AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He looked around the room but kept his probing to the visible contents of the room, well aware he’d no warrant.
The room search didn’t yield much, but he spotted a safe where she probably kept her valuables and identikit. There was no way of getting in without her consent or one of Xion’s massive laser blades.
He decided to cut his losses and leave with his mark. The woman was unsurprisingly light, so he threw her over his shoulder and turned on his metanoids stealth shield, extending it over the woman’s body.
He moved through the darkened corridors of the Maji Castle, into the deserted lobby, and out to the street where Void X was waiting for him.
He bundled the woman in and took off. While driving, he sent a node message to Xion, asking him to meet him at the central Civil Justice Centre in a few hours when he rose later that morning.
Before long, the flyer came to a smooth stop outside an impressive building that rivalled the most stunning architecture across the System. Kage stepped out of Void X onto an open vaulted entrance that was a sculptural statement of swirling structures and organic forms made up of three distinct wings of the Edenite Civil Justice. Inside was an amphitheatre, exhibition halls and courtrooms, holding cells and the offices of the Council.
Kage noticed none of it except for the tall, lean man lightly walking down the stairs of the stunning edifice.
‘Bit early for you to be wandering the streets,’ Xion commented.
‘Bit early for you to be up,’ Kage said, narrowing his eyes. ‘Sent you a message to work through in the morning, brother. Didn’t mean to wake you, let alone get you here.’
‘What’s a single man to do when he gets a cryptic comm in the middle of the night? Brother, you’re my excitement. What d’you have?’
Kage pointed to his flyer. ‘Woman, older, probably mid to late sixties.’
Xion peered into the plex-glass windows of the craft at the woman slumped in the back seat. ‘What did grandma do?’
‘She allegedly stole a pendant belonging to Harlow late one night - while I was away on Rhesia. Wrenched it off Harlow’s neck, from what Mirage says.’
Xion arched an eyebrow as she studied the older woman closely. ‘This little woman did that?’
‘Better believe it. She states she was reclaiming her possession from Harlow. Not sure what to believe.’
‘Damn. So what are we doing with her?’
‘First, we need to interview her, then bring Harlow in to confirm or refute the events,’ Kage said with a low inflection, feeling bewildered by the night’s reveal so far.
Xion shook his head in commiseration. ‘Sucks bringing your woman in.’
‘Wish I didn’t need to. Somehow feels like I’m ‘bout to walk into a minefield. Thing is, Harlow had a twisted childhood with a lunatic father. She mentioned a mother but not here, living on Eden II and in a hovel, no less.’
Xion gave his brother a compassionate nod of the head. ‘Sounds messy, brother. You get your woman. I’ll book auntie in.’
‘Also. There was a safe at the motel I found her in - some dump called the Maji Castle—room 203. Get one of your guys to swing past and retrieve anything they can find. Hopefully, something that can ID her. Need a warrant, I expect.’
‘I’ll take care of it. You go smooth things with Harlow.’
Xion bundled the unconscious woman out of the flyer and loped into the Civil Justice Centre.
Behind him, Kage settled back into Void X and winged away to his residence, where his woman lay in his bed, blissfully unsuspecting.
15
Dark after dusk
Kage
Void X drifted silently across the city, moving with the predawn traffic. Kage sat inside, having turned the nav on auto cruise, letting the flyer move slowly past the darkened streets. He looked sightlessly outside as it meandered into avenues he’d never seen before. The roads were nearly empty, with only a few vehicles and pedestrians. Finally, the sleek Sable flyer turned down a dimly lit dead-end lane, coming to a stop at the end of it, its headlights illuminating the dead wall ahead.
The quiet was broken only by the engine’s pulse and the occasional honk of distant horns and maglev trains whooshing at breakneck speeds above. Kage leaned back into his leather seat, brooding, lost in thought.
He took a deep breath, struggling to understand his woman. He knew Harlow had a past; she’d admitted that much. What he hadn’t expected was the depth of her hidden secrets. He thought of the pendant and how she’d tried to tell him about it, and he’d stopped her. Maybe if he’d given her a chance, she’d have explained it and the woman claiming to be her mother.
