Dark Solstice (31 page)

It must have irked the shit out of him that he couldn’t figure out a way to separate Rhea from him. Aside from the fact that he’d been smitten with her, he’d had a duty to protect her and, if he’d learned anything about Kyle Justice, it was that he took his job dead seriously.

The interrogators arrived right on time, moving into the room officiously and settling in the chairs across the table from him. Raathe lifted his head and studied both men blandly.

“You’re being charged with escaping a maximum Federation prison, John Raathe,” the lead investigator informed him in a clipped voice.

Raathe favored him with a look of cold amusement. “Is that a fact?”

“That is a fact, Mr. Raathe.”

“Since I was escorted out of the prison by a Federation Ranger, it seems to me that would fall under a transfer, not a prison break.”

The man reddened slightly. “Ranger Justice was sent in to perform an undercover operation.”

“I figured that out,” Raathe drawled dryly. “Since it was an official, sanctioned, operation, however, and he
is
a ranger, and he
did
remove me from the prison, it’s still a legal transfer.”

The man looked at Raathe with barely concealed fury for several moments and finally managed to regain control of his temper. “We may consider cutting you a deal,” he went on after a prolonged silence where he focused on flipping through the file he’d brought with him, apparently having decided to proceed even though his intimidation tactic had gone completely awry.

“What kind of deal?”

The man gave him a cool look. “The penalty for escape is twenty years added to the original sentence. In exchange for your testimony against the Johann Solutions Corporation in regards to certain illegal activities within the prison on Phobos, and within the company, we might consider cutting the time by half.”

Anger glittered in Raathe’s eyes. “Let me get this straight—you think you can bargain with me to testify for you so that you can
fine
the Johann Corporation and in exchange you
might
give me a break on a jail sentence for something I didn’t do? Does that about cover it?” He lifted his index finger. “Why don’t you sit on this and take a little spin, Ranger?”

“The warden and his men have been taken into custody for charges that will see them in jail for a healthy term,” the ranger said tightly. “Your testimony could help convict them but isn’t absolutely necessary. Ranger Justice will certainly testify. Why don’t we just leave you to think it over for a while?”

“And the CEO of the Johann Corporation will only be getting a slap on the wrist and a
healthy
fine, right?” Raathe asked disgustedly when the two reached the door.

The one who’d done all the talking turned to look at him. “At this point we have no direct evidence connecting Mr. Dunn with the operation at Phobos.”

“Guess that means you didn’t get my memo.”

The man paused, but he didn’t turn.

Raathe studied the door through narrowed eyes after the two men had left. After a few moments, he transferred his attention to the vid blinking at him in the corner. “Check mate, Justice.”

Chief Ranger Coulter turned from the vid display, eyed Justice speculatively for several moments, and finally shook his head. “I hate to say it, but the bastard’s right. Any lawyer worth his salt could him get off on that technicality. All they have to say is that we sent you in to remove him as a witness—which we did—and that he was aware all the time that that was the situation. It would just be his word against yours. Yours counts more, but that won’t get us what we need—his testimony.”

Reluctant admiration filled Kyle, but he tamped it ruthlessly, reminding himself that John Raathe was a cold blooded killer, not a man to be admired for any reason. Beyond that, it royally pissed him off to think he’d been through hell for damned near a year and might not have a fucking thing to show for it—except that he’d succeeded with flying colors in making Rhea hate his guts. It didn’t make him feel one fucking bit better that he’d suspected from the first that his handling of the situation was going to have that unhappy result.

Not that he could actually call what he’d done ‘handling’ it. From the moment he’d met Rhea he’d been stumbling around like a raw recruit—or adolescent without a hell of a lot on his mind besides figuring out a way to get his dick in her. In retrospect, his behavior was downright embarrassing. He just hoped to hell he was being hypersensitive about it and hadn’t actually made as big a fucking ass of himself as it seemed to him that he had.

He had a bad feeling, though, that he’d been too preoccupied even to remember half the stupid things he’d said and done around her and that he’d actually made
more
of an ass of himself than he realized.

Pushing that from his mind, he tried to focus on the problem at hand, frowning thoughtfully. “Surely we got enough when you went in and arrested the warden to put him and his men away? To say nothing of the fact that there are plenty of prisoners there who’d be glad to take a deal to testify.”

Coulter stood up and paced the room. “Whatever else Raathe might be, a jury would come a lot closer to listening to his testimony than that scum. In any case, it’s a hell of a lot bigger than we’d expected. Raathe uploaded a mother lode against the Johann Corporation. We’ve taken about fifty of the highest execs in the company into custody for murder, conspiracy to commit murder, arms dealing, corruption, extortion, fraud … and I’m not sure we’ve scratched the surface yet.

“In fact, I’m pretty sure we haven’t. We did get enough to seize the company records. There’ll probably be another hundred warrants issued before it’s over with. We need Raathe’s testimony.”

Justice shifted uncomfortably in his chair. He didn’t doubt he was in for an ass chewing over the fact that Raathe had broadcast their evidence right under his nose, but he discovered he was actually almost relieved that he had. Unwilling to examine that too closely, he focused on his boss again. “So we use some of the evidence against Raathe, offer him a deal, and get him to testify. I don’t see the problem.”

“The
problem
,” Coulter said furiously, “is that Raathe sabotaged the Johann Corporation’s mainframe while he was busy uploading all that evidence he broadcast! We seized the corporation’s mainframe! There isn’t a single fucking reference to John Raathe
anywhere
! We don’t have anything to negotiate with!

“Except his original conviction.”

“We don’t fucking have that either! The vids used to convict him for the murder of Wilhem Johann were altered. When we broke into the main security system, we found the originals—He didn’t
kill
Wilhem Johann. The security detail that went in after him killed Wilhem Johann—just like he said at the trial!”

Justice felt the sudden urge to laugh. He killed it with an effort. “So you’re saying he’s squeaky clean?”

“You and I both know he isn’t, but we don’t have anything to hold him on—at least not right now—which means we don’t have any fucking leverage.”

Justice considered that thoughtfully. “Maybe we don’t need leverage.”

“You think he’ll just agree to help the justice department after he’s just spent two years in that hell hole for a murder he didn’t even commit?” Coulter demanded sarcastically.

Justice sat forward in his chair. “Raathe left the military and joined the Johann Corporation after his woman’s murder, right?
Right
afterwards. Why not dig a little deeper and see what you come up with? If they’ve made a business of murder and extortion, maybe they had something to do with turning Raathe besides an offer of more money?

“He took a hell of a risk breaking their security to implant his backdoor to get the dirt on them. And that was
before
he was accused and convicted of Wilhem Johann’s murder. He doesn’t strike me as a crusader. But he
does
strike me as man who would go out of his way for revenge.

“He damned near killed a man in Phobos for attacking Rhea—Dr. Landon. If he found out the Johann Corporation had anything to do with his woman’s death that would be a strong motive for him to take them down. And if that’s the case, I’m thinking we won’t need to coerce him to testify. I’m thinking he’ll be all too happy to.”

Coulter studied Justice thoughtfully and finally returned to his desk. “Maybe. He’d have to admit to working for them, though, in some capacity. At this point, there isn’t any record that he ever did.”

Justice snorted. “If he did what we know he did, I imagine he has a plan. You might as well cut him loose. At this juncture, we’re not winning him over and it looks like that’s all we’ve got to work with.”

Coulter ground his teeth. “It irks the shit out of me to turn that bastard loose when he’s suspected of god only knows how many assassinations!”

“Before or after he left the Federation’s service?” Justice asked dryly.

Coulter glared at him. “You’re mighty damned cool about the situation! If I didn’t know you better, Justice, I’d be wondering if you weren’t glad to see the man cut loose!”

Justice narrowed his eyes at Coulter, coming slowly to his feet. “He spent two fucking years in Phobos for a crime he didn’t commit. That goes against everything I stand for,” he growled. “If we had anything besides suspicion on any other illegal activities he’d been involved in, I’d be happy as hell to arrest him and throw him in a hole and throw away the key. You say we don’t. That says to me that he’s innocent and I don’t deal in anything but justice and that takes cold, hard facts.”

He stabbed a finger at the surface of Coulter’s desk. “The
fact
is that John Raathe has an exemplary service record and he was one of the Federation’s most highly decorated officers. It sure as hell goes against the grain with me to kick a war hero in the teeth after that many years of service to his government and the people!”

Coulter eyed him stonily for several moments and finally relented. “Tell them to release him. Since you seem to have formed a
bond
with him, maybe you can convince him to testify.

“I want your preliminary report on the situation in Phobos pronto. Otherwise, I’d just as soon not see you any time soon. Take a leave. Get a psychic evaluation and stay the fuck out of my office!”

Chapter Twenty Six

Rhea was sick at heart, but she wasn’t sick and she wasn’t hurt.

She didn’t want the damned examination!

She wanted to refuse treatment when the man came to collect her to take her for a medical exam, but she was too distraught to feel up to objecting, too fearful that she’d loose control and end up having a psych exam on top of the medical examination.

She wasn’t certain she had the right to object anyway. No one had spoken to her since she’d been picked up from Mars and she had no idea whether she would be facing charges of some kind or not.

It had occurred to her, though, that it was probably stupid to antagonize Kyle when he’d seen what she’d done to Grimes and Cook.

He’d left her in a stateroom, though, a guest room that was very obviously not a cell of any kind. She hadn’t been locked in. She’d discovered that when it had finally occurred to her to try the door.

Knowing
something, she thought, would’ve helped her feelings a great deal, even if the news was bad. The uncertainty of her situation was almost as debilitating as her distress over Kyle’s betrayal and Raathe’s arrest.

She didn’t find the med-lab particularly comforting or the med-tech, for that matter. They provided her with a female, but she was as hard faced and unfriendly as any of the men Rhea had glimpsed since her arrival on the ship. She all but curled her lip at the suit Rhea was wearing, handing her a gown and ordering her to remove her suit.

The table was cold. Rhea’s teeth began to chatter within moments of settling on the icy surface and neither the blinding overhead lights nor the scrap of material she’d been given to cover herself with warmed her to any degree.

The woman positioned the scanner over the table and set it into operation, moving to the computer screen to study the read outs as the machine began it’s slow trek from her head to her toes, reading the results off the screen in a bored drone. Rhea ignored most of it until the scanner reached her abdomen.

“Fetus. Four weeks.”

“Wait!”

“Be still!” the woman said sharply. “The scan isn’t finished!”

“Go back!”

“What?”

“What did you say about a fetus?” Rhea demanded, so shocked she was certain she must have heard the woman wrong.

“I need to finish the scan!”

Rhea sat up and shoved the scanner to one side, narrowing her eyes at the woman. “What did you say about a fetus?” she growled through gritted teeth.

The woman looked taken aback and then angry. “You’re pregnant!” she snapped baldly. “Don’t tell me that comes as a surprise to you! You must have had
some
idea!”

For the second time in a matter of days Rhea had to curb the urge to yield to physical violence. “Where is Ranger Justice?” she snarled.

“I’m sure I don’t know!”

Frustration surfaced, but so, too, did her memory of her arrival. “Where’s the Rec Room?”

“Level two … but you can’t leave! I’m not through with the examination!”

“Watch me!” Rhea growled, scooting off the table and stalking to the door.

With the exception of the med tech, who merely objected very loudly, no one tried to stop her—which was just as well. Rhea’s shock had given way to pure rage and it hadn’t abated one whit by the time she’d reached the second level. After glancing around, she stalked toward the double doors where she could hear music emerging. Pausing in the door when it opened, she scanned the room for her prey.

Raathe and Justice were standing beside a pool table, a bottle of beer in one hand, a pool cue in the other. For a split second, the discovery stunned her, but then a sense of satisfaction filled her and a great deal of rage.

By the time she’d reached them, the entire room had fallen silent.

Raathe and Justice turned to look at her with almost identical expressions of surprise and wariness.