Caught by Menace (37 page)

“She ran guns,” Vicious said forcefuly. “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.”

Halie pursed her lips. “You better than anyone should

know that Terror isn’t infalible. Do I need to rehash my

trip to the colonies when Terror was my escort?”

Vicious paled. “No.”

Menace wanted to ask Halie 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 fal from Halie’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 Halie 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 al 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’l see about that,” Vicious ground out angrily. He

turned to Halie 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

Vicious crooked his finger at Menace. “Let’s go get

some answers.”

Nodding, Menace fel into step behind Vicious and

Halie. 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 wal 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 hel he’d wrought? Did he even care? For

the first time in their many years of friendship, Menace

finaly understood why so many people hated Terror. He

was a buly. Period. Ful stop.

Toe-to-toe with the man he’d once considered a best

friend, Menace glared at him. “Where the hel 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?”

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 folowed.”

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 halway. “We’re less than two minutes from the

agreed meeting time, Terror.” He frowned at the group

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 hel 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.”

“Wel, 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 tels me

everything I need to know.”

“My gut tels me I screwed up yesterday. Whether or

not Naya did al 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.”

done. She’s not coming back.”

“We’l see about that.” Vicious shoved his way by

both of them, dragging Halie 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 wal. 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 wal. She

walked back and forth in the smal hotel room. What the

hel 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-a-

half 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.”

Flare’s bride.”

“Dankirk?”

Pierce nodded. “From what we can tel, the man

knows everyone and everything that goes on in the seedy

underbely of The City and Connor’s Run. She stil

maintains that she has no ties to the Splinter cel 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 colapsing 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 hel 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?”

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 cel

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 tel 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

and start over,” he said. “You built a good life for

yourself but then what the hel 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 al 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’l see.” Naya wiped at her face again. Knowing

she was crying and he couldn’t do anything to soothe her

pain kiled 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 wiling to go to prison

to protect Naya made Menace feel even worse. It drove

home the point he’d been muling over al night. He didn’t

home the point he’d been muling over al 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 finaly. “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?”

Stil crying, she nodded. “Yeah.”

“Wel, that’s where I went,” he said. “I found her and

“Wel, 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 tel you. I

couldn’t break your heart again.”

Menace’s heart raced as the awful truth was spiled.

Al around him, the room had grown eerily silent. Like

him, they were al 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.