Once Upon a Pet Show (A Redpoint One Romance) (21 page)

"What does that mean?" Mr. Beel asked,
sounding more than a little cranky.

"It means the collar goes with them," Vallory
said as she brought up the right program. "It's how I found Penny
the night she went missing, and I almost got trapped in the
station."

"Does this mean you also know which daubpups
left your enclosure last night, and where it went?" Officer Redsong
asked, her voice sharp. Vallory nodded. "Good. Bring it up on the
big screen."

A little more work, and she managed to get the
information she was seeing to show up on the wall at one end of the
table. Vallory's heart sank when she saw the movements of the
previous night. Of course it couldn't be easy.

Lines crisscrossed each other in all
dimensions. She started counting the colors, realizing just about
all of the daubpups had gone exploring, even the more quiet ones.
So much for thinking they would stay in their enclosure. "I'm not
sure this is going to be as helpful as I thought it would. It looks
like most of them went exploring."

"What is the distance range on this display?"
Officer Redsong asked.

"Each dot is ten meters."

That answer set the room talking again, with
Mr. Beel nearly shouting, "Have they been doing this each and every
night?"

"Well, obviously they haven't bothered the
other animals." Vallory pointed to the map. "They moved away from
the pet show fast." She paused, looking back at the map. "I was
worried being around so many people would bother them. I wonder if
they were finding quiet places to sleep?"

The image shifted, and the next thing she
knew, the map changed to have a layer put under it. A three
dimensional map that shifted and slowly spun.

Damien moved to the side of the holographic
screen, spinning it again with a finger. He stopped and then turned
to give her a rueful shake of his head. "Do you have any idea the
distance they traveled? On such small legs?"

Vallory suppressed a groan. "I've seen more
than that in their native habitat in one night. Don't ask me how
they do it. I haven't been able to record them actually doing
it."

Another mark against her in Mr. Beel's eyes,
she was sure.

Officer Redsong moved to the front of the room
and moved the map around herself. A slow smile appeared on her
face. "Yes, a good deal of movement to investigate, but for the
first time since the pet-nappings have started, it gives us a
direction."

"One of those lines is the creature that found
my Stanford?" Mr. Wilby demanded. "Find the others fast, before the
thieves smuggle them off the station. My cats are worth a small
fortune."

"Yes, small cats. All of the animals taken so
far have been smaller. Perfect for smuggling," Damien raised his
eyebrows at Mr. Beel. "You may be angry at Ms. Schist for not
revealing everything to you, but I have not known her to outright
lie to anyone. And right now, she can help solve this
mystery."

"Agreed," Officer Redsong said. Her eyes
glinted as she turned back to the room. "And we now have a plan.
One that depends on everything revealed in this room right now to
remain a secret..."

CHAPTER
FOURTEEN

VALLORY WATCHED THE
daubpups play with the ball, hoping their fun would help her. It
didn't.

It was a good plan, she told herself over and
over. And, she didn't have to do anything special. Just let her
daubpups be themselves, no matter how Mr. Beel didn't like
it.

"Worrying again?"

She smiled at the sound of the familiar voice.
Like a warm fog, his presence enveloped her. How she wished those
strong arms would warp around her from behind to complete the
feeling.

Instead, Damien stepped by her on the right.
He grinned down at the daubpups playing before giving her a softer
smile. One she hoped she wasn't imagining.

"I see the building has calmed down," he
said.

"Yes, but I'm getting plenty of glares and
other interesting expressions." Not that she was here to make
friends, but it still hurt. Too many of them thought her guilty of
stealing pets. "I thought you would be busy in the other
building."

He shrugged. "Repair made. I'm about to head
out for the rest of day. Wanted to check on you first."

"That's sweet. I'm fine. The show seems to be
back to normal." She didn't miss the glare Mr. Pyman sent her his
way. His face cleared and became friendly again when he turned back
to the people he was talking to in front of his enclosure. So far
he hadn't come up to her. Someone must have talked to
him.

"Two more days to go. You'll make
it."

Two more days. Only two more days with him?
The very thought hurt.

She'd been told to not hover around the
daubpups after the show ended. Pretend everything was normal. She'd
never been good at pretending. A diversion from the long evening
would be nice. "Are you doing anything tonight?"

"Sounds like I'm working late. The stink is
showing up in more areas." He sounded as disappointed as she felt.
"Maybe Velda can steer you towards something to do on the ring. Are
you still enjoying your stay there?"

"Oh, it's great. Very comfortable and quiet,"
Vallory said automatically. One night of her valuable time on the
station, and she couldn't spend it with him. The hurt inside
increased. "I'll sleep better knowing all of this will soon be
solved…"

He frowned at her. "What's wrong?"

Leave it to him to see it.

"I'll soon be gone, and…" she gave a helpless
gesture towards him.

He smiled ruefully, turning his attention to
the daubpups. The smile turned into a frown, his own face mirroring
his emotions. Why hadn't she noticed how expressive his face could
be when they first met? Probably because she'd been focused only on
her daubpups overheating.

"Perhaps it's for the best."

She visibly jerked. What did he say? She
searched his face, horrified. He didn't want to be around her
anymore?

No emotion escaped as he stepped back away
from the enclosure. "You will soon be gone, and I will remain here.
Have you found a place for them yet?"

"No. I have two more meetings today," she said
through numb lips.

"Good. I hope one of them works out for you."
Damien turned and walked away, quickly disappearing in the dense
crowds.

His bot whined at her. She motioned after
Damien with one finger. "You best go after him. He's made his
feelings clear."

The bot sounded unhappy, but not as unhappy as
Vallory. It spun in a circle, looking first at her, then after
Damien. With one last plaintive whistle, it moved through the
crowds after him.

She'd dated before. At university, had even
thought herself in love.

It had been nothing like the intensity of what
she felt now. The needing to have him nearby. To see his face, hear
his voice, revel in his laughter. To walk side-by-side with her
hand tucked safely on his forearm. She would miss everything about
him.

With a stunned realization, she realized the
full truth of it.

She was in love with Damien
Lysander.

And, he didn't want her.

***

He'd hated seeing the horrified expression on her face. The
shear hurt and betrayal. It had taken every bit of willpower to
turn and walk away. He burned to take her into his arms and hold
her close, telling her the real truth.

And what was the real truth? He didn't allow
his thoughts to go that far. He couldn't. There was a reason he
must walk away. The sad truth of it was that they didn't have a
future together, and he wasn't holiday romance material.

No matter how much he enjoyed her company. No
matter how much he wanted her in his life. No matter how she set
his heart in motion with a simple smile.

He might have had the willpower to turn away
and leave, but he didn't have enough to get to sleep. He gave up at
two in the morning and decided the best thing he could do was keep
busy. The night crew at the maintenance platform were surprised to
see him, but no one bothered him about it.

"Besides, we're behind on our repairs," he
grumbled as he finished replacing the decontamination array on a
section of the life-support systems of a ring. His bot voiced a
muted chirp.

Poor bot. Hardly a peep from it since he'd
walked away from Vallory. As if it knew what it meant.

"It's just as well. She's not staying. No
point in pretending anything else," he said to it, the bot
remaining silent.

No point spending more time becoming more
attached. It already hurt. He didn't need more of that kind of
pain.

He worked right through the start of the
morning shift. If Arthur wanted him, he could call. No point in
going back to his small apartment. Tired as he was, he knew no
sleep would soon come. In the meantime, best he keep his mind and
body busy. Not that it seemed to quiet his mind much.

No call came from Arthur or Zane, so he kept
on working, stopping only for snack breaks and a light lunch. At
lunch he did himself the favor of returning to his quarters long
enough to shower and shaving. The familiar motions soothed him for
only a few minutes. Then the thoughts came back, driving him back
out for the second half of the day.

"Damien, can I talk to you?" Arthur's voice
said through his ID band.

"Why couldn't you talk to me?" Damien demanded
harsher than he intended.

"The night crew said you looked like you
wanted to be left alone."

Damien stopped his work to rest a hand against
a pipe, leaning his full weight against it. Great. He apparently
hadn't hidden anything. "Go ahead. Is there a problem?"

"Pet show, and you don't have to go into
Vallory's building. They are having an issue with smoke from the
incinerator leaking into the rare animal building."

Apparently, even more obvious with everyone
than he intended, if Arthur guessed the name of his torment. "I'm
on my way."

If he knew Vallory, she would be hovering over
her daubpups like a worried mother. Even though knowing the Police
had quietly installed more security in the buildings. Even though
the daubpups could escape any thief with ease, no matter what sort
of cage the thieves used.

That thought made him smile. Yeah, let them
try it.

But, that wasn't their job in this
investigation. Alice Redsong was pursuing multiple avenues,
including analyzing the paths of her daubpups the other
night.

As Mr. Beel showed him the problem
incinerator, he casually asked, "Any events last night?"

Mr. Beel's jaw firmed. He took out his ID
badge and opened the security gate into the small room holding the
utilities for the building. "Nothing."

No disappearing pets, then, but it also meant
no more that had reappeared. Good news and bad news
there.

Bringing his mind back to business, Damien
asked, "How bad is the smoke?"

"Not bad, but it's getting worse with each
cycle." Mr. Beel held open the gate as Damien and his bot entered.
Definitely smoke, filling the room and spilling out into the main
building. "I'm concerned about the afternoon cage cleanings. The
incinerator will be in constant use."

"Understood. I'll find the
problem."

It didn't take long at all to do so. As he
thought, it was a combination of a clogged exhaust filter combined
with a leak along a pipe seam. No wonder the smoke poured out into
the building. Not scrubbed from the air, and coming out raw into
the building.

It also didn't take long to fix, especially
with the way his bot was able to contact others to bring the larger
parts they needed. The small freight pad in one corner of the
enclosure provided a way to lift the parts from the level below,
and get rid of the bad ones, without having to go through the
crowds in the rest of the building.

He watched the last one disappear as the pad
lowered into the floor. "Done. Time to head for the next
job."