscles behind her tensed. “She smells like a million big ones.”
Smiki’s gaze shifted to hers. “How shitty would it be if I shot you to get to him?”
Lindsey froze, then unbelievably snickered. The snickers turned into all out chuckles. She couldn’t believe it. She waited for Smiki to join her in laughter but he didn’t. Xyman growled out something she assumed to be an ugly curse because Smiki spit something back out at him.
Lindsey's Rescue: A World Beyond Book 3 Page 19
