Not the Man She Thought (14 page)

“Who is Rade?” Pammay asked suddenly.

Laken blinked in surprise at the question, wondering how the
other girl knew about the pirate. “Why do you ask?”

Pammay offered her a small smile. “You said his name in your
sleep.”

Laken felt her face color. Once again, she had visions of
Rade kicking in the door to come and save her. She opened her mouth to answer
Pammay’s question, but the door opened before she could. Startled, she
instinctively took a step back as two men came into the room.

“The master wants to play with his new pet,” one of them
growled.

Realizing that she was the “new pet” the man was referring
to, Laken retreated back into the corner as much as possible, but he was on her
in two quick strides. He grabbed her arm and dragged her out of the room.

Laken threw a helpless look over her shoulder to see the
other guard leading Pammay down the hallway after them. Unlike her, the other
woman offered no resistance, and Laken couldn’t help but wonder whether she
would end up being as docile as Pammay if she couldn’t escape from Enak. Never.
She’d die first.

As the guard dragged her down one hallway and then another,
Laken kept her eye out for possible escape routes. There were a lot of windows
and doors she would have liked to try, but she would have to wait until she
didn’t have a guard dragging her around. But how long would that be before they
trusted her enough to let her out of their sight? And what horrors would she
have to endure between now and then?

Abruptly, the guard stopped and pulled her into a room.
Ornately decorated like Brantly Vlanders’ home, it looked overdone to her, as
if Enak thought he could make himself seem high class by surrounding himself
with expensive possessions. Even dressed in fine clothes, Enak looked like
nothing more than the common thug he was, and she returned his gaze defiantly.

The guard holding her arm released her, and after a quick
bow in Enak’s direction, he went to join the other guard who was standing with
Pammay off to one side.

Laken lifted her chin to glare at Enak. “You don’t realize
how big of a mistake you’ve made. When that scum Vlanders kidnapped me, I was
with my boyfriend, Rade Karsten. There’s nothing he won’t do to find me.”

She hadn’t planned on mentioning Rade when she’d first come
in, but it was out before she’d even realized it. Vlanders had obviously known
him, though, so maybe Enak would as well. Rade’s reputation might even buy her
some time.

Though Enak tried to hide it, she could see the surprise in
his dark eyes.

“So, you do know him,” she said.

Enak’s lip curled. “I’ve heard of him.”

“Then you know what he’ll do to you if you touch me.”

Enak laughed. “You really think he would come after you?”

While a part of her hoped he would, she wasn’t betting on
it. Rade had told her that he wouldn’t come to her rescue again, and she had no
reason to doubt him. But Enak didn’t know that.

“He’ll come for me,” she bluffed. “If for no other reason
than to kill the man who would be so stupid enough to steal anything that
belongs to him.” She had no idea if that was true, but it certainly seemed to
fit with Rade’s nasty reputation.

Enak snorted. “Karsten is a pirate and a womanizer. He’s
probably already forgotten all about you and moved onto some other woman.” He
reached out and grasped her chin between his fingers. “Though if he does, he’s
a fool.”

Laken knocked his hand away. “Don’t touch me.”

She held her breath, waiting for Enak to retaliate, but
instead his gaze went to Pammay. “Show Laken what happens to slaves who defy
me.”

Without a word, Pammay turned and began unbuttoning her
dress. Pulling her long, blond hair to the side, she let the garment fall to
her waist. Laken gasped, her eyes going wide as she stared at the dozens of
scars criss-crossing the other woman’s slender back.

“I will whip you as many times as it takes to break that
spirit of yours,” Enak said, his voice close to her ear. “And after I break
you, I will whip you again just because I enjoy it so much. And then, I will
spread your legs and shove myself inside you.”

Laken swayed on her feet and thought she might actually have
fallen if Enak hadn’t grabbed her arm and spun her around to face him. She
braced herself, though for what she didn’t know. Luckily, she didn’t have to
find out because at that moment, one of Enak’s men ran into the room and
whispered something in his ear.

Enak’s face went dark, his eyes narrowing as he looked down
at her. Swearing under his breath, he shoved her toward the man. “Get her out
of here.”

The man took her arm and hustled her out of room without a
word.

“Where are you taking me?” Laken demanded as led her down a
set of steps. “What’s going on?”

The man didn’t answer but just forced her to move faster. At
the bottom of the steps, he dragged her into a room and over to the wall. She
watched in confusion as he placed his hand on the stone, but then gasped in
surprise when a narrow door opened to reveal a small room. With a push, he
shoved her inside.

Laken stumbled and fell to the floor. By the time she got to
her feet and turned back, the guard had already slammed the door shut, cloaking
the room in total darkness. She blindly made her way over to the door and
pushed as hard as she could, but it didn’t open. She pounded on it with all her
strength, but all that did was make her hand hurt. She wondered if she should
scream, but decided that the room was probably meant to be soundproof.
 
Even if it wasn’t, who would come anyway?

Turning around, she leaned back against the door and hugged
her arms around herself. As her eyes got used to the darkness, she realized
there was a dim light coming from one wall. She frowned, wondering if she was
imagining it. No, it was most definitely a light.

  
Afraid
to even hope, she slowly walked toward it, and almost squealed when she saw
that the light was coming through a crack in the wall. She bent down and put
her eye to it. She couldn’t see much, but she saw enough to know that it was
sunlight.

  
Pulse
racing, she probed the area around the crack with her fingers. She sagged with
relief. The board was loose. If she could pry it off, she might be able to
escape!

* * * * *

Though Rade had done his research on Huden Enak, he hadn’t
known exactly what to expect when he and his crew got to the man’s house.
Fortunately, Enak’s guards seemed to be used to dealing with unarmed slave
girls and barely put up much of a fight when Rade and his crew stuck guns in
their faces. One or two made a show of being tough, but when Vance put one down
with a pulse-beam through the man’s leg, the others immediately gave up.
Apparently, Enak didn’t pay his men well enough to stand up against someone who
would actually fight back. The first one Rade had pointed his pistol at was
more than willing to escort them into see Enak.

Enak was in a room upstairs, along with two guards and a
pretty blond woman. She had that lost, despondent look of a slave, and Rade
immediately dismissed her as a threat, instead training his weapon on Enak,
while Keir and Vance dragged the two guards out of the room.

“Where is Laken Andara?” Rade demanded. “And don’t give me
any bullshit about not knowing who she is because I know you bought her and
brought her here.”

Enak’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t know what you’re talking
about. Your men are welcome to search, of course, but they won’t find nothing.”

Clenching his jaw, Rade backhanded Enak with the butt of the
pistol. Enak went down, wiping blood from his face, but rather than looking
cowed or even fearful, he seemed amused. Infuriated, Rade crouched down and
rocked the man’s head back with several punches, demanding to know where Laken
was with each blow.

But Enak just laughed. It was then Rade realized that
beating the man was getting him nowhere. Though he would have enjoyed smacking the
asshole around some more, he didn’t have the time. Enak was a psychopath who
was obviously completely incapable of caring about anything, even his own life.

Stepping back, but keeping his weapon trained on Enak, Rade
motioned through the door to Keir, who had finished tying up the guards. “Start
searching. Tear this place apart if you have to.”

“That isn’t necessary,” the blond woman said quietly. “I can
show you where Laken is.”

His eyes blazing, Enak took a menacing step toward her, and
Rade leveled the gun at the man. Though he stopped in his tracks, Enak glared
at the girl.

“Say anything, and I will cut out that lying tongue of
yours, bitch!”

The woman blanched, but refused to be cowed by the big man.
She looked up at Rade. “I’ll show you where she is, but you must promise to
take me with you when you go.”

At his nod, she led him out of the room, followed by Keir,
who kept his weapon trained on Enak. They walked along the hallway to a set of
stone. At the bottom, she led him into a room, then stopped in front of the
wall.

“There’s a secret room behind the wall,” she said. “I don’t
know how it opens, but Enak threw me in it once.”

Rade quickly holstered his weapon, then pushed and shoved on
the wall with his hands, looking for a hidden latch. It wasn’t that hard to
find once he knew there was an entrance, and within a few moments, he pulled
back a heavy door.

He expected Laken to run into his arms the moment he opened
the door, but the room was empty. He frowned, about to ask the girl if she knew
of anywhere else Laken could be when he spotted the opening in the wall.
Although it was too small for a man his size to squeeze through, it was big
enough for Laken to slip out easily.

Swearing under his breath, he turned on his heel and strode
back to where Keir was standing with Enak.

“She pried off some boards and escaped, but she can’t have
gotten far,” Rade told Keir. “Tell the others we’ll need to split up and start
searching for her.”

Enak laughed. “It won’t help. You’ll never get her now. The
moment she stepped out of this house, she became a runaway slave. And when
she’s caught, the little bitch will be praying for the tender mercies I would
have shown her.”

Chapter Seven

Rade shoved Enak up against the wall. “What the hell do you
mean by that?”

Enak gave him a smug smile, but didn’t say anything. Rade
thrust his pistol into the man’s stomach.

  
“Talk or
I’ll shoot you right now, so help me,” he growled.

But it was the blond girl who answered. “This entire planet
was designed to support legal slavery,” she explained. “There are automated
systems throughout the city that will identify Laken as a runaway. They
implanted a chip under her skin the moment she got to the spaceport. In order
to leave the master’s home, a slave’s chip has to be coded with an electronic
permission. Because she went out without one, she will be discovered and picked
up almost immediately, then taken to the Detention Center where she will be
punished.”

  
Enak
laughed. “And your girlfriend won’t be so pretty when they get done with her, I
can assure you.”

The words made Rade’s gut clench and he swore under his
breath. Couldn’t that girl ever make anything easy on him? If she had just
stayed put for a few more minutes, he would have her and they’d be on their
way. Even when she wasn’t trying, she was a pain in his ass.

Rade shoved Enak toward Keir, then reached for the com on
his belt and opened a link to his ship. “Dev, I need you to get me a location
on the city’s closest Detention Center.”

The blond-haired girl put a hand on his arm. “That will take
too long and we have no time to waste. Detention Centers are notorious for
dealing with runaways quickly. I can take you there, but we have to leave right
now to get there in time. Do you still swear you will take me with you when you
leave Yerel? If you do not, Enak will kill me for sure.”

Rade glanced at Enak and saw the truth of it in the man’s
eyes. As much as he didn’t need another problem on board his ship right now, he
knew he couldn’t leave the girl behind. He gave her a nod. “You have my word.”

She let out a sigh of relief. “First, we must get something
from him,” she said, looking at Enak.

* * * * *

Laken couldn’t believe she had managed to escape from Enak.
She had expected the guards to come after her the moment she’d slipped out, but
they hadn’t. She hoped that meant they hadn’t discovered she was missing yet.
Just to be on the safe side, though, she mostly kept to back streets and
alleys. As uneasy as that made her, she was more frightened of Enak’s guards
finding her than of anyone she met on the streets.