Steel Coyote

by Beth Williamson

  “After this is over, I want to do more to stop the slavers. Maybe we can save more people, not just those babies. Colonists came here to start a new world, but instead, they became part of a madman’s plan to get rich by selling humans. And now by making humans to be slaves.” This was a different Max from the man she knew. He was full of passion and righteousness, someone who’d found what he needed to do. A man with a mission.

  “If we save a few more, then maybe a few more, we can make a difference.” Remy hadn’t ever considered she’d take on a cause. Gunnar had taught her to be a businesswoman and a ship’s captain. Now she had a choice to do more, to be more.

  “I’m with you. We came here to do something, and I shouldn’t let a couple assholes slow us down.”

  Remy was tense, her emotions still running high. “Waiting a bit will give them time to find us.”

  “They can try, but I left a trail that would be hard to track. I know how to be covert.”

  She frowned at his logic. “If they’re professionals, your efforts won’t stop them.”

  “That’s a chance we have to take. We left the rest of the weapons behind. All we have are my pistols and yours. We have to be smart with our ammunition and our moves.” He blew out a breath. “Delmar’s private army is well trained, but they aren’t professionals. We can outwit them.”

  Remy hadn’t been impressed with Rockford or his partner. “I don’t think that will be hard.”

  “Regardless, from this moment on, we need to be on point. No mistakes.”

  She got to her feet and squared her shoulders as best she could. “Let’s get it done.”

  …

  Max reached for the control on his wrist and stared at the small band in disbelief. His heart dropped to his feet and a heated flush swept through him. A bullet had cracked the screen, which meant there was no way Saint could project. Maybe ever again. His last act had saved Max from a bullet.

  “Fuck.” He ran his hands down his face. “I’m sorry, Saint. I’ve caused harm to everyone around me.”

  He’d lost the only friend he’d ever had.

  “Is it broken?”

  He shook his head, unwilling to talk to anyone, even Remy, about this loss. Perhaps later when he could find the words. But not now.

  He pushed away the grief of losing Saint for now. He had to. “Let’s focus on what we know. The Great Family is here, which means Delmar knows we’re here. Who else?”

  “Hmph. I wouldn’t put it past the Corporation military to be listening to everyone everywhere. However, because the people in the land cruisers didn’t kill us, I have to assume they don’t want us dead.” She frowned.

  Given Remy had already contacted them, they likely knew the cases held nothing but trash, too. That told him they were after Delmar and were coming fast and hard. His opportunity to stop his father, to finally beat him, was slipping away.

  Damn.

  When he leaned around the corner of the barn to get a better look at the main house, something slammed into his skull. Remy shouted and cursed as the ground rushed up at his face, then everything went black.

  …

  Max’s head pounded in tune with his heart. Thump. Thump. Thump. He tried to remember where he was and what had happened. Pain ripped through his skull when he moved. A small groan trickled out of his mouth.

  “Mr. Del?” A woman spoke from nearby.

  He opened his eyes. Light trickled in from beneath the door, but everything was cloaked in gray shadows. He lay in his old room at the big house. Memories assailed him, crowding his thoughts. He closed his eyes again, trying to block it all out.

  “Well met, Mr. Del.” The woman poked his shoulder. “You are even paler than you were ten minutes ago.”

  “This room. Shit. He did it on purpose.” Max beat back the dark emotions with effort.

  “You’ve come back to us, Mr. Del.” She sounded so matter-of-fact. “We have happiness to see you.”

  Max managed to focus on the woman. “Well met, Rosemary.” His throat tightened. The housekeeper had been a mother figure to him after he’d been forced to live apart from his own. She looked as though she’d aged twenty years and not ten. The petite woman had bright red hair, a face of freckles, and the brightest blue eyes. She had a few scars on her right cheek and her right pinky finger was gone.

  “Yes, Mr. Del.” She smiled but it was lopsided due to the scars. “You are here now. We thought you gone for good.”

  “So did I.” He pushed himself into a sitting position, and his stomach flipped.

  “I’m happy to see you.” She held out a cup. “I brought water.”

  He took it and slurped down the cool liquid. Max sighed. “It’s good to see you. I changed my name to Max. I’m sure you know why.”

  “We can’t choose our parents, but we can choose who we are.” Rosemary’s voice was laced with a quiet anger.

  Max managed a smile. “You’ve always been so wise, Rosemary.”

  She shrugged. “I speak for true only.”

  As Max looked at the older woman and her scarred visage, shame washed through him. He’d been a selfish, foolish young man who’d given no thought to the rest of the people within his father’s control. Rosemary was a good woman, as were all the servants in his father’s household. She didn’t deserve to be indentured to a man who cared so little for life.

  “I’m sorry I abandoned you and the others.” Regret coated his words. “I promise you I’m going to do my damndest to stop him.”

  She cupped his cheek with one callused hand. “Don’t worry about us, Mr. D— Max. We are too old to live otherwise. Save the young ones, if you can.”

  “I’m going to try.” He took her hand. “Have you seen my friend? She’s a tall blonde lady. I think they took her from the south end barn.”

  Rosemary shook her head. “I was in the kitchen when you were brought in, so I didn’t see anyone else. I will find her.”

  “I can’t ask that of you.” He tried to stand but fell onto his knees when a wave of dizziness hit him.

  “You’re not asking. I’m offering.” Rosemary touched a fist to her heart. “You were a boy we all loved. If we could take your punishments, we would have. Let us be brave enough to help.” She walked on nearly silent feet from the room with more dignity than Max ever had.

  He could hardly believe this woman who had lived her life as a slave would once again risk death or worse. For him. For a boy who left them behind and ignored his past for ten years. He’d buried everything he’d felt for so long, he’d made himself into a ghost. His soul had been shoved into a deep, dark hole.

  It was time to become human again and remember from whence he came. It was time to stop running and fight.

  Chapter Nine

  Remy didn’t know exactly what she expected Delmar Coddington to look like, but she was sure it wasn’t the handsome man who strolled in. The light from the hallway outlined him in a halo. Completely free of the horns she knew he sported, his hair was cut short, but not in military style, and black as a raven’s wing, like Max’s. His eyes were also the same blue color. Their appearances were close enough to mark them as kin. Delmar wore a pair of canvas trousers and a crisply pressed blue shirt. Truthfully, he could have been someone she met on any planet, outpost, or space station.

  He didn’t look like a monster.

  That was the most dangerous part of him—his ability to look normal and pass for an everyday man. Her instincts were on high alert, and she was glad she already had knowledge of him. He would have charmed and fooled her otherwise, as he’d probably done to countless others.

  “Hello, Captain Hawthorne. I’m Delmar Coddington.” His smile was beautiful, but it didn’t reach his eyes. They were dark and cold.

  “Why am I here?” She stood in the corner, unwilling to risk an attack from behind. She glanced around the room she’d woken up in. There was a small cot, a table beside the bed, and a few hooks on the wall. There was nothing else in the spartan chamber.
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  There were also no windows and nothing to use as a weapon.

  “You were trespassing on my property with a known fugitive. I don’t take crime lightly, Captain.” He was eerily motionless except for blinking in rapid bursts.

  “Let me go. Now.” She thrust up her chin and wished like hell she had her six shooter.

  “You’ve got courage, I’ll give you that.”

  She fisted her hands. “You have no right to hold me.”

  “I can see my son has been warping your mind.” Delmar opened his arms. “He’s always been delusional and committed multiple crimes before he ran from Haverty. I’ve been looking for him since, hoping he didn’t hurt anyone else while he was on the run from the military.”

  Remy narrowed her gaze. “You were the one.”

  “Pardon me?” His manners and speech were as precise as she’d ever heard.

  “You were the one who had the military chasing Max. Somehow, you managed to put them on his tail.” She snarled at him. “You’re as bad as he says you are.”

  “His name is Delmar Coddington, Jr. Not Max Fletcher. That ridiculous name will never be used in this house.” It was the first time she’d seen a reaction from him.

  She could rattle his cage some more, too.

  “He outsmarted whoever you put on his tail. We’ve also made sure your new crop of babies will never step foot on this fucking moon.” Fists raised, she rushed toward him.

  Remy had taken her eye off the door, so when someone grabbed her arm, she lost her balance and found herself captured by another cruel-looking son of a bitch in a uniform she could only assume was General Benson.

  Fucking hell.

  …

  When his father walked into the room, Max assumed he’d lose control. Instead, a cold calm swept over him. He stared at his father and wondered how he could have thought the older man was frightening. He was a sick, weak bastard who deserved nothing. “Let us go.”

  Delmar chuckled and shook his head. “Well met, Del. I never thought to see you again. I’m very glad to see you alive, if not in one piece.”

  “You have no reason to hold us.”

  “Ah, but I do. You see, your lady friend was paid to deliver cargo, and she decided to keep the contents of it instead.” Delmar’s gaze narrowed. “And then, you had the audacity to try to fool me. Tsk, tsk.”

  Max bared his teeth. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. We delivered the cargo Cooper loaded on her ship.”

  “Del, you chose a woman with bad qualities—a thief and a liar. I could kill her now.”

  “Try it, and I’ll take you with me.” Max reached for the guns that no longer sat in their holsters. He itched to punch the son of a bitch.

  “Violent, too? You never learned to control your temper, did you?” Delmar leaned against the wall, crossed his arms, and looked at him with disdain on his face. “I don’t know why you didn’t accept what I offered you. You could have had all of this, including your pick of women on Haverty. Hell, you could have had as many as you wanted.”

  Max trembled as ancient rage poured through him. “I didn’t want any women from this moon. They would not come to me of their own free will. Remy is captain of the ship I call home. She is everything I never was because of you. Don’t disparage her again, or I’ll rip your fucking tongue out.” Menace coated every word.

  Delmar shook his head. “I’m disappointed to see you’re still the angry child who wouldn’t accept his inheritance.”

  “No one with a conscience would accept handfuls of blood from an asshole like you.”

  “Calling me names isn’t going to get you or your lady friend out of here.” Delmar was right, of course, but Max had to get the words out or they’d continue to poison him. “You’ve returned to the bosom of your family. To stay.”

  Max found himself laughing. The more he laughed, the deeper his father scowled.

  “What is so amusing?”

  Max held up one finger and managed to suck in a breath so he could speak. “You’ve no idea what a family is. I was never part of yours, and I never will be.”

  His father opened his mouth to speak when the sound of gunfire came from outside. Delmar looked startled. Max hoped Remy had somehow escaped and was raising hell in the compound.

  “You look scared, Delmar. Is something wrong?” He folded his arms and hoped hell was about to break loose.

  “I had big plans for you, Del. But you ran before they came to fruition.” Delmar reached for the doorknob to leave. “I loved you, boy.”

  Max shouldn’t believe him, but a ring of truth sounded in his words. In his twisted world, perhaps Delmar had loved his son. That didn’t make up for all the people he’d enslaved or killed. Nothing ever would.

  “I want nothing to do with you or the slave trade. I didn’t ask for it, either.” Max shook his head.

  “Where are the babes? I need them to replenish my stock.” Delmar tightened his grip, nearly pulling the knob from the door.

  “They’re with families who will love them. You will never get them, because I demagnetized their chips so they’ll never function. The Great Family helped us make that happen.” He waited for the explosion. For the first time in his life, he was helping to do the right thing, no matter the consequences. And it felt damn good.

  Delmar’s expression didn’t change but a muscle twitched in his cheek. “You’ll regret this.” His father left the room and slammed the door behind him. The sound of the locks clicking echoed in the empty room.

  “Well, fuck.” He checked the recording device in his collar, and it had picked up the entire confession. While he didn’t expect to use his father to hang himself, he had the evidence he needed.

  Max pressed his ear to the wall and heard more gunshots in the distance. Something was happening, and he needed to get out of the room. There were no windows and the door was padlocked from the outside. He knew this place well, because it had been his prison before he escaped with the help of the staff. Max searched every inch of the room and found a grand total of nothing.

  Damn, damn, damn.

  Another ten minutes had gone by when he heard a scraping in the lock, and it wasn’t a key. He had nothing to defend himself with, so he crept closer with his fists raised. His heart thundered with anticipation as the door slowly opened.

  He jumped out from behind and grabbed the interloper, only to find his brother Mason’s shocked face inches from his own.

  “Mason? What the hell are you doing here?” He could only remember the boy saying he’d never step foot on Haverty again.

  “He insisted on coming with me.” Katie poked her head into the room. “Are you alone in here, Fletcher?” She glanced around the room.

  “She’s not here.” Max grimaced. “I don’t know where they’re keeping her.”

  “Then you need to find her.” Katie frowned up at him.

  “Damn straight I will.” Max would burn the moon to a cinder if anything happened to her.

  “Good, we’ll meet you outside in ten minutes.” Katie and Mason ran down the darkened hallway, leaving Max to find Remy on his own.

  …

  Remy watched the general warily, her hackles raised and her heart slamming against her ribs. “Big man, carrying a weapon against an unarmed opponent.”

  “Bitch, you’re not an opponent. You’re a vessel, a subservient being.”

  Whatever he was, Benson was fast. He grabbed her by the hair and dragged her to the cot until she was face down.

  He was in a rage and used his fists on her. Blood filled her mouth as her teeth cut into her cheeks. Pain pounded through her as he continued to punch her head over and over. She tried to twist from his grasp but to no avail. His grip was like steel. Her injured right arm was throbbing. She had never considered being female to be a problem until this moment.

  Fight like you mean it, Remy. Never give up and never give in.

  Her father’s words echoed in her head. She pushed up against her captor and mana
ged to get an elbow in his gut. His sour smell washed over her as he grunted. She took the moment to go boneless and slide from his grasp.

  Remy hit the floor and reached up to punch him in the balls. He growled in rage and fell sideways onto the floor with a thump. While her head swam from the beating, she got to her feet and wiped the blood from her lips.

  “Asshole.” She’d pulled her foot back to kick him when the door opened, and she jumped to a safe distance. Delmar poked his head in and frowned at the two of them.

  “Get up, Benson. There are intruders in my compound.” He pulled the gun from his holster and aimed it at Remy. “Let me finish this now.”

  Before he could pull the trigger, a man appeared behind him with a shotgun. He slammed the stock into Delmar’s head. As Max’s father hit the floor, Benson groaned from behind her, still cupping his balls.

  The stranger wore farmer’s clothes, but the way he moved told her he was no local. “Captain Hawthorne?”

  “Uh, yes.” Her head hurt so bad, and her damn ears were ringing. “Who the hell are you?”

  “Get moving. I’ll take care of these two.”

  She wasn’t sure who the man was, but she didn’t care at that point. Remy darted out the door and slammed right into Max. She gasped and grabbed him into a hug. Relief and what she thought might be delayed fear washed through her.

  “Jesus, Remy, what happened to your face?” Max tried to pry her off him but she wasn’t ready to move.

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  “It matters to me.” His heart thumped against hers and his scent filled her nostrils. This was where she belonged.

  “You two need to get moving.” Another man in farmer’s clothes appeared with a shotgun behind them. “The others are waiting.”

  As they headed to the front door to leave, a siren sounded and the door slammed open.

  “What the hell?” Remy’s eyes widened as a tall, elegant woman dressed in black drifted into the house. “Holy shit.”