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But no matter what she told herself after every job, she kept getting dragged back in. The promise of credits, the thrill of the chase, proving she could tackle and win the hardest jobs.
Oh, she’d had relationships—one-night stands or flings with the hunk of the month, but nothing serious. She’d never let herself slip into that trap. And it had felt like a trap, no matter how much she was looking for a connection. Letting herself become vulnerable had never felt safe and rarely even crossed her mind with the kinds of guys she picked up.
Except once. With Hunter. Finn. Whoever the hell he was.
She’d been a kid and there hadn’t been anything more than friendship between them, but he’d understood where she’d come from and seemed to accept her as she was. It’d scared the shit out of her.
And then it had all changed the day the compound was raided. Blur had gone down, a bullet ripping through his chest as she’d watched from her hiding place. Hunter had fallen next, bullets piercing his chest, too. With the two leaders dead, the rest of the gang had given up without a fight, the police rushing in to arrest them all. She’d run for miles to get away from the death of her mentor and the destruction of the only family she’d had left.
With nothing holding her on that world, she’d stowed away on the nearest transport ship to a distant planet and started over. She’d never looked back. But in her heart, she’d always wondered what might have happened between them if Hunter hadn’t died.
Renna sighed and took a sip of her tea. Now, here he was. Alive. On the same small ship in the middle of a galaxy. And he hated her. Something had happened all those years ago to turn him from friend to enemy, something big enough to make him betray them all. She just wished she knew what.
One way or another, it had to do with Blur and whatever games he’d been playing. But she’d been a grunt; she hadn’t had any choice in the jobs she was assigned. She was going to have to confront Finn about it sooner or later, but right now, getting the kid to his uncle was her only job.
“You all right?” Myka asked, poking her arm.
She smiled, locking the memories up tight in the back of her mind. “I’m fine, just daydreaming. Finished with your tea?”
“Yes.” He got to his feet. “Now I need a bathroom.”
“I think that can be arranged.”
They were headed back toward Myka’s room when she heard the shouting from the bridge.
Boom.
The sharp report of a gun echoed through the ship. The walls closed in as Renna tried to suck in a breath. Dammit. If her implant had still been working, she would have instantly known what was going on. Instead, her sixth sense screamed at her to run.
“They’re here for me, aren’t they?” Myka’s voice trembled, his earlier self-assurance vanishing in an instant.
“I’m not sure. But until we know, I think you should hide.” Renna scanned the corridor. Most ships had electrical panels at regular intervals to access the guts of the electrical systems. She ran toward the stairs, searching for a big enough space to hide the boy. There!
She pulled her nanospanner from her pocket and got to work on the screws holding the panel to the wall. Moments later, she had the panel pulled off. She shone the spotlight on the spanner into the space. Electrical wires ran across the top and there were fuses and fixtures along one wall, but it was big enough for Myka to crawl inside.
“Okay, this is going to have to do it. Get in and I’ll screw the panel back on.”
He stared into the dark stuffy hole, then glanced back at her, shaking his head. “I can’t,” he whispered, his face suddenly as pale as the polyplastic covering the walls.
Shit. He’d been trapped inside that cage for gods knew how long. She couldn’t make him do it again. Renna squeezed his hand and fought back her own panic. There was no place else for him to hide here, and there was no time to find another place. “Myka—”
A scream came from the front of the ship, and she jumped.
“We’re running out of time. You’re going to be fine. You can do this, okay? I promise I won’t let anything happen to you.” She cursed under her breath as that word slipped out again. She didn’t know if this was a promise she could keep.
Myka squared his shoulders, swallowing thickly. “I can do it.” He stared at the hole in the wall. “I’m tough.”
She could have kissed him, but she merely smiled and squeezed his hand again. “You’re the toughest kid I’ve ever met. Now get in and stay quiet no matter what.”
Myka nodded. “I promise.” He climbed into the dark hole.
Renna could barely see the whites of his eyes as he stared up at her. “Take my spanner. It has a light on it. Use it if you need to.” She shoved it into his hands, then lifted the panel back into place, tightening the screws with her fingers.
She pressed a hand against the metal grate. “Be safe, kid. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” There was no answer as she rose to her feet. Myka was already wrapped up in his own nightmare.
Another shout echoed through the ship, and Renna’s heart thudded in her chest in time with her pounding feet. Whatever the hell was going on, she needed to get to the bridge. She needed to find Finn.
Rough arms yanked her to a stop before she could clear the passageway. “Going somewhere, lady?” The man towered over her, and when he smiled at her, a black hole gaped where his front tooth should have been. Her gaze fell to the tribal markings tattooed on his forearm.
Pirates. They must have been waiting for the Athena in the fuel station.
She immediately forced herself to relax and give him her sexiest look. “Guess not, big guy. Who do you work for?”
He leered at her and yanked her down the passageway. “Does it matter?”
“Actually, it does. I know most of the mercs in this star system.”
“This isn’t a social visit, lady. We’re here for the kid.”
She shrugged, which was difficult with his meaty hand holding her arm. “We don’t have any kids on board. You’ve got the wrong ship.” By the gods, did Myka have a tracker on him or something? How did these people keep finding him?
“Boss says it’s the right ship. Now stop talking and move!” He jerked her down a set of stairs to the lower deck. “The rest of the crew’s already inside.” He gestured his blaster at the brig door.
She stopped just inside the room and frowned. Of course. Because that’s how today was going. Captain Finn and the rest of his team pressed against the bars of the holding cell.
