“Damn,” Nick said while Reese thought about the implications of this. If Korloff was planning his escape, he might have already killed Larsha.
“Did these people get any hint of where he’s holed up?” Reese asked Stickler.
She finished her drink with a grimace; the fake coffee tended to leave a bad aftertaste. “No. They recognised him but they didn’t know he’s the kidnapper, so they didn’t think anything of him wanting to leave except that the people he owes money to won’t be happy. They didn’t take any notice of where he went.”
“Did it seem as if he was going to leave at once?” he asked.
“There’s a ship that left an hour ago and he definitely wasn’t on it. I went through it myself. I don’t know if the security teams spooked him or if he still had plans here, but he’s on the station at the moment.”
“Then Larsha is probably still alive,” Nick said and held out some money to Stickler.
She took it and got to her feet. “If she is, she won’t stay that way for long unless you catch Korloff. I’ll come back if I have anything else to tell you.”
They thanked her and, as she left the canteen, Reese said, “He’s not going to commit the robbery.”
“He might,” Nick said. “That might be why he didn’t leave when he could.”
“I don’t think we can afford to wait that long to see if he shows up tonight or he might be halfway across the galaxy before we know he’s gone.”
“What can we do?”
Reese thought about it. “It’s risky but I think someone should go ahead and make the station-wide announcement that Korloff is the kidnapper. We could’ve caught him by now if we’d done it earlier.”
“Or it might have given him a reason to kill Larsha sooner.”
“True.” Reese thought about the young woman having been alone all this time with someone so deadly. He wasn’t sure what was the right thing to do but inaction would certainly get Larsha killed. She was already living on borrowed time.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
“YOU SAY daughter alive,” Yalfi, Larsha’s mother, said in an accusing tone. They hadn’t ever been able to promise this but Nick could understand why Yalfi had clung to the hope. She and Uxor were in their guest room alone, Kedos perhaps getting breakfast.
“We honestly don’t know if Larsha is still alive at this point,” Poppy said with a bluntness that made Nick wince, although he understood why she wanted to be straight with them. Even saying a white lie might make them think they couldn’t trust the detectives. “Korloff was sighted getting ready to leave the station and an informant says he wants to kill Larsha. If we do nothing, she’ll definitely die. If I announce across the station that he’s the one who took your daughter and that you’ll give a reward to anyone who helps find him, then it gives us a chance to save Larsha.”
“He is not come to rob me?” Uxor asked.
“That might still be his plan, in which case we can catch him tonight but, if not, this is the best option,” Poppy said.
“Yes. I promise one hundred thousand galactic credits reward.”
Nick’s eyebrows rose, surprised at the gesture after everything Uxor had said and done to suggest he didn’t much care about his daughter. The reward would certainly give everyone a good reason to hunt for Korloff. There was still a part of him that feared the possibility of Korloff panicking when he heard the announcement and killing Larsha, but Nick thought Reese and Poppy were right about this being Larsha’s one last chance of survival.
Poppy headed to the command centre while he and Reese each headed to a different docking bay, in case Korloff did try to flee. They had brought guns with them and told the weapons in clear language that lethal ammo was not to be used.
Nick had barely got to the one where there own ship waited with a few dozen others when he heard his sister’s voice over the station speakers. “Please could I have everyone’s attention. I am contacting you to ask for your help. The young woman who was kidnapped is being held by Jean Korloff, who also uses the name of Lors. We believe her to be in serious danger so, if you see Korloff, please let a member of station personnel know immediately. Larsha’s father, Uxor, is offering one hundred thousand galactic credits as a reward for anyone whose assistance gets his daughter back to him safely. This is an image of the man we’re seeking.”
A computer holograph of Korloff’s face appeared in the centre of the room, rotating slowly so that it could be seen by everyone there. The same pictures would be shown throughout the station and they would have to wait to see what happened next.
The announcement ended and Nick saw people talking, probably about the high reward. He kept his own gaze on the door but he saw people start searching the enormous bay. Hopefully the same thing was happening across the station and it had to only be a matter of time before Korloff was found.
The docking bay inner door slid open and Nick straightened and stepped forward to scan the faces of the four people walking inside. One was wearing a hat pulled low over his forehead and Nick began walking over to him before he noticed the man’s hands were alien, not human.
His heart was still beating fast, his body ready for action, when his hy-phone rang. He grabbed it out of a pocket. “Yeah?”
“Korloff’s been sighted by a guest in the corridor not far from where you are. Go straight ahead – is if you were making for the command centre. We’ll meet you.”
“Okay.” He was already running to the door as he ended the call and stashed the phone in his jacket. He got outside and looked around. It was empty. Hoping the report hadn’t been a prank, he jogged forward, through the brightly painted corridor and a woman caught his eye.
“Are you after the criminal?” she called.
“Yes. You saw him?”
“Right there.” She pointed ahead. “My name’s Becina, for the reward.”
“We’ll contact you,” he agreed as he took off again.
He saw a man ahead of him, dressed in white clothes, with a hood pulled up over his head. Nick got out his gun and aimed it at the man. “Korloff, stop!”
The man froze.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
“WHERE IS he?” Poppy demanded as she raced over to her brother and scanned the area.
Right on her heels, Reese asked Nick, “Are you okay?” He had got here as quickly as he could – within a few minutes of Poppy’s message – but it seemed as if any excitement was already over and the only person around in the corridor, other than Nick, was a middle-aged woman who had the expression of someone who had sucked on a lemon.
Nick glanced down at the gun in his hand with a distracted air and then put it away in the holster at his waist. “I’m fine. It wasn’t him.”
“What?” Poppy said, staring at him before looking round again.
“It wasn’t Korloff. The man was human and there was a resemblance to Korloff, so the witness really was trying to help, but it wasn’t him.”
Reese put a hand on Nick’s arm, his relief that he was unharmed mixed with disappointment that they had once again failed to catch their prey and locate Larsha. Relief was the stronger emotion, though. On his way here he had been terrified at the possibility that Nick might have got into a gun fight with Korloff and ended up dead. The idea had been unbearable and he stood drinking in the sight of Nick, suddenly aware of just how much Nick meant to him. They had only known each other for a matter of weeks but they had helped and depended on each other and Reese had had personal experience of how clever and sweet-natured Nick was. Despite having every reason to condemn Reese, Nick had instead accepted even the terrible weakness Reese had shown in the past and had offered only kindness. A voice interrupted his thoughts.
“Does this mean I won’t get any of the reward?” the woman – presumably the witness – asked them, drawing near enough to hear part of what was said.
Reese saw that Poppy looked ready to say something rude and he hastily answered, “We appreciate your attempt to help but the reward will
only be paid if we actually catch the kidnapper.”
“That doesn’t seem fair,” she muttered and trudged off.
“That fool,” Poppy said in a murderous tone.
“She just made a mistake,” Nick said. “There’s no point getting angry as this might not be the last time it will happen. The generosity of Uxor’s reward means that a lot of people will be mentioning anyone they can find that could be Korloff and perhaps one of them will be him.”
“We don’t have time for this.”
Nick gave a helpless shrug and Poppy turned and left them.
“What’s bothering her?” Reese asked.
“Poppy has always been driven over solving cases and now, with Tanya having taken over out of the blue, none of our jobs are safe.”
Reese put an arm round Nick’s shoulders. “If we do have to go, let’s wander the universe as a pair of hobo detectives, solving cases when we feel like it.”
Nick laughed and Reese felt a surge of happiness at the sight of it. Nick lightly elbowed Reese’s side. “Come on, Hobo: back to work. Let’s have another check of the docking bays. We know Korloff wants to leave and he can’t do it any other way.”
They turned round to do this, soon interrupted by another so-called sighting which also turned out to be wrong. After a couple more such mistakes, Poppy was visibly seething and even Nick seemed frustrated.
“Let’s get ready for another stake-out,” Reese said. “With so many people searching for him and us checking the docking bays whenever we could, I’m sure he hasn’t left, in which case he might well go ahead with the robbery.”
It seemed like a bit of a long-shot at this point but they had to get lucky at some point. Poppy gritted her teeth and nodded curtly and, since she hadn’t got any sleep in two days, unable to relax in case any of the sightings had proved genuine, Reese couldn’t blame her for being surly. He didn’t much like the idea of being shut alone in a room with her for most of the night, though, with Nick in more danger next door to them, waiting for a violent criminal.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
“HOW IS this take so long?” Uxor asked. “My daughter is gone for all these havyae – this translates as the equivalent of over five days. Is she about to be safe or not?”
Behind him, Yalfi let out a shrill wail and Kedos joined in.
As his translator finished relaying Uxor’s words, Reese feared Poppy was too tired to be diplomatic and answered for her, “Everything we’ve done has been to get Larsha back to you and avoid putting her in extra danger but we can’t predict how her kidnapper will behave. All I can say is that we won’t stop until we find her. There’s a good chance the kidnapper will come here tonight and he’ll lead us to your daughter.”
“Yes,” Yalfi said, reaching out to rub Uxor’s arm with a pincer-like claw. “We go and you work.”
Uxor gave a reluctant head shake of agreement.
“Thank you,” Reese said, watching as the three of them tried to pull themselves together and then left the room. Uxor’s behaviour may have been erratic but Reese didn’t doubt that he and his wife loved Larsha and the likelihood of her surviving this ordeal was getting lower all the time.
He and Nick rearranged the room a little to give Nick an unseen hiding place, Poppy sitting watching with drooping eyes, looking as if she might fall asleep at any moment.
Reese gripped Nick’s shoulder. “Will you be all right? Is there anything else you need?”
Behind them, Poppy snorted. “You weren’t so concerned about me last night.”
“True,” Reese agreed, glancing over his shoulder at her. “You’d speak up for yourself while Nick would put up with being uncomfortable or uncertain.”
Nick touched Reese’s arm to get his attention and, when Reese turned back and looked into his eyes, Nick said, “I’ll be fine. Don’t worry.”
That wasn’t an instruction Reese knew how to obey. He pulled his hy-phone out of his inner jacket pocket. “Switch on your phone and call us so we can test the link.”
Nick did this and Reese and Poppy both kept the line open to him, switching off the sound their ends so that they could hear everything Nick could hear but he wouldn’t be distracted by any conversations or other sounds from their room.
Reese gave Nick a hug, holding him close for a moment and breathing in the scent of him. Nose against Nick’s neck, he could feel his heartbeat and he desperately wanted to just stay like this, where he knew Nick was safe. He reluctantly let go and pulled away, his heart giving a jump when he saw how affectionate Nick’s return gaze was.
Poppy nodded to her brother and, hating to leave, Reese followed her into the room next door and immediately held up his hy-phone to make sure he would hear if anyone came.
“I wish you’d leave my brother alone,” Poppy said, sitting down heavily on Larsha’s bed.
Reese sat down on a chair opposite the door and stared at it. “I know you do.”
“He can’t cope with being messed about.”
He looked round. “I wouldn’t do that. He means a lot to me.”
“Am I supposed to just believe you, given everything I know about you?”
“If not then what’s the point in speaking to me?”
“I could bribe you to leave the ship.”
He didn’t even bother to look at her this time. “No, you couldn’t.”
“I could kill you and tell everyone you stayed behind.”
He looked over at her, trying to assess if this was a serious threat. It wouldn’t be a smart thing to do and, although Reese had no idea what level of violence Poppy was capable of, he was sure she would never do anything stupid. That meant she was just trying to intimidate him and he’d faced more dangerous people than her. “I know you want to protect your brother but I do too. I won’t do anything to hurt Nick.”
“Again I’m left with the question of what to believe from you. I’ll give you one chance and if you do hurt him or let him down, I’ll make you pay for it.”
Just the thought of himself or anyone else causing Nick pain was intolerable. If Reese messed up and hurt him, he would let her do whatever she wanted. He had made mistakes in the past but he would do anything for Nick. “Agreed.”
Her eyes widened slightly in surprise at this response and she nodded. They fell silent and waited.
Chapter Forty
SITTING ON the floor of Uxor’s bedroom, his head resting on his knees, Nick went still at a nearby sound, trying to determine whether it came from the corridor outside or one of the two main rooms of the suite. He strained his ears only to be half-deafened by a loud scraping sound that was definitely from somewhere in this room. It had been more than three hours and he had almost given up on the idea of anyone showing up tonight, but it looked as if they would have a chance to catch the kidnapper after all.
He leaned down low behind the flowering plants on the floor so Korloff wouldn’t see him too soon. The station plans had shown two access panels near the doors of both rooms and Korloff had picked the closer one. Nick bit his lip as he slid his hand towards the gun holstered at his waist, hyper aware of the need to be silent. He pulled at the gun but the holster was twisted by the way Nick was sitting and it was jammed in place. He slowly straightened and it came free.
He made a fast scan of the room and saw a figure emerging from under the floor, pushing aside the edge of the carpet to get inside. Nick ducked down again. He hoped Poppy and Reese had heard enough to be on their way. Korloff stepped fully into the room, his head becoming visible over the top of the concealing plants. Nick froze before he saw that Korloff was facing away from him, presumably looking for the safe.
Nick carefully straightened his arms, pointing the gun at him. “Korloff, stop!”
Nick fired at the same time as Korloff dropped into a crouch, the stun dart going into the wall opposite while Korloff hurled himself at the tunnel where he had come in. Nick jumped up but, after sitting for so long in one position, one of his legs was numb and gave way un
der him.
Korloff dropped into the tunnel and, ignoring the pins and needles of circulation returning to his leg, Nick raced after him and fell down into the tunnel just as he heard the bedroom door open. He caught the end of his sister’s exclamation as a fist slammed into his face.
He fell back with a gasp of pain but he could hear the sounds of Korloff escaping and forced himself to ignore his befuddlement from the punch. He began to crawl after the kidnapper just as someone slid down the tunnel and landed half on his legs.
He heard Reese swear and then the weight was gone. “Sorry. Are your hurt?”
“Come on.” Nick ignored the question, too focused on Korloff to think of himself. “We can’t let him get away.”
He crawled after Korloff, his progress slow and awkward in the narrow space, Reese right behind him. He could hear echoing sounds from the man up ahead, who sounded as if he was making faster progress. The tunnel kept splitting off in different directions – even more of a maze down here than it was above the floor – but he assumed these led into nearby rooms and kept to the main section. When this split into four different tunnels he could only judge by the faint noises in front of them and hope he guessed correctly.
“I’ll turn right,” Reese said, behind him and Nick wondered for the first time where his sister had got to.
“Okay.”
They headed in different directions and Nick’s part of the tunnel gradually got bigger until he was able to stand. He clambered to his feet, unable to tell whether the footsteps he could hear were from Korloff or Reese.
He stooped over to avoid hitting his head and he ran in what might or might not be the right direction after their quarry. There was a loud thumping noise ahead – like something heavy falling – and then he turned a corner and Korloff was racing at him, Poppy just behind. She must have used the plan of the tunnels to enter them ahead of the kidnapper.
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