Dawn Autumn (22 page)

Jay sat in the middle of the flowers again, feeling listless. Doubting herself. Kutlazx was due back any day. She needed to talk to him.

A shadow fell across her, and she looked up, a smile on her lips.

It died at full bloom.

* * * *

Kutlazx closed his eyes and gripped the console. His ears were buzzing.

“I’m sorry,” Kok repeated, his expression anguished. “They took her before I even knew they were here.”

“You were supposed to protect her,” Kutlazx whispered, even as he damned himself for leaving her. She was the one good in his universe, and he’d failed to protect her.

Was it too late? His head snapped up and he stared at Kok. “Do you know where they were taking her?”

* * * *

Jay sat on her hard bunk, her arms wrapped around her legs. It was chilly, but tolerable. Apparently Lyra and her insectoid buddies weren’t planning on killing her yet. Apparently Kutlazx hadn’t killed the commissioner, but he’d dumped him in a federal holding cell with a great deal of incriminating evidence. Lyra hadn’t sounded hopeful of his getting out any time soon. Jay was the bargaining chip.

She was also a fine way to torture Kutlazx. Lyra had sneered and raved at her in a tirade that had lasted nearly an hour, then ignored her for days. Jay had played the dumb, innocent alien and kept her mouth shut, sensing that was her best option. Lyra hadn’t gone to the trouble of taking her just to turn her loose after a little chat. She was the type to ignore her inferiors, though she did get in a few digs first.

“He never gave a damn about me, and he doesn’t care about you, either. You’re just another toy he’ll get tired of.” She didn’t wait for Jay to say anything. “He left me at the drop of a hat to run off on his precious missions. He just left a message on my computer—he said he got tired of my ‘scenes’.” She sneered. “Did he tell you I cheated on him? Not that he cared. Nothing I did mattered to him. He was a cold monster I wasted my life on. Believe me girl, I’m doing you a favor.”

Jay had doubted several things, especially that Lyra was doing her any favors. If this was the way she’d been, Jay couldn’t blame Kutlazx for not wanting to come home. She was just surprised he’d lasted as long as he had. She knew he’d cared intensely about what Lyra did.

It seemed like Jay had a different man than Lyra ever had. He must have changed a great deal, or learned to open up a little more. Maybe it was just easier to talk to someone who wasn’t ripping up at him every day?

She wanted to see him. She was scared, and she missed him. She knew he must be worried.

They’d tossed water packs and a supply of space rations in the door, so she assumed she was meant to live a few more days. After that ....

Jay didn’t know how Lyra had found her, but she didn’t spend much time thinking about it. Kutlazx hadn’t killed the commissioner. The thought warmed her. Hope and joy settled inside. Maybe he was softening, just enough. She didn’t expect miracles overnight, but she was so proud of him. It must have been difficult to spare a man he hated so much. When she saw him again, she was going to rain love all over him.

She closed her eyes and focused on that thought. She was going to see him again.

* * * *

Kutlazx looked at the readout of the abandoned military base with cold, hard eyes. They should have anticipated someone sneaking a tracking device on Tayl’s ship, but Kutlazx hadn’t anticipated anyone moving that fast. He’d gotten sloppy and now he was paying.

They’d received a ransom demand. Lyra wanted him to bust her father out of prison and she’d spare Jay. He hadn’t replied yet, but he didn’t have much time. She didn’t know he’d found her hidey-hole. Surprise was on his side, but he estimated he only had a couple of hours before she’d start sending ultimatums. He didn’t want his wife to be mailed to him a piece at a time.

He’d given up on the baby. Women under stress didn’t carry long. She might not have lost it, but his luck didn’t run that way. The thought made him dangerous, edgy. He had to get in and save Jay. Losing her would send him over the edge.

If he made it out of here he was burying them in the country. She’d never again go anywhere more dangerous than an art gallery to check out his latest exhibition. He’d taken on the responsibility of a family—he was going to start living like it.

Tayl glanced at him as he brought up the schematic for the base. He wasn’t asking questions about Kutlazx’s focus now. A laser couldn’t have been more on target.

They were waiting just out of sensor sight near their target moon when Nightbird said, “Captain, we have company.”

They looked up, tense, as a strange ship broke out of hyperspace. They scrambled to battle stations, knowing full well they had little chance of firing first. They were toast.

“They’re hailing us,” Red said tersely. Their shields were up, but a direct hit by such a power new fighter would knock them out.

Kutlazx silently cursed Tayl and his second hand heap.

“Need a hand?” Azor’s face came on screen. Dressed in battle fatigues, his hair was pulled back as usual, save for one green curl that escaped the tie. He looked slightly rumpled.

Kutlazx cursed. “What are you doing here?”

Azor curled his lip at him, but there was a hint of something like approval in his eyes. “You stole my thunder, assassin. What possessed you to dump the commissioner in prison? Not your style.”

“Bite me.”

Azor grinned. “I’d rather make you owe me one. I know that’ll kill you. I’m here to rescue your wife.”

Kutlazx’s first instinct was to tell him where he could shove his offer. He didn’t want anyone endangering her. Then he remembered who Azor was. Special ops. Assassin’s guild. If anyone could help, he was the man. Azor could have blown them to bits by now if he’d liked, but why offer to help? “Why did you come?”

Azor turned serious. “I was investigating the commissioner from the first. Bigger fish than you wanted a bite out of him. We were getting ready to move when you took the operation out of our hands.” His eyes narrowed. “I need to get something out of this. It doesn’t look good to be upstaged by a wanna-be artiste.”

Kutlazx controlled his instinctive response. “Fine. I’m in charge. If you get yourself shot up, don’t expect me to haul your carcass out of there.”

Azor grinned. “I’m not the one who’s out of practice, old man.”

Kutlazx’s eyes narrowed. He had only three or four years on Azor, but they didn’t have time for this. Besides, he could always kill him later. “Here’s what we do.”

Chapter Fifteen

Jay shivered as she followed Lyra and her huge boyfriend down the dim corridors. She knew from listening to them that they were in a huge military base, but it felt more like walking into the bowels of a prison. Worse, the four insectoids at her back made her shiver. Seven feet tall and smelly, their insistent cricket noises were close to driving her over the edge. How she wished she had a two ton shoe!

Lyra and her boyfriend had been arguing, and it accelerated as they broke into a larger room that might once have been a gymnasium. Lyra turned, bringing the whole party to a halt. “I told you, Truq! I want my father out.”

Truq’s blue face turned ugly. “You have his money. We could go live on a resort somewhere and take it easy for the rest of our days. That assassin guy is never going to get him out of there.”

“His money is going to be confiscated unless we get him out of prison. Don’t you understand how this works? Once we get him out, his friends can get the money back. They’re too scared to help him when he’s in prison, though.”

“Then how do you know they’ll help when he’s out?”

“Daddy’s very powerful. They’ll be too afraid not to.”

“So this whole thing balances on fear. That’s not enough. What if they roll over and give evidence on him? I don’t know, sweets. I think daddy’s going down.” His grin was vindictive. Maybe he was tired of Lyra’s torment, too.

Lyra’s look got cold. She braced her legs and looked at Truq. “You’re going to do what I want. You want money, that’s how you get it. If you don’t, I’m sure my insectoid friends will be happy to have you for lunch.”

Truq blanched, then his face flushed with rage. “You haven’t paid them lately, honey. Do they know there’s no reason to listen to you now that your daddy’s in jail? He’s in no position to blackmail Tark anymore.” He looked at the insectoids. They moved their pinchers uncertainly.

Jay was quietly edging away. If a fight went down, she didn’t want to be in the middle of it. She’d only edged away a couple of feet before Truq noticed her. His eyes narrowed and he flashed her a dark, humorless smile. She could see he was going to take some frustration out on her even before he grabbed her. “Going somewhere, poppet?” He swung her back to the wall and grabbed her arm. “This should keep you in place.” He unsheathed his knife and rammed it through her forearm, between the bones. It bit into the wall and stuck there.

Jay shrieked. That’s when lightning struck.

Truq went down with a grunt as a laser bolt struck his back. Lyra screamed as another took her out.

Jay was too dazed to notice much more than screams and a burning smell. She’d never felt such agony as the searing pain in her forearm. Instinct told her to curl up, but pulling on it made it bite deeper. She gasped and tried to grab the knife, but wasn’t strong enough to budge it.

“Let me.”

She gasped at a gloved hand slapped her hand away. “Azor?” She cried out as he ripped the knife out of the wall. She would have gone to her knees if he hadn’t held her up.

“Stay on your feet. Let me stop the bleeding, then we’ll move. Kutlazx is almost done.”

Shaking, she looked away from the blood pouring out of the wound to see Kutlazx finishing off an insectoid and another man. She’d never seen him move so fast, never known that one blow of his knife could rip an insectoid in half. He really was super strong.

The sight almost finished her.

“No, you don’t.” Azor slapped a patch on her neck that shot through her like a jolt of caffeine. “That’ the stuff. Let’s get moving.”

She found she could run after the men, that her mind was crystal clear. Kutlazx shot a startled look at her, then glared at Azor. “What’d you give her?”

“Shut up. It’ll get her out alive.” Azor shot a man who jumped out of a side corridor as they ran back the way Jay had come. His hand was wrapped around her bicep. “Take point. You might as well put some of that aggression to good use.”