In the Black (18 page)

“What did you do?” she whispered.

The distraction was working.

“I loved to swim so I’d go out on the lake far beyond the warning buoys. Taking it to the edge, that sort of stuff.”

“What were the buoys for?”

“There was a drop-off at that point where the sea floor went down a good mile, maybe more. It kept the casual swimmers close to the shore and away from possible danger. You cramp up out there or have trouble and you’re going to have a rough time surviving.” He drew a shallow breath, feeling the fear bubble up from his gut.

Years later and it still felt the same.

“I went out to the edge and stopped to wave back at the girls. They laughed and pointed and all I could think about is how I was definitely getting laid after this.”

He stopped, the words choking him into silence.

“What happened?” She squeezed his hand, returning the favor and warmth.

“Something—” Daniel swallowed hard. “Something touched my left foot. Curled around my ankle. Tugged at me.”

Her sudden intake of breath echoed his own.

“I kicked and screamed and it let go. Got back to the shore and didn’t go back in the water for the rest of the time I was there.”

“What was it?” she asked.

“I never found out. Could have been debris floating below the surface.” The lie tasted sour.

“But you don’t think so.”

“I don’t think so,” Daniel answered. “But I don’t go swimming in open water anymore.”

“Afraid of what’s out there waiting to grab you?” Her breathing was calm, her tone relaxed.

“No.” He looked up at her, their lips only inches apart. “I still love going deep. But only when I know what’s under the surface.”

She didn’t flinch as he moved in, seeking another taste of her.

Murder be damned. If he could help ease her pain for a minute, it’d be enough.

* * *

Daniel was going to kiss her. Again. Despite her breaking down and showing him the raw, aching mess of a woman that was Samantha Keller post-Hub.

She could have pushed him away, claiming she wasn’t interested and he was taking advantage.

She could have also called down the stars to rearrange time and space.

She wondered if he’d taste like coffee—

“Sam.” The frantic whisper in her ear startled her. Even though she’d been talking about the earpiece recently she’d never thought it’d go live, not here and now.

Talk about bad timing.

She drew back from Daniel and tapped the small communication link. “What is it?” Her free hand fumbled for the light switch and flicked it on. The temporary blindness brought her fully back to the harsh reality around her.

“It’s Bianca. She’s in the galley with a knife and she’s talking about hurting herself,” Jenny said. “What do you want me to do?”

“Shit.” Sam stood up and spun away from Daniel, focused on the mechanic’s words. “Who’s on board? How many customers?”

“We’re loaded at the moment. Rooms are full.” The panic in Jenny’s voice grew with each word. “Sam, she’s got a sword. She’s got a fucking sword. I’m in the galley here and she won’t let me go, she won’t put it down.”

She strode toward the hatch, leaving Daniel behind. There was no time to explain and she wasn’t sure she could without having him put in his two cents on how to proceed.

This was her ship, her business.

“I’m on my way. Hold tight until I get there.” She tried to make her words as reassuring as possible. “Keep your back to a wall and stay away from her. This’ll be okay, Jenny. This’ll be fine.”

She drew a deep breath. “Belle, are you online? Cut to a private channel.”

There was a beep on the line. “Yes, Sam. I apologize for not calling you first. Jenny thought it’d be better if she—”

“Shut up, Belle. Please. I don’t need Jenny listening to this.” Another beep echoed in her ear as she ran through the corridors, ignoring the curious looks from the base personnel. “Lock down the personal quarters. Tell the crew what’s going on via private message but do not tell the waiting customers in the landing bay. I don’t want a riot on my hands with wannabe heroes offering to save Jenny or any of the crew taking matters into their own hands.”

Grendel was going to throw a fit.

* * *

Daniel stepped out of the observation room and watched her sprint out of sight. He could have kept up with her but this was something he needed to handle delicately. “Etts, link me in with the
Belle
. Priority Alpha-One, as per Service regulations.”

The black box burped a high-pitched tone before letting out a satisfied tweet.

Sam might be upset at him hacking into the
Belle’s
communication channel but he’d be damned if he’d let her handle this situation alone. Not when he was there and available to assist.

He listened to the rough exchange between Belle and Sam. “Etts, please ask Belle to talk with me on a private line.” The AI could multi-task; it was what she did best. It wouldn’t be a stretch for the ship to talk with both Sam and him at the same time.

“Marshal,” the ship purred, “what can I help you with?”

“I understand you have a situation.” He looked out a nearby window and watched Sam bolt between two groups of miners. “Please brief me on it. Code Alpha-Three, rendering all assistance to a law enforcement official when asked.”

Sam would be furious.

He’d deal with that later.

* * *

Sam stopped by the hatch leading to the
Belle’s
landing bay, catching her breath and trying to calm her racing heart. Dashing through the waiting customers would signal something was wrong and undo the entire point of asking Belle to keep things quiet.

She opened the hatch and forced herself to walk through the landing bay at a leisurely pace, ignoring the miners lined up as if they were in the mess hall waiting for dinner to be served. It was difficult to move slowly as each casual step brought her closer to the door leading to the private quarters.

A soft snick as she put her hand on the hatch signaled Belle deactivating the lock with perfect timing. It was a good move by the AI, guaranteed not to draw attention to the emergency.

Once she locked the hatch behind her, she ran through the main hallway, noting each courtesan’s door was closed.

Halley’s door was still sealed, the bright neon-yellow crime tape keeping it secure.

The door leading to the galley swung open on her approach, saving her precious seconds as she went through. It shut behind her, the bars sliding into place and locking as Belle kept to her designated routine.

Jenny was at the far end of the galley, curled up in a corner. She floated there, eyes saucer-wide as she stared at Sam. She wore the same oil-stained jumpsuit and her tool belt.

But Jenny didn’t have the equipment to deal with this.

Sam wasn’t sure she did either.

Bianca stood on the table in the center of the room, a Japanese tanto at her neck with the business edge of the blade pressed against her pale skin. The small sword wavered in the dim fluorescent lighting. She wore a pale yellow T-shirt and jeans, both well-worn with age.

She looked far younger than her years.

“I can’t believe she’s gone,” Bianca sobbed. Tears streamed down her face. “We were almost done with the ship, done with this job, done with it all.” Her eyes darted around the cabin, over and through Sam. “I can’t go back to work without her. I won’t go back to work without her.”

Her eyes were wide and unfocused. Maybe it was grief or she’d gotten Sean to give her some tranqs. Either way she wasn’t playing with a full deck.

“No one’s going to make you work if you don’t want to, Bianca. Grendel can go fuck himself.” She made an obscene gesture, getting a shocked look from Jenny.

That earned her a nervous giggle from the courtesan.

Good.

Sam reached out one hand and patted the air. “It’s going to be okay, Bianca. Just put the knife down and we’ll talk about it. We can work something out. There’s no need for this.”

The frazzled woman stopped laughing and stared at Sam for a long second before pushing the blade even tighter against her skin. “Don’t come any closer. I’ll do it.” The blade shone in the overhead fluorescent lights. “I’ll do it,” she repeated. “I’ll cut my throat just like he cut hers.”

“Bianca, we all miss Halley. We all miss her.” Sam tried to sound as sympathetic as possible. “But this isn’t the right thing to do. Put the knife down and I’ll call the Guild, get you some vacation time. You’ve earned it. You deserve it.” She forced a smile. “Maybe on Rocha Nine. I’ve heard it’s a nice place to stay at, bright blue seas and beaches that don’t ever stop.”

Bianca stared at Sam. “We—we were going to buy out our contracts together, save up our money and cash out. Settle down somewhere on one of the outer colonies and homestead.”

Sam resisted the urge to sigh. It was an idealistic view of life, one that forgot the hold the Guild had on their courtesans. Buying out their contracts would take a shitload of creds and you couldn’t make that on the
Belle
, not without cutting back on all luxuries and a few necessities. From what she’d heard most courtesans signed up for a second tour still owing money from the first.

It was the Guild’s way of keeping control. At the end of your contract you might walk away with a bit of a nest egg and the reputation of being a Mercy woman or man. Or you could hope for a lot of generous tips, good luck in your investments and maybe a sugar daddy who wanted to take you away from all this.

“We’d be together. Forever.” Bianca’s voice took on a dreamy tone. “When I saw her I knew it was true love. She felt the same and we knew it was fate.”

Sam didn’t reply, holding her cynicism at bay. Out in space the urge to hook up was strong and she’d seen plenty of love stories gone wrong during her time in the military. Dear John/Jane letters were the norm when you dealt with lonely men and women desperate for love and connecting in all the wrong places. There was just something about the cold, stark darkness that made you want to grab hold of something, someone and pull him or her close to banish the fear.

She couldn’t fault Bianca and Halley for wanting to be together.

But she sure could try to make sure they didn’t both die because of it.

“Bianca, would Halley want you to do this? What would she think of you, scaring us all like this?” Sam spread her arms out, showing empty hands. She took a step toward the distraught woman. “Don’t do this. Put the knife down and we’ll talk, come up with something else, some way for you to get what you want. This isn’t the answer.”

“No.” Bianca’s voice rose to a shriek. “If I can’t be with her I don’t want to be with anyone else.”

A shadow moved behind the hysterical woman, detaching itself from the darkness behind one of the storage cabinets.

Sam knew that area, where they kept the disposable dishes and cutlery. There was no door there; there were no entrances into the galley other than the hatch to her cockpit and the one to the private quarters.

There was, however, a maintenance shaft.

Sam froze. She tried to catch Jenny’s eye, hoping and praying the mechanic wouldn’t react to the intruder.

Jenny bit down on her lower lip hard enough to draw blood but she stayed silent.

Sam squinted. She knew that figure, knew that silhouette.

Damn him.

“Bianca, listen to me.” She tried not to look at Daniel. “I’m here, I’m talking to you. I want you to focus on me and what I’m saying. I’m your captain. You have to trust me to do what’s right. I want justice for Halley. I want her killer to pay for what he’s done.”

Jenny curled up into a smaller ball, if that were possible. She clenched her knees and pulled her head down, drawing shallow breaths.

Sam resisted the urge to move forward, get closer to the frantic courtesan.

This wasn’t her area of expertise. The manual didn’t include anything about dealing with suicide attempts.

The brunette shook her head. “I know you think I did this, and I know the Guild thinks I killed her. They think I fell out of love with her, sliced her open. They’ll tell the marshal to blame me, put me away.” The knife pressed against her pale skin. “She was my whole world. I loved her. I wouldn’t kill her.”

“Then don’t do this,” Sam said. “If you’re dead they can say anything they want about you. They can put out whatever story they want about you, about Halley. Don’t let them do that to her and her memory.” She spread her hands wide. “Let’s work together and prove your innocence. Let’s show the Guild they can’t do what they want, get their way all the time.” She twisted her lips into a wry smile. “Let’s show those bastards they don’t always get to win.”

Bianca stared at her for a long moment and then returned the smile. She drew a shallow, wheezing breath before pulling the blade away from her skin.

She still held it horizontal to her neck, within the danger zone. “You’ll help me find who killed her? You’ll get me the truth?”

“I promise with all my heart.” She extended her hand. “Please trust me. Trust us.”

“No.” The blade flew up to press against bare flesh. “You’re the captain. You don’t understand us, what we do and what we go through. You don’t know anything.”

A roaring filled Sam’s ears. All she could see was Bianca’s eyes widening as she prepared to cut her throat.

She’d failed.

Again.

Another death on her hands because she couldn’t say enough, couldn’t do enough to keep someone alive.

Daniel stepped out from behind the locker, his mag-boots keeping him grounded. His hand landed on Bianca’s shoulder.

Her eyes went wide, tears breaking free to stream down her face. Her lower lip trembled and Sam knew Bianca thought she’d been betrayed.

The blade shook, reflecting the fluorescent overhead lights.

“Look at me,” Sam said, raising her voice to command level. “Bianca. Look. At. Me.” She locked eyes with the terrified woman, praying this wasn’t about to turn into a bloodfest. If the panicked courtesan started swinging that sword around—

Sam heard something, a low shushing sound like a father would make to an upset child as Daniel leaned in, his lips close to Bianca’s right ear. Whispers followed, so low Sam couldn’t hear. Another few sentences and the courtesan’s shoulders slumped forward.