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Somehow, words came back to me. “I don’t know, Ethan. I can’t make any promises right now. I don’t know exactly what I’m feeling or what’s going to happen.” Sadness filled his eyes, and I squeezed his arm. “But I can say I will make sure I give whatever this is between us fair consideration. We can revisit it once we’re out of danger.”
The sadness disappeared and he smiled. My concession might not have been what he was looking for, but he seemed content with it. “Done.”
Unsure of the wisdom of my choice, I nodded. Ethan was different. Exploring this new feeling was worth the possible pain of it not working out. It terrified me a little. I hadn’t put myself at risk of a broken heart probably ever, but I was tired of being lonely. I may not let people see the loneliness, but I felt it deeply and I was tired of it. I was tired of doing everything on my own, without support, without a life partner to help me shoulder my burdens. I longed to have someone love me as much as I loved them.
Before either of us could say more, the door beeped and opened. We stepped apart jerkily, and I nearly tripped over my chair. Emerson and Steel stepped into the room. Emerson’s eyes raked over both of us, taking in Ethan’s shirtless appearance and our obvious closeness. His eyes came to rest on me with a raised eyebrow.
“I’m sorry, are we interrupting?”
Despite my best resolve, I blushed. “Lick a laser, Emerson.”
He snorted and couldn’t hide his smile. “I’m sorry, are you eighty? No one uses that phrase anymore.”
I had no retort, so I rolled my eyes. “Whatever.”
Steel didn’t have any obvious reaction to the situation, but I’d swear the corners of his mouth were turned up. Ethan didn’t seem bothered by any of it, though he did grab his shirt and pull it back over his head. “I take it you had some success?”
His words brought everyone’s minds back to the situation at hand. Emerson sobered up and his smile dropped. “Yes. You were right. Someone on Archuleta’s crew, a guy by the name of Kent, approached him at a bar and struck a deal with him. He paid Bozeman a thousand credits for the location of the warehouse. He doesn’t know where the guns are currently, and he hasn’t had face to face contact with Kent since the bar. He said that Kent mentioned reporting to someone in charge, but he didn’t have a name.”
I frowned. “Kent was an underling?”
“It appears so, yes.”
That threw a bit of a wrench into our plans. “Bozeman has no idea who else is involved?”
Steel shook his head. “No. He was a pawn.”
“Great.” I sighed. “What now?”
Emerson sat down on the couch across from me. He looked tired. Or annoyed. Or both. “Now we contact Archuleta and tell him what we have so far. Once we give him a name, he’ll take care of Kent. But if we aren’t sure who Kent is reporting to, then that’s a little risky. I would rather give him a report, get a location for Kent, and pick him up ourselves. Then we can squeeze him until he gives up the head of this little scheme.”
“Somehow, I doubt Archuleta will sit by once he has a name.”
Emerson nodded. “Yes, but I can’t go around him. If I start picking up his people, it’s going to cause friction that may result in violence. I don’t want to chance that.”
He had a point. I chewed on my lip, which made me think about Ethan. I glanced at him and saw him watching me with a little smile. I couldn’t help but smile back before I returned my attention to Emerson. “Then we don’t have a choice.”
He rubbed his jaw. “Okay. I’ll call him.”
Steel sat down on the arm of the couch. “I wouldn’t tell him much though. Just ask for permission to pick up Kent.”
Emerson nodded and stood up. “Yeah, I got it.” He disappeared into the other room to make the call, and I picked a piece of lint off my shirt.
“And here I thought we might have an actual break.” Ethan sighed.
I snorted. “The faster we find Archuleta’s guns the faster Emerson will get us off-world. I’m still worried my kidnappers are going to catch up before we wrap this up.”
Ethan frowned deeply. “How long do you think we have before they catch up with us?”
I shrugged. “If they have the resources I think they do, not long. They might get a little thrown off track because of how we got to Concordia, but they’ll still figure out where we were dropped off. There are cameras practically everywhere. Eventually, they’ll track us here.”
Steel folded his arms. “These guys are pros?”
“That’s the feeling I got. I don’t know if they are mercenaries, but I feel more like they’re personal security with some serious training. I don’t know. But they had some deep connections if they found out we had evidence barely an hour after we obtained it.”
“If they are as connected as you think, they’ll find you soon. But if you’re still with Emerson, he’ll protect you. And his crew is the best.”
“Yeah, I don’t doubt that, but I do doubt he’ll put everything on the line for me. I’m on the other side of the law from him.”
