Gavin Allard appeared to have softened toward the smuggler, calling out for Justyn to take a look at some info on his holo-screen. A second later, Bella Gat’nar leaned over to tell Justyn something. He nodded and smiled at the woman, who blushed all the way to the roots of her blonde hair, her tail swishing madly.
Nissa felt a flare of…something hot and spiky. Annoyance. That was all. She disliked her orderly ship being disrupted. She stalked into the room. “Status report.”
Justyn’s head snapped up, his gaze zeroing on her. “Nothing yet.”
Nissa looked at Allard. He cleared his throat. “We’ve put out a Galactic ATL on Solomon’s ship.” He glanced at Justyn.“That’s an ‘attempt to locate’ bulletin.” He turned back to Nissa. “Phoenix here supplied all the details he had on Solomon’s ship.”
“A sweet little Talor freightership. It’s a bit battered-looking, but apparently Solomon keeps it looking like a rust bucket on the outside and in pristine condition on the inside. He’s taken in more than one Patrol ship—” Justyn broke off and glanced around the room with an apologetic grin “—and more than one less-savory character looking to relieve him of his goods.”
“We’ll pick him up on long-range sensor sweeps,” Nissa said.
Justyn shook his head. “No, you won’t. He has an X-59.”
She stifled a curse. She’d been foiled by an X-59 before. It scrambled a ship’s signature, changing it periodically so it was impossible to track. The tech was experimental and very, very expensive. Solomon must be doing quite well in the treasure-hunting business to afford it. “What else do we have on him?”
Lieutenant Luciana Galen, Nissa’s chief science officer, leaned forward. “Justyn patched us through to his cousin, Dathan, and his wife, Eos.” The normally sensible woman’s voice turned just a little breathless.
Nissa gave an internal sigh. Another starstruck fan of the treasure hunter. “And?”
Luciana cleared her throat, tucking a strand of her curly brown hair behind her ear. “Right. They said the main places Solomon visits are Lisbon Station, the trade world of Duke, and the gray-market world of Shilin.”
“He doesn’t have a permanent base, then?”
“No.” Justyn leaned back in his chair, his long legs out straight in front of him, crossed at the ankles. “He moves around a lot. Looking for the most lucrative hunts.”
“I heard on his last treasure hunt he found a diamond necklace that is said to have belonged to a Terran queen named Marie Antoinette,” Bella said.
No wonder Solomon could afford an X-59. Edginess ran through Nissa’s veins. She wanted the document back. Now. “Do we knowanythingelse that’ll help us find him?”
She noted Justyn watching her with those starlight eyes of his. Goddess, he left her unsettled. The sooner she found the Constitution, the sooner she got him off her ship.
“We also got a list of his usual buyers,” Justyn added.
She felt a shot of interest. That was more like it. “If we could work out who he’s planning to sell it to, we can intercept him before the sale.”
Justyn nodded. “That’s the plan.”
She moved closer to the table. “Let me see the list.”
He got to his feet and swiveled his empty chair toward her. It was a show of manners she’d never expected from him. She gave him a tiny nod and sank into the synth-leather. It was still warm from his body.
She focused on the screen in front of her as Gavin brought up the buyers. Each was accompanied by an image and vital details.
“Vincent Vano,” Justyn said.
Nissa stared at the hard, scarred face of the man who ran a lucrative organized-crime syndicate. “Mob boss out of the Nostra quadrant.”
“Not likely to be interested in the US Constitution.” Justyn’s voice sounded from over her shoulder.
No. Vano had a blatant hatred for the law.
The screen flashed. A gray-skinned face of an insectoid female filled the screen.
“Remala,” Gavin said.
Nissa scanned the woman’s details. “I’m not familiar with her.”
“Private collector.” Justyn gripped the back of Nissa’s chair, his fingertips brushing between her shoulder blades. “Wealthy as sin and likes to spend it on artifacts, primarily manuscripts.”
