Stalker's Luck (Solitude Saga Book 1) (25 page)

“What’s there to talk about? Why do you even care?”

“You’re really going to ask me that?” She stood slowly, stretching to her full height.

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m going to ask you that. Let’s hear it. Why the fuck do you care so much about what I do?”

She growled. “The same reason I took a sniper rifle to the top of that building and saved your arse from Leone.”

“And why’s that, huh?”

“Because I’m your partner!” she roared. “Like it or not, we’re in this together. And you can talk about leaving and taking your woman and flying off into the sunset with her but until that moment comes I will do everything in my power to protect you. And I thought you’d do the same for me.”

“I would and I have. But now you’re saying all this shit and I haven’t got a goddamn clue why you believe this convict over me. Maybe you want her to be the villain in all this. Maybe you’re afraid to go out into the void in this big lonely ship all by yourself.”

“You really are full of yourself, aren’t you? You want to go, then go. I’m trying to open your eyes to the truth you can’t see.”

“What the hell do you know about the truth? She’s out there. She’s out there in this city with a murderer. I have to find her.”

She watched him across the table, the heat of anger in her cheeks. Why could he never see sense? She took a few breaths and spoke again in a calmer voice. “I heard your conversation over the tab. You asked her to come with you. So why didn’t she?”

“Williams was right there. She couldn’t get away from him.”

“Is that really how it happened?”

He hesitated. “I know what I saw.”

“You don’t sound sure about that.”

He shoved his hands in his pockets. “And now you’re going to psychoanalyse me, huh? You’re some kind of shrink? No, you’re just like me. We’re just a couple of thugs with guns who hunt down people for money. The only thing that separates us from our contracts is that we have the backing of the Feds. All we have is what we can hold and what we can take at the barrel of a gun. You do what you want, Freckles. I’m getting Cassandra back.”

“You’re making a mistake. She’ll hurt you.”

“Then so be it.” He turned. “I’ll get my stuff.” He limped towards his quarters.

“Eddie, where the hell are you going?”

“I’m getting off your ship. Don’t worry your pretty little head, Freckles. You won’t need to save me anymore.”

She followed him. “Sit down and have another drink.”

“I’ve had too much to drink already.”

“Then just sit down.” She stood at the doorway to his quarters and watched as he sifted through the wreckage left behind by the syndicate men.

“I don’t have time,” he said. “She’s out there.”

“And how do you plan to find her?”

He spun around to face her. “I don’t know, all right, Freckles? Is that what you want to hear?”

He ran his hands across his bruised face. Her heart twisted to see him like this.

“I don’t know how I’m going to find her,” he said, quieter now. “All I know is that I have to. Maybe you’re right. Maybe she did betray me all those years ago. Maybe she’s the evil bitch you say she is. None of that matters. I can’t explain why. I just need to find her. If she’s innocent, I have to save her. And if she’s guilty, I need to know.”

“Are you sure? If she’s guilty, do you really want to know?”

“You know me, Freckles. I’m here for the truth. That’s all. She’s alive. I need to know why. I need to talk to her. And that’s all there is to it.”

His shoulders slumped, like those last few words had taken all the strength he had left. She studied him.

“You can’t do this alone, Eddie.”

“Maybe not. But I can try.” He opened a bag and shoved a handful of clothes and data disks into it.

“Stop,” she said. “Stop packing, for the love of Man.”

He stopped, but he didn’t move, didn’t meet her eyes.

She sighed. “We’re partners. We’re still partners. We help each other out. Right?”

He didn’t say anything.

“If Williams is wounded, we might not have long. We need him alive. So we work together. Williams and Cassandra, they’ll be in the same place. We can capture him. You can find out the truth.”

“And if I have to kill him?” Eddie said. “If I have to kill him to protect her?”

“It won’t come to that.”

“But if it does?”

She watched him for a long time. She could feel that leash around her neck. Lieutenant Pine’s whiny voice whispered in her ear. She owed the Federation a debt, a debt she paid with men like Williams. If Williams died, what would happen to her? She hadn’t lost a contract yet. What would happen if she did? Would the Feds decide she wasn’t as effective a stalker as they thought? Would they come up with another way for her to repay her debt? Would she end up in the Bolt instead of Williams? Or would they just stand her up against the bulkhead and end it with the blasts of a firing squad?

“If it comes to that,” she said, “you’ll do what you think you have to.”

He looked thoughtful for a few moments. Then he nodded slowly.

“All right. Partners.”

“Partners,” she agreed.

Her pocket chirped. As Eddie emptied his bag out onto the floor of his room, she pulled out her tab and answered it.

“Good, you’re still alive,” Knox said. “How long does it take you to get a few guns? I was starting to think I’d have to go looking for that money myself.”

“We ran into some trouble.”

“We? You and Skinny back together in holy matrimony, then?”

“Did you call just to mock me?”

“No,” he said. “I called because the news is saying that the station’s life support systems are going to fail earlier than expected. If we want to get out of here alive, we should probably get on with it. And while you two have been horsing around all over Temperance, I’ve been hard at work.”

“You’ve got the tracking information?”

“Nearly. Give me thirty minutes and access to a public computer terminal and you’ll have your man. And I’ll have my money.”

Yes.
“We’re coming back to the hotel now. Give us a while to dodge Leone’s people.”

“Bring some food with you. Real food, I mean. And something with caffeine. And maybe a—”

She hung up and returned the tab to her pocket. Eddie met her eyes.

“You ready?” she said.

“I’m always ready, Freckles.”

She pointed towards the armoury. “I brought you some guns.”

He grinned and slapped her on the shoulder as he passed. “You always know just how to treat your partner, don’t you?”

29

Fire pulsed through Roy’s thigh with every step. His trouser leg was damp and sticky with blood that wouldn’t stop flowing. He took another step and nearly stumbled. If Lilian hadn’t been there to take his weight, he would’ve fallen.

That galled him. He’d been wounded before, cut and scraped and bruised in prison fights and assassination attempts. But he’d always been able to move under his own power, at least until he found himself alone and could finally sit and deal with the pain.

But here he was, alive and walking by the grace of his wife, a woman half his size who still managed to take his weight without grimace or complaint. He loved her for that, loved her for her strength and quiet fortitude. But he was also ashamed for her to see him like this, so weak. She hadn’t married a weak man.

And to think it had been nothing but a lucky shot from some syndicate thug that’d done this to him. Not a planned hit, not a bullet from the gun of a Fed hunting party. Just some faceless mook whose balls probably hadn’t even dropped yet.

A nerve twinged in his thigh and he bit back a grunt as electric pain shot through him. His sweat made his clothes cling to him. He was repulsed by his own stench. But still Lilian urged him on, whispering soothing words in his ear as they crept through the dark alleys of Temperance’s abandoned districts. Leone’s people wouldn’t be far behind. They had to get out of sight, lay low until they could make a move for another ship.

How long did they have? In a few days, the flow of tourists would slow. A few days after that and they’d begin to leave. No one wanted to be stuck here if the life support systems failed earlier than expected. And every ship that left without Roy and Lilian on it was one less ship they could use for their escape. Leone had to know Roy was on the station. He wouldn’t rest until Roy was dead and Lilian was back with him.

Roy had been so close. So close to rescuing Lilian. Until the stalkers ruined everything. If Lilian died on this station, he would ensure those stalkers did too.

Roy was so deep in his thoughts he lost his sense of direction as Lilian led him through the narrow streets. He glanced around at the towering apartment blocks, dead houseplants still hanging from balconies.

“Where are we going?” His voice came out as a hoarse whisper. The machine pistol was gripped in his right hand, even though he didn’t know if he had the strength to lift it.

“A safe place,” she said. She had the bag of money slung over her other shoulder while she supported him. Even stained with his blood and damp with sweat, she was beautiful. His heart ached with how much he had missed her.

They emerged into the street. They’d come out behind a burned-out old building, the debris still cluttering the rear alley. She leaned him against the charred wall for a moment and pulled open the thin back door. The hinges creaked and protested.

He folded back around her shoulders as she returned to him. Slowly, she edged him through the doorway. Parts of the upper floor had collapsed, blocking the way forward. But Lilian turned and pushed through another door into a small office. One wall was completely destroyed, opening out into a wider room strewn with debris. The air stank of smoke, even though the building had clearly been this way for months.

As Roy rested against the office desk, Lilian pushed a fallen beam aside and pulled back the scorched carpet in the centre of the room. A trapdoor was revealed.

“How do you know about this place?” he said.

“You know me,” she said. “I’ve got an eye for these sorts of things.” She pulled open the trapdoor and tossed the money bag down into the darkness. She turned to him. “Can you make it down the stairs?”

He nodded and she took his weight once more. The stairs were narrow and steep, making the descent slow and awkward. Only the barest light from outside trickled in to show the way. Finally, the stairway ended and his foot touched solid ground. Lilian flipped a switch on the wall and a bulb lit up.

The room wasn’t much. An empty safe sat open against one wall. A long table ran through the centre of the room, surrounded by mismatched chairs. Empty noodle boxes and drink bottles were scattered around. A cash counting machine was the only piece of technology in the room.

“Over here,” Lilian said, lowering him into a chair. He exhaled as the weight was taken off his leg and the pain faded slightly.

“Will they find us here?” he asked. The machine pistol sat in his lap.

“I don’t think so. Not for a while.” She knelt in front of him and tore his trouser leg to expose the wound. “How bad is the pain?”

He shrugged.

She smiled up at him and took his hand, squeezing it. “I should know better than to ask you, shouldn’t I? I don’t have anything for the pain, so you’re going to have to be brave a little longer. You’ve lost a bit of blood, but I don’t think the artery was hit. I’m going to bandage it, okay?”

He nodded and she went to work, tearing his trouser leg into strips and using it to bandage the wound. It wasn’t clean or hygienic, but he’d survive.

As she worked, he watched her face. Watched her curls sway with each movement of her head. Her hair was shorter than he remembered, but he liked it this way.

“I missed you,” he said.

She flashed a smile at him that warmed his stomach. “I know you did.”

“Did…what did Leone do to you?”

The smile faded. “Nothing I won’t survive.”

“Lilian….”

She tied off the makeshift bandage and gave his hand another squeeze. “We’ll talk about it. We will. On our way off this station. We’ll have all the time in the world to talk about it. But you need to rest. Look at you, you can barely keep your eyes open.”

He suddenly realised how tired he was. When was the last time he’d slept? Days ago? Had it been that long?

“Here.” She took his gun from him, laid it on the ground, then helped lower him onto the floor. It wasn’t the most comfortable place he’d ever slept, but it was far from the worst.

He reached out a hand to her. “I want to hold you.”

“Soon,” she said. “I need to go out and get some things. We need food and water and some proper medical supplies. And I need to find out what Leone’s men are up to.”

“No,” he said. “It’s too dangerous. You can’t go alone.”

“I’ve survived without you for years. I think I can last another hour.” She knelt at his side and pressed her lips against his. All these years and he’d never forgotten how she tasted. He savoured that slow, soft kiss. Years’ worth of tension flooded from his muscles. He wanted to stay here in this moment forever. But his body was betraying him. He was slipping into sleep.

His eyes closed by themselves. Her hand brushed his forehead and he felt her lips gently kiss each of his eyelids.

“Sleep,” she whispered. “I’ll be back soon.”

“I love you,” he mumbled.

“I love you too,” she said.

And then he was out.