The Two Towers (12 page)

“You’re right, you know,” she admitted after he poured another round.

“Oh?”

Feeling bolder than usual, she sauntered over to him. She ran her fingers up his chest and wound her arms around his neck. “I’ve never been known to back away from a challenge.”

Carl’s hands slipped around her waist and he raised an eyebrow at her. “I’ve noticed.”

“So is this why you lured me into your office?”

“In part.” He reached up to caress her face, his touch sending little shockwaves through her. “But I also wanted to talk to you.”

Talking seemed highly overrated. She was enjoying the euphoric sensation brought on by his touch. Letting her body mold to his, she gave him a teasing smile. “I’m not in the mood to talk right now.”

Desire flashed in his eyes but he shook his head as though trying to clear it. “I’m not either, but I think it’s important.”

She trailed small kisses up his chest and smiled inwardly when she felt his grip tighten on her hips. The problem with this trader was that he liked to talk too much. It seemed like every time she turned around, he tried to have another discussion. She could tell by his body's response that he wanted her as much as she wanted him. He needed to learn how to live in the moment.

“You know, OmniLab is investigating the issue with Ramiro. It’s likely they’ll remove him as a trader.”

“Mmhmm.” She ran her fingers along his arms, feeling him tremble when she lightly scratched him with her nails.

He took a ragged breath. “They need to know everything that happened.”

“That’s nice.” She reached up and tugged out his ponytail. Running her fingers through his hair, she demanded, “I want you to kiss me.”

“Kayla, I don’t think you realize how irresistible you are.”

“Then show me.”

His mouth crushed hers as his tongue thrust forcefully into her mouth, sweeping against her own. When his hands slid upward from her hips to work their way under her shirt, she purred in approval. He cupped her breast and rubbed his thumb against her nipple. It hardened in response and she whimpered, wanting more.

With a curse, he broke their kiss. Resting his forehead against hers, he took a deep breath and groaned. “Kayla, I want you so badly right now. But not like this.”

She blinked up at him in confusion. Of all the things she expected, that wasn't one of them. “Why not?”

“Because you’ve had too much to drink. I can’t take advantage of you like that. I think we should just talk.”

“Then let me take advantage of you,” she insisted and kissed his neck. “I want you, Carl.”

With a pained expression, he unwound her hands. “I know you think you do. But that’s the alcohol talking. Wait until you’re sober.”

A small giggle bubbled out of her. Go figure. A trader being noble. She touched the ends of his dark hair and decided she liked it much better down. In fact, she was hard-pressed to find something about him she didn't like. Except for him wanting to talk. She could definitely do without the conversation. “I feel pretty good right now though.”

“I’m sure you do.”

Kayla frowned when he eased her into a chair, taking the seat beside her. He took her hand in his and began drawing small circles across her palm. “I’m worried about Ramiro, sweetheart. I don’t want him to hurt you. I need you to be honest with me and tell me what happened.”

She stared down at their entwined hands, remembering another time when someone else used to do the same thing. Her chest tightened and she tried to push away the memories. “I told you already. That son of a bitch stole my damn data cube and I got it back.”

He gave her an encouraging nod. “But you didn’t tell me how Pretz was involved.”

The sound of his name sliced through her heart. Guilt and loss rushed over her and she took a ragged breath. Her emotions were too close to the surface and she was having trouble keeping them in check. She looked away, unable to meet his gaze. “I don’t talk about Pretz.”

“Why not?”

Because it was my fault!
she wanted to scream. She blinked back tears, knowing she was responsible for what happened to him. Carl lifted her chin, forcing her to look at him.

“What happened, Kayla?”

She felt her emotional walls crumble at the compassion in his eyes. With that one look, he was offering her a chance at redemption. She choked on a sob, unable to hold in the words. “It was my fault. He died because of me.”

There was a long pause. When he finally spoke, there was no judgment in his tone. Instead, his voice was gentle. “What do you mean?”

Kayla clenched her eyes shut, remembering the weeks before he died. “Pretz wanted me to try to join Ramiro’s crew, but I didn’t want to. I didn’t like Ramiro. He and Vex were…cruel. Pretz said he treated all ruin rats like that, but he would treat me differently if I were part of the crew.”

They had argued about it. Pretz had the same hero-worship mentality as Arlisia when it came to traders. He'd been blind to Ramiro's faults and only saw the possibilities afforded by working for OmniLab.

“Pretz was waiting for me aboveground when I found the cube. He was thrilled when he saw it. He was sure Ramiro would make me an offer to join in exchange for the cube. I didn’t think it was a good idea but Pretz called him anyway. Ramiro and Vex showed up and demanded the data cube.”

She hiccupped and rubbed her arms, wishing she could erase the painful memory. “Ramiro told Pretz that women like me were only good for one thing and not worth joining a trader’s crew. He said if I played nice with him though, he’d give me a finder’s fee and other special perks. When I told him no, he said that since we were in his sector, he could take anything he wanted, including me. He grabbed me and pushed me to the ground and ripped my clothes. I fought him, but he’s a big bastard. Veridian tried to stop him but Vex broke his arm and dislocated his shoulder.”

“Jesus, Kayla. How did you get away?”

“Pretz,” she said softly. “Ramiro was on top of me and Pretz grabbed him and fought him off. He told us to run so we did. Later that day, we heard that Pretz had an accident in the pits.”

She couldn't stop the tears from spilling down her cheeks. “We knew it was a lie, but no one would believe us over an OmniLab trader. That bastard killed Pretz. He told us to run and we did. I didn’t know they would kill him.”

Lowering her voice to a whisper, she spoke the words that had been haunting her for over a year. “I loved him and Ramiro killed him because of me.”

“Shhh,” Carl hushed her and pulled her onto his lap. Burying her face in his chest, she let go of the emotions she had suppressed for so long. His hands stroked her hair and she was dimly aware of his voice murmuring soothing words.

Lost in her grief, Carl's comforting presence wrapped around her until her sobs subsided and she fell into a troubled sleep.

Kayla woke up disoriented and confused. She rubbed her eyes and wondered if the scotch had something to do with it. She was still dressed in Jinx’s clothes and she recognized Carl’s private quarters. With horror, she remembered what she told Carl. Shame and embarrassment flooded through her and she dropped her head in her hands.

Not only did she practically throw herself at him, she'd turned into a blubbering idiot and poured her heart out. Feeling raw and wanting to escape, she stood up and crossed the darkened room toward Carl’s office. His light was on and she could hear two low voices talking. She paused outside the door, not willing to face anyone until she got her emotions under control.

“That’s some nasty business if Ramiro tried to force himself on Kayla and killed that poor kid.”

Kayla started, recognizing Cruncher's voice. Shame quickly turned to anger when she realized they were discussing her. This was exactly why she didn't discuss her personal life. She should have known better than to trust a trader with her secrets.

“It fits,” Carl was saying. “It explains why Pretz was in a cleared sector that day. It also explains why Ramiro’s determined to get rid of Kayla and Veridian. When OmniLab finds out what he did and how he killed one of his employees, they’ll strip his status and freeze his assets.”

Kayla didn’t want to hear anymore. Backing away, she stumbled to the other door leading out to the hallway. She grabbed her UV gear out of the sanitation machine and pulled it on.

Veridian was just coming out of the crew’s quarters when he spotted her.

“Kayla? You okay?”

She put one hand against the wall to steady herself and managed to nod. “Yeah. I… I can’t talk about it right now, V.”

Concern etched his face. He bent down to look at her closely. “You’re acting strange. What’s wrong?”

She couldn't deal with his scrutiny. She shook her head, trying to blink back the tears that threatened. “Screw this,” she said angrily as a tear rolled down her cheek. “I hate crying. I’m out of here.” She pushed away from the wall and took off down the hallway, intent on escaping.

* * * *

“What did you do to her?” Veridian stormed into his office, looking furious. “I just saw Kayla and she was crying. Kayla doesn’t cry! She gets pissed off, yells, hits, and throws things. But she doesn’t cry.”

Carl stared at him for a moment in confusion. As his words registered, he darted to his private quarters and swore at the sight of the empty bed. “Damn, she woke up. I thought she would have slept longer.”

“How much did she drink?”

Carl rubbed his forehead. “About four glasses. She seemed pretty smashed. She probably still is. I should go talk to her.”

Veridian looked back and forth between them. “What are you talking about?”

“She was drinking scotch,” Cruncher explained. “That stuff has a pretty high alcohol content, lowers your inhibitions, and gives you a hell of a buzz.”

Veridian's expression let Carl know exactly how stupid he thought that idea was. “Why would you give that to her, of all people? Why not just let Ramiro have his way with her? Lowering Kayla’s inhibitions is like throwing her off a cliff. She’s reckless enough as it is.”

Carl raised an eyebrow, unaccustomed to being reprimanded by a ruin rat. Apparently, Kayla and Veridian had more in common than he thought. Nevertheless, he couldn't exactly dispute Veridian's assessment. He'd been hoping she would have slept it off.

Before Carl could formulate a reply, Veridian's gaze landed on his desk. His eyes widened when he recognized the image on the tablet. “Oh shit. She told you about Pretz?”

“Yeah, she told me what happened.”

Veridian ran his hands through his hair and slumped against the wall. “This is bad. Really bad.”

“You knew him well?”

Veridian nodded, still looking at the picture. “Ramiro sent him to our camp one day to drop off some equipment and he met Kayla. He fell for her pretty hard. He used to go with her into the ruins whenever he had a day off. He told her that if she didn’t join Ramiro’s crew, he was leaving after his contract was up to be with her. He was crazy about her.”

Veridian sighed. “She was really messed up after Pretz died. She lost it. That’s why she went to Ramiro’s camp the next day. I think part of her wanted to get caught. She’s reckless, impulsive, and half the time she acts like she has a death wish. She blames herself for what happened.”

“That’s ridiculous. It wasn’t her fault.”

“Yeah, you try explaining that to her and let me know how it goes,” Veridian retorted, crossing his arms over his chest. “I can’t even bring up his name without her jumping down my throat.”

He had a point. Kayla hid her emotions pretty well, but it was obvious she was still grieving. Feeling responsible for her current emotional state, he said, “I’ll go talk to her.”

He took a step toward the door and nearly ran into Xantham.

“Uh, Boss?” Xantham asked in confusion, his gaze darting between the three men.

Carl tried to brush past him. “Not now, Xantham. I need to find Kayla.”

“Yeah. That’s why I’m here. She took off on her speeder a few minutes ago.”

He shut his eyes, hoping he'd misheard. “What?”

“Yeah, I’m guessing she’s pissed off by the amount of dust she kicked up. I can’t get over how fast that girl drives.”

“Shit.”

“It gets worse,” Xantham told him hurriedly, shifting his weight from foot to foot. “I don’t know how it happened, but Ramiro got into our system through a backdoor. I also picked up another bike on the radar that’s not one of ours. It’s trailing her.”

Carl felt the blood rush from his face. He turned to Veridian. “Do you know where she would have gone?”

“To the ruins. That’s where she always goes.”

“But it’s in the middle of the night and she’s alone,” Carl protested in disbelief.

He gave out an impatient snort. “You don’t have a clue about her, do you? Day, night, alone, whatever. None of it matters to her. She says the only time she feels alive is when she’s in the ruins.”

“We need to find her before Ramiro finds her or she hurts herself. Do you have any idea which sector she would have gone to?”

Veridian shook his head. “There’s no way to know. She could be anywhere. She could have even gone back to another district if she was upset enough.”

“She headed east,” Xantham volunteered.

“Then we’ll head in that direction,” Carl replied, and headed toward the camp entrance. “Xantham, track her bike and send me the coordinates the minute she stops. Cruncher, come with me.”

“I’m going with you too,” Veridian insisted.

Carl spared him a nod and continued issuing orders. “Xantham, do whatever you need to do. I don’t care what rules you break, but get into Ramiro’s channels. Find out what’s going on and if he’s the one trailing her.”

“On it, Boss.”

* * * *

The three men headed east for what seemed an eternity. Exasperated, Carl barked into his headset, “Dammit, Xantham, give me something.”

“I’m working on it, Boss. But someone's scrambling the system so I can’t lock on a trace. Give me a second. I’m trying to shut down the backdoor and flush our system.”

“Just do it.”

A few minutes later Xantham’s voice came back over the headset. “I’ve got her. I’m sending the coordinates to you now. It looks like she stopped but I don’t know how long she’s been there.”