AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“They’re going to help, Julia.” Ethan’s voice was soothing, and his thumb rubbed circles on the back of my hand.
Emerson reappeared and passed off the scissors to Steel. He lifted my shirt and bent over the wound. I went completely still, knowing that moving now would only cause more pain.This is almost as bad as Andy stitching me up in the first place, except now I’m less desperate.I held Ethan’s hand tightly, drawing strength from him, and counted to ten in my head. Steel’s fingers were warm and quick whereas the scissors were cold and terrifying. I hated having someone so dangerous near me while I was in such a vulnerable position.
When the scissors clipped the stitches, I closed my eyes and tried to focus on breathing. I felt the thread move through my skin and I braced myself against the awful sensation. There were only three stitches. I kept telling myself that. Only three.It will be over soon.
“You’re doing great, Julia, just hold on for a few more seconds.” Ethan’s voice filled my ears and helped settle my nerves a little.
Finally, Steel leaned back. “Done.”
My eyes flew open, and I put my hand over the wound. I sat up, surprised again when it didn’t hurt nearly as much. I swallowed, trying to get myself back under control. Steel didn’t look at me or say anything as he took the thread and tossed it in the trash before handing Emerson back the scissors.
Ethan peered at the spot for a moment before nodding. “It looks a lot better.”
Steel spoke. “Those stitches were good. Who sewed you up?”
My fingers were trembling, and I grabbed the edge of the desk to hide it. “An android.” I didn’t want to remember how much it had hurt when Andy stitched me up.
Steel almost seemed impressed. “Before long, you’ll feel brand new. You’ll probably still have a little scar, but it shouldn’t be bad. The nanobots are little miracle workers.”
I’d had enough of thinking about me and my problems. I got off the desk, walked back to a chair, and dropped into it. I speared Emerson with my eyes. “If I’m going to help you track down this shipment, I’m going to need details.”
Emerson rubbed his jaw thoughtfully. “Well, you already know who Lyle Archuleta is, so it’s not going to come as a surprise that I was escorting a shipment of guns from Desoto to Esmuna. It was supposed to be a simple job: pick up the merchandise and bring it to a warehouse. Archuleta’s men were supposed to meet us there later. As soon as we landed at the warehouse, we were ambushed. We were unloading the guns and they appeared out of nowhere. I lost three men and the shipment. It had to have been an inside job.”
I frowned. “Why were you running guns for Archuleta? Doesn’t he have people he employs solely for that purpose?”
“He does. Word on the street is he’s looking to expand. He contacted me and offered good money.”
I chewed on my lower lip. “Who’s the supplier?”
Emerson hesitated. “I’m not supposed to know, but I did a little digging. The supplier is someone who works for Whitney Tech. That’s how they have access to the guns. Whitney Tech has ramped up their manufacturing exponentially in the past year or so. Someone is sneaking extra out the side door. From what I gathered, Archuleta has worked with these people before, but they aren’t his regular supplier. I was supposed to fly to the designated coordinates and pick up the crates.”
“Did the supplier have any idea where you were taking the goods?”
“No. None of my men said a word. Pickup went smoothly.”
“But Archuleta’s men knew all about it? Where the pickup would be and where you’d bring the guns?”
Emerson shrugged. “No. The plan was to call them once we had the guns offloaded at the warehouse so they could come pick them up. We chose the warehouse ourselves. Archuleta was trying to keep information to a minimum on all sides. I don’t know who in his organization would even know about the run.”
Ethan frowned. “You don’t know much about his organization, do you? Aren’t you considered part of his people since you’re working for him?”
Emerson scowled at him. “I belong to no one. I take jobs that pay and then I leave. It’s called independent contracting.”
I interrupted. “Was this a one-time deal with you and Archuleta or are you contracted for other jobs too?”
“This was supposed to be a trial run for the both of us. If we liked working with each other then we would talk about future jobs. As it stands, we haven’t done a good job of impressing him.”
Some things weren’t adding up, but I couldn’t pinpoint the problem. “Why you? Why did Archuleta contact you?”
“Recommendation. I’ve worked with some of his contacts before. The initial meeting was arranged through a third party. The job seemed lucrative, so I took it.”
Steel folded his arms. “And none of your men stick out as a possible traitor? No leaks anywhere else? Any new people?”
“I haven’t recruited since you were last on my ship. Besides, only a handful of us even knew what we were doing or where we were going. I haven’t had a problem with any of them. I think it’s more likely that someone followed us.”
“You should still vet them all. Anyone who might have known.” Steel sighed. “There are a lot of possibilities.”
Emerson’s eyes landed on me. “You should interview my men.”
