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Rhonda straightens her shoulders and gives her bright red hair a toss. “I did no such thing. And couldn’t you shower before coming here? I can smell you through the door.”
“I could, but where’s the fun in that?” I drag my thumb over the corners of my mouth. “I don’t have anything on my face, do I? Any crusted fluids?”
“Disgusting.”
I taste my thumb. “You’re right. I probably licked them all off. So…the spying?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
I’m not falling for the wide-eyed innocence tactic. It only works with Dora. “Yes, you do. And you’re not going to tell me where you hid them?”
“Are you going to let me out of here?” She gets to her feet, slinking towards the door.
“Probably not.”
Rhonda sniffs, eyeing me with distaste from the other side of the cell. “Well then, I probably won’t tell you, either.”
It’s obvious we’re not going to get anywhere. She’s too stubborn and so am I. Plus, I’m having too much fun baiting her. But I should probably try to find out something at least. “Just tell me if your Lord Nerit has any other human slaves.”
She looks genuinely offended at the suggestion. “He wouldn’t. That would be like cheating on me and he would never do such a thing.”
“You are aware he has a mate, right?”
“That’s different. She’s mesakkah. I’m his only human.”
“You’re right. So different.” But when she continues to appear offended and hurt, I start to wonder if she really has no idea what Nerit is up to. “You told us that he took you to the station for shopping and left to pick something up and he never came back. Did he say what he was picking up?”
Rhonda gives me a sullen look, running her finger over the door seam as if mentally prying it open to escape. “No. But he likes to surprise me sometimes. I assumed it was a gift for me.”
Of course she’d assume that. She’s a spoiled pet. “And you weren’t traveling with anyone else?”
“No. Why would we?” She genuinely seems confused.
“Because we picked up the traces of another mesakkah and a human on the ship. Your master was meeting up with someone.”
Her hands press to her mouth. “Do you think they stole him?”
“If they did, he went without a fight. There’s no traces of a struggle and no blood.”
Rhonda doesn’t seem convinced. “Why would he fight? He’s a noble from an important house. He’s a diplomat.”
Yes, but even the most elite mesakkah would surely struggle against someone who kidnapped him, wouldn’t he? Unless he wanted to go? Or am I just assuming that because Rhonda’s making me crazy and therefore she’d make anyone crazy? “So basically you’re telling me you’re no help at all.”
“I’m the funds. You’re the help. If I could figure it out on my own, why would I need you?”
And that’s enough Rhonda for me today. I lean in to the food slot. “Dora will be by to feed you later. Maybe.”
Then I shut it and walk away, because damn, what did I ever see in this woman?
One Hundred Six
DORA
I flick through the footage on the ship at double-speed, my chin propped up on my hand. I’m curled up in the communications seat on the bridge as Jamef works alongside me, moving dots all over the navigation charts and running calculations. For once, I feel like part of the team, even if my portion is just to review what Rhonda’s been up to for the last several days and search the ship anywhere she pauses while she’s alone.
So far I’ve found four more of the listening devices, and each one makes me feel more and more like a valuable part of our triad. It’s silly to be so proud of something so small, but I’m going to take the wins however I get them. I fight back a yawn as I watch a particularly boring stretch of Rhonda fussing with her hair in the mirror and nudge Jamef absently with my foot.
“Hmm?” he asks, not taking his gaze off his screen. He touches one of the dots and drags it over to the far end of the star map, then frowns at the calculations.
“Do we need to worry about what Rhonda said?” I ask him. “You know, about her leaking information about the fact that I’m a clone?”
He blinks and focuses on me, the steely red gaze of his bionic eye oddly comforting in its fierce appearance. “We won’t let anyone touch you.”
That’s not exactly what I’m asking, though. “Yes, but do you think she’ll blab about it? That I’m cloned? It feels like a dirty secret.”
“I will chop her into bits and space the pieces in three different sectors if I truly think you’re at risk, sweetheart. Trust me. You’re all right. If she points a finger at you, she points several more at herself. Like she’s said before, she’s good at surviving. It’s a bluff, nothing more.”
