Desperate Measures (13 page)

amount of time in their hands or even the hands of those who took the people was going to be

hard to forget. She hoped they could find his crewmate before Tricia was hurt too much by it.

By the time Connal began the docking procedures, Raine felt like she was regaining some

of her control. She was also beginning to think again. The shock of seeing him and of learning

why he‟d come to them had blinded her to almost anything else. Now her mind had begun to

function and she realized that there might be more behind this disappearance.

“Do you have any enemies who‟d know your people well enough to target them?” She

couldn‟t see Connal‟s face and he was too busy to look back at her.

“You picked a fine time to come out of your daze, but yes, there‟s one. We do suspect

that he had something to do with it. But we don‟t think he specifically singled out Tricia or any

other woman. Our theory is that he somehow led them to us. We don‟t know how yet, but we are

working on that as well as the information you wanted,” Connal explained.

“I hope you‟re right about that. It would be better for Tricia.” She grimaced.

“Better?” His tone had tightened.

“If your enemy posed as a client and they can‟t get their payment, that wouldn‟t be good.

These people don‟t keep an unneeded subject around to wait for someone who wants that

specific type. It‟s very much on demand and if the buyer backs out, the property, the kidnapped

person, is usually killed.” She didn‟t want to make the situation out to be worse than it was, but

she also wanted him to be aware of the facts. Especially since there was some suspicion of

outside interference.

“How hard would it be to set up a buy like that?” Connal asked.

“That‟s where you‟re lucky. Unless your enemy has spent over a year or so on Deveae,

he probably wouldn‟t be able to find them. That‟s a very tight network of people. They don‟t

trust easily.” Deanne moved restlessly in her seat.

“So tell me about how you‟re going to find them.” Connal glanced quickly back at them

but turned his eyes back to the screen in front of him.

“It‟s not going to be exciting or entertaining. There‟s going to be a lot of boredom

accompanied by a few moments of exultation. Most of the hunt will be done on a connection to

the Deveae information network. When we find enough information, we‟ll go after Tricia.”

Raine idly drew her fingers over the cushioned surface of the armrest.

“Searching the information network? If you know where to look, you know where to

look. About how long should this take?” He piloted the shuttle into the hanger of the
Raitan
.

“It‟s not going to be as fast as you probably think. Yes, we know where to look in a

general sense. We know of at least twenty boards where the requests and replies are posted, but

the actual phrasing changes regularly.” Raine frowned.

“The phrasing?” Connal asked.

“It‟s not like they actually come out and write something like „I want a black-haired,

blue-eyed, petite woman as soon as possible‟.” Krissa shook her head.

“If only it were that easy.” Raine fervently wished that it was. “The people who use this

are a very closed group and when new code words are put in place, they pass the word among

themselves. They don‟t let new people in easily and a lot of what they do is in code. Those

boards we mentioned are private and protected. We‟ll have to hack into them to search them.”

“And that‟s why the authorities can‟t do it. You‟re breaking the law.” Connal turned after

he‟d settled the shuttle in the docking bay.

“Well, bending it at the very least, but the people we‟re after aren‟t going to report it. The

things on those boards are enough to put them in prison for much longer than hacking would do

us. If we were ever caught, which isn‟t going to happen. Besides we won‟t be doing this on

planet. We can access their systems in space and that area of the law is still kind of undecided.”

Raine smiled and rose to her feet stretching a bit.

“You don‟t follow any rules but your own, do you?” He tilted his head. He watched her

and she knew he was thinking. The man was entirely too used to people jumping to follow his

commands and he probably saw it as a challenge that she didn‟t have to do that.

“You said you wanted her back by any means necessary and this is that means. If you

mean generally, it‟s one of the perks of not being part of a pack. I get to make my own

decisions.” She grinned just because she knew it would annoy him almost as much as her words

would.

“Being part of a pack doesn‟t mean the alpha gets to control every part of everyone‟s life.

In most cases, just like you they do what they want. There are rules they follow, but I‟d bet you

have your own rules that aren‟t that different from what they follow. Most of it is simple

common sense.” He pushed the button to release the hatch and then waited as they began making

their way there.

She laughed and shook her head. He couldn‟t convince her of that. She might have been

young when it had happened, but she remembered what the alpha had been like. He‟d controlled

everything and everybody in that clan. She could remember the sound of his voice raised in

anger because someone had done something different from what he‟d said.

“I know better.” She stepped off the shuttle.

“You‟ll have to tell me about what you know of pack life. It doesn‟t sound like the

experience was very good. You know there are bad alphas just as often as there are bad people.”

He followed them out into the landing bay.

It was more than a little strange being back on this ship. She looked around the area. She

saw Rennick coming toward them. She was pretty sure they didn‟t have a separate area set up for

an information search since they‟d just told Connal how they‟d be searching for Tricia at first.

They‟d have to secure a room and start the programs as soon as possible. Getting the information

quickly would allow them to get Tricia out of danger faster.

“We‟ve arranged a room for all of them and everyone has been informed that they are

guests and are here to help. They‟re all aware of the conditions of their cooperation and not to

interfere with them in any way,” Rennick said as soon as he stopped in front of Connal.

“They‟ll need a room set up so they can begin some information searches. They‟ve got

their own equipment. We‟ll have to wait to get our hands on the people behind this.” Connal

nodded.

“That won‟t be a problem. We can let them set up their equipment in one of the meeting

rooms.” Rennick didn‟t have to think very long.

“If you‟ll take us to the meeting room first we‟ll get the searches started before we put

our clothes in our cabin,” Raine offered before either of them could make any other plans. She

knew that the time between now and when they finally had a group of names for them was going

to be frustrating enough without unnecessary delay.

“We‟ll do that.” Connal turned and smiled at her.

She‟d known Connal would take an active interest in the search and how they did it. His

intentions had been clear from the first and he wasn‟t going to take a step back. This was as

personal to him as rescuing Krissa was to her. She knew he‟d be a part from start to finish.

The meeting room was a good-sized room with an oval table and eight comfortable

chairs. It was fitted with a nice-sized view screen and, interestingly, a couch. It seemed to be a

strange combination of business formal and comfortably casual at the same time. Raine helped

set up the comps and begin hacking into the databases. The codes had changed from the last time

they‟d done it, so they had to get a program to do that first. When she finished setting up her

comp, Raine looked around and saw almost all the other women standing and waiting.

“I‟ll stay and monitor the hacking programs for a while if one of you will take my bag to

the room and come back to relieve me in a bit,” Deanne offered as she took a seat.

That didn‟t surprise Raine. Deanne was the best with those programs and all of the

women knew it. If there were any tweaks that would make them run faster, she‟d know them.

Raine took her bag and nodded.

“One of us will be back up to give you a break soon.” Raine looked at the others.

Connal‟s voice cut through the silence. “I was wondering if you‟d like to have dinner

with me tonight, Raine. I‟d like to know more about how you‟re going to find her. What you‟ll

be searching for on those boards. I‟d also like to talk about you.”

She focused her eyes on him and saw him just watching her. There was no demand in his

look even though his tone of voice had been strong and decisive. He seemed to be waiting

patiently for her to decide what she wanted to do. Not that she was going to think about it too

much. She understood his curiosity and his need to know what was happening. Aside from that,

she wanted to spend some time with him.

She was still attracted to him. A lot of the danger of being near him had disappeared, but

there was still some there. She was hiding something from him and he knew it. He wasn‟t the

type to let that go. There was also the fact that he would follow once he was free of his promise

to her.

“That sounds good. I know you‟ll have plenty of questions. I would if I was the one who

had someone missing.” She didn‟t want him getting the idea that she‟d agreed only to be with

him. Although she did want to be near him, they both had to remember that this wasn‟t about

them and they‟d be walking away again as soon as Tricia was found.

He didn‟t say anything and she looked over to find him smiling at her. Hell, he looked

amused. Not good. He wasn‟t buying her attitude.

“I‟ll give you some time to settle in and then come find you.” Connal smiled and nodded.

She wasn‟t giving him any other reason to be amused. He was already too confident. She

followed the others out of the room. If they‟d been jousting again, she‟d definitely lost. She‟d

become so flustered and it was just from the thought of being with him. She hadn‟t been this

nervous in a long time. He wasn‟t a direct threat right now, but he knew too much and the fact

that the desire was still as strong as it was did unsettle her.

She was still a little nervous when he came by their cabin, but she‟d gotten herself more

under control. She‟d stopped trying to tell herself that the attraction didn‟t matter. That only

made her more nervous because she knew it did. There was something there, more than an

attraction. It felt like a connection, a future. While part of her wanted to analyze it and discover

exactly what that was, she knew it was smarter and safer simply to focus on other things. She

was here to find his crewmate and when that happened she‟d be walking away from him.

Pack life wasn‟t for her. She already knew that. Whatever she felt for him would fade.

While she was here, she could do her best to work him out of her system and at least now, she‟d

get to see the real him. Hopefully, it would show her another side of him that wasn‟t as attractive

as what she‟d seen so far. Really, she needed the unreliable alpha to come out, but she knew it

wouldn‟t. He wasn‟t like the alphas she knew from what she could tell. He was trying to find a

lost packmate. That already put him a step up on her mother‟s old pack. That alpha had walked

away and left a group of women when they were at their weakest. She couldn‟t think of anything

lower than that. The wait wasn‟t doing much for her disposition.

When the tone sounded, she tensed.

“Don‟t worry. He‟s not going to bite too hard,” Gianna said as she walked over to the

door.

“Maybe she likes to feel his teeth.” Nara laughed softly from her lounging position on

one of the beds.

They technically had two rooms, but they‟d all gathered in one room to talk about the

situation. It had been something she‟d appreciated because it helped distract her from her

worries. But she could do without their vast amusement over the situation. She couldn‟t find

much funny about it.

“I think it might have been too long since I‟ve taken you both down.” She gave them both

a very serious scowl just before the door opened.

“Hello, is Raine ready?” Connal smiled widely.

“Just let me slip on my shoes.” Raine rose. She resisted the urge to smooth her hands

down the sides of her pants. She didn‟t have much to hide now. He wouldn‟t ask any leading

questions so this shouldn‟t be that difficult.

Connal held out his hand as she walked over to join him. She slipped her palm over his

and stepped out into the hallway. Smiling up at him, she watched him through her lashes. His

hand tightened. She didn‟t hesitate when he began walking down the hallway. She strolled beside

him easily. The nervousness churning in her gut remained, but she tried to relax.

He took her to his quarters and she looked around the light green room with interest. Not

much had changed. The deep blue and gold blanket on the bed certainly hadn‟t been here the last

time. She saw a few other small things she didn‟t recognize. He tugged her farther into the room.

“It‟s a little different this time, isn‟t it?” he asked.

She nodded, a little relieved to find that she wasn‟t the only one who was unsure of what

to do. “Yes, it is. Last time, I was so worried about slipping up and revealing something or