Desperate Measures (21 page)

about bruised feelings later.

He looked at her and frowned and she knew he didn‟t have a clue about what she meant.

She smiled but didn‟t really feel that confident. It wasn‟t that she didn‟t want to fight with him.

They‟d make up just as fiercely as they argued. The only thing that made her cautious was the

time factor and the fact that she knew herself and thought she had a pretty good idea of his

character. If either one of them became offended and pride became an issue, she wasn‟t sure that

they‟d have time to make up before Tricia was found. She was honest enough to admit that if she

was mad enough she‟d hold a grudge even if it did cost her time with him, but she knew she‟d

regret it later.

“What are we going to talk about?” He took a seat on the couch and watched as she put

some space between them.

She put her hand on the cushion. As much as she wanted to be near him, she knew that

the temptation to touch could be too much and then nothing would get said. Turning a little to

face him, she put her arm on the back of the couch and leaned against the soft cushions. She

rubbed her fingers over the smooth fabric and tried to gather her thoughts.

“We‟re going to talk about what happens when we find the locations and I assume they

told you that we probably wouldn‟t be able to narrow it down to just one. These people only go

by descriptions of their product, not names.” She licked her lips. She was a little nervous, but she

wasn‟t going to back down.

“Yes, they told me that we‟d probably have to go to more than one location when they‟re

found.” He nodded. “What do we need to talk about?”

“First, it‟s not just go to more than one location. You‟re going to have to hit these places

nearly simultaneously. I guarantee that if you don‟t all you‟ll find is an empty home and maybe a

dead girl depending on the paranoia of the person there. These people have some kind of system

worked out that gets information to the others very quickly when something happens.” She

drummed her fingers on the couch. It was so damn frustrating not to be able to stop that.

“Do you know how?”

“No, if we did, we‟d take measures to stop it. I don‟t know if they have some kind of

hidden panic signal or if it‟s someone hired to watch over those who recently received a new

slave for signs that the authorities have found them.” She clenched her fists. One time, they‟d

been moments too late. They‟d gotten into the large house just after the man who‟d bought her

had killed her. “We haven‟t been able to pick up any kind of communication coming from the

houses, but it can‟t be entirely ruled out. Technology changes and grows so fast that it‟s hard to

keep up.”

“All right, we‟ll plan for simultaneous entries. Is there anything else?” His arm rose and

his hand covered hers where it rested on the back of the couch.

“Yeah, there‟s more. We‟re going down to the planet with you.” She took a deep breath

and watched his face.

It wasn‟t that she expected him to yell or rage. No, she thought he‟d probably go with

immediate denial. The man liked to be in control and telling him what they were doing probably

wasn‟t the best way, but she didn‟t see any other way to do it. There wasn‟t time to coax and

make him see that it was a good idea.

“By we you mean you and the other women will be going down?” He tensed and his lips

compressed.

“Yes, for a couple of reasons.” She smiled and tried to sound confident and unworried

about his reaction. She didn‟t want to have to argue with him about it, but she was going to do it

if necessary. “First, you and the other men are very emotionally involved in this situation. It isn‟t going to be easy for you to stop yourself from either seriously injuring the men involved if not

killing them. It will be easier if you have someone along who‟s not so invested in the situation to

remind you. You can‟t kill them even though they‟re scum.”

“You‟re right, the temptation is definitely going to be there. Why should I spare these

men‟s lives? They think they can own another person. I don‟t see much to redeem them.” His

head tilted and she could see by the hard expression on his face that he didn‟t agree with that part

of the plan.

“If you kill them, they become the victims and no one will look farther than that at them.

What they did will never become known. Nothing will be done about the trade they are a part of.

But if they‟re alive and the women they hold are from that planet and go to the authorities, their

actions can be brought to light. And it will be one step closer to stopping the group‟s actions.”

She glared at him. She knew exactly what he was feeling. She‟d come within a breath of leaving

the man who‟d hurt Lori in little pieces all over his own home. It had been close there for a few

moments, but she‟d left him alive and unconscious.

“What about the one who took Tricia? What will happen to him? She‟s not from this

planet and while we could file a report, from the way you talked, that‟s not something you want

us to do.” He took a deep breath and she could tell that he was trying to give himself time to

think and not just immediately react to what she was saying.

“Oh we‟ve got a way to link him to the others. He won‟t have a victim crying out for

justice, but the fact that there will be a form of proof that he had her and that she‟s now

disappeared will put even more focus on him. He‟ll be suspected of murder. With luck one of

them will name a few of the others to get a lighter sentence.” She smiled. The man wouldn‟t

wriggle out of it. Planting evidence was the only way he was going to pay for anything he did.

This was one of the times when they had to do something outside of the law to get justice.

“Why don‟t you want to file a report about her being found and her connection to who

did it?” He frowned.

She rolled her eyes and shook her head. That should be fairly obvious, but she knew it

was because he was so focused on getting Tricia back. “Going into someone else‟s home and at

the very least stunning them is considered a crime on most worlds. I don‟t want anyone to be

able to connect you to the crimes.”

He closed his eyes briefly and took a breath. She thought she saw a hint of a blush. “I

didn‟t even think about that aspect of it.”

“That‟s all right. That‟s actually part of my job here to make sure you don‟t make any

mistakes. It‟s also why we‟re going down with you. You need someone who‟s got a little

distance to keep you from doing something you‟d regret.” She shrugged. Revenge or the need for

justice was an understandable reaction. That was something she remembered all too well.

“So you and the others are going down to make sure that we don‟t unnecessarily mangle

the men holding the women.” He tilted his head, but she could see that he must suspect that it

was more than that.

“Well, for that reason and because once Tricia‟s back in your hands our job is over and

it‟s time for us to leave.” She tried to make the words flow smoothly out of her mouth as if it

should have been obvious and wasn‟t anything out of the ordinary. Her tongue tripped and

stumbled as she rushed to get the sentence said.

“You‟re not going to take your bags down to that planet. I‟m not letting you go here,

because I have a feeling you won‟t be traveling under the name you are now. I insist on knowing

that when we leave you somewhere it‟s at least a safe place. That planet is not and we both know

it.” He shook his head.

“We agreed that after this job is done that you‟d let us go.” She pulled her hand out from

under his and narrowed her eyes at him. She wasn‟t going to let him break his word.

“And I‟ll let you walk away from us without trying to follow you immediately, but only

when we get to a safe place.” He straightened and his look hardened.

“We‟re capable of taking care of ourselves and we aren‟t going to any of the places that

those people hunt.” She shook her head. They weren‟t stupid. Not that there was much threat of

anyone being taken in the coming days when the news broke about the women being recovered

and a few of the people behind it being discovered. The trade would disappear for a little while

until the attention was off it again.

“This isn‟t a negotiable point. We‟ll take you to another planet after we get Tricia off this

one.” He shook his head.

“You are much too accustomed to people doing what you say without thinking about it.

You‟re also being overprotective when there‟s no need.” She took a deep breath. By the look on

his face, she knew it was an argument that she wouldn‟t win.

She really didn‟t want to argue with him and she could understand his feelings about the

planet being dangerous. She‟d had much the same feeling when Lori had been taken, but hers

had been tempered by a strong need for revenge. They‟d been planning to catch a private shuttle

and leave the area fairly anonymously, but the change in plans wasn‟t that bad. He would keep

his word. She was certain of that.

“Ah, you think I need someone who‟ll tell me when I‟m getting a bit too arrogant about

things.” He reached over and took her hand in his. He squeezed gently and smiled at her.

She returned the smile. “No, I think you need someone to ignore your orders occasionally

just to show you that you can‟t order everyone around. And they‟d also have to point out when

you‟re getting too stodgy and remind you that you do make mistakes.”

He laughed, but stopped when the tone for the door sounded. Raine tensed. Even though

she knew their food was on the way, she‟d completely forgotten about it while talking to him.

She hadn‟t gotten her way in everything but she was feeling pretty good about how the

discussion had ended.

Raine had thought he‟d be a lot more resistant to the idea of them accompanying them on

the rescue mission. She‟d been so worried about that that she hadn‟t thought much about what

he‟d think about them just staying on Deveae. Now that she thought about it, she should have

realized he would have a problem with it. The man considered them under his protection even

though it wasn‟t technically true. That was too strong a drive for him to simply ignore the fact

that he was still trying to get one of his own people off the planet safely. She watched as he took

the cart from the man bringing it and pushed it into the room.

“What do you have on here?” he asked as he pushed the cart toward the table. She hurried

to intercept him.

“Not there. I thought we might eat on the bed tonight. It‟s why I changed the food to

something easier to handle. Easier to eat and to feed.” She smiled hesitantly and pushed the cart

a little closer to the bed.

He raised his brows. “The only way I‟m getting into that bed with you to eat is if we‟re

both naked.”

She drew in a breath and then laughed. That was something she hadn‟t been going to

stipulate but it was a very interesting idea. She had no problem with agreeing to it. Anything that

allowed her to run her eyes over his muscled chest and gorgeous body was a good idea. Just to

make him sweat, she pretended to think it over. After all, she had told him only moments ago he

was much too accustomed to people jumping at his word. No use falling in with his p lans too

easily.

He frowned and pointed at the bed. “My bed, my rules.”

“Not fair, we can‟t make love in my bed because I sleep in a room with other people.”

She narrowed her eyes. He‟d come up with that little edict quickly.

“That isn‟t my problem. You‟ll just have to deal with it. Now are we eating on the bed or

at the table?” He steered the cart to the left and away from where she wanted it just a little.

“So arrogant. It would serve you right if I decided to walk out on you.” She gave him

what she hoped was a frustrated look. It was hard when all she wanted to do was take her clothes

off and shred his.

“But you‟re not going to do it. Table or bed? Decide.” He tapped his foot impatiently.

“Bed. I‟m not going to waste that food and I do want to feed you and have you feed me.”

She slowly began undressing.

He pushed the cart to the bedside and began to take off his clothes. With her head start,

she managed to pull off her shoes and fling her pants away before he finished undressing. She

climbed onto the bed and waited for him. Now that she was here, she wasn‟t so sure how well

her plan would work and if she actually wanted to do it that way. When she‟d imagined it, she‟d

thought they‟d lie facing each other with the food between them, but now that she looked at the

bed and saw his chest and cock, she didn‟t want to be that far away from him. She wanted to be

able to touch him while they ate.

He climbed onto the bed and pulled the cart up next to the bed. She nodded. That would

definitely work. They could reach the food without worrying about it tipping onto them if they

decided to kiss and cuddle. And she definitely wanted to kiss him among many other things that

would probably delay their meal for a long time.

“You look very hungry.” His voice had roughened and by the look in his eyes, he was as

ravenous as she was.

“Oh I am.” She licked her lips and let her eyes sweep slowly down his body.

Raine waited until he‟d settled on the bed and then leaned across him. She studied the