Stealing Coal (17 page)

my honor no harm would come to her. She had no reason to take me from the humans

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who abused me, yet she did. We owe her a debt we will not repay by putting her in

danger.”

“No one is mentioning that she’s seen us and knows of our existence,” one of the

cyborgs standing in the back by the docking doors said softly. “You shouldn’t have

promised to release her, Coal. She knows too much to safely allow her to go free.”

Fear inched up Jill’s spine and she subconsciously moved closer to Coal, her hand

touching his back. He didn’t glance at her but his hand reached back, wrapping around

her hip, and tugged her behind his body until only her head peeked out from behind

him.

“I will fight anyone who attempts to harm her,” Coal snarled. “She goes free. She

isn’t an enemy of our people.”

“Easy,” Flint’s tone softened. “Stand down, Coal. We won’t harm the female in any

way.” He shot a glare at the cyborg who’d suggested they not release Jill. “Earth

Government got living proof that some of us survived when they took possession of

Councilman Zorus. It’s irrelevant if she were to make a statement to them now that

she’d been in contact with a group of us. When we attempt to retrieve him from them

they are sure to understand he’s not the only surviving cyborg.”

“She could warn them we are coming.”

Jill opened her mouth to deny it but Coal spoke first.

“She would not do that.”

Sky sighed. “It would be a hell of a way for her to get them to drop an arrest

warrant on her if she bargained that information with them.”

Coal growled, his body trembling. “She is not our enemy. She risked her life and

her shuttle to rescue me.”

The gray-haired cyborg threw up his hands. “Don’t shoot the messenger. I’m just

stating the obvious, man. I had to say it since Flint ordered me to be all logical. I didn’t

say I believe it but it is an option we have to consider.”

Flint sighed loudly. “Agreed.” He turned toward Coal. “I have a solution. One of

our men will remain with the female to monitor her transmissions until after we’ve

rescued councilman Zorus. She will be safe, unharmed, and it should only take us a

matter of days to execute a plan to retrieve him. We will allow her to go free when we

pick up the male assigned to stay with her.”

Coal’s mouth opened but Flint cut him off.

“We’ll pay her generously for her time to compensate her for the days she is

detained here. This is a safe location for her shuttle, she is far from Earth, and we

scanned the area. No other ships are within range. That’s a fair resolution, Coal. You

can’t disagree with the logic of it.”

Coal’s body relaxed and his grip on her hip eased. “I want your word of honor that

no harm will come to her, Flint.”

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“You have my word, Coal. I’m fond of human females, if you will remember.” He

smiled. “I joined a family unit with one. I’ll have her treated the way I would my Mira.”

Coal stared deeply into Flint’s eyes and nodded. “I believe you.” He turned his

head to look down at Jill. She appeared paler than normal. “Is this agreeable to you?”

She hesitated and her hand on the small of his back eased but she didn’t pull it

away. “I trust you. It sounds reasonable since I get why they’d be worried. They don’t

know me.”

He nodded before meeting Flint’s waiting gaze. “I’ll remain with her.” He resisted

smiling. While he experienced elation at being back with his cyborg brothers he didn’t

want to say goodbye to Jill. The thought of never seeing her again made him ache in his

chest and suffer depressed feelings.

Flint jerked his head, moving toward a corner. Coal hesitated before following him,

not wanting to break the physical contact with Jill but realized Flint wished to speak to

him privately. He faced Flint when both men stood far from the others.

Flint’s voice lowered. “I’d feel better if Onyx stayed. I’m aware you’re sensitive

about the damage you suffered but there’s no way for you to constantly monitor this

shuttle. I know you don’t have the ability to control your emotions or thought processes

but please attempt to right now. He will follow my orders, he won’t harm her in the

least, and he can make certain she is unable to send a warning to Earth. With his

implants, he will uplink to the onboard computer to block all transmissions. I’m sorry.”

“Jill wouldn’t do that.” Coal’s temper flared. “I trust her with my life.”

“I don’t know her and it’s not just your life at risk.”

He hated logic at that moment but he couldn’t deny Flint had valid points. “I’ll stay

as well then. Onyx can monitor all communications and I’ll finish some repairs on the

shuttle I wished to do for Jill as repayment for saving me.”

Flint shook his head, his gaze softening. “You’re very protective of her, Coal. I’d go

so far as to state you’re unstable. It’s not a surprise after everything that has been done

to you and all you’ve had to endure. I need to know if you’ve asked her to join a family

unit with you. I saw the way she touched you and the way you touched her. Say so now

if that happened.”

He fought the temptation to lie. “I haven’t.”

Flint nodded. “I’m ordering you to return to the
Star
then. Onyx will be assigned to

stay here. I’ll make it very clear that he isn’t to harm her in any way.”

Coal’s breath seemed to freeze in his chest at the idea of leaving Jill. He turned his

head, meeting her curious gaze across the cargo hold, but he didn’t see any fear, though

he had left her standing near three cyborgs. His attention shifted to Onyx. The man

openly stared at Jill with interest but he saw no animosity toward the human. As a

matter of fact, Onyx’s gaze drifted up and down Jill’s form, taking in every inch of her

body while Coal watched. Anger and a sudden urge to go punch the other male

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gripped him hard. Onyx’s gaze had definitely stalled upon Jill’s breasts to linger there

longer than necessary to assess her.

“Coal?” Flint gripped his arm.

“What?” Coal tore his glare from Onyx. His voice came out harsher than he meant

it to and he realized his hands were fisted.

“Return to the
Star
. I swear the female will be fine.”

“I have to return control of her droids to her. I had her give me total control of

them.”

“Onyx will hack them and do that when we pick him up on the return trip to

Garden. You turning over control to her would be a useless waste of your time since

he’ll have to do that anyway. Say goodbye now and leave. We need to rescue the

councilman as quickly as possible. We can’t remain here any longer.”

Anguish gripped Coal. He nodded, knowing he had no other recourse.

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Laurann Dohner

Jill knew when Coal walked toward her with his grim expression that he’d say

goodbye to her. She could see it in the way his shoulders sagged and she swore she

even saw sadness dulling his beautiful dark gaze. She fought to hold back tears while

stiffening her spine.
Life sucks.

He stopped in front of her. “I’ve been ordered to return to one of the other ships.

Onyx will remain with you. Flint is, at this moment, ordering him to treat you very

well. He won’t harm you, Jill. You will be safe. If I didn’t know that with certainty I

wouldn’t have agreed to allow him to remain.”

She couldn’t find her voice around the emotion that choked her. Regret, heartbreak,

and the desire to beg him not to go all mixed together until she didn’t know which one

she felt the strongest.

“Thank you for deciding to risk your life to save mine. You’re unique and

wonderful for a human.”

Damn, I’m going to cry
, she thought, still fighting the urge hard. “Thanks,” she

whispered. “You’re pretty unique and wonderful too.” She forced a smile she didn’t

feel. “For a cyborg.”

He didn’t laugh. “I wish I could have fixed you.” His voice lowered. “The lessons

weren’t completed but I hope you remember them.”

“I always will,” she swore sincerely. There would never be a day that passed when

she’s ever forget touching Coal, his kisses, or the way he’d made her feel when he

showed her how wonderful it could be between two people. “I won’t ever forget you.”

His hand rose but then halted mere inches from her face. “I will never forget you

either. I wish we had more time.”

“You could stay on the shuttle too.” Hope flared inside her. “Two cyborgs watching

me are better than one, right?”

His hand dropped to his side. “I asked but Flint has ordered me to return to his

ship. I have to follow orders. We need to make our way to Earth to rescue the

councilman. The longer they have him at their mercy, the higher the risk that they’ll

make him talk. He knows too much about my people. Time is of the essence.”

“Couldn’t you just watch me?” She wasn’t willing to give up so easily on any

possibility of keeping Coal on the
Jenny
. “I would feel so much safer with you than with

a stranger.”

“I’m damaged and unable to monitor the shuttle as Onyx is capable of doing. I

requested that job but Flint made valid, logical points that I couldn’t argue with.”

“Coal?” Flint had moved to the docking door. “Let’s go.”

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Stealing Coal

Coal visually tensed. “I must go.” His hand reached for her again, his fingertips

brushing her cheek lightly. “Goodbye, Jill. I will think of you very often.”

She grabbed his hand when he tried to pull it away, keeping hold of him. Her mind

struggled to come up with a way to prolong her time with Coal and she spun, facing the

cyborg in charge. “Hang on. May I call you Flint?”

Flint frowned. “Yes. What is it?”

“I have an idea on how to get your Zorus back.”

Interest sparked in his eyes. “I’m listening.”

She had to release Coal, hated to do it, but she walked closer to the scary, leather-

clad cyborg, her mind still running plans through her head, hoping to nail one down.

“I have a few contacts on Earth. That’s who I buy my supplies from. I can’t shuttle

you directly to Earth but I meet up with another trader I buy those supplies from right

on the outer edge of the solar system. Those sellers are real slimeballs with no

conscience if the price is right. They trust me not to screw them over if I deal with them

directly. I would have to go with you, hire them to take you to Earth, and you could just

give me the money to pay them with if you have it. They will do as they are told as long

as we make it clear they don’t see any of it until you’re safely returned.”

“Slimeballs?” Flint frowned. “What are those?”

“See what I deal with?” Sky chuckled when Jill glanced at him and he winked at

her. He shook his head, shooting Flint an exasperated look. “It is a term humans use for

unsavory characters. She’s saying that, for the right price, they’d kill their own family

members and we could bribe them easily to do whatever we require. I also have to

admit I like her plan better than anything I’ve thought up so far.”

Coal gripped her arm from behind, spun her around, and stared hard at her, an

angry expression on his handsome face. “That would put you at risk. You’d be too close

to Earth.”

“I go that close every time I have to resupply and I haven’t been caught yet.”

He hesitated. “Your line of work is far too dangerous.”

“I know.” She smiled, happy that her plan gave her a chance to keep company with

Coal longer. “But it’s useful right now since it really could work. They could fly right to

the surface of Earth and then take off again without being searched. I’m sure they know

which officials to bribe to look the other way. They sell me all kinds of illegal goods

they smuggle past the checkpoints.”

“How do we know these slimeballs won’t see us, realize what we are, and try to

cash in a reward with Earth Government?”

The cyborg named Onyx really had a talent for annoying Jill. She eased out of

Coal’s hold and turned to face the jerk. She shot him a dirty look. “I’ll tell them what

Earth Government did to that captain of the freighter who had Zorus. They just took

your friend away from that ship without paying them a single credit and threatened to

blow it up his they tried to stop them.”

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She turned to Flint then. “These guys I buy from will believe me. If there’s a way for

the government to rip people off, we all know they will. I have no idea how much you

know about Earth these days but the government has become so corrupt it’s not funny.

Nobody trusts what they say and it’s a joy to most to screw them over if given the

opportunity. These guys may even give you a discount on doing this job if you stress

how badly it will piss off the high-ranking officials on Earth to steal your friend back.”

Flint glanced at Sky. “You’re our expert. Is she correct?”

“She’s right.” Sky flashed a grin. “Humans are more likely to trust the contacts they

make over anything Earth Government states. There’s an honor code amongst thieves.”

“I’m not a thief,” Jill protested. “But I do trade with them.”

Sky chuckled. “My apologies. There’s an honor code amongst criminals.”