Not the Man She Thought (29 page)

“I think we should be able to go this way,” she said to
Pammay as she pointed at the map.

Her friend frowned.  “That does look like it would be
shorter, but didn’t Dev say to stick to the main thoroughfare?”

“I know, but we still have a lot of shopping to do yet, and
this way would be much faster,” Laken said.  “Besides it’s broad
daylight.  What could happen?”

Pammay looked like she wanted to protest, but after a
moment, she nodded.  “Okay.”

When Rade had told her to stay on the main thoroughfares,
Laken thought he was just being overprotective as usual, but as she and Pammay
made their way along the deserted backstreets a little while later, she was
beginning to think she should have paid more heed to his warning.

“Are you sure this is the right way?” Pammay asked as they
turned down yet another alley.

Laken nodded as she looked at the holo-map.  “I’m
sure.  I have a very good sense of direction.”

At least she hoped it was the right way.  She was just
about to check the holo-map again when two men entered the alley up
ahead.  As they made their way toward her and Pammay, Laken felt the hair
on the back of her neck stand up and she stopped in her tracks.  Pammay
stopped, too.

“Maybe we should go back,” she told the blonde woman.

“I think you’re right,” Pammay agreed.

When they turned around to go back the way they had
come,
 
however, Laken was horrified
to see two more men heading toward them from the other direction.  Her
stomach clenched.

“Wh-what do we do?” Pammay asked nervously.

Laken threw a glance over her shoulder to see the first two
men quickly closing in on them.  She swallowed hard as she turned back to
the second pair.  These two were heavier set and looked like they were
more out of shape than the other men.  If she and Pammay got past them,
then surely they’d be safe. 

“Run!” she told the other girl.

The men must have anticipated the move, though, because as
soon as she and Pammay started running in their direction, they spread out to
cut off their exit.  Laken tried to sidestep the man barreling toward her,
but he was quicker than she gave him credit for.  Reaching out, he caught
her around the waist with one arm.

Laken drew in a breath to scream, but he clamped a meaty
hand over her mouth, silencing her.  Not about to make it that easy on
him, she jabbed an elbow into her captor’s stomach.  Though he grunted,
his hold around her waist didn’t loosen.  Desperate to get away, she
reached up to rake her nails down his face.  He released her with a foul
expletive.

Surprised he had let her go that easily, Laken looked around
wildly for Pammay to see the blonde backing away from one of the men trying to
corner her.  Her heart pounding in her chest, Laken started forward
intending to help her friend when the man she’d jabbed in the ribs grabbed her
again.

Instead of wrapping his arm around her this time, he spun
her around to face him.  Her nails had dug deep grooves into his cheek and
blood ran down the side of his face.  Holding onto her with one hand, he
drew back the other.  “You’re going to pay for that, bitch!”

Laken stared at his fist, her eyes wide as she braced
herself for the blow.

“Don’t even think about it,” one of the other men
ordered.  “Enak won’t pay anything if she’s harmed.”

Enak.  Laken’s blood went cold at the name.  These
men worked for that bastard?

Terror gave Laken renewed strength and she began to fight
wildly, trying to pull away from the man holding her.  But he merely
laughed and grabbed her other hand in his, holding her fast.  She opened
her mouth to scream, but the sound was muffled as something heavy was thrown
over her head.  The last thing she saw was Pammay running toward the main
street, one of Enak’s men in pursuit.

Laken struggled, but she was no match for the men, and one
of them wrapped a rope around her, binding her arms to her sides.

As one of the men picked her up and threw her over his
shoulder, Laken could only hope Pammay made it back to Rade’s ship in time to
get help.

Chapter Thirteen

When he and Kellen got back to the ship that afternoon, Rade
wasn’t surprised to hear Laken hadn’t gotten back from town yet. 
According to Dev, she probably wouldn’t be back until that evening. 
Though Rade couldn’t understand how anyone could spend an entire day shopping,
he figured Dev was right.  He certainly didn’t mind that Laken wanted to
spend the day shopping. He just hoped she was back before dark.  While
Alphalon 7 was comparatively safe, it still had its dangers, and he worried
about his fiancée.  Even after all the things that had happened since she’d
come on board, Laken could still be a little naïve when it came to how
dangerous it could be out there.

As he walked into his office, Rade smiled at how comfortable
he had become with the idea of Laken being his fiancée.  After sending
Laken away, he had never thought to see her again, but in a few days they were
going to be husband and wife, and he couldn’t be happier.  Somewhere along
the way, his life had taken an unbelievable turn for the better, and he was
still having a hard time believing he had gotten so lucky.

Going over to the computer, he brought up his
messages.  He was just reading through them when Pammay burst into the
room, Keir on her heels.  One look at the blonde girl’s tear-streaked face
and Rade’s gut clenched.

“Laken’s been kidnapped!” she said.  “Enak took her!”

Rade felt his blood go cold at the name.  “Enak? Are
you sure?”

The blonde nodded.  “Yes.  I heard one of the men
who grabbed her say that Enak wouldn’t pay if she was harmed.”

Shit.  Rade ground his jaw.  He should have killed
the bastard when he had the chance.  “Keir, get everyone and meet me in
the hold.”

“I’m on it, Captain,” Keir said, hurrying out of the room.

Rade glanced at Pammay as they strode down the passageway a
moment later.  “Tell me everything.”

The girl had to almost run to keep up with him as she
tearfully explained what had happened. 

Rade swore.  “What the hell were the two of you doing
in that alley?” 

Pammay sniffed.  “There was a jewelry store across town
that she wanted to go to.  We were taking a shortcut through the
alley.  It’s all my fault.  I knew it was dangerous, but I let her
talk me into it.”

Rade shook his head.  “Laken has a mind of her own,
Pammay.  You couldn’t have dissuaded her no matter what you’d said. Did
you see which way the men took her?”

“Not really. I don’t even know how I got away from
them.  I guess Laken was putting up so much of a fight that they weren’t
really paying attention to me.  I didn’t want to leave her, but I was so
afraid that I just ran.  I didn’t know what else to do, so I came straight
back here.  I should have tried to help her get away.  I’m sorry.”

“It’s all right, Pammay,” Rade told her.  “If you
hadn’t gotten away, then I would never have known that bastard had taken
Laken.”

When the girl
 
said nothing, Rade glanced her way to see fresh tears shimmering in her
eyes.

“Don’t worry, Pammay.  We’re going to get her back.”
Rade started down the steps leading to the hold.  “What street is the
alley near?  Do you remember?”

“Candash.” Pammay followed him.  “Captain Karsten.”

At the anguish in her voice, he stopped in mid-stride to
turn and face her.  Tears were running down her cheek, and when she spoke,
her voice trembled.

“When Enak found the other girls who tried to escape from
him, he did terrible things to them before he killed them,” she said. 
“You have to find Laken or he will do the same things to her.”

Rade felt sick at the thought.  If Enak so much as
touched Laken, he would tear him apart with his bare hands.  “I’ll find
her, Pammay.  I promise.”

Pammay nodded, and looked like she would have said more, but
just then Keir and the rest of the crew came bounding down the steps and into
the hold.

“Keir told us that bastard Enak kidnapped Laken,” Kellen
said.

Rade nodded, but when he spoke, it was to his pilot. 
“Kam, I want you and Jorn to go down to Candash Street and see if anyone saw
anything.”

Both men left with a quick, “Aye, Captain.”

“Vance and Finn, you’re with me. We’re going to see if
Enak’s ship is still docked.”  Rade glanced at Kellen and Dev.  “You
two stay here.  I’m hoping that Laken managed to get away.  If she
comes back here, call me right away.”

Knowing they wouldn’t get anything helpful out of the
spaceport officials, Rade, Vance and Finn split up to talk to the dock workers
at the spaceport.  Rade’s biggest concern was that Enak had grabbed Laken
and high-tailed it off the planet as fast as he could.  If he could
confirm Enak hadn’t left yet, Rade could turn his search inward.  He’d
tear this planet apart if he had to. 

It didn’t take much to get the information he needed from
the dock workers.  A few credits here and there, and his worse fears were
realized.  Enak’s ship had already left Alphalon 7.  There was no
doubt in Rade’s mind that Laken had been on it.

“You didn’t by chance overhear where they were heading, did
you?” Rade asked the man who had refueled Enak’s ship just before it left.

The man shook his head.  “Sure didn’t.  But they
were in a damn hurry, I tell ya.  Nearly ripped the fuel line right off of
the dock, they were in such a rush.”

Rade clenched his jaw.  Thanking the man, he headed
down the dock to meet up with Vance and Finn.

“According to everyone I talked to, Enak’s ship left an hour
ago,” Vance said.

“And no one knew where they were headed,” Finn added. 
“They didn’t file papers of any kind.”

Rade swore.  He’d hoped Vance and Finn would have
better luck.

Praying Laken had somehow escaped and was back on his ship
safe and sound even now, Rade quickly made his way down the dock.  When he
stepped on board, however, it was to find Kellen’s brow still creased with
worry.

“What do we do now?” the first officer asked after Rade told
him what they’d learned.

“Go to Yerel,” Rade said without hesitation. 

Kellen’s frown deepened.  “You really think he’d take
her back there?”

Rade didn’t know for sure, but it made sense that Enak would
take her back to the slave planet he called home.  And right now, he
didn’t have any other way to track down the man.  He only hoped they got
to Laken in time.

* * * * *

Laken thought someone would have stopped a man carrying a
woman wrapped up in a blanket over his shoulder through the city streets. 
But apparently Alphalon 7 wasn’t the kind of place where people even noticed
that type of behavior because no one even raised a cry, much less tried to stop
them.  She tried to struggle, but it did no good.  Tied up like she
was, she couldn’t do more than bounce up and down uncomfortably on the man’s
hard, bony shoulder.

They were taking her to Enak, she was sure. The thought of
being at that cruel bastard’s mercy again made her shiver.

Abruptly, Laken felt herself being hoisted upright and
dropped.  She automatically braced herself, expecting to land on the
ground.  To her surprise, she landed on something relatively soft instead.
Heart beating wildly in her chest, she immediately began to struggle, but once
again, it was to no avail.  She screamed in frustration, but the sound was
muffled by the heavy blanket, and the men only laughed.  Terrified, she
lay there breathing hard and trembling.

“Untie her.”

Laken stiffened at the sound of Enak’s gruff voice. 

Rough hands undid the rope binding her.  The moment
they were off, she pushed the blanket away and scrambled to her feet. 
Keeping one eye on Enak and his men, she took a quick look around and saw that
she was in a ship’s cabin.

“You didn’t think I’d let you go that easily, did you?” Enak
said.

Laken took a nervous step back as he came toward her. 
But there was nowhere to go in the small cabin, and she was backed up against
the wall within a few steps.  “How did you find us?”

Enak smirked.  “Like I told you before, Karsten’s
reputation precedes him.  And after what he did on Marlon Prime, he’s
practically a celebrity.  Rather stupid if he wants to continue being a
pirate.  It certainly wasn’t too hard to track him down.”

She lifted her chin.  “I would have thought that after
what Rade did to you that you would have been too afraid to come after me.”

Enak’s lip curled.  “Afraid of Karsten? 
Hardly.”  He reached out and cruelly caught her chin between his thumb and
forefinger.  “You’re mine, and I don’t let anyone take what’s mine. 
I told you that before.”