Clan and Conviction (Clan Beginnings) (38 page)

Krijero knew it was far better to end this now than have to face that day.  Yes, Gelan and Wynhod would be angry with him.  Would try to force him to stay.  But he couldn’t live with the awful anticipation.  No matter how hard he tried, he would always be awkward and clumsy Imdiko Krijero, and he’d ruin what was now a beautiful relationship.

It had to stop now before he shattered.  There was no other way.

Chapter 9

Krijero stared at the face floating before him, ignoring the two vids that flanked it.  The still shot of Dramok Benor showed a man who looked ridiculously civilized.  If there had ever been a face or demeanor that suggested upright good citizenship, this guy owned it. 

Clean-shaven.  Handsome with good bone structure, but not so gorgeous that one would become tongue-tied in his presence.  Benor kept his long, wavy black hair pulled back in a simple tail, looking as polished and professional as could be imagined.  His eyes were bright and intelligent.  A self-assured friendly smile for whomever the professional photographer had been.  But not too friendly.  A ‘hello, so glad we had this opportunity to meet’ expression that hinted at good things to come.  His well-cut clothing was immaculate and no doubt custom-made, but it was simple too.  Benor was a man who knew how to make a good impression without beating one over the head with his success.

His mere appearance made Krijero feel guilty for looking into his business dealings.  Benor was the kind of man you liked on sight.

The other two vids showed files Krijero had closed out recently.  They were up simply for the sake of looking like he was doing actual work during shift hours.  This was the first time Krijero had let his private obsession leak into his paid work time, but he had good reason for it.  In the first place, he found himself momentarily between case assignments.  Sure, he had the usual cleanup of old reports and administrative garbage to attend to, but he wasn’t in the mood for any of that.  No doubt something would hit his desk within the next day, perhaps within the next hour even, but for now he had nothing active pending.  He had time to goof off a little without it bothering his conscience.

The bigger reason to occupy himself with the Frenzy case was to calm his anxiety over the impending cutting of ties with Gelan and Wynhod.  His half-eaten lunch sitting on the desk spoke a mute testament to the maelstrom of emotions going on inside.  Krijero didn’t possess nearly the ability to eat as much as his two lovers, but he seldom left his meals sitting.  He’d forced himself to eat what little he had, quitting when his gut warned him he would be sick from the worry upsetting it.

Usually he ate with Gelan and Wynhod, but the team had been called out for a murder late this morning and had still not returned.  It had given Krijero a reprieve from figuring out their situation.  That he had to break things off once and for all was not in question any longer.  It was the how of it that screwed with his head.

That and the fact he really didn’t want to leave the pair.  His chest had been hurting all day.

For now, he had the distraction of Dramok Benor to ease the tightness in his heart and the sick feeling in his stomach.  The man might look as innocent as a newborn Matara, but he certainly had the money and resources to pull off an operation like Frenzy.

The Dramok owned not only a weapons manufacturing plant that held a contract to supply Kalquor’s military, but also one that made military-grade shuttles … the very type that had been used to commit crimes in both the Delir and Frenzy cases.  Plus there was the pharmaceutical link … Benor Pharmaceuticals, to be exact.  A drug maker making illicit drugs?  How perfect would that be? 

Dramok Benor was also on the boards of many other businesses, some which had names Krijero felt sure he had seen before.  His eyes narrowing, the Imdiko brought up the old Delir case file and said, “Cross reference Three Breeds Corporation and Southwestern Peaks Transportation Company with Delir and Benor files.”

Just as he’d thought, he found a match.  Benor sat on the board of Three Breeds and owned outright the transport company.  Back during the days of Delir, a couple of the dummy companies linked to the drug had been listed as subsidiaries of those entities.  Both Three Breeds and Southwestern Peaks had denied any knowledge of those companies, and indeed there had been no real legal trail tying them together.  It had been determined the bogus businesses had fraudulently used Benor’s holdings as fronts.

Krijero sat back and considered the findings.  It was the most he’d gotten from any of the military contractors he’d researched, but it didn’t mean Benor himself had anything to do with Delir or Frenzy.  For all Krijero knew, Benor had an underling or two using his connections to the Dramok’s businesses.  Someone as important as Benor with so many holdings certainly couldn’t keep track of everything his companies did or the men who ran them day to day. 

Krijero would have to have a hell of a lot more than what he did to take any of this to Gelan, especially where Benor was concerned.  The man had his fingers in everything, including government ties that went all the way from the very precinct Krijero worked for to the Royal Council of the Kalquorian Empire itself.  Casting suspicion on such a man without plenty of information, perhaps even hard evidence to back it up would destroy his, Gelan, and Wynhod’s careers.

No, Krijero definitely had no reason to bring this up to Gelan right now.  Which was a relief, considering he was determined to avoid the man and his Nobek.

He checked the time to see he still had an hour before his shift ended.  Initial on-site murder investigations took plenty of time, but Krijero knew Gelan and Wynhod would probably be back at headquarters pretty soon.  The Imdiko decided it would be a good idea to play sick and leave early to avoid the pair. 

His heart throbbed painfully.  Last night had been a perfect goodbye.   The memory of how gently they’d pleasured him was one to cherish for the rest of Krijero’s days.  He hoped one day he’d be able to look back on that with the joy it deserved rather than the pain he felt now.

Krijero shut down his computer and tossed his unwanted lunch away.  He really did feel ill; at least he wouldn’t be faking that to his boss.  On legs that felt made of lead, he headed to the supervisor’s office.

* * * *

Gelan snapped off his com as he and Wynhod headed for the shuttle bay.  He tried to be calm.  After all, he’d thought Krijero might pull a stunt like this.  Yet his temper was attempting to fire up.

Wynhod’s face was set.  “No answer.  He’s back to avoidance.”

“He left only ten minutes ago.  We just did miss him.  We can probably catch up to him at his apartment.”

“We’ll have to drag him home.  I don’t have any of my disciplinary tools with me.  Unless you want to let him go again.”  At Gelan’s heated look, Wynhod shrugged.  “I know.  You promised him he wouldn’t be allowed to do that.  He’s a mess, my Dramok.”

“He’s our mess, whether he likes it or not.  I’m going to give him one last chance to save his ass before we beat it for willful disobedience.”

Gelan pulled his com out again.  Instead of calling Krijero’s portable unit, he clicked the Imdiko’s home com.  He took a deep breath to keep the anger out of his tone as he spoke following the message prompt.  “Krijero, Wynhod and I are on our way over.  If you value your hide, you’ll not make us force entry.  This is your only warning.”

Gelan clicked off again as they reached the shuttle bay.  He followed Wynhod to their private vehicle, forcing himself to take calming breaths.  He really hoped Krijero would have the sense to not make this worse.  His Imdiko-to-be was in for a long night no matter what, but it would turn extremely painful if Krijero dared defy him any further.

* * * *

Krijero reached his apartment, the one he saw so seldom these days since he spent most of his time at Gelan and Wynhod’s home.  It was the same government housing he’d shared with Pertak 18 years prior, impossibly small and bare compared to his lovers’ quarters. 

He’d known all these years that staying here was a constant sad reminder of how his life had ended up in such disappointment.  Yet he could never see the worth in getting a bigger, better place after Pertak left him.  Krijero was only one man after all, and it seemed a ridiculous waste of space and money to buy into anything more. 

Krijero stood just inside his door, noting how dusty the surfaces were.  It had been several months since the last time he’d walked out on Gelan and Wynhod, and the place showed its disuse.  He sighed.  Those days were over.

As always when he came home, his eyes sought out a still vid picture hanging on his wall.  He’d taken the shot himself, a picture of the view off of the balcony outside of Gelan and Wynhod’s sleeping room.  It had always been his sole comfort during the lonely weeks when he’d separated from the pair before, a way to continue to feel connected to them.

Grief swelled in his throat, threatening to choke him.  Alone again.  It was every bit as awful as he remembered it.  Worse actually, because he knew what he missed.  What he had thrown aside and could never get back.

At least his portable com had stopped going off.  Gelan and Wynhod had tried no less than six times in succession to get hold of him. 

Thinking about that, Krijero’s gaze went to the home com.  He groaned to see that a message waited for him.  He hated checking messages.  It always made him think of the last time he heard Pertak’s voice, telling him he’d clanned another Imdiko.

Maybe this was another message in the same vein.  One from Gelan and Wynhod telling him he’d blown it for the last time and that they were done chasing him – which was exactly what Krijero needed to hear.  However, he didn’t want to hear it.  He thought about deleting the message without listening.

For some reason, the Imdiko said, “Play message.”

It was Gelan’s voice all right, in a tone tight and controlled yet simmering with a hint of fury.  Krijero made himself listen to it.  His eyes widened as the message played out.

“…on our way over.  If you value your hide, you’ll not make us force entry.  This is your only warning.”

Krijero backed away from the com as if the Dramok and Wynhod might spring from the small piece of equipment, ready to whip his ass until he couldn’t sit for a month. 

They were on their way.  They were pissed off, enough to threaten to force their way in.  He glanced at the time the message had been left and felt his knees shake.  They could be at his door any moment now, ready to break it in.

Fuck.  What was he going to do?

“I need time to think,” Krijero whispered to the empty, dusty room.  He needed time because they weren’t giving up on him as they should.  Gelan had threatened to forcibly clan him.  Was that what would happen when they arrived?  Would they do something like beat him into submission?  Bite him to get an affirmative answer?  Such things weren’t really their style, but they had intent to do something, Krijero was sure.

He needed to get out of here before they showed up.  He needed to get away, to grab some time before he dealt with them.  To figure out what to say, to make them understand it was best to end this now.

Krijero needed to run and find a place to hide if it wasn’t already too late to escape.  He hurried to the door and winced as it opened, expecting to see Gelan and Wynhod waiting outside.  However, they weren’t there.  He could still get away.

He left his apartment, hurrying down the complex’s corridor to the mountain’s interior transport system.  He got in, glad to see he had the small car all to himself. 

“Main concourse, second public entertainment level,” Krijero ordered.

The transport’s doors closed and he felt the floor beneath him move, jarring his questionable balance just a hair.  He gripped a handrail and sighed with momentary relief.  He was on his way to the mountain’s main hub of shops, clubs, and dining areas.  In that always crowded area of humanity, Krijero could get lost long enough to avoid his pursuers and figure things out. 

He hoped.

He walked the concourse for hours, keeping an eye out for Gelan and Wynhod the entire time.  Krijero was all too aware of how easily Gelan tracked prey, whether animal or man.  He had the expectation that the Dramok and his Nobek would appear at any moment to grab him and force an accounting for his actions.

They had warned him they wouldn’t allow the old avoidance tactic any longer.  Krijero had made the mistake of thinking it was a bluff. 

He wandered about the immense level, filled with every entertainment, relaxation, and legal indulgences a man could wish for.  The Imdiko stopped nowhere except for a quick bite to eat.  Now his stomach felt vaguely unsettled, trying to knot with worry over what would happen when he finally had to face Gelan and Wynhod again.

Four hours after he’d fled his apartment, Krijero thought perhaps the pair would have given up actively trying to track him down for the night.  That didn’t mean they weren’t lying in wait for him back at his home.  Used to long stakeouts that could go for double shifts for days on end, they had long conquered their usual restless tendencies.  He really didn’t want them catching up to him in the privacy of his abode, able to do whatever they wished to punish him for willful disobedience.  It didn’t matter that he wasn’t their lawful Imdiko; he’d allowed them to treat him that way for most of a year now.  Krijero knew it was much too late to back down the intensity of their relationship except to end it completely.  Gelan and Wynhod had made it apparent they wouldn’t accept that option.