Domestic Duet: Domestic Alliance & Asset (21 page)

He watched her try to hold in her anger under a tight grimace.

“Whether I find you attractive isn’t the point, or if I smile at your overtures. Any visible attraction between us is inappropriate for the time, making me a target for further harassment. But I’ll agree with the Captain, it takes time for me not to see your actions as racially charged.”

He watched a coating of pain engulf Sadie and a tear puddled in the corner of her eye. Racism looked different when you knew the person it’s hurting.

“Let me ask a safe question. How long have you been working the case?”

She frowned in thought. “I’ve worked for the Edwards for eight years, before I was recruited. Now I work for Captain Holston and a secret sect of the government.”

Captain Holston cleared his throat and Oliver tipped a glance at the man. What was that? She eyed Holston.

Oliver didn’t care for Sadie and Ryner’s easy glances. A history he knew nothing about lived between them.

“I’m known around town as the Edwards’ maid and believe it or not, that carries weight when half of the town keeps their life savings at his bank.”

Oliver peered out through the viewing window then back to Sadie. “Your sister, the one you live with, Theresa…How does she—”

“She doesn’t know. And it has to stay that way. My parents died last year and none of my relatives know what I do. If I need to be away for more than a few days, I know enough people that will vouch for me with the Edwards.”

Hearing the Captain adjusting himself to sit forward, Oliver tossed him a look. His lip turned up on the end; Ryner’s version of a smile. “Many try to forgo paying to have their fuel tested for recycling. Sadie’s a member of the Domestic Asset brigade.”

“No one ever suspects the maid as the informant, supplying incriminating information crucial to sentencing those abusing the system. The government allows for a select amount of companies to know of the space station to keep it controlled, and still a few greedy individuals find a way to hurt the program.”

“You know about the karuntees?” Oliver questioned.

“Captain Farkus and a few others.”

Oliver looked at Ryner for clarification.

“Detective Ochi was kidnapped by Farkus,” Captain Holston informed him and rested his arms out over his knees, his face sad.

Oliver blinked. He eyed this woman a second time, concern drawing his brows together. “Kidnapped—Farkus is the fiercest, take nothing from no one, karuntee out there.” He started to touch her face but dropped his hand. “He ever hurt you?”

She cast a sarcastic glance. “Shocked that not every karuntee walks around biting people?” Her face went blank except for the hit of pain she tried to conceal behind a cold stare.

“Just the karuntee’s type. Maybe I should rescue Farkus,” he bit out dropping her hand. The last thing he needed was to fall for the same woman as Aroc. Katherine all over again. He wasn’t prepared for her next words.

“There’s that superior tone you take when someone’s different than you. Karuntians stay to themselves for a reason, Cantrell. Captain Farkus…I’ve come to know him in ways you wouldn’t understand. I don’t see him the same as most.”

Oliver trailed her hands moving toward his cup of coffee. Sadie took a deep drink before she sank down on his sofa. Surprised, he studied her when she reached out a hand and lifted Ted off the table, stroking the iguana as if he were a kitten. More importantly, how carefully she massaged around its spikes. Was she thinking of Captain Farkus’ spikes? Maybe she enjoyed pain. Who other than a karuntian to provide rough sex?

His fists clenched along his side. “What did he do to you, Detective?”

Sadie went still, as if remembering something uncomfortable. “Farkus. He’s like any other captain protecting his station and his people.” She became quiet then rubbed Ted’s spine slow and careful. “He held me captive on Sector Four for a month.” Sadie set the lizard on the table, not making eye contact. Why wouldn’t she look at him?

“There’s stipulations on interacting with us humans, Sadie. Why didn’t you have him charged?”

Sadie chuckled and it wasn’t a pleasant sound. “I’ve made my peace with the captain, Commander Cantrell.”

“What happened?”

Did he want to know? Maybe not. He’d already asked.

She eyed her nails, the memory unraveling her composure. “He showed up in my backyard on Earth one night when I’d taken the garbage out, told me not to scream, and transported me to his vacation home on Sector Four. Much the same way you did today, Oliver, knowing once I’d seen this world, there was no going back without a memory sweep. You two have a lot in common.”

That irked him…comparing him to a filthy karuntian. He squinted as another question crossed his mind. “Obviously,” he said trailing her face with his eyes, “He let you go, why? What do you have on the captain, Sadie?” At the sight of her shaking her head and peering up through those long lashes, Oliver’s voice trailed off.

“He let me live. There’s a difference,” voice tight, she corrected him and Oliver caught the possession in her words for the karuntee. “After weeks of negotiating, we have an amicable arrangement that suits both of our needs.” Resting back on the sofa, Sadie drew in a long breath releasing it to continue. “The Karuntee captain and I are—friends—alliances on a journey that merged our paths.”

“Then I guess our paths crossed as well.” Angered by her corny drivel he shot back while pacing a circle, “The difference—Sadie—is I don’t force myself on women.”

She jerked her head around, her big brown eyes full of fire. “When did I say he forced me to be anything I wasn’t willing to be? I do what I want and if that offends you…not my problem.”

One brow jacked up in frustration. “I guess there’s someone for everyone.”

Ryner sat forward.

Sadie said, “Let’s hope so, Commander. We can’t all desire the same meal. There wouldn’t be enough to go around.”

They both looked over as Ryner’s voice boomed through the space. “Hold off on the assumptions, Commander Cantrell. Detective Ochi’s accepted by the karuntians. Farkus allows her access where other humans are denied. She’s risked her life many times to develop the relationship they have. Farkus gives her access I could never get on my own.”

Oliver frowned. “I bet he does.”

Sadie sat up straight. “Say it, Commander Cantrell, before you explode,” she urged, tilting her angered yet beautiful face. “Let me help you. How can I let one of those karuntee touch me? Am I tainted now? Less than human maybe. I’ve heard it all.”

Sadie’s words blasted him straight in the gut. This reeked of his situation with Katherine. She found the karuntian attractive.

His body tightened. “I’m going down to check the shipments.” He grabbed up his pack, slipping it over his shoulders. “Leave me a blanket on the sofa. I’ll sleep out here tonight.” He watched her take something from her pocket and stand.

“Don’t bother. I’ll send my sister on Earth a message and be out of your hair,” she uttered in that southern drawl he found attractive.

“Wait a minute, Detective,” Captain Holston ordered. “Until this is over, you two work together. The government has Special Forces ready to handle this shipment if everything goes as they say. I want to see those reports.” He ran a hand through his black hair. “You two can kill each other, screw like wild karuntees, however, deal with the tension between you, but do it after this mission is complete. Leslie will deliver any day. I’m in no mood for this shit.”

Oliver caught the stunned look on Sadie’s face. Had what the Captain said been on her mind? Was she aroused as he was seeing her body strain against the uniform? But she rolled her eyes and held her device, scanning her report.

“Where’s your data pod? I need to send in my report,” she said, raising her gaze to look about his home. “I promise not to breathe on your stuff.”

“At the end of the hall there’s a transmission cube in the wall,” Oliver replied a little surly before stepping through the door. He eyed Captain Holston, frowning his irritation.

“I’ll wipe my prints off afterward,” Sadie blurted out.

Fingerprints weren’t his concern. He wanted her and she was sleeping with a karuntee.

Chapter 9

All this time, right under his nose, Sadie worked undercover in the Edwards’ home. The woman had said nothing and he’d missed it; too busy ogling those hips swaying through the house.

He groaned, depressing the code for the bay doors keypad positioned on the wall. They emitted a whisper, opening onto a large steel-gray bay. Twelve-foot slots were sectioned off on the floor by glowing lines with three feet between each shuttle. Inside his crew milled about, working in teams of three, checking in new shipments from all over Earth. Multiple containers of used fuels to filter then recycle into clean non-lethal fuel to power marine vehicles underwater, lined one end of the bay in six-foot cylinders.

He tugged the material of his uniform pant leg over his thighs. Squatting before a recycled tank, now relabeled for melting and recycling to be returned to Earth for train boxcars, he logged the tracking numbers. His mind drifted.

Stop thinking about her, you’ll only drive yourself crazy.
Oliver chastised himself for not seeing through her disguise. Chalk it up to female distraction. Like a horny teenager, he’d fallen under her simple beauty and that sweet tea country accent, too humble to be believable. Damn, he needed a woman badly.

Oliver made his rounds, checking the fuel roster for the returning shuttles. If anyone went outside of their zone, it would show when they refueled. And the last thing he needed was for one of his men to have gone rogue.

“Commander.” His foreman walked up handing him the electronic shipping log, “Let me get your sign off, so I can free up a crew to help with this order.”

Oliver studied the states consistently sending clean fuel. The government gave dividends to states that abided by the rules. Once a year they received a kickback for their public school systems.

“How’s Branch and McClain after the fight the other day?” he inquired of the men that fought alongside him when the rogues entered his bay.

“Good. The karuntian captain replaced all the broken equipment and the two-day salaries he reimbursed shows character. I wasn’t expecting him to anti-up without a fight.”

“The one good thing about the treaty is infractions must be dealt with immediately,” he said, jotting his signature with the electric pen.

“Commander…you have a visitor. Is she the one shacking up with the karuntian captain?”

He looked up. Why didn’t he know this and everyone else did? Because he didn’t socialize. “See to your men, Foreman, and check the tanks. If you don’t have enough work…”

The man backed away, shaking his head. “More than enough,” he said, and then spit out orders as he crossed the room.

Oliver pivoted on his boots upon hearing Sadie’s footsteps approaching, signaling their next fight to begin in three, two, one…

“Commander Holston said I’d find you down here in your favorite place,” Detective Ochi said, her voice raised over the hum of his staff testing the equipment as she stepped through the entryway, blending into the flow. The metal door slid from one side to the other with a whisper.

Sadie’s long braided hair hung in a satin rope, bouncing over one breast trapped under the tight uniform with each step. She was always pulled together, he’d noticed. The visual of Aroc running his hands through her hair, leaving her in disarray, had him flexing his hands. Was this Katherine’s situation all over again?

“Transport station can loan you a shuttle when you’re ready. You seemed to have a problem with transporting.”

Her stance stiffened. “Can’t wait to get rid of me? Not a problem. I didn’t come down here so we could throw rocks at one another, Commander. I wanted to apologize for spitting venom at you like that. I’m protective of my relationship with Captain Farkus.”

He gave her a side-glance. “Spare me the sordid details, Detective.”

She scrunched her nose. “You’re a puzzle, Cantrell. I’ll just take a look at the tanks…see if there’s anything physical to connect the other men to the shipments. I want them all to pay for sending this crap up here.” She walked across to the contaminated cylinders, studying the markings.

He swivelled around on his feet. “You had me fooled with your big-eyed stares. Chastising me for offering to take you home the other week like some innocent—”

“Watch yourself, Commander. Not allowing you to take me home had nothing to do with innocence and everything to do with perception and safety. Black women turned up missing or dead accepting rides from men that were attracted to them and no one cared.” She sighed setting down the detail roster. “Before I was kidnapped, I was Sadie, the maid. Coming up here, being thrust into a whole other world, I had to learn fast it wasn’t my race but my gender. Right away, men like you had a label for me when I didn’t run screaming away from Aroc…Captain Farkus.”

“Men like me?”

“Yes—men like you. It’s written under your smug smiles and leering looks that you view women—especially black women—as inferior.”

“And you know this from what?” he retorted, biceps bulging under the pressure of his folded arms.