Once Upon a Pet Show (A Redpoint One Romance) (22 page)

His bot emitted a long sad beep. Probably
wishing he'd said it was time to go visit Vallory. How he wanted
to. His skin tingled from how close he was to her. In another
building, yet he knew exactly what direction would take him
straight to her.

Without a further word, they packed up and
left the utility room. He paused outside the door of the building,
unable to stop himself from looking in the direction. Despite the
crowds moving around him, he found himself unable to turn and walk
away. All he could do was stay rooted to the spot while his mind
and heart warred with each other.

His bot gave a hopeful chirp.

"No, we should get back to work." His voice
sounded dead even to him. His heart wasn't in it. His heart knew
where he should go.

The sharp series of beeps from the direction
of his belt set his heart pounding. His breathing fast, he realized
what it was.

He laughed darkly at himself as he reached for
the offending pocket computer in one of the pouches. "Much more of
this and I won't be fit for work, either."

He flipped open the protective cover of the
small computer. And frowned, his heart beating even harder, but
this time for Vallory's sake.

"Looks like you get your wish," Damien told
his bot as he closed the cover and shoved the computer back in its
pouch. "Come on. Vallory is in trouble."

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

AFTER A NIGHT of fitful
sleep, Vallory was in no condition to be around people.

People, or the daubpups. She had a feeling
they were humoring her, trying to purposely act cute and cloy. To
cheer her up. To try to make her laugh.

It only managed to make her feel even more
miserable.

He'd turned away from her. He hadn't said it,
but she knew what it meant. Whatever they had together was now at
an end.

She didn't want it to end. She still had time
on the station, even if for only a few days. She even had good news
about a potential new habitat. A habitat that was open to the idea
of the daubpups coming in, along with a lead on a good grant to
help her fund the investigation. If it was how the woman described,
it would amount to enough money to house the daubpups while she
traveled to the world to make sure.

No, she better take them with her and set them
up in a containment area on the planet while she checked it out.
They didn't do well unless out in the wild or with her. This was
good news. If she could get them settled, then she could move on in
a new direction herself.

Neon pattered by the front of the enclosure,
her tail up high, gazing at Vallory as she went by.

"Yes, I know. You think you are such a
beauty," Vallory said, despite knowing they couldn't hear her.
Somehow, she thought they might be able to. All through the show
they'd reacted as if they did.

Vallory hefted the bag of spent grass. Time to
get it to the incinerator before other exhibitors started their
cleaning before the evening part of the show started. From what she
heard, tonight would be busy with people from all over the station
coming in to see what animals won what awards.

The crowds were already starting. It was hard
enough walking through normally, but all the harder while carrying
a big bag. A crowd she'd only seen regular show security in. No
police officers, but then they said they would be watching in other
ways. She knew what that could mean, having set up such types of
systems in the field to surreptitiously watch animals in their
habitat and uninfluenced by human presence.

A life she hoped to change to include someone
else. If he would allow it. If he felt the same in a small
way.

She thought he might, pondering over it all
night. Going over the way he'd held her hand. The one meal they'd
managed to eat together. The way he'd held her when they'd gone
back to the malfunctioning part of the station. Too many clues. He
liked her, of that she was sure. Maybe more than that?

She needed to talk to him. She'd never lacked
the courage to just jump in before. She'd cowed seasoned professors
before when they'd tried to flaunt their academic superiority. Her
and arrogance didn't mix well, and she didn't even try to hide it.
Why was she hesitating with something her entire being cried out
for?

Vallory froze, the skin on her arms tingling.
Somehow, she just knew. Every fiber of her knew.

She forced herself to turn. There he was. The
dark-haired man stood out from the crowd. He wasn't taller than the
rest. A few even rivaled him in muscles, but none appealed to her
like him. None commanded all her attention. All sound from the
milling crowd receded until she heard only the fast beat of her own
heart.

Her breath caught as he neared. Please, don't
let him pass by her again. She wasn't sure she could take that kind
of rejection again. To watch his back as he disappeared into the
crowds.

No smile on his face. No sign of welcome, and
yet, he stopped in front of her. She tried to smile, but found she
couldn't make the muscles on her face work right.

"We have a problem."

Of course they had a problem. One they needed
to talk a lot about. "Yes, I know. When do you have a free moment?
It's very important."

"Of course it's important. Your daubpups don't
like heat." He moved around her, leaving her in shock.

Heat? What was this about her daubpups and
heat?

Daubpups. Heat. Heading towards her
enclosure.

Oh no!

Vallory pushed through the crowd after him and
his bot with the bag in hand. The daubpups didn't act distressed
when she left.

Damien disappeared into the aisle between hers
and Mr. Pyman's enclosure by the time she arrived. The miniature
dogs in Mr. Pyman's enclosure acted like her daubpups, determined
to look cute. He would surely sell a lot of them today.

Meanwhile, her enclosure sat empty. Not a
single animal lurking inside, not even the baby.

Vallory rushed to the service aisle running
behind the two rows of enclosures, letting the bag fall from her
aching arm. "What is it? What happened?"

He stood up and stepped back from the rear
environmental controls. "I want Redsong's people to look into this.
Don't touch anything."

She stared at the temperature setting as he
started talking with someone through his ID band. The display
ticked higher every few seconds. Growing substantially hotter each
and every second.

Oh yes, no wonder her group abandoned ship.
Did anyone see them walking through a wall or floor as they did?
That particular secret to their behavior may no longer be a
secret.

Damien's left hand dropped. He took her right
hand, startling her with its sudden warmth, and pulled her further
down the aisle. "They are on their way. Did you see anything
suspicious?"

She shook her head, pointing down one of the
other side aisles. "In this crowd? No one is going to be able to
see anything."

"That's what I'm worried about. How far away
are they?"

Vallory fumbled for her pocket computer,
finding her fingers not working right. He was back, but now her
daubpups were missing. Couldn't things go right for a
change?

The map of the daubpup movements made her
smile. "Apparently they are making their displeasure of the heat
known. They are all over the place, and not one of them
near."

Officer Redsong agreed when she arrived with a
small group of people. "Will you be able to round them
up?"

"Oh yes. If I find one of them and take them
to a safe location, the others will follow. They are very social
animals." The ones who were more independent she might have to
trace down, but most of them she wouldn't. "I would like to go
after them sooner rather than later. I'm sure they are
upset."

"Agreed. There are dangerous areas on this
station I don't want them accidentally walking into," Arthur Getty
said. Between Damien, Damien's bosses, and now the police, the
small service aisle was getting crowded.

"If this is anything like the last time they
went missing, Vallory will need to go into the station service
tunnels. She shouldn't go alone," Damien said, leaning against the
back of an enclosure.

"We will need to use the backup enclosure,"
Vallory said. She doubted the daubpups would go back into this one
willingly. Not because the show would kick them out, or their
attempt to find the missing pets had so far failed. More because
the enclosure had gotten too hot twice now, and the daubpups would
remember.

"You just volunteered," Arthur said with a
grin. One that Damien did not echo, and how she wished he would.
"Find them, see if they found anything on their
travels."

"Good point." Officer Redsong nodded at
Damien. "Contact us if you find anything. You can proceed now. I
won't be able to let you near the controls for a repair until my
people are done with their investigation."

"Understood. We'll be in contact." Damien led
the way out of the pet show with his bot trailing behind, the
repair cart left behind. The poor bot. It kept looking first at
Damien, and then back at Vallory. As for Damien, he hardly spoke or
looked at her as they descended to the first layer of the station
near Hotel Circle.

He continued on, clearly with a destination in
mind, but not voicing it. Still not speaking or looking at her,
much less consulting with her, turned the feelings of sadness and
frustration to anger. She stopped, watching him walk away from her,
glaring into his back. She stood there with her hands on her hips,
just waiting.

He nearly reached a bend in the wide corridor
before stopping. He half-turned towards her, frowning himself.
"Aren't you coming?"

"You assume you know where you're going," she
shouted down the corridor at him. "Do you have the tracking system?
Do you know the daubpups? Do you know which one to go after first?
How nice of you to just assume."

With one last glare, she turned to the right
and stomped off down an intersecting corridor. She shouted over her
shoulder, "Start talking, buddy. You have a problem with me, then
say it. Otherwise, I'm leading the way, with or without
you."

Maybe one of the repair bots would appear to
help her again if he didn't follow. Yet, she knew he would. Didn't
doubt it for a second. He might be angry about it, but he
would.

Ready to follow the signal to the left, she
paused at another corridor intersection. There he was, advancing
quickly on her with his bot in tow.

He stopped, towering over her even though he
wasn't all that much taller than her. It wasn't his height. It was
the shear magnetism he exuded. It made him appear bigger than he
was.

All apart of the reasons she loved him, even
while angry at him. Really, how dare he assume.

"Ready to talk?" Vallory demanded, refusing to
take a step back. She was sure even her chin was jutting forward
like her father used to admonish her about.

"Talk about what? I thought we were finding
lost animals."

A hint of amusement. Better than complete cold
indifference.

It spurred her to go on. "Maybe we need to
find something else that was lost? Like how you used to enjoy my
company, even indicated it meant more than friendship, and all of a
sudden you decided you wanted nothing more to do with
it?"

She took in a long breath, his attention never
leaving her face. "You do like to get straight to the
point."

"It's the scientist in me. Now, what about
it?" She put her hands back on her hips, one still holding the
pocket computer. Waiting for the next move.

If he was willing to make it.

With the way time kept ticking forward with no
word, her nervousness began competing with her anger. Was he really
going to deny this special thing? Although, was it a 'special
thing' if only one of them felt it? With that thought, the sadness
returned with a vengeance.

"I don't see this having a future," he finally
said into the elongating silence.