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“Should we tell them that Ansley isn’t here?” Amy asked, uncertainty widening her eyes. “Does she want to be left behind?”
“I don’t know,” Eden admitted. “She didn’t tell me where she went or why.” Eden didn’t want to risk leaving her best friend on Earth, but she didn’t want to alert the hunters to Ansley’s absence if she’d disappeared for a reason. Damn it. Why hadn’t Ansley taken a second to let her know what was going on before she took off? If the males thought everyone was onboard, the ship would be departing soon.
Tandor and Jo-something walked into the hold a few minutes later. They spoke with Bossypants for a moment, then he faced the room and shouted, “Everyone shut up!”
Amy cried out softly and pressed against Eden’s side. Others started sobbing as well, but Eden just shook her head. Most of the women had started to calm down, then Bossypants decided to put his commander hat back on.
“As you are counted, sit down and remain silent.”
The technique was patronizing but effective. It also answered one of their questions. The hunters knew someone was missing. Eden sat down as she was counted. So did the others in her corner.
The room had grown so quiet that Eden could hear the males talking. They spoke in their language, however, so it didn’t do her any good. The conversation ended with something that made Bossypants smirk. Then he turned on the ball of his foot and left the hold.
Eden had the irrational urge to run after him. She had no idea what she’d do if she caught up to him, but her heart was thudding regardless.
Apparently, he’d just transferred responsibility of the missing female to his first officer.
Jessie, who had been holding court on the other side of the room, walked over to start shit with Eden. Eden knew that was what she intended because that was all Jessie knew how to do.
“Why didn’t you end up in restraints?” Jessie sneered as she closed the distance between them. “I mouthed off and they sedated me. You mouthed off and they casually answered your questions.”
“You did more than mouth off and we all know it,” Eden pointed out.
Before Jessie could launch her next volley, Jo-something and Tandor made a beeline for their crowded little corner of the room. Amy started sobbing even louder than before so Eden urged her toward Kendra and moved to stand in front of the others. No one was going to bully poor Amy. She was precariously close to a complete breakdown.
“Move aside,” Jo-something ordered.
“Why? What do you want?” Eden’s legs were shaking and her pulse pounded, but she managed to meet his gaze.
“One of your companions is missing. That female is going to tell me her name and current location.” His long arm lifted and he pointed at Amy.
Amy let out an alarmed cry and pressed back into the corner. “Please, don’t let them take me.”
Goddamn it. Amy had just calmed down and now she was even more hysterical than before.
“Not going to happen,” Eden insisted. “If you can’t do your job without terrorizing women, then question me.”
“Tell me what I need to know and I will spare her.” How had she ever thought his asshole was handsome? “What is your name?”
“Eden. What’s yours?” She didn’t really care what his real name was. Jo-something was working just fine.
“Commander Jobek. Now tell me the name of the missing female and tell me where she’s hiding.”
Did they just want to make sure they had everyone or did they want Ansley specifically? “What did you do with the founders?”
“Answer my questions and I might answer yours,” Jobek shot back.
“‘Tell me the name of the missing female’ is a command, not a question,” Eden challenged, suspecting that it would annoy him.
Jobek glared at her, but Tandor offered a soft smile, clearly trying to deescalate the situation. “I am familiar with this sector of your planet,” Tandor warned. “The temperature drops drastically once the planet’s rotation takes you beyond the star’s warmth. Do you want your friend to freeze to death?”
It would be a valid point with anyone but Ansley. Ansley was an avid hiker and had spent many nights in the forest alone. Still, Eden didn’t want to leave Earth forever unless her best friend was onboard. She didn’t know what to do because Ansley hadn’t bothered to tell her where she was going.
Deciding to make it appear as if she were cooperating, Eden said, “Her name is Ansley, but no one knows where she went. We’re as surprised by her behavior as you are. She’s probably hiding in one of the dormitories or a storage shed. She couldn’t have gone far.” Hopefully that would buy Ansley some time, allow her to finish up her mysterious errand while the hunters searched every building on the island.
“You’ll never find her,” Jessie sneered in her bitchiest voice. “Ansley knows our island like the back of her hand and sleeping in the woods is nothing to her. She loves the wilderness.”
“Oh, my God, Jessie. Can you ever just keep your mouth shut?” Eden glared angrily then turned away. If she continued to look at Jessie, Eden was sure to punch her in the face.
