Authors: Nina Pierce
She
locked her fingers behind her back. “Wouldn’t dream of
touching you, Ka’al.”
“
No.
No. No. And
hell
no.” Dallas stalked around the room
like a caged animal. “All we need is information from Lilly—”
“
But
Lilly’s not just giving up the information,” she said.
“At the very least I need to know which government agency
you’re working for. It might not be a team I can cheer on to
victory.”
“
Q’orsctan
Aerlheit Lunivarsium
,” Thaegan stated.
“
What?”
Lilly couldn’t believe the irony.
Dallas
rolled his eyes. “In English, the space version of the FBI…QAL”
Laughter
bubbled up unchecked, but there was no amusement riding on the sound.
“Oh I know exactly what agency you’re talking about.”
Lilly threw her hands in the air. “I knew karma was a nasty
bitch and she’d eventually catch up to me. But I was hoping for
a little more time.”
Both
men looked at her as if she’d lost her mind.
“
Ask
me again why I’m in deep space, Dallas.”
“
Lilly,
it doesn’t ma—”
“
Ask
me again, damn it.” The pendulum swung from manic disbelief to
hot anger. She clenched her teeth to keep the tears in check. “Ask
me why a decorated Chicago detective is working undercover as a
prostitute in deep space.”
“
That
was asked and answered.” Dallas took a step toward her.
Lilly
held her hand up. “Don’t touch me. Don’t you lay
one damn sympathetic finger on me. I don’t deserve anyone’s
compassion.”
“
Why
are you out here, Lilly?” Thaegan dared voice the question.
“
Besides
paying penance?” The familiar pain of guilt coiled tight around
her chest, making it hard to breathe.
“
Sins
die hard in deep space, Lilly,” Thaegan said evenly, his gaze
momentarily flicking to Dallas.
“
But
no one can outrun murder,” she said.
Dallas’
head snapped up, his eyes narrowed. “You murdered someone in
QAL?”
“
Not
in
QAL.
Because
of QAL.”
Chapter Eight
The
silence blew open a chasm that seemed to suck the air from the room.
Dallas forced his lungs to work. He’d actually been considering
sharing classified intel with Lilly. No doubt she’d upped her
energy and softened Thaegan. It would certainly explain why the Ka’al
was acting with so much compassion toward the woman. And though he
hadn’t believed it had done anything to him earlier, Dallas had
no doubt her little tricks were screwing with him now. He’d
nearly put his team in the hands of a murderer. Talk about making one
stupid-ass decision after another.
“
There’s
got to be more to the story,” Thaegan said. “We’re
on the same side of the law, for Gods’ sakes.”
“
Are
we?” she asked.
“
What
the hell’s that supposed to mean?” Dallas wasn’t
sure whether his irritation was directed at Lilly for playing them or
himself for nearly falling for her act.
Lilly
stared at him, her dark eyes glittering with emotion. “You said
it yourself Dallas, the bad guys aren’t always wearing the
black hats. Sometimes they look just like you and me. But deep down,
pure evil chars their souls. There’s no redemption for men like
that.”
“
That
doesn’t tell us who you murdered, Lilly,” Thaegan said
gently.
“
Ninety
young men. Ninety innocent humans who didn’t deserve to die.”
The words warbled as she spoke. “All because QAL screwed me
over.”
Dallas
leaned back against the counter, crossing his arms over his chest.
The woman could turn the waterworks on at the drop of a hat. There
was no way he was going to let them strike another sympathy chord in
him. He’d already tried that tack once tonight and it hadn’t
gotten him anywhere but mired in a deep pile of shit. Crossing one
ankle over the other, he caught sight of the ragged tear down the
thigh of his jeans. Despite everything that had transpired, he
wondered again if Lilly had figured out who he worked for and sought
him out at the tavern. “What the hell did QAL have to do with a
mass murder?”
“
Not
all of QAL. Just one asshole at the training facility on Earth. It
seems a woman—even if she’s the top recruit—doesn’t
have the right to turn down the advances of her commanding officer.”
Lilly’s derisive laugh rippled the curtain of tension hanging
around them. She turned to Thaegan, his hard expression unreadable
even to Dallas. “Hard to believe, Ka’al, but Serapheliums
actually
do
turn down sex.”
Thaegan
innocently shook his head and lifted his hands as if in surrender.
Dallas
didn’t have the patience for the pity party she seemed to need.
“You committed murder because some guy couldn’t keep his
hands off you?”
“
Yeah,
Dallas, I got pissed off and took out—”
Thaegan
growled low. “Ignore the asshole, Lilly. He’s a little
testy when he hasn’t gotten his beauty rest.”
“
Ignore
me? I think this woman’s got an invisible hand wrapped around
your balls. Where the hell is my partner who thought she’d
mind-fucked him? Because I sure as shit think she’s at it
again.”
“
You’re
choosing
now
to believe me.
Now
, when she’s
actually
not
affecting me?
Now
when it looks like she
might actually be on to something?” Thaegan shot Dallas a
warning glare. “And you sure as shit don’t think she
committed murder any more than I do. So why don’t you shut up
and let the woman finish her story? In light of what we think’s
going on with our own situation, doesn’t it seem plausible that
QAL has more than its share of traitors walking among their ranks?”
Thaegan turned back to Lilly. “Finish.”
“
Anyway,
not only did he not get what he wanted, but I managed to best him in
a sting operation by collaring a Drikspa alien who QAL had been
chasing down for several years. Turns out the dickwad alien had been
kidnapping human males and selling them into the slave trade on
Krystallos Three and no one could catch him…”
Lilly
inhaled deeply, biting her trembling lip. She turned her eyes to the
ceiling, no doubt to make the whole charade more authentic or perhaps
to stoke up the energy that seemed to be controlling Thaegan.
Tears
glistened in her eyes when she continued. “It turns out the QAL
agent was making money working with the Drikspa. Seems my wonderful
investigative talents ruined his side business and the agent decided
I needed to be punished.” Her brows pinched in a deep furrow as
she pursed her lips, trying to control the tears before continuing.
Damn,
she was good.
“
The
alien not only managed to escape, but he kidnapped me and took me
prisoner. I found myself imprisoned on a ship filled with sex slaves.
Just before we left the planet, the QAL agent paid me a visit. Seems
the Drikspa figured out what I was and shared that with the asshole.
He got up in my face and made it very clear that if I ever managed to
escape, not to bother to go back to Earth. He’d be sure to tell
the whole world about my mother. He might as well have told me he
would kill her with his bare hands. Earth doesn’t take too
kindly to aliens with gifts.”
Dallas
didn’t want the betrayal of QAL to sit cold in his gut. Didn’t
want the statement about her parents to matter. And he sure as hell
didn’t want the tears streaming down her cheeks to burn a path
to his heart, but if she spoke the truth, then he and Lilly may have
more in common than a couple of very satisfying sexual encounters.
“
Still
doesn’t explain how
you
killed a ship full of humans,
Lilly.” The words came out flat and hard, just as he’d
intended.
Lilly
looked at him, hatred and pain clenching her teeth. “There was
no way in hell they were getting me to Krystallos Three alive. Do you
have any idea what they do to human females there? Just imagine how
they’d treat a Seraphelium.”
Dallas
flinched at the thought. Agencies throughout the Nebulae Galaxy were
aware the president of the mining planet turned a blind eye to the
underground sex trade business. Reportedly, buying, selling and
exploiting humans earned more money per year than both the water
purification and luna crystal mines combined. And of course that
currency greased the bureaucratic wheels of the planet’s upper
levels of government. No one, save for the newly Commander-elect, had
even acknowledged the problem in a public forum. Yeah, Dallas could
only imagine what would happen to someone like Lilly in that system.
He ignored the cold fingers of nausea clawing at his throat.
“
How
did you get away, Lilly?” Thaegan asked.
Lilly
looked through them both. Her eyes focused blindly on a memory only
she could see. Her hands moved absently up and down her arms as if
the room had chilled.
“
At
one of the docking stations, I managed to
overpower
one of the
male guards and get myself and some of the young men off the cargo
ship. But I couldn’t save them all.” She dropped her face
in her hands, her shoulders shuddering with the sobs racking her
body. “God help me, I couldn’t save them all.”
Thaegan
walked over to within arm’s reach of the woman standing alone
in the middle of the room, but he didn’t offer a touch of
comfort. “You did your best, Lilly.”
“
Did
I?” Her gaze searched his face, seeking a truth the alien
couldn’t offer. “I just wanted to survive. I told myself
there were too many for me to guarantee our safety, so I took those
in my path as I got the hell off the ship and stowed away on a
frigate bound for Dallas Eight. In the end, I managed to take less
than ten.” Anger and despair trembled along her chin as the
agony of her decision brought on a new flood of tears. “There
were almost one hundred scared young men and I saved only myself.”
Dallas
couldn’t stand it anymore. The hard dam of doubt burst within
him, flooding his heart with compassion. She wasn’t using her
tears to control them. Lilly blamed herself for a situation that
wasn’t of her making. No one understood better than him how
that kind of guilt gnawed at the gut, eroded confidence and weighed
heavy on your shoulders. He was across the room and pushing past his
partner before he thought about his actions.
“
It
wasn’t your fault.” He tried to gather Lilly in his arms,
but she shoved him away.
“
Like
hell it wasn’t my fault! Ninety. Can you comprehend that?”
Lilly tapped her fingers against his forehead as if she could pound
the information into his brain. “Ninety humans I sent to a
living hell. Killing them would have been more humane.” Sobs
racked her body. She covered her mouth with her hand and ran to the
sink, her hard, dry wretches filling the air.
Christ,
he understood that. How many nights had his body purged itself in
penance for the ones lost on Canus Delta?
Walking
to her, he rubbed her back until the worst of it was over. Dallas
pulled her into his arms, hoping she thought he was offering her
support, but in reality he sought solace from his own pain. The
warmth of Lilly’s cheek brushed against his chest as she melted
into him. Her arms snaked around his shoulders, pulling him hard
against the softness of her body. He ran his hand down the silken
waves of her hair. “But you survived,” Dallas whispered.
“
At
what cost?” Lilly stared up at him, her lashes still wet with
tears. “My life is a fair exchange for ninety human souls
going—”
“
That’s
enough, Lilly.” Thaegan had been so quiet Dallas had nearly
forgotten they weren’t alone. “Guilt is a wasted emotion.
It doesn’t leave you with anything but bitterness and ulcers.
There isn’t one of us who hasn’t done something in the
line of duty that we’ll regret until our dying day. That
doesn’t make the decision we made any less valid. We all do
what we have to do to survive. There is no right or wrong in this
business only adrenaline-charged gut instinct.”
Dallas
stiffened at Thaegan’s words. He had no doubt his partner had
intended them as much for him as the woman in his arms.
“
Thaegan’s
right and you know it. You did your best and you survived.”
Dallas said the words his partner had repeated
ad nauseam
. But
finally they made sense. This woman had been put in his path not to
bring him harm, but to help exorcise the demons that had been living
in his nightmares. It was suddenly all very clear.
“
It
seems there’s a reason you’re here now, Lilly. You may
not have been able to stop that scum of an alien, it appears there’s
another asshole you may be able to help bring to justice—if
you’re willing.”
“
Of
course I want to help. But how?”
Dallas
looked at Thaegan and the Ka’al nodded. The silent exchange of
expressions and subtle body language that happens between partners
took only a moment, but what they decided was monumental. Thaegan
shrugged, retrieved the chairs Lilly and he had used and rearranged
them back at the table.