Found (30 page)

“You can think what you want about me but I’d
never harm a woman.” Rast’s voice was harsh. “I’ve devoted my life
to finding and protecting them, damn it.”

For a moment Nadiah’s eyes fluttered closed
and she saw a picture in her mind’s eye. A boy with light brown
hair and truegreen eyes—the same color as Detective Rast’s. The boy
was crying, tears streaming down his face as his lips formed a name
she couldn’t quite catch. And then he was gone.

The vision came and went so quickly she
barely registered it, but somehow Nadiah knew it was important.
“It’s all right,” she said, putting a hand on Sylvan’s arm. “He’s
telling the truth—he won’t hurt me.” She looked at the viewscreen.
“There’s a reason Detective Rast acts the way he does. A personal
reason.”

Rast’s face got red. He seemed about to say
something but then he shook his head. “I’ll see you in thirty
minutes,” he muttered and then his image winked out of sight and
the viewscreen went dark.

“I got here as fast as I could. So you’re
seriously calling in a psychic? I thought you hated that kind of
shit.” Detective Jack Barnes, who had been Rast’s partner before he
left the PD, looked at him in amazement.

“I know how it looks.” Rast ran a hand
through his hair and sighed. “But she seems to know something about
the case. And you know how critical the first twenty-four hours
are.”

“Yeah, I know,” Barnes said dryly. “Critical
enough for you to leave the PD and set up your own agency.”

Rast nodded. “What else could I do? Just
because someone is over eighteen we’re supposed to waste an entire
day hoping she just ran off with her friends instead of being
snatched by some creep?”

Barnes waved a hand at him. “Don’t start on
that again. Besides, I’m totally with you on this one. Most girls
don’t take off all their clothes in a public place and
suddenly—
poof
—vanish.”

“Her friends say they saw her one minute and
the next it was like she’d disappeared off the face of the Earth.”
Rast frowned.
Maybe literally if what Commander Sylvan is saying
is true.

“Well if anyone can find her it’s you.”
Barnes clapped him on the shoulder. “Which is why I’m giving you
this evidence.” He handed Rast a sealed plastic bag with the
missing girl’s clothes and personal effects. “Just be sure you get
it back to me by the end of the day, okay? It just came from the
lab—not that I think we’re going to find much of anything on it.
Whoever took her was quick and clean. A real professional.”

“You got it.” Rast gave his former partner a
nod. “Thanks, Jack. I owe you one.”

“Just find her.” Barnes sighed. “Find her so
I don’t have to tell her parents she’s gone for good. God, I
hate
that part of the job.”

“Not half as much as I do,” Rast muttered.
“I—”

Just then the sliding glass door of the HKR
building opened and a tall, slim blonde girl walked in. Though he
had seen Nadiah just thirty minutes before on the viewscreen, Rast
found he couldn’t take his eyes off her. Her long waterfall of pale
blonde hair brushed her bare shoulders. It was set off with a
single streak of dark blue which emphasized her slightly tilted,
exotic blue eyes. To cap it all off, she was wearing a long,
clinging, pale blue gown that clung to her high, firm breasts and
curving hips in a way that made it clear she wasn’t wearing
anything underneath it.

The effect was more exotic than
erotic—somehow he knew Nadiah wasn’t trying to be provocative.
Probably this was just the way people dressed where she was from.
But despite the innocent way she carried herself, Rast still felt
his shaft spring to attention inside his khakis.

God, he wished he could forget the way she’d
felt in his arms! Not to mention the sweet taste of her lips when
he’d kissed her, like ripe cherries…
Get hold of yourself,
he told himself fiercely.
She’s a fake. A fraud.
Right. He
just wished she wasn’t so fucking gorgeous—it was damn distracting.
And the way everything shifted so enticingly under her gown when
she walked didn’t help either. In fact—

“Hey, is that her?” Barnes nudged him with an
elbow, breaking his train of thought. “Wow, you can really pick
‘em, Rast. What a looker.”

“Shut up.” Rast gave him a glare. “She’ll
hear you.”

“Hello, Detective.” Nadiah gave him a glacial
smile.

Rast opened his mouth to answer but Barnes
beat him to it.

“Well, hello pretty lady, I’m Jack Barnes,
Detective first class.” Smiling, he took Nadiah’s hand in his and
raised it to his lips. “When Rast told me he was having an expert
come down from the Kindred ship to help with this case, I didn’t
know he was bringing in a model.”

Rast rolled his eyes. He loved Barnes like a
brother but his old partner was kind of a dog when it came to
women.

“Thank you.” Nadiah smiled politely at
Barnes. “But isn’t a model someone who wears clothing the
manufacturer hopes other people will buy? I can’t possibly be one
of those because my
tharp
is one of a kind.” She nodded down
at her pale blue gown.

“It certainly is,” Barnes murmured, eyeing
her appreciatively.

Rast felt a stab of jealousy as his old
partner’s eyes crawled over Nadiah’s slender form like greedy
spiders. “That’s enough, Barnes,” he said roughly. “She’s here to
look at the evidence, not be your girlfriend.”

“I don’t see why she can’t do both.” Barnes
was still eyeing Nadiah like a hungry dog with a juicy bone.

“Because you are already mated.” Nadiah
withdrew her hand pointedly.

“What?” Barnes frowned. “Oh, you saw my
wedding ring, right? Let me tell you, though, we’re separated right
now and I’m leaving her. So that shouldn’t pose a problem.”

“What about your children?” Nadiah raised one
slim blonde eyebrow disapprovingly. “You have a little boy and a
little girl. Won’t they miss their father?”

Barnes frowned. “Hey, how did you know that?
You must have done some research on me or something, right?”

“I’ve never seen you or heard of you before
this minute,” Nadiah said. “I saw it when you took my hand—saw your
family. They’re counting on you, Detective and your wife loves you
very much. You should honor that love.”

Barnes drew back, his meaty face suddenly
pale. “Wow, Rast she’s spooky! How does she do that?”

“I have no idea and no interest in finding
out.” Rast frowned. How the hell had the girl known so much about
Barnes and his family? Could it be just a lucky guess? He looked at
Nadiah. “Let’s go.”

“Where are you taking me?” She stood her
ground, arms crossed over her breasts. “I’m not going until I
know.”

“To see some giants,” Rast growled, grabbing
her hand. “Come on.”

The ride through downtown Sarasota was
charmingly foreign. It was also a little frightening. Nadiah had
lived in grottos and enclosed spaces her entire life. Being
outside, on the surface of a planet, with such a high, open sky
above her in all directions made her feel rather like a tiny bug
crawling under a blue bowl. Detective Rast’s vehicle was what he
called a “convertible” and the warm wind blew through her hair as
they drove through the city.

It was hot and humid—almost oppressively so,
especially compared with the frigid climate of Tranq Prime. But
Nadiah felt it was worth it to be someplace so completely different
and new—someplace so wonderfully foreign. She was glad, however,
that she was visiting during the “cool” part of the year—at least
according to Sophia. She couldn’t imagine what the temperature
might be like during the hot season.

Regardless of the temperature, downtown
Sarasota was exciting. There were tall buildings everywhere and the
road they were traveling on was lined with a type of vegetation
called palm trees. The people all wore light, casual clothes and
pants which stopped above the knee. Many of the women had footwear
on which exposed their feet—shocking to someone who had grown up on
Tranq Prime, but obviously no big deal here on Earth. Clearly the
natives were used to the heat and dressed accordingly. Nadiah
wished they could stop the car so she could get out and
explore—there was so much to see!

“You keeping looking around like that, your
eyes are going to pop out of your head and roll down the street.”
Rast gave her a sidelong glance as he steered the vehicle.

“Excuse me for being excited,” Nadiah said
icily. “This is the first foreign planet I’ve been on. It’s
exhilarating to see someplace so completely different from my home
world.”

“Too bad you’re not here for a better
reason.” He sighed moodily and looked back at the road.

“Yes, I guess you’re right.” Nadiah felt
suddenly guilty. What right had she to enjoy the sights and sounds
of the foreign city when the whole reason she was here was to find
evidence about a missing girl? A girl who was probably still being
held and tortured by the AllFather that very minute. Just thinking
about it brought a lump to her throat and tears to her eyes.

“Hey.” Rast threw her another glance and then
looked at her more fully. “Hey, don’t cry.” He sounded almost
panicked. “Look, I’m sorry. I know I’m a bastard sometimes. I just
get so wrapped up in the case and I don’t think before I talk.”

“I’m not crying because of
you,”
Nadiah said with as much dignity as she could muster. “I’m thinking
of Tabitha. Of what I saw in my dream last night.”

Rast frowned. “Back to that again, are
we?”

“And
you’re
back to denigrating my
gift.” Nadiah was suddenly furious. “I warn you, Detective Rast, I
won’t put up with it. Either treat me with respect or turn this
vehicle around right now and take me back to the HKR building.”

“Okay, sorry.” He gave her a look of grudging
respect. “You sure know how to stand up for yourself.”

“I’ve had to,” Nadiah said grimly. “If I
didn’t know how to stand up for myself I’d be back home right now
mated to Yo-dah and having ugly babies just like my parents want me
to.”

He frowned. “Is that some kind of an arranged
marriage thing? They still do that where you’re from?”

“It’s more than that—stronger than that. A
blood bond.” Nadiah sighed. “Never mind, you wouldn’t
understand.”

“Maybe not completely,” he said, steering the
car around a bend. “But I do understand being told to do something
by someone in authority that I knew in my gut was wrong.”

“What did you do?” Nadiah asked, interested
despite herself.

“I left,” he said shortly. “Struck out on my
own.” He gave her a glance. “I’m guessing you did to.”

“I did.” She nodded. “But I’ll have to go
back eventually. My problem isn’t one I can run away from
completely. Soon I’ll have to face it.”

“Face
what
, exactly?” He sounded
genuinely curious.

“The blood bond. It’s…never mind.” Nadiah
shook her head. “It’s complicated.”

“Okay, you don’t want to talk about it. I get
it.” He shrugged. “But did you actually say that the guy you were
supposed marry is called Yoda?”

“Yo-
dah
,” Nadiah said, and frowned
when he laughed. “What is it? Why does everyone find his name so
funny? It’s a very old and well respected family name where I
live.”

“Where you live,” he said dryly. “In a galaxy
far, far away, right?”

“Well, yes.” Nadiah crossed her arms over her
chest. “But so what?”

“Nothing.” But there was a small smile
playing around the corner of his mouth. “It’s from a movie. Maybe
if you’re here long enough I’ll show it to you.”

Nadiah raised an eyebrow at him. “Why
Detective, are you asking me to a social event?’

“You mean like a date? I never said that.” He
frowned again. “Forget I said anything. It was a stupid idea.”

“Not necessarily. And anyway I—oh!
Oh!”
Nadiah popped open the restraining harness that was
holding her in place, stood up in the car and pointed. “Look! Look
there they are!”

“Hey, stop that! Get back down here!” Rast
tugged at her
tharp
which twitched slightly at the feeling
of a strange hand on it. “That’s against the law,” he yelled. “Not
to mention damn dangerous. Sit down!”

But Nadiah was far too excited to hear
anything he said. “The giants!” she said, still pointing excitedly.
“There they are! They’re just exactly like I saw them in my
vision.”

Rast pulled the car into a parking space and
stopped with a jolt. With a scream, Nadiah toppled over backwards
and sideways. Her head hit the steering mechanism and she somehow
landed in Rast’s lap.

“Ouch!” she gasped, looking up at the stern
look of disapproval on his face. “Why did you do that?”

“To prove a point—you can’t stand up in a car
while it’s driving.” He looked anxious. “I didn’t mean to hurt you,
though. Is your head all right?”

“I think so.” Nadiah touched her forehead
lightly with her fingertips.
“Ow.”

Rast swore. “Damn it, you’re bleeding. What
am I going to tell your cousin?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll tell him it was an
accident.” Feeling suddenly uncomfortable at the intense way he was
staring at her, Nadiah struggled to sit up and put some distance
between them.

“Come back here.” Rast grabbed her by the
arm. “You’re not getting out of the car until I do something about
that.” He reached across her and fumbled around in a small
compartment located right above where her knees had been. “Here, I
always keep this handy.”

“What is it?” Nadiah asked as he opened a
small white box with a red symbol on it.

“First aid kit. Hold still.” Working with
surprising gentleness, Rast captured her chin in one hand and
proceeded to dab some soothing ointment on the cut above her
forehead. For some reason Nadiah’s heart started pounding faster
and she found she couldn’t meet his eyes. Goddess, she wished he
didn’t smell so good! Warm and spicy and somehow completely
male.