Desperate Measures (11 page)

Connal knew that Rennick was angry over what could be a breach of their security, but had a

feeling that wasn‟t the reason his friend was frowning now.

“You got the video?” Connal asked as he dropped into a seat beside Rennick.

Rennick nodded and shot a glare at the screen. “And you definitely need to see it.”

Connal raised his brows but kept his attention on the screen. Any questions could wait

until after he‟d seen if he recognized who had used Sybil‟s identification. The screen flashed and

he saw an image of the passenger cruiser boarding area of the space port. He watched as

passengers went through the scanner, not recognizing anyone at first. He knew Rennick would

tell him when the person went through if he didn‟t notice it.

A person moving just behind the man at the front of the line caught his eyes. Light blonde

hair gleamed in the harsh overhead lights. He saw the side of a woman‟s face and thought she

looked familiar, but she was back behind the man before he could be certain.

“I know what you‟re looking at and I thought the same. Just wait a moment,” Rennick

said.

Connal watched as the tall man stepped forward and had his bags sent through the

scanners and into the loading area. He moved out of the way and Connal stared at the rounded

face and golden eyes he knew so well. Her lush lips glistened wetly as she smiled at the security

officers. He could only stare for a few moments.

“She used it?” Connal asked hoarsely.

“No, just watch.” Rennick shook his head.

Connal did. He watched as the other two women who‟d worked on the
Raitan
went

through the scanner. They turned and waited. A woman with very pale blonde hair, light skin and

clear blue eyes stepped through the scanner. They smiled and chatted with her as they walked

toward the waiting area for the passenger ship. He clenched his fists and resisted the urge to

throw something. He knew without a doubt who had taken the ID.

“We were used.” Rennick‟s voice was hard.

“Yes, but it‟s more than that. They tricked, distracted and stole from us. Whatever game

we thought we were playing with them, they won.”

“I can‟t think of any way that they would have gotten access to Sybil‟s ID.” Rennick

stared at the screen. “They wouldn‟t have clearance to do it from any console and I know none of

our people would have helped.”

“They obviously came to get her and she knows them, but we still don‟t know anything

more about them than when they stepped onto the ship.” Connal stood. “And I‟d really like to

know what they are.”

“They guarded their secrets well and the names they used probably won‟t lead us to

them.” Rennick looked at the screen.

“We‟ll have to get word out about the women just to let others know that they are out

there and aren‟t afraid to take chances.” Connal tapped his fingers on the table. “
We
will find them.”

“I‟ll put out some feelers, trying to find a trace of them or who the woman they came for

is. If I can discover that, we might learn what she was doing here.” Rennick shrugged. “It‟s not

going to be easy.”

* * * * *

Connal tried to keep his temper under control. Not an easy thing to do when his nerves

were already taut with being in this tiny white room and with the fury pulsing through him.

Feeling caged and angry, he drew in a deep breath and strove for calm. His restraint wasn‟t at its

highest point. The official in front of him, Official Liven, had nothing to do with what had

happened.

He had a good idea who was fully behind this, but unfortunately the coward wasn‟t going

to step up and challenge him formally again. This pissed him off more than anything Everett had

done before. The man had wanted to rule not only one of the ships but the entire pack of
Feiral
.

When Connal had pinned him, he‟d left. He‟d done nothing but cause trouble since then. The

man had hired thugs on occasion, but this situation far outstripped that.

He knew his men could take care of themselves against the attacks. The unprovoked

attack on the females of the pack had pushed Connal beyond all understanding. Before this he‟d

tried to tell himself that Everett was young and impulsive and needed some time to mature. Now,

he didn‟t care what Everett needed. The man was going to be lucky if he walked away alive the

next time they met.

First, Connal had to find Tricia. They‟d docked at the station near the planet Deveae to

deliver a load of cargo. A few people had gone down to the planet for a little relaxation. It was a

normal practice, but Tricia had disappeared. Sometime last night he‟d discovered what the

Deveaen government worked hard to keep secret. One of the major criminal industries on

Deveae was kidnap for either ransom or slavery. There hadn‟t been a demand for ransom for

Tricia.

Connal eyed the official across from him. “What is your success rate for finding the

people who are taken?”

The short, balding man grimaced and shrugged. “It‟s not as good as we‟d like. Because of

the constraints of the law, our return rate is only about thirty percent.”

Connal wasn‟t impressed. The rate wasn‟t good enough for him. He needed more than

that. There had to be a way to better the odds of finding her.

“Is there something we can do to help increase the odds of getting her back?” Connal

waited and hoped. He leaned forward in his chair and braced his elbows on the cool metal table.

He wanted to be doing something active. Sitting and waiting while other people did the work

was an alien concept. He hated the helpless feeling and wasn‟t willing to suffer it long. If the

official didn‟t have any idea, Connal would go out and see if he could better the chances himself.

The man studied him as if he understood what Connal was thinking. “I have a list of

things I‟m supposed to tell you. You need to make a public appeal for her safe return. Get her

face out there so that people know who she is and make her human to those who have her. Do

that by all means.”

“Is there something else you could tell me to do? Something that might help more?”

Connal asked.

“Not really something you could do. There‟s someone you can contact. They‟ve had

better success with finding men and women taken by those who don‟t ask for ransom.” The man

looked at him frankly. “They‟re not limited as we are.”

“Who are they and why would you recommend them to me?” Connal crossed his arms

over his chest. Suspicion immediately rose that maybe the man received some sort of payment

from these people for referrals.

“They‟re a group of investigators, hunters, but they‟re not based on Deveae. And I only

recommend them to you because you‟re not from this planet. A citizen from Deveae would draw

at the least censure for using them. All legal means have to be exhausted before off-planet help

can be called for citizens.” Official Liven shrugged.

Connal nodded. That alleviated some of his suspicions. “Where are they based?”

“Valcosa. Cinnia Investigations, you‟ll find them. They‟re a small group, very exclusive,

but if they‟re available, they know enough to raise the chance of getting your friend back.” Liven

leaned back in his chair.

Valcosa wasn‟t that far away from Deveae, just two systems. He could go arrange for

help from the agency while Rennick took care of the details here. He‟d do what he had to do to

better the chances to recover Tricia.

After talking to Rennick and telling him what was needed, Connal headed to Valcosa.

The Cinnia agency wasn‟t housed in one of the ultra-flashy towers like he‟d expected from

Liven‟s comments about it being exclusive. He‟d expected a very high-end, classy office. That

wasn‟t what he found. It was housed in a historical building. He had to admit that it was a very

beautiful building with its elegant carved lines and the green tile roof. There were two other

businesses also housed in the building.

He walked up the steps. All three businesses shared a central reception area in a large,

cream-colored room. An older woman sat behind a dark brown wooden desk, flanked by two

lush plants. As he walked forward, he realized that these people probably worked on an

appointment-only basis. He hadn‟t thought about it until he was striding up to the stone building.

The woman with graying brown hair smiled at him as he stopped in front of the desk.

“I need to speak with someone at the Cinnia Investigations. The matter is urgent and I

need immediate help.” Connal gave the woman a slow smile, hoping that it would charm her into

talking the investigators into speaking to him.

“I‟ll see if they have time to see you, sir.” The woman nodded and keyed in a few things.

She must have received a reply because she turned back to him. “Can you tell me what this is in

reference to?”

“A…friend of mine was taken while on Deveae. We were told that this agency had

success with finding and returning those kidnapped without a demand for ransom.” Connal was a

little frustrated by the delay. He didn‟t want to waste time with the formalities, but knew he had

to play by the normal rules for the moment. If he had any idea what to do, he wouldn‟t be here.

He‟d be on Deveae doing it.

The woman keyed in what he‟d said. “An investigator will be out here to take you back to

discuss this more fully in just a moment.”

Connal waited, but it wasn‟t long. The door on the far side of the room slid open nearly

silently. He drew in a quick breath as he recognized the woman. Raine. They‟d searched but

hadn‟t found any trace of her. They‟d had to settle for sending her image to the other shifters

they knew. They‟d hoped that someone would see her and lead them to find her and her friends.

Now he realized why her identity had been so hard to trace. She did this kind of thing for a

living.

“You!” The word exploded from her lips.

He knew she was gearing up either to attack or run from him. Right now, he didn‟t have

time to do that. “I‟m not here for you. Didn‟t know you were here. I need the kind of help your

agency provides. And now that I know you and I presume your friends run this agency, I can‟t

think of anyone more suited to help me. Aside from that, you owe me.”

“Owe you! I don‟t owe you anything.” Her expression was a combination of horror and

fury.

“You used me and my crew to get you where you needed to be and you—” he began.

“Come with me,” she cut him off and turned. She led the way into the offices.

He smiled and was satisfied that he‟d gotten beyond the doorway. He knew that she

would have shut him out if she‟d had a chance. Even now, he didn‟t expect her to agree to help

him out of concern for him. He couldn‟t blame her for being wary. She had to know that he‟d try

to find her. The woman was extremely smart and had known she wasn‟t dealing with a human.

She led him into an inner office. Plants were everywhere in this room. Smaller flowering

plants hung from the ceiling and the larger ones stood in decorative spots around the room. The

walls were the same color as the lobby, but with the color from the plants and various items on

shelves and atop the desks, it didn‟t seem so drab.

A black-haired woman sat at one of the two black desks in the main room. She looked up

as they entered and her mouth dropped open. He didn‟t know who she was, but she obviously

knew who he was. He inhaled. All he could smell was more of that muddled scent that the

women had exuded on the ship. He‟d bet the woman was the same as Raine, hiding what she

really was for some reason.

“He‟s…” The woman‟s voice trailed off and she just shook her head.

“I know who he is. He isn‟t here looking for us. He needed help so he came to find the

agency. Now that he knows I‟m here, he thinks I owe him something and I want to know why.”

Raine slashed a look at her. “You can take off if you want.”

“No, I‟ll stay and see if you need any kind of help.” The woman took a deep breath and

eyed Connal suspiciously.

“Come on. We‟ll talk in one of the conference rooms. It will be more private and then

you can tell me why I owe you. We were both playing games while I was on your ship.” She

swept her eyes over him and turned on her heel.

Her stride was quick, but he loved the swift swish of her hips. She was dressed in a dark

gray jacket that ended just above her buttocks, a bright red shirt and dark gray pants. She should

have looked business-like and maybe a little boring, but she made those clothes seem almost as

sexy as her beautiful bare body. He could have watched her walking for hours, but she slid into

one of the cushioned black seats at the long, glass table.

He didn‟t take the chair next to her although he was tempted to. He wanted to be able to

see every expression on her face and that would be easier across from her. Pulling a chair out, he

dropped into it. She drummed her fingernails on the tabletop for a moment as she watched him.

Against the backdrop of the cream wall, she looked vivid and irritated.

“Why do you think I owe you anything? I know you probably don‟t come out on the

losing end of things much, but it happens to everyone. That doesn‟t mean I owe you.” She leaned

back in the chair and simply watched him.

She wasn‟t as confident as she wanted to seem. He could hear the slight shuffle of her