Chapter Seventeen

"W hy won't they let me see her?" Menace paced the length of Vicious' office. He'd been freed from custody earlier that morning after his court-appointed attorney had poked a million holes in the case against him. "It's been twenty-six hours since they arrested us. My lawyer says there's no reason we can't see each other."

"I don't know, Menace." Looking haggard, Vicious rubbed his face with his hands. Not only was Vicious trying to deal with the fallout of a suspected terrorist living onboard the ship for over a month, but there had been major malfunctions in the Valiant 's many systems overnight. "I'm getting stonewalled by Pierce. No one will tell me where Terror is or where he's put Naya. I'm assuming he has her in one of the segregated cells in the Shadow Force sector. Only Orion has the capability to override the passcodes there but the malfunctions have frozen him out."

Menace's gut turned queasy. "I need to see her. I need to get her an attorney."

"You can't." Vicious wouldn't meet his gaze. "You can't do anything for her anymore."

"What?" Cold crept up his neck. "Why not?"

"They severed your bond yesterday afternoon. She's in legal limbo at the moment. She isn't one of us and she's no longer a citizen of Calyx. I don't even know what rights she has but I've got my legal team looking into it. This terrorism charge complicates things even further."

Menace felt as though he might puke. "Vicious, this isn't right. How the hell can Terror just railroad us like this? The evidence he presented to me in that interrogation room looked impressive but my lawyer is right. It's all circumstantial. They can't prove Naya has ties to anything criminal."

"They don't have to," Vicious said. "Terror's position is bolstered by the recent changes to our laws. The Shadow Force can hold suspected enemy combatants for six months without charging them."

"Six months?" The bottom dropped out of his stomach. He didn't even want to imagine the horror she would endure in that amount of time. "Vicious, I made a mistake yesterday. I have to talk to her and apologize. I have to make this right."

"Menace, I want to help you. I'm doing everything I can to—"

The door to Vicious' office burst open and Hallie stormed into the room. The general's secretary was two steps behind her. "Ma'am, you can't just barge in here! You have to follow the proper procedure."

Hallie pinned the young soldier with a glare. "You can stuff your proper procedures where the sun don't shine." She pointed to the door. "Now get the hell out!" The secretary didn't linger. He beat a hasty retreat and closed the door. The furious little sprite turned her gaze on her husband. "What have you done?"

"Good morning to you too, Kitten."

"Don't ‘Kitten' me, Vicious!" Hallie's hands were drawn into tight fists. She was shaking with anger—and fear. "Am I next?"

Menace watched his friend's face contort with confusion. Vicious walked around the side of his desk. "Hallie, what are you talking about?"

"I know what happened to Naya." She wiped at the tears now dripping down her face. "I know what you did to her. I'm not stupid, Vicious. I can read the writing on the wall."

"You are not stupid." Vicious caressed her face. "There is no writing on the wall, Hallie."

"Don't lie to me!"

Menace hated to interrupt the couple's tiff but he needed answers. "Who told you Naya was arrested?"

Hallie narrowed her dark eyes at him. "She told me herself."

Menace reeled with shock. "They let you see her?"

Hallie shook her head. "She sent me a message. It arrived twenty minutes ago but the time stamp was from last night. I got the warning loud and clear."

Vicious stiffened. "What warning?"

"That she's been compromised and I'm not safe."

"Compromised?" Vicious cupped Hallie's face. "Do you know something about Naya's activities with the Splinters?"

"Is that why she's being persecuted?" Hallie gripped her husband's wrists. "Naya is no more a terrorist than I am. Anyone who thinks that our work with the Red Feather was in any way connected to the Splinter cell on Calyx is crazy."

"She ran guns," Vicious said forcefully. "She didn't deny it during her interrogation."

"And I forged documents," she countered. "A lot of us did shady or stupid things back on Calyx. It doesn't make us terrorists."

"No," Vicious agreed, "but Terror's evidence against her is persuasive."

Hallie pursed her lips. "You better than anyone should know that Terror isn't infallible. Do I need to rehash my trip to the colonies when Terror was my escort?"

Vicious paled. "No."

Menace wanted to ask Hallie if he could see the message but the door opened again. This time it was Admiral Orion crossing the threshold and he looked pissed.

"Orion?" Vicious let his hands fall from Hallie's face and stepped beside her.

"We have a huge problem, Vicious. Your man contravened a direct order."

"My man?"

"That one-eyed son of a bitch," Orion shouted. Recovering from his outburst, the admiral shot Hallie an apologetic look. "Excuse me, ma'am."

Vicious growled in frustration. "What did Terror do now?"

"Yesterday he requested two pilots and a stealth ship to conduct a covert mission. After the Splinter attack, I ordered all unnecessary missions grounded for forty-eight hours so we could reassess the security situation. That electrical spike that fried so many systems last night? That was your man sabotaging my ship so he could go off on one of his covert ops."

Menace swayed on his feet. "Naya, sir?"

Orion's mouth settled into a grim line. "I believe he took her to the surface. She wasn't on the stolen ship when he returned fifteen minutes ago. I've got him under arrest outside the Shadow Force sector but he's not talking."

"We'll see about that," Vicious ground out angrily. He turned to Hallie as if he meant to send her back to their quarters but stopped himself. "You're coming with me. I'm not letting you out of my sight."

She relaxed with relief. "Thank you."

Vicious crooked his finger at Menace. "Let's go get some answers."

Nodding, Menace fell into step behind Vicious and Hallie. Two of Orion's top officers joined them in the lobby. The elevator ride was cramped but short. They entered an area of the ship Menace had never before visited. He'd never even seen this section on the schematics.

Wearing black cargo pants and a gray shirt, Terror leaned back against the wall outside a door. He looked calm and peaceful. Menace had never wanted to hit his friend harder in his entire life. Did Terror have any concept of the hell he'd wrought? Did he even care? For the first time in their many years of friendship, Menace finally understood why so many people hated Terror. He was a bully. Period. Full stop.

Toe-to-toe with the man he'd once considered a best friend, Menace glared at him.

"Where the hell is my wife, Terror?"

"Don't you mean ex-wife?"

Menace drew back his fist but Vicious grabbed him, stopping him from striking Terror. Regaining control of his fury, Menace asked, "What have you done with her?"

"What I should have done the moment I realized who she was," Terror replied. "I punted her ass back to Calyx where she belongs."

"You contravened one of my direct orders," Orion interjected. "I realize you and Vicious are friends and you two tend to confuse the chain of command between yourselves, but that shit doesn't fly with me. I am the admiral in charge of this entire sky battalion. When I give an order, it's followed."

Terror didn't even blink. "I exist outside the chain of command. If you don't like the way I handle the affairs of the Shadow Force, you're more than welcome to contact my superiors."

"Is that so?" Jaw set, Orion glanced at one of his men. "When we're done here, ready a ship for Terror and his men. I want them off the Valiant within the hour. If he refuses to leave, vent him."

Terror's stone-cold expression didn't slip. "As you wish, Admiral."

The door to the Shadow Force sector hissed. Surprise registered on Pierce's bruised face as he peered out into the hallway. "We're less than two minutes from the agreed meeting time, Terror." He frowned at the group assembled. "It's going to be a tight fit."

Terror stepped toward Pierce. "They're not coming."

Menace grasped Terror's arm. "The hell we aren't."

"Seeing the proof of her treachery won't ease the pain, Menace. Let it go."

"And if you're wrong?"

"I'm not."

"Well, I'm not as arrogant as you. I know I was wrong to trust you. You showed me some incriminating things but there wasn't one piece of real evidence that tied Naya to any of this. How else do you think my lawyer got me out of holding?"

"I don't need a smoking gun, Menace. My gut tells me everything I need to know."

"My gut tells me I screwed up yesterday. Whether or not Naya did all those things you accused her of as a teenager, she wouldn't have done this. It's not in her character to hurt other people."

"And like always, Menace, you're a day late and a credit short," Terror replied. "You should have made your case yesterday. It's too late now. What's done is done. She's not coming back."

"We'll see about that." Vicious shoved his way by both of them, dragging Hallie right along behind him. "Menace, let's go."

Vicious cleared a path to the control room where Pierce and some of the soldiers who had tossed Menace's quarters were working. A flat-screen display covered one wall. A live feed from Calyx flashed onto the screen. A digital label in the lower corner marked it as a feed from a hotel in The City.

The familiar sight of Naya's dark ponytail zinged through him. He took a step closer to the wall. She walked back and forth in the small hotel room. What the hell was she doing there?

As if reading his mind, Pierce offered the answer. "It's one of the locations we use to meet informants. It's wired to transmit live sound and audio. There's a four-and-ahalf minute delay to us, but we've got a guy in the room next door listening." He glanced at his watch. "She's probably already talking to her contact."

His mouth went dry. "Contact?"

Pierce shook his head. "No, not that kind of a contact. He's the fixer you ran into during your trip to retrieve Flare's bride."

"Dankirk?"

Pierce nodded. "From what we can tell, the man knows everyone and everything that goes on in the seedy underbelly of The City and Connor's Run. She still maintains that she has no ties to the Splinter cell or her mother and brother, but she didn't deny that Dankirk might be able to help her find them. He'd be an interesting asset to catch."

Menace wondered what kind of pressure Terror had applied to Naya to make her lure a friend into what was very possibly a trap.

On screen, the door opened and Dankirk appeared in the room. Menace held his breath as he watched the two old friends stare at each other. Dankirk cursed loudly, closed and locked the door and then rushed to Naya. The sight of her collapsing into the other man's arms ripped out his heart. It should have been his arms that held her tight, that gave her security and support, but he'd turned his back on her like a coward.

"What in the blue hell is going on, Naya?" Dankirk cupped her face. "I don't hear from you in weeks and now this? Did he hurt you? Is that why you ran?"

Naya shook her head and wiped at her wet face. She took a step away from him and turned her back on the camera. "It's worse than that, Danny. They know."

The man's face slackened. "About you running guns as a kid? Shit!" He rubbed his face. "I tried to get one of my guys on the inside to grab your records, but they were already gone."

"They have it," Naya confirmed, using her hands to emphasize. "They think I'm working with the Splinter cell that attacked one of their ships and stole a weapons shipment. They told me that the guns are here in The City. Is it true?"

Dankirk nodded and started to pace. "Of course it's true." He jammed his hands in his pockets as he walked. "You knew when you left that line of work that the Sixers were getting into bed with those Splinter dicks. The day that bomb went off, what did you tell me?"

Softly she answered, "That the risks and consequences were real now. That I couldn't compartmentalize what I was doing to justify the money I was making."

"And I told you to run, to get out of that line of work and start over," he said. "You built a good life for yourself but then what the hell did you do? You just had to swoop in and save Jennie. That backfired, didn't it? Now you're the one who needs saving and all you've got is me."

"We've gotten out of tighter scrapes."

Dankirk dropped his hands to his side in resignation. "I don't think we're getting out of this one."

"We'll see." Naya wiped at her face again. Knowing she was crying and he couldn't do anything to soothe her pain killed Menace. "Danny?"

"Yeah?"

"They told me something else."

"What's that?"

"That my mother is here in The City." She hesitated. "That was just one of their lies, right? That was just some tactic to trip me up and make me beg for a deal, yeah?"

Dankirk perked up. "Did you? Cut a deal, I mean? Because if you did, I get it, Naya. I won't mind taking it in the neck for you."

The realization that Dankirk was willing to go to prison to protect Naya made Menace feel even worse. It drove home the point he'd been mulling over all night. He didn't deserve her trust. In his rush to protect her from the threat of Terror unleashing Torment, he had capitulated too easily. He should have demanded to see her first, to speak with her, to let her know he loved her and would find a way to save them. Instead he had trusted in the justice system and left her to believe the very worst of him.

"No, I didn't, Danny. Stop trying to change the subject. Is it true? Is my mother here?"

"Yes," Dankirk reluctantly answered. "She's here."

Naya inhaled a noisy breath. "How long have you known? How long have you kept that from me, Danny? Months? A year?"

"Ten," he said finally. "Ten years, Naya."

She sobbed loudly. "Ten fucking years, Danny?"

"She didn't want you," he said, tearing up now. "I went to her. The second I learned she'd come back with that new man of hers, I made my way there. You remember that summer when I left you in charge of the other kids in our pack so I could make a trip?"

Still crying, she nodded. "Yeah."

"Well, that's where I went," he said. "I found her and her husband, the leader of the Sixers, and I told her that you were alone and living on the streets. I tried to make her see how dangerous it was for a thirteen-year-old girl to be living that way but she didn't care. She was cold. Heartless," he added. "I couldn't bear to tell you. I couldn't break your heart again."

Menace's heart raced as the awful truth was spilled. All around him, the room had grown eerily silent. Like him, they were all affected by the ugliness.

"Her man, Sandy?" Dankirk continued. "He stopped me on the way out and asked me if you were smart or fast or useful. I thought maybe if he could find a job for you he might make your mother take you in and support you. I had no idea he was going to turn you into a gun mule. This whole thing? It's my fault."

"It's not your fault, Danny." She sniffled and used the hem of her shirt to wipe the moisture from her cheeks. "Even back then, I could have said no. I should have been smart enough to realize that they were using a homeless kid to do their dirty work because I was expendable. I was a nobody, a nothing, but I kept telling myself that I could use the gang right back. I could get myself off the streets."

"And you did," Dankirk confirmed. "You just didn't know the whole story. I thought I was protecting you."

She laughed harshly. "Well, a load of good that did me. I've got the whole fury and might of the Harcos forces bearing down on me as we speak. They think I have an inside line on my gunrunning, terrorist-loving mama."

"I'm so sorry I lied to you."

She reached for his hand. "It's okay. I would have done the same thing to spare you any pain."

Dankirk shook his head. "What are you going to do?"

She shrugged. "What I always do."

"What? The right thing? The honorable thing?" He scoffed with irritation. "Naya, just run! Let me cut that damn chip out of your arm. I'll take you away. They will never find you again. You can start over with me. You can have the life you've always deserved."

Panic seized Menace. What if she said yes? Would he ever see her again?

"I can't, Danny."

Selfish as it was, Menace exhaled in relief. He hadn't lost her irrevocably.

"Why not?"

"There's no starting over for me. I tried. I got taken to a whole new culture and lived on a spaceship and you know what? My past still bit me in the ass. I can't outrun it." She lifted her chin. "I have to face it."

"Naya, for once in your damn life, will you listen to me? Be a coward. Run. "

She shook her head. "You don't know the man who is after me. He is not the kind of man who lets loose ends live. The second I stepped foot on that ship and he caught a whiff of my misdeeds, I was marked for death."

"But you're innocent," Dankirk insisted. "You had nothing to do with this terrorist bullshit."

"Do you think he cares? No, there's no justice up there. It's the same crap we've dealt with here." She smoothed her hands over her head and straightened her shoulders. "I won't put anyone else at risk. If I'm going to die, I may as well go out doing something noble. Look, those weapons are going to get so many innocent people killed. They're going to bring war to The City. I can't let that happen."

"There's no way you're getting into the Sixer stronghold."

"I have to try. Hell," she said sourly, "if I do manage to walk away from this, it's straight to Kovark for me. You know what that means."

Menace knew all right. It meant starvation, beatings and rape.

Dankirk cleared his throat. "I could record a message for Jennie, if you want."

"No," Naya refused gently. "She's got her new life. I'm not about to drag the stinking carcass of our old one into it."

"She's happy. I saw her last week. It was a good thing you did, helping her escape with Josef."

"I'm glad."

Dankirk hesitated. "When I met your man, I thought he—"

She held up her hand. "I can't."

Menace's chest ached at the pain filling her voice.

"Some things are too good be true, huh?" Dankirk remarked.

"Yeah," she said, her voice quavering. "Although, with my track record of being fucked over by the people I love, I should have seen it coming."

It took every last bit of strength and control Menace possessed not to crumple to the ground. She had all but admitted she loved him in the same breath she called him out for betraying and abandoning her.

"I never wanted to be one of the men who let you down." Dankirk said the one thing Menace wished he could say to her.

"I know." She inhaled a cleansing breath and cleared her throat. She spun around and hopped onto the bed. Her determined expression grew larger on the screen until Menace realized she was nearing the video feed. The view wobbled as she punched the ceiling and tore the camera free. Her beautiful tear-stained face filled the screen. "If you want your guns, come and find me, Terror. But you better move fast. I'm probably not going to make it to nightfall."

The satellite feed turned to static. Beside him, Pierce frantically tried to connect with the team on the ground that was supposed to be watching her. He pushed his earbud firmly into place and cupped a hand over his other ear. "What? You're sure?"

"Pierce." Terror spoke his fellow operative's name in a growl.

Pierce shook his head. "She's gone. The team rushed the room the moment they realized she was going to run, but they weren't fast enough. She and her friend went out a window. They tracked down her ID chip in an alley. They swabbed the blood spatter on the wall for DNA but it's obvious that it's hers. She got a sixty-second head start on them and four and a half minutes on us."

Menace rounded on Terror. "What's your gut telling you now, Ter?"

"That I'm going to get back our weapons and annihilate a gunrunning gang by nightfall," he responded matter-of-factly. "Whether she's guilty or innocent, it makes no difference to me."

Menace went numb with the realization that he didn't know this man. "No difference? You dropped an innocent, unarmed woman in a dangerous place and gave her an impossible assignment."

"Impossible? Hardly," Terror scoffed. "You obviously don't know your own wife, Menace. Her record and her history tell me that she's tenacious. With enough motivation, she'll accomplish any task."

"Motivation?"

"You and Hallie?" He gestured to Vicious' wife. "You're Naya's weaknesses. All it took was the threat of putting you in prison and having Hallie arrested and taken away from Vicious to convince Naya to use her considerable skills to our advantage."

Hallie gasped and Menace gaped at Terror. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Wrong with me?" Terror's voice slashed like a razor. "What the hell is wrong with you ? Don't you realize we're at war? Every day, I have to make decisions that would make the rest of you piss your pants. Unlike you, I don't have the luxury of rigid principles. I'm charged with protecting our people. Whatever the cost."

Menace was reminded of something Naya once said to him. "Collateral damage."

Terror's hard expression faltered. "I never wanted it to go down like this, Menace. Hurting you was never something I wanted, but it was unavoidable. Naya's ties to these people, whether she was aware of them or not, were too rich a resource not to exploit."

Menace saw red as Terror moved to a console and picked up a radio and earpiece. As he gave instructions for grid searches, Menace tried to suck air into his deflated lungs. The viselike grip on his chest convinced him he was having a heart attack. The knowledge that he'd been so expertly played by Terror cut deep. The fear that Naya, his beautiful, stubborn Naya, might not see tomorrow made him sick.

Pierce approached him. He withdrew something and extended it to Menace. "We'll get her back."

Menace's throat tightened at the sight of the Naya's collar in the other man's hand. He took it from Pierce, running his finger over the blue leather and silver tag. It occurred to Menace that they might be successful in rescuing her, but he would never get her back, not in the way he'd once had her. She would never forgive him.

"I know The City very well," Pierce continued. "I have some contacts there."

"You don't know the people she knows," Hallie interjected, her gentle voice so out of place in the war room. "But I do."

Vicious turned toward her and put both hands on her shoulders. "No."

Hallie shot him a daring look. "Excuse me?"

"I'm not risking you."

"There's no risk, Vicious. Just get me on the ground. I don't have to go near the danger. I only need to talk to a handful of people."

Vicious glanced at Menace. Sympathy flashed in his pale eyes. "Even if I wanted to let you go, Kitten, it's impossible. You heard Orion. He's grounded all flights."

Orion shook his head. "I'm not about to rescind that order. If Naya wasn't the mole on the ship, there's still a traitorous bastard among us. Someone sent that data blast that gave away the position and timing of our weapon shipment. I won't put my pilots in harm's way."

Hope faded within Menace. If he had to, he'd mount a one-man rescue operation, but without a ship to take him to the surface it would be impossible.

"I know this is difficult for you, Menace, but my hands are tied. If the hazard were any smaller, I'd be willing to look the other way."

Hope surged within him. Of all the pilots in this end of the star system, Hazard was the only one ballsy enough to steal a ship and take a covert rescue mission to the surface while the threat of a Splinter attack loomed. "I understand, sir."

The admiral nodded and glanced around the room, silently communicating his permission. His gaze lingered on Terror. "I'll give you a reprieve until this issue is resolved. When it's done, my order stands. I want you off my ship and out of my sight."

"Happy to oblige, Admiral."

Menace couldn't believe how cool Terror behaved. The realization that things would never be the same finally started to sink into his thick skull. It wasn't only Naya who he would lose but Terror as well. He finally understood the kind of pain Naya had known when her own blood used and abandoned her. It was the same heart-rending agony that Terror had caused with his callous treatment of Naya.

Forgiving Terror for what he'd done seemed impossible to Menace. He could only hope that Naya's kind heart wouldn't shut him out indefinitely. She'd already proven herself to be a better person than Menace could ever hope to be. Whether she wanted him back or not, Menace would do everything in his power to save her. He'd promised to protect and fight for her. He intended to keep that promise.