Not the Man She Thought (20 page)

The man eyed them coolly, his gaze lingering on Laken for a
moment before finally settling on Rade.

“This is how it’s going to work,” the man said coldly. 
“I’m going to ask you questions, and you’re going to answer them.”

Rade’s eyes narrowed.  “And if we don’t?”

The man’s mouth curved into a menacing smile.  “That’s not
really an option.  As I said, you will answer the questions.  I’ll
make sure of that.”

Behind him, Rade felt Laken stiffen at the man’s words. He
clenched his jaw.  The bastard obviously wasn’t above torturing them to
get what he wanted.
 
He could probably
handle it, but the thought of Laken being hurt was more than he could
take.  Why the hell had he agreed to let her come on this job?

“Now,” the Federation officer continued.  “What were
you smuggling, and who did you deliver it to?”

Rade frowned.  “I don’t know what you’re talking
about.  We weren’t smuggling anything.  We were supposed to be on
Marlon Prime for some adventure tour and the next thing we know, the Federation
is shooting at us.  When we get home, I’m demanding our money back from
that travel agent, I can tell you.”

The man’s expression darkened at Rade’s flippant
reply.  “Very funny. You and your companion are in serious trouble, you
know.  The penalty for running a Federation blockade and smuggling good to
the enemy is execution.  However, the Federation is willing to go easy on
both of you if you cooperate with us. So, let’s try this again, shall we? 
What were you smuggling, and who is your contact on Marlon Prime?”

“I told you before...” Rade began, but the Federation
officer cut him off.

“Enough! I’m tired of wasting my time with you.  We’ll
see how glib you are after spending an hour with one of my interrogators.”

Rade didn’t even flinch.  “My story will be the same.”

The man smirked.  “I thought you might say that. 
Which is why I’m going to have him start with the girl.  Maybe watching
him work on her will loosen your tongue.”

Rade’s gut clenched.  Shit.  What the hell was he
going to do?  While he might be willing to endure whatever he had to at
the hands of the Federation to protect the people of Marlon Prime, there was no
way he was going to let them torture Laken. God forgive him for what he was
about to do, but he had no choice.  Taking a deep breath, he opened his
mouth to tell the Federation officer everything he wanted to know when the door
abruptly opened and a man dressed in a uniform rushed in.

“I apologize for the intrusion, Sir,” the man said to the
officer.  “But we have a situation that requires your immediate
attention.”

The officer hesitated as if considering whether to go with
the other man or not.  Finally, he nodded.

“It seems that we’ll have to continue this later,” he told
Rade.  “But make no mistake, you will tell me what I want to know.”

Turning on his heel, the Federation officer walked out of
the room, the man who had come to fetch him close on his heels.  Rade let
out a sigh as the door slid closed behind the two armed guards.

“Wh-what are we going to do?” Laken asked in a trembling
voice.

Rade turned to look at her.  “Get out of here.”

“How?”

“Short answer? Overpower the guards and take their weapons.”

Her eyes went wide.  “How are we going to do that?”

“We aren’t,” Rade told her.  “I am.  You’re just
going to get them back in here so I can do it.”

She looked at him in confusion.  “How am I going to get
them to come in?”

“By starting a fight with me.”

“A fight?” she echoed.  “About what?”

The corner of his mouth edged up at the incredulous look she
gave him.  “You’ve never had a problem coming up with something all the
other times we’ve gone at it. Yell at me for getting you in this mess, then
tell the guard you’re ready to talk.”

Laken chewed on her lower lip, but said nothing.  Rade
could see the indecision in her beautiful green eyes. Unable to help himself,
he lifted his hand to gently cup her cheek.

“I know it seems risky, Laken, but this may be our only
chance to escape,” he said quietly.

She gazed up at him for a long moment in silence before
finally nodding her head.  Wordlessly, she turned and walked over to the
door.  Rade followed.  Taking up his post off to the side of it, he
gave her a nod.

Taking a deep breath, she banged on the door with the heel
of her hand.  “Guard!”

When there was no reply from the other side, Laken gave him
a questioning look.

Rade shook his head.  “What the hell are you doing?” he
demanded, playing his part.

“What do you think I’m doing?” Laken shot back, but despite
her tone of voice, there was no real heat in her words.  “I’m going to
tell them what they want to know.”  She banged on the door again. 
“Guard!”

Still no reply.  Shit.

“Like hell you are!” he said in response to her words. 
“I didn’t bring you along so that you could sell me out.”

“I wouldn’t even be in this mess if it weren’t for you.
Guard!”

Laken lifted her hand to bang against the door again when it
abruptly slid open and a guard appeared in the entrance.  The man motioned
with his weapon for her to step back, which she did.

“What the hell is all the noise about in here?” the man
demanded.

“I-I’m ready to talk,” she blurted out.  “Just get me
away from this creep.”

The man glanced at Rade, then turned his attention back to
her.  “The major will be happy to hear that, but you’ll have to wait until
he gets back. Now, don’t bang on the door again, or the next time I come in,
I’ll stun you.”

Giving her a hard look, the guard turned to leave. 
Rade wasted no time, lunging forward and quickly putting the man down. 
Grabbing his weapon, he pointed it at the doorway, ready to shoot the second
guard, but no one was there.  The man must have left with the major.

“Dammit!”

“What is it?” Laken asked fearfully when he walked back in.

Rade shot her a quick look as he bent down to unbutton the
unconscious man’s shirt.  “The other guard is gone.”

Her brow furrowed in obvious confusion.  “Well, that’s
good, right?”

“No, that’s bad.” Rade didn’t bother to look at her as he
stripped off the man’s shirt, then went to work on his breeches.  “The
rest of the plan was for you and I to put on their uniforms and slip out of
here unnoticed.”

Laken was silent. Rade glanced at her as he got to his feet
and began unbuttoning his shirt.  She looked small and frightened standing
there hugging herself, and it was all he could do not to reach out and take her
in his arms.

Resisting the urge, Rade stripped off his shirt and tossed
it on the floor, then reached for his belt.  As he unbuckled it, Laken
blushed and quickly turned her back to him.

“How are we going to get out of here if you’re the only one
wearing a uniform?” she asked softly.

He reached for the guard’s breeches.  “With you as my
prisoner.”

She gave him a startled look over her shoulder, but then
quickly turned back around when she saw that he wasn’t quite dressed yet. 
“You’re kidding, right?”

His mouth twitched.  “Unless you have a better
idea?”  When she didn’t answer, he added, “Of course, I suppose you could
have played the part of the guard and I could have been your prisoner, but I
figured this would look more believable.”

Laken wanted to tell Rade that kind of thinking was
completely sexist, but she knew he was right.  Besides, if someone stopped
to question them, he would be able to talk his way out of it better than she
could.  The important thing was that they escaped, not how they did it.

“You can turn around,” Rade said.  “I’m dressed.”

Her face coloring at the amusement in his deep voice, Laken
turned around only to blink in astonishment when she saw Rade dressed in the
dark blue fatigues, the brim of the cap pulled down low over his eyes. 
The other Federation guards should look this good in uniform. 

“Do you think you can remember how to get to the shuttle bay
from here?” Rade asked.

She considered his question for a moment.  “I wasn’t
really paying much attention, but I think I can find it.”

Rade nodded, but didn’t answer as he reached behind him to
take a pair of metal handcuffs from his belt.  Laken watched, expecting
him to put them on the unconscious man, and was surprised when he walked over
to her instead.

“What are those for?” she asked, eyeing the handcuffs
warily.

“You. It would look suspicious if I escorted you through the
ship without them.”

Laken supposed he was right.  The first thing the
Federation guards had done when they’d first captured them on Marlon Prime was
cuff her.  Turning around, she put her hands behind her back and
waited.  A moment later, she felt Rade gently close the metal bands around
her wrists.

“We’re going to make it out of here, Laken,” he said softly
in her ear.  “I promise.”

The warmth of Rade’s breath on her skin, coupled with the
feel of the cuffs around her wrists, made a little shiver of pleasure course
through her.  What the heck was wrong with her? This was not the time to
suddenly start having kinky fantasies!

Gently taking her arm, Rade turned her to face him. 
“Ready.”

She nodded.

“Just follow my lead,” he told her.

Laken held her breath as Rade led her out of the cell and
down the hallway.  All it would take was one misstep on their part and
they would be done for.  As they made their way down one corridor after
another, however, none of the Federation soldiers they passed stopped them.
They just gave Rade a nod and kept walking.

“How much farther?” Rade asked as they turned and headed
down yet another hallway.

She waited until a Federation soldier going in the opposite
direction passed them before answering.  “Not much. At least I don’t think
it is.”

Laken hoped they were going the right way.  She’d been
so concerned about Rade when the Federation soldiers had brought them on board
that she hadn’t really been paying attention. Of course, it would help if
all the hallways didn’t look so much alike.

Abruptly, the ship bucked underfoot, and Laken stumbled. She
glanced back at Rade nervously.  “What was that?”

Beneath the brim of the cap, his brow furrowed, but he
didn’t stop walking.  “Someone’s shooting at the ship.”

Her pulse skipped a beat at his words.  “Do you think
it’s your crew trying to rescue us?”

He shook his head.  “No.  Even if they thought the
Federation took us alive, they wouldn’t be dumb enough to open fire on a
cruiser like this.”

Laken’s heart sank. She’d hoped she and Rade wouldn’t have
to go through with their plan to steal a shuttle.

Her eyes went wide as she recognized the big double-doors at
the far end of the hallway.  “That’s it.”

At her words, Rade quickened his pace.  Outside the
door, he stopped and drew his weapon.  “Wait here.”

Laken held her breath as Rade pressed the button to open the
door.  As it slid open, he darted inside, his weapon at the ready.  A
moment later, she heard a zing as he fired two shots.

“Come on,” Rade urged, grabbing her arm and pulling her into
the room.

As he holstered his pistol, Laken gazed down at the two men
lying on the floor.  “Are they...?”

Rade shook his head.  “No.  I stunned them.”

Though she knew it was silly to care, Laken let out a little
sigh of relief at that.

“Turn around,” Rade ordered.

Laken did as she was told.  A moment later, she felt
him unlock the cuffs.  They fell away easily, and once they were off, she
turned back to him.

“There’s a security code that alerts the bridge when the
outer doors are open,” Rade said.  “Do you think you can disable it?”

“I can try.”

Going over to the bank of computers, Laken studied them for
a moment.  While she did that, Rade dragged the two unconscious men to the
far side of the bay and dumped them behind a stack of cargo containers.

Getting into the ship’s security center was actually easier
than Laken had thought.  Then again, she supposed they never expected
someone inside the ship to poke around like this.  She couldn’t believe
how simple it was to disable the alarm for the outer doors, either.  As
she was backing out of the system a minute later, she ran across something that
made her hesitate. 

“Did you get it?” Rade asked, coming back over to her.

“Yes.”

Rade’s brow furrowed as she continued typing on the
computer’s keypad.  “Then what are doing?” he demanded impatiently.

“I found the ship’s security codes,” she explained.

“Do we need those to get off the ship?”