Fight or Flight (6 page)

“That’s going to be hard.” Josiah frowned. “She was fine with media attention for her flying during the war. If we could get some soft-media on her, interviews about the past, that journalist who does the tear-jerker interviews…”

“Yeah, that kind of thing is our goldmine. We need to keep her away from the tabloid guys, the ones who are going to paint her as a siren.”

“We should push for a fast trial, not give them time to recruit someone as good as you or me. That should keep gossip to a minimum as well.”

“Okay, so we’re in agreement on that. Next, I need to know, here and now, what the fuck Guszak’s problem with her is.”

Josiah digested the question. Zeke had lots of practice analyzing a witness’ expression on the stand. Josiah was better than most at hiding his feelings, but Zeke could still sense his uncertainty.

“I don’t know.” The other man sighed. “He hates her. I know that. But I also know she never met him before her arrest.”

“Okay. We’ll have to do some digging then. This guy is out for blood, Beckett.”

Chapter 10

Tirzah’s ’com beeped early in the morning, waking her.

“’Lo?” she murmured, not looking at the display.

“You’re not going to fuck your way out of a murder conviction. You’ll be convicted, and you’ll be airlocked for it, and your holes can’t help you now.” The voice was angry, raspy, sending a chill down her spine.

Startled, Tirzah sat up in bed.

“Who is this?” she demanded, but no one answered. She looked at the ’com unit display. The caller identification was blocked. She called Josiah.

“Tirzah?” He yawned into the line. “What’s going on?”

“I just got an anonymous call. He accused me of trying to fuck my way out of a murder conviction.”

“Did you recognize the voice?”

“No.” Her hands shook as she recalled the venom in the man’s voice. “He said I was going to be airlocked.”

“You are not going to be airlocked, T. Get dressed and meet me in Lucassen’s office in thirty minutes.”

“Okay.”

Several times while getting dressed, Tirzah had to stop to give her hands a chance to still. They shook like the city was in the midst of a small earthquake, and she fought to calm them. Panic threatened, and she ran to the head to dry heave into the commode. After what seemed an eternity, she washed her face and brushed her teeth, zipped her uniform closed, and left her quarters.

The walk to Zeke’s office seemed longer than ever, and it seemed everyone she passed stared. Several times she turned to look over her shoulder, and once she had to stop and turn her back to one of the ubiquitous white walls while she caught her breath. Terror ran cold in her veins. When she finally knocked on the office door, she felt as though she’d run a marathon, not walked a quarter mile in the air-conditioned city.

The door opened and she drank in the sight of him. He took one look at her face and pulled her inside, crushing her to his chest in an unexpected but comforting embrace.

“Are you all right? Beckett told me what happened. Christ, Tirzah, you look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“No, I’m a mess.” Her words were muffled against his chest. His jacket was unbuttoned, and one of the metallic disks pressed into her cheekbone, warming to her skin. He leaned back, tilting her chin.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t think. We need to disable your ’com and issue you a new one, and I need to put a guard on you.”

“What, are you kidding me?”

“No, Tirzah, I’m dead serious. You have enemies in the Fleet. Until your acquittal is secured… Just let me keep you safe, okay?”

Safe. She felt safe in his arms. She nodded.

“Good girl.” He smiled at her, turning her insides to mush. Suddenly she became aware of the way they were still pressed together. His body was hard against hers, and awareness crept into her face in the form of a blush.

“I should…” She started to talk, but he covered her mouth with his own, closing it in a sweet kiss. Shock tingled through her at his touch, and a frisson of fear, but that dissipated as he teased his tongue between her lips, coaxing her response. This was better than anything she’d imagined while she’d stroked herself to orgasm.

The fantasy Zeke was brilliant, but paled in comparison to the flesh and blood man in her arms who pushed her back against the door and devoured her mouth. He filled her awareness, larger than life as he rocked between her legs and nipped at her mouth. She opened to him, and everything in her answered his demand. With one hand on his head, she traced the lines of his braids while the other stroked the hard planes of his lower back under his jacket.

Oh, this.
This
she had missed. Feeling wanted, needed by another person. Heat spilled over as he rolled against her. A growl shuddered through him and she rocked back, trying to open her legs wide to press herself to him.

Sanity, when it returned, came sharp, stabbing into them both as a knock sounded on the door against which they pressed. Zeke ripped his head away from hers, and she pressed her fingers to her lips, as if trying to hold the last of his kiss inside. As her breathing quieted, she felt the vibration of another knock. Zeke quickly helped her to a chair, smoothing a hand over her hair with an apologetic smile.

“We’ll talk about this later,” he whispered. Then he was gone, leaving her stunned as he opened the door to admit Josiah.

Her best friend hurried into the room, dropping to a crouch by her chair. He cupped the side of her face with one hand, an unspoken question in his eyes.

“I’m okay.” She smiled. He glanced over his shoulder at Zeke, nodded, and then sat in the chair next to her.

“We need to disable her ’com and put a guard on her,” Josiah began.

Zeke smiled.

“We covered that already.”

“Oh, good. What else did you cover?”

Tirzah blushed, but Zeke answered smoothly. “That’s all we had time for, really. I got the call just before Tirzah got here. They aren’t going to allow me to drop the charges. I have a choice: I can recuse myself or I can let them dismiss me from the case. Josiah, which do you think serves our purpose better?”

Tirzah was touched by the way he deferred to Josiah. He outranked Josiah, was commander to Josiah’s lieutenant, but he realized how important Josiah’s opinion was to her. Maybe Zeke valued Josiah too?

Josiah’s face grew pensive for a moment. “Recuse yourself. Control the story. We’ll have a press conference and you can declare your belief in her innocence, and we’ll announce you’re joining her legal team.”

“Good. Let’s do this. I’ll call the city media. Tirzah, are you able to make a statement?”

“I…”

Josiah interrupted. “No, baby, I’ll do it. ‘Captain Simonian requests privacy during this difficult time,’ et cetera…”

“I’m glad I have you two on my side. I thought you were bad enough on your own, Becky, but the two of you together are like some kind of wicked genius.”

“Evil genius, sweetcakes,” Josiah teased. “Not wicked. But we promise to use our powers for good.”

“I just want to fly again. I want this to be over so I can get my life back.”

“And we’re gonna get you there.”

Chapter 11

Zeke watched her from the podium as he gave his speech announcing he was recusing himself from her case. She stood at the back of the room, arms folded behind her ramrod-straight back. She looked completely detached, as though she were listening to him read his grocery list. Josiah stood beside her, occasionally whispering in her ear. Whatever he said, she listened without expression or comment.

Finally, when Zeke expressed his belief in her innocence and his plans to join her legal team, she lifted her gaze to his, a hint of a smile on her lips. One of her hands stole up to cover her mouth, and suddenly he knew she was thinking about that kiss.

He didn’t know why he’d done it. He hadn’t kissed a woman since Elinor died. There was something about Tirzah Simonian that called to him, sang to him, made his blood rise like the tide in his veins. He could damn himself for the fool he was, but he wanted to taste her again. Something about her got to him in a way few people ever did. Her vulnerability wrapped in defiance and her sassy mouth—she had every reason to be broken, yet she stood strong in spite of it all. So just at that moment, when her eyes met his and she touched her lips, he smiled, just for her, and he nodded.

A whisper ran through the room. He didn’t care—they’d done nothing wrong. Her answering smile sent an electric thrill through him. They were in it together.

After his announcement, the press went into a frenzy, and Josiah escorted her out of the room. Zeke watched them leave before he took the first question. Guszak scowled at him from across the room as he fielded the questions, so he wasn’t surprised when the man cornered him after the press conference.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing? I gave you a career-making case, and you’re going to walk away from it? To work for the other side?”

“I believe in Captain Simonian’s innocence.”

“You’ve let it happen again. You’ve let a woman get in the way of your career.” Guszak shook his head in disgust. “What makes you think this one will be any less deceitful than Elinor was?”

Zeke’s fist shot out, gathered the other man’s uniform, and hauled him close before he shoved him against the wall. Right in the other man’s face, Zeke growled.

“Do … not … talk … about … my
wife!”
he roared.

Elinor.
A name he didn’t speak, not even to his closest friends. It conjured every ugly sentiment he’d buried in the years since their marriage had ended. Rage. Jealousy. Spite. Fear.
Grief.
They coiled around each other, performing an elaborate dance in his gut.

He latched onto the rage before the grief could cut in, and he drew back his fist, his only thought erasing the smug pity from the other man’s face. He was surprised when a small freckled hand wrapped around his arm, tugging it down.

“Don’t,” Tirzah whispered. “I need you now. Don’t get yourself thrown in the brig over this scum.”

Zeke looked into solemn brown eyes. He nodded, letting go of the commandant’s uniform and then smoothing it with one hand before shoving away and moving down the hall.

“Zeke!” Tirzah called after him, but he ignored her, the sweet moment between them spoiled by his memories. He needed to get away, and fast.

* * * *

“What do you know about his wife?” Tirzah, Claudia, and Josiah were eating dinner in her quarters when Tirzah asked. Josiah put his fork down and shrugged.

“Not much. She died.”

“Why did he almost come to blows with Guszak after he mentioned her in the hallway?”

“You’d have to ask him, T. He wasn’t stationed here at the time, so nobody really knows all that much about it.”

“How did she die?”

“Again, I don’t know. Can we talk about something else, please?”

“Fine. I was just curious.” She looked at her food, pushing it around her plate. Zeke’s face had looked shocked, pained. “I guess he must have loved her a lot.”

“Fucking hell, Tirzah.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Okay, as your lawyer…”

“He’s my lawyer too.”

“As your best friend, and also your lawyer—the head lawyer on your case—I hereby counsel you not to date him.” Josiah pointed his fork at her. “I mean it. His defection was gold, don’t turn it into something the media can use against us.”

“Hereby?” Tirzah snickered, winking at Claudia. “Becky’s breaking out the ‘hereby,’ Clau. He must
really
mean it.”

Claudia laughed, but sobered quickly. “As nice as it is to see you laughing, Tirz, he’s right.”

Of course he was. Tirzah smiled at Josiah.

“I know. I’m only teasing. I’m just curious about him.”

“Enjoy the mystery, Tirzah. Don’t act on it.”

Chapter 12

Josiah looked at the reader in his hands, trying to make sense of what he read in relation to his case. Max’s head rested on his belly, one hand stroking absently over the hairs on his chest. He should have known better than to bring his work back to bed. Really, he shouldn’t have invited Max over until he was done, but he couldn’t help himself—the guy was hot and into him. Josiah might be a damn good advocate, but he was only human, and Max’s eyes were the prettiest damn things he’d seen since coming to Solomon City after Tirzah’s crash.

Right.
Tirzah.

“Mmm, that feels nice, but I’m working.”

“You’re always working.” Max pouted briefly before smiling at him. “What are you working on?”

“I am trying to figure out what Guszak has against Tirzah.”

“Nick Guszak? The cop?”

“Yeah, you know him?”

“He’s big in my mom’s church. He’s been living out here forever—one of the original pilgrims.”

“Really?” Josiah made a mental note to find out more about the colony’s roots.

“Yep. During the war, he was responsible for a lot of anti-piracy efforts. He was up for some big honor; we ‘prayed about it’ a lot at our house.”

“What about Tirzah’s husband? He was from Solomon Territory?”

“Walter? Yeah, he was here a long time too. Not a churchgoer, not that I can recall. I might have seen him a few times, though. Holidays.”

Josiah mulled that over as Max rolled over and moved to kiss him. Josiah put a hand up between them. “Not now, okay?”

Max’s light brown eyes sparkled in the low light of the cabin as he worked a hand low between their bodies, making Josiah gasp. “If I ask my mom about Guszak, will you let me kiss you?” His voice was sexy and playful, and caught Josiah low in the gut, but his hand stilled Max’s.

“She’s my best friend, Max. This is important.”

Max leaned over and plucked at Josiah’s lips in a teasing kiss. “Okay, I’ll call her now. Kissing after.”

His weight moved away as he reached for his ’com. Max flashed a smile back over his shoulder at Josiah, who wondered how an autumn-eyed piece of ass had made his way so deep into this case. His lips flickered up as he returned the smile.

“Hey, Mom?” Josiah heard Max talking as the other man moved away toward the kitchen. “There’s someone I’d like you to meet, a friend of mine. He’s a lawyer, he’s working on a case, and Nick Guszak is involved. Can I bring him for dinner?”