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Now she was all hunched submission and anxiety. He looked down, and saw her feet were bare. She had small, narrow feet with toes painted a bright, nebula red. He frowned at that splash of color.

“Watch out!” she suddenly yelled.

Dare felt the man beneath him rear up. Davarr wasn’t as beaten as he’d let them believe.

As Dare turned, he saw another knife coming straight at his chest. He dodged to the side, then swung around, landing a vicious blow to the man’s arm to knock the knife away.

Davarr heaved up, and they both rolled across the grass. Dare leaped to his feet, and turned to face the monk.

But Davarr didn’t attack again. He ran.

Dare took a few steps, his hands curling into fists. He wanted to go after the man, but he couldn’t risk leaving Miss Johns alone and unprotected. Anger stormed through him, hot and raging. It burned him that a passenger on his ship had been attacked. Worse, that this scumbag had attacked a woman. Dare had a deep hatred of people who beat up women and children.

He touched his earpiece. “Rynan, are you there? We have an attacker loose on the Nomad.”

“What?” Ry’s deep voice came through clearly.

“Davarr the monk. He attacked Miss Johns in the arboretum. I hurt him, but he took off. He’s armed with a knife.”

“You both okay? Should I send Elana?”

Elana was part of Ry’s security team, and also the ship’s medic. Dare raked his gaze down Miss Johns’ form. He saw a tear in her coat, but no blood. She was also edging toward the door. “We’re fine. Just find the bastard. I want him in the brig.” Blue eyes flicked up to his for a second. “I want to know exactly what the hell is going on aboard my ship.”

“On it,” Ry replied. “I’ll update you when I find him.”

Miss Johns was looking at the ground again. “I need to get back to my cabin.” She clasped her hands together in front of her. “I don’t feel safe.”

Dare nodded and gestured toward the door. “I’ll escort you to your cabin. I’m sorry this happened.” He’d get her ensconced in her cabin, and then help track down Davarr. “You’re sure you don’t know why he attacked you?”

She shook her head and he watched her ugly brown hair tip a little more to the left. It was in complete disarray. “I have no idea. Please—” her voice hitched “—I really don’t want to talk about it.”

He instantly felt guilty about upsetting her further. They walked in silence to her cabin. He really wanted to ask her more questions, but he figured she’d been through enough.

They stopped at her door. “You’re sure he didn’t hurt you? I can have our medic check you over⁠—”

She shook her head vigorously. “I’m fine.” Her hair slipped again, falling into her eyes. With a gasp, she reached up and touched it, quickly straightening it. “Thank you for your help, Mr. Phoenix.”

“You’re welcome. Now, get inside and make sure you engage the master locks on the door. For your safety.”

She hesitated. “Okay.” Without another word, she slipped inside and shut the door.

Dare waited until he heard the electronic lock click into place. As he walked down the hall, he was still thinking of her strange hair. Then he realized what was wrong with it.

It was a wig.

He scowled. There were lots of perfectly good reasons she’d wear a wig. He turned all the options over in his head. He was very aware that the number one reason for wearing one was because you needed a disguise.

What exactly was Miss Johns hiding? And why had the monk attacked her?

Dare pulled out his Sync communicator and logged into the Nomad’s systems. He saw that Rynan was near the gym, and headed that way. He figured it was best to start by finding Davarr. As he strode down the corridor, he barely had to think about where he was going. He knew every corridor, passageway, and vent shaft on the ship. The Sky Nomad was his home, his domain.

His to protect.

“Dare.” Ry’s voice in his ear. “We found him.”

A muscle in Dare’s jaw clenched, and he felt a fierce satisfaction. “Good. I have a few questions for him, and I want answers.”

“Don’t think he’ll give you anything.”