Rayven's Keep (12 page)

“What did you tell him?”

“Nothing! Nothing, I swear. I just told him you were needed on Lodestone and I couldn’t spare you for this event.”

“Stupid! Stupid! We don’t want him thinking there is something going on here, you idiot!”

“I was careful. I don’t think he knows anything for sure. Why would he?”

Anto dropped onto his chair and leaned back. He steepled his fingers under his chin and looked at the ceiling, contemplating what had been said.

“You’re right. There is no reason he would know about the shipments,” he admitted. The more he thought his way through the problem the more his conviction grew. “If he thinks the Creighton bitch is in Tuor then it is to our advantage.” Sitting up, Anto punched a finger at the callscreen and continued, “You keep Maddox Creighton happy. You hear me? Do what you do best, Sonne, and kiss everyone’s ass. We don’t want anyone looking too closely at Lodestone until I’ve cleaned up this mess.”

“All right...all right.” Malvin heard a noise and his head jerked around. “Someone’s coming. I’ve got to go.”

Anto stared at the callscreen in disbelief. No one ended a connection except him. No one. He jumped up and swiped his hand across the top of his desk, sending writing implements and hardware crashing to the floor. He resumed his agitated pacing.

It infuriated him the bitch had gotten off-world without him knowing. He’d spread the word no one was to give her passage without his consent, confident he would be obeyed. Yet, somehow, she’d managed it. Worrying his bottom lip between his teeth, he stopped his pacing to gaze out the window in his office. He’d been so sure he would have time to deal with her and destroy the information she’d discovered with her snooping.

He enjoyed playing with people, and seeing Tru’s distress, particularly after he’d killed the idiotic shipping manager, had pleased him. Remembering the fear in her eyes when he’d approached her, the dropped hints about the dangers of meddling where she didn’t belong and then ransacking her room to reinforce her fear, almost made him smile. He’d planned to run her to ground and have more fun, something a little more physical. She was attractive enough, for the mouthy type, and he could think of plenty of things to occupy that mouth of hers. But, she’d disappeared. Gone. No one had seen her leave or could give him the answers he wanted.

He couldn’t believe his sheer dumb luck when he’d overheard a snippet of conversation in the alehouse. Geotern had contracted the upstart Nick Rayven to deliver the coveted mineral sample to Dendera Labs. Anto had nearly choked on his ale when Rayven’s name was mentioned. He’d left before drawing too much attention to himself, the whole time cursing his bad luck.

He wanted the mineral for himself and his partners. He’d paid through the nose for information to that weasel, Jonas Spark. He’d needed an inside man since Geotern kept the location of the mineral secret and the only hope he had of getting his hands on it was by stealing the sample. Jonas was supposed to bring it to him so Lodestone would be the company staking a claim to the mineral rights. Instead, he’d given it to Rayven.

Acid burned in Anto’s stomach, and he rubbed his sternum to relieve the pain. Another failure his partners wouldn’t forgive if they ever found out. He consoled himself with the fact Jonas wouldn’t betray him again or have a chance to rat him out. He’d made sure of it. By the time Anto was through with him, Jonas would have told him anything to stop the pain. Anto had thrown the body down the shaft of an old played-out mine.

He wasn’t sure how she’d managed it, but he was positive Tru had somehow connected with Rayven to get off Lodestone. This posed a problem because Rayven had a reputation even Anto hesitated to cross. The man wasn’t someone he wanted to mess with. Ever. But, he was desperate and if Rayven had Tru and the mineral sample, then Anto had no choice but to follow and try to get them back.

He was running out of time. His partners already wanted to know more about the mineral he’d told them about. They were also asking awkward and probing questions about why their profits were starting to fall from the normal shipments.

Anto swallowed hard. He’d gotten greedy and had been channeling some of the credits from the illicit sale of Lodestone Mining’s mineral shipments to his own accounts. He was counting on the new mineral discovery and the promise of an even bigger payoff to placate his partners.

Pacing the office wasn’t doing him any good. The walls closed in, making it hard to draw a deep breath, and his nerves jumped like bugs under a hot lamp. He debated going back to his rooms for the remainder of the day. He did it often enough and no one would question his whereabouts. Besides, he’d done all he could for the moment.

Locating a ship and crew operating in the shadows hadn’t been too difficult to find. Pirates were a well-known risk and attacked craft unlucky enough to cross their paths with alarming frequency. There was no fear of reprisal since the normal shipping lanes in space were too vast for any type of law enforcement. Anto offered a sizeable reward to make sure Rayven’s ship didn’t reach its destination. He made it clear he wanted no survivors; he only wanted the mineral onboard the ship. Just in case that failed, he hedged his bets and hired a couple of mercs from Kaydet to stake out Dendera Labs. They’d take out Rayven before he delivered the mineral. Once in Anto’s hands, it would be smooth sailing.

Running a hand through his sparse hair, he craved something to take the edge off and help him think clearly. He needed a hit of twist, the newest designer drug making its way across the galaxy with the help of Lodestone Mining. In his opinion, it had been sheer genius to hide the drug with the mineral shipments. No one would ever think to look for them there. Even Sonne didn’t know. It made it easier to keep the profits from his side venture all to himself and his silent partners.

The temptation to try twist had been irresistible. The guarantee of an unlimited supply melted away any niggling doubts he might have had. The drug boosted his senses, making him feel as if he flew on the cusp of a breaking wave, alive and powerful. Invincible.

He’d started to increase his usage, ignoring the nerves jumping like live wires whenever he went too long without a dose. The craving for the drug worried him somewhat, but was a small price to pay for the euphoria he experienced.

Anto wiped his nose with the back of his fist then left his office. He announced he had business in the mines and would be gone for the remainder of the day. There was no response, but he didn’t expect one knowing he was universally disliked. His presence served to dampen the somber mood of Lodestone’s employees further. He enjoyed the effect he had on his office personnel.

Chapter 11

True picked at her food and Nick wondered what she was up to now. She kept her head bowed, but he was aware of her quick glances shot his way. It was playing merry hell with his concentration. Whatever she was thinking must have amused her because he caught the sly smile she tried to contain out the corner of his eye.

“Don’t even think about it,” he said matter-of-factly, not bothering to remove his attention from what he was doing. “It can only end badly.”

Her head snapped up. She scowled at him through narrowed eyes while he continued to pretend he was reading information on the portable tablet in front of him.

“I have no idea what you mean,” she replied stiffening.

He glanced her way and pinned her with his gaze. He raised an eyebrow, and watched her squirm in her chair.

“It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what is going through your mind when you stab at your food and then glare at me.” Pushing aside his tray, he relaxed against the back of his chair. Long fingers played with the tablet, slowly spinning it on the surface of the table.

“I was not glaring!”

He gave her a hint of a smile. “If you say so.”

“Besides, how would you know what I was doing? You certainly don’t pay attention to me.” She shut her mouth with a snap as if she wished she could call back what she had just said. She sounded like a petulant child, which gave him pause. It wasn’t how he wanted to view her.

Unable to stop herself, she continued, “We’ve been on this ship for days and we’re still a long way from Kaydet. I’m bored, Nick. You have work to occupy your time. You get lost in it for ages and probably wouldn’t notice if I decided to take a spacewalk until it was too late.”

“I’d notice.”

She jumped up from her seat frustration in every line of her body and took her half-eaten meal to the disposal unit. “That’s not my point and you know it. You may find it easy to ignore me, but I find it uncomfortable to be trapped on this ship with someone who would rather I wasn’t around.”

“I want you around.” Nick rose and disposed of his tray.

“You have a strange way of showing it.”

“What do you want from me, Tru?” he shot back. “In case you have forgotten, this isn’t a pleasure trip. I have to get the sample to Dendera Labs and keep you alive and out of Geir’s hands. I’m not here to entertain you.”

Hissing in a breath, she spun on her heel and stomped to her seat at the table. “I get it. Obviously, I was mistaken in thinking something as simple as conversation would be part of your job description.”

He dropped his head and closed his eyes, praying for patience. “I will make more of an effort in future to include you, if it will make you happy.”

“Don’t do me any favors.” Crossing her arms, she spun her chair so her back was to him. “I will be sure to stay out of your way from now on.”

“Don’t be foolish. I’m doing my best here.”

He stared at the back of her head debating his next move. Part of him wanted to soothe the frustration and anger radiating from her and part of him wanted to keep a safe distance. Something much better for his peace of mind in the long run.

She was unlike anyone he’d ever met. He felt her unmistakable presence even if she didn’t say a word. Something about the way she moved across a room made the space seem smaller and sucked the air right out of his lungs. He tried to treat her with distant courtesy, to keep her at arm’s length, but the slow burn of desire he felt whenever she was near was like heat lightning, leaving him electrified and yearning. Nothing could have prepared him for his reaction to her. It kept him awake most nights.

His military training had taught him how to handle most situations in his life, something he did with ease under normal circumstances. There was nothing normal about the situation he faced now. He found himself watching her when he thought she wasn’t looking. She smiled often, delighted in small things and made it difficult to concentrate on his self-imposed tasks. He wanted her to look at him, really look, even though he did everything he could to keep her at a distance. He wanted to see her blue eyes flash and know without any doubt she was aware of him as a man and not just someone hired to keep her safe. He bit back a curse.

“You know what? Never mind, just forget I even mentioned it,” she said.

She spun around to face him and Nick let out a slow breath. “I can do that.”

“Captain, scans show a ship coming up fast in our right quadrant.” Siren’s interruption broke the tense silence.

“Can you identify it?” He sprinted to the bridge and slid into his chair.

“Negative. All identifying insignia has been masked. Four life signs onboard.”

“Hail the ship, Siren. Let’s see what we have here.”

“Affirmative. Channel open.”

“This is Captain Rayven of the starship
Dominion
. Identify yourself.”

“Well, well, well, Captain Rayven is it? Nice ship. I’m going to enjoy owning her.”

The man speaking over the com sounded pleased with himself and Nick’s hackles rose. “I wouldn’t be too sure of myself if I were you.”

“I’ve been searching for you. You have something onboard I want. Nice of you not to keep me waiting too long.”

“And what might that be?”

“I believe you have a mineral my client is interested in, possibly even a passenger. Hand over the mineral and the girl and I might consider letting you live...or not.” A deep chuckle came through the channel. “The girl might prove to be a little fun.”

“I have no intention of letting you take my ship or what I carry onboard. Make this easy on yourself and scuttle away. I don’t want to have to kill you.”

“You feeling lucky, Rayven?”

Nick disconnected the channel, done with small talk. Sensors confirmed the other ship had closed the distance between them and was even now maneuvering into a better position.