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He sighed and tapped the holo badge on his wrist comm off.
‘As I said, I don’t mean you any harm.’
He flicked his eyes around the tiny and cramped room, the sweat-stained basic bed, the scratched and dirty dresser, and the rickety chair. A musty, unpleasant smell hung in the room, probably due to the soiled bedding and towels and the mouldy head he spotted through a rudimentary sliding door. The walls, too, were in disrepair, with peeling paint, large cracks and mould. Against one surface was a dangling monitor that periodically flashed with a flickering, unfocused feed.
He watched as the woman’s hands fluttered down and across her neck to protect the necklace, revealing how erratically her pulse was beating.
‘Who are you?’ she asked in a distinct Allorian accent.
‘No one you want to know. Let’s make this clear. I’m the one asking questions. Savvy?’
She nodded, her lips curling with scorn.
Kage ignored her. ‘I’ll cut to the chase of why I’m here. Where did you get that pendant?’ He said, pointing a finger to the glowing purple sapphire around her neck.
Her eyes widened, and she clutched at it. ‘Who wants to know?’
‘Mamin, I’m an officer of the security group that enforces the law here on Eden II. The authorities reported that someone had stolen the exact piece of jewellery. Holo footage showed that you took it from its owner and tried to sell it. It’s tagged, and I tracked it here. Therefore, under Section 65.1 of the Eden II Law, I must detain you for possessing stolen goods.’
The woman baulked and sneered. ‘She reported me, didn’t she?’
Kage raised an eyebrow. ‘Who?’
‘Lyddae. That ungrateful little snit.’
‘Who’s Lyddae?’
The woman’s face narrowed with cunning. ‘You may know her as Harlow. My daughter.’
Kage froze as he processed the words. ‘Your daughter?’ he repeated, unsure he’d heard her correctly.
‘Like I said, my daughter! And she stole it from me. She manipulated my mother to give it to her. Harlow is the lying, conniving thief you should be after.’
Kage widened his eyes in disbelief.
The woman’s coal-black eyes flicked over his face. ‘You’re not just any security officer. The name Harlow means something to you.’
Kage gave her a cold smile. ‘If it does, that would make me more invested in its recovery, now, wouldn’t it?’
She recoiled, both hands now clutched against her procured treasure. ‘She has no right to it.’
‘It’s her word against yours. And we will get to the truth.’
The woman stared at Kage while he kept a straight face. Inside though, he was a mass of feeling. Harlow had not mentioned her mother being on Eden II. Nor that she was this destitute or thekalifuwho’d stolen her pendant. More damning, though, was that this woman was accusing Harlow of stealing the jewellery in the first place.
He paused before any dark emotions overrun him. He’d no idea how much of what this woman had told him was true, so he couldn’t let anything get to him yet.
He took a deep breath. This was a web of shit he was dreading to untangle. ‘You need to hand over that pendant now. I’ll take it into safekeeping until we can work this out. You’ll also need to come with me to the central security office to get your story straight.’
The woman blanched. ‘I’m not coming with you!’ she howled. She took a sudden lunge for the door, but Kage was ready. He quickly intercepted her and took hold of her arms. She squirmed and shouted as he effortlessly moved her hands behind her and slid a set of electric manacles out of his back pocket and onto her wrists.
She pushed against him and tried to kick his shins.
He growled a warning. ‘Keep it down. Otherwise, I’ll need to shut you down.’
She was having nothing of it and began to struggle against him even more. He was surprised at her relentless fight, given her age. Finally, he took control. He sent a command to the wrist manacle, which zapped her with a knockout burst of power. She slumped against him, and he took her weight. He lifted her and laid her on the bed.
He took the liberty to unclasp the pendant from her neck, sliding it into one of his many jacket pockets.
