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“You’re close to the high rise business district, maybe another five minutes. Can you hang on?”
“I’m going to keep walking toward the main street because there are more people there,” she said, suiting action to words. “Please tell them to hurry.”
“Oh they understand the urgency, trust me. I have to disconnect now but the car is coming, I promise, and I’ll be waiting at the spaceport.”
“Thanks.” She ended the call from her end and stowed the device in her purse. It was a long walk to the busy street and before she’d reached it a sleek silver groundcar came out of the traffic flow, onto the road she was beside and pulled up at the curb. The Benfield logo on the car door reassured her as did the man in a Benfield security uniform who got out of the passenger side. He had a civilian blaster in a holster at his hip and Micki had to repress the urge to hug him as relief swept over her.
“Miss Allwell? I’m here to transport you to meet the boss at the spaceport.”
“Thank you for coming.”
As he opened the backseat door for her, he said, “No problem. This is a bad area, if you don’t mind me saying so. Glad to find you okay.”
As the car moved off Micki craned her head to see the restaurant and shuddered. Denzin probably hadn’t meant to scare her to death but then again, he might have. Anything to do with the interstellar mob was terrifying.
The ride to the spaceport was fairly short and as the car pulled up next to the CLC shuttle landing area she was relieved to see Josh waiting, flanked by three Benfield security guards and Minorva. Micki was out of the groundcar practically before it stopped moving and in Josh’s arms, savoring the sense of security after her highly unsettling time. After a quick word of thanks to the local security guard, he rushed her into the spaceport facility and onto the landing pad toward his shuttle. “What possessed you to come down here again, all by yourself?” he asked.
“Not here.” Micki glanced around at the crowded spaceport. There was probably no way anyone could overhear her here but what she had to tell him needed to be completely private and discreet. “I’ll explain, I promise, but not here.”
Once she was inside his shuttle, she sank into one of the luxurious seats and fought with her delayed reaction to the tension she’d been under all day and especially after finding the restaurant abandoned. Josh brought her a drink and settled in beside her as the ship lifted into the sky.
“We’ll be on the Nebula Zephyr shortly. Can you talk to me here or should we wait?”
“I absolutely don’t want to be overheard.” Micki sipped her drink, which was a smooth tasting, high powered feelgood. “Do you mind waiting a little longer?”
He took her hand. “As long as you’re here, safe where I can see you and protect you, I’m fine.”
“Thank you for everything.” Micki’s heart was too full to express all her thoughts so she leaned against him and closed her eyes until they reached the cruise liner and landed inside the shuttle bay.
Josh escorted her to his suite, the security personal accompanying them until he dismissed them at the entrance to his suite. Once the two of them were inside the cabin, Micki set her purse on the couch and headed for the bathroom. “I need a minute and then we can talk.”
“Are you hungry? Should I order a late lunch?”
She shuddered as her stomach was still unsteady. “My appetite might be gone for good.”
When she emerged from the restroom, having washed her face and spent a few minutes trying to talk herself out of the anxiety attack, he was waiting on the couch. Micki sat beside him and they hugged. His trust in her was staggering and she launched into her explanation. “Denzin sent me an invitation to have lunch. Well, actually it was a command, so I went.”
“I would have gladly gone with you,” he said, holding her hand.
Micki shook her head. “You weren’t invited. But what he told me at lunch concerns you, or maybe involves you, I guess. I found out what Kumisarc is doing on this cruise and it’s awful.”
Clearly surprised, Josh said, “Can you tell me without getting yourself in trouble with the mob?”
“He wants me to tell you. He’s using me again, like he did when we were kids.” The realization hurt but in this case, if a lot of innocent, desperate displaced people were saved from becoming slave labor for Kumisarc mining, did the ends justify the means? Denzin was always a complicated person with opaque motives. Micki related what her old friend had told her and Josh’s face became more and more grim as he listened. When she finished, he rose and paced. Micki omitted the part about the mini holo chip. The offer was strictly between Denzin and herself and while she was sure she’d never activate the damn thing, she wouldn’t discard it either. “And then I left the private dining room and the entire place was empty, deserted, like a stage set after the play. It was all an elaborate ruse. I guess to protect him somehow. Or show his power maybe? I just wanted out of there.”
Josh sat next to her again, taking her in his arms. “Swear to me you won’t agree to meet him again. Or at least not without me. I’m not jealous—I’m worried about your safety.”
“Denzin would never hurt me.” He might be careless though. “And I told Tassia about his call or enough about it so her husband could have probably traced me if I didn’t make it back. Which reminds me, I need to call her and let her know I’m safe.”
“Do it. I need to think about what our next steps should be.” He waited while she had a brief conversation with her friend and hung up.
“Tass and her husband invited us to dinner the day after tomorrow,” Micki said, unsure if this was a good idea or a disaster waiting to happen. Josh was no ordinary boyfriend, meeting her friends over a casual meal.
“Sounds good. I’d like to meet them. Now listen, we need to get you out of the loop entirely on this Kumisarc mess.” Josh was frowning and his jaw was clenched. “The Combine is not an organization to play around with and I do not want you on their sensors.”
“We can’t tell anyone Denzin was my source,” she said, panicked. “Are we—are you—going to the authorities with this?”
He shook his head. “Not yet. We’ll need proof. Benfield has an organization we don’t discuss much which can and does investigate these kinds of things. It’s staffed with ex-military and former cops and they’re exceptional at what they do. I’ll drop this in their laps and it’ll go from there. I’ve been to the DPRC and Benfield will be taking much more interest in the camps as time goes on so it’ll be believable I stumbled across something which made me suspicious enough to investigate. This isn’t going to be resolved quickly, sweetheart.”
