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“That’s not important. What’s important is I’m offering you a hundred thousand credits if you hand them over to me. Or, if it’s easier, you can kill them yourself. That’s a nice payday for your crew for five minutes of work.”
My stomach dropped.That’s a lot of credits. I wasn’t sure where he was getting his money from, but it did cement the theory that whoever had orchestrated Ben’s kidnapping had capital to spare.
Emerson met my gaze and his eyes slid away. Part of me was worried he would take the money. That was an awfully good payday for virtually no work. Even though we were sort of friends, he had to be tempted.
He rubbed his jaw. “We’re in the middle of a time sensitive job.”
“I understand. How about I give you an hour? You find a few moments in there to kill them, and then we can meet. I’ll take the bodies off your hands and pay you. Everyone’s happy.”
Emerson nodded. “That sounds like a good plan.”
“Brilliant. I’ll leave you to it then.”
The screen disappeared, but none of us moved. Emerson was staring at the wall, deep in thought. Ethan gave me a questioning look. I didn’t know what Emerson was thinking, or if he was going to take the deal, so I shrugged. If Emerson decided to kill us, then we were dead. There would be no escape.
Finally, Emerson looked back at us. “That doesn’t give us a whole lot of time. We need to adjust our plan.” He smacked his com. “Reuben, get back in here.”
“Adjust how?” My voice was steady, but I felt my hands shake a little.
The door opened and Reuben came back inside. Emerson didn’t even look at him. “As soon as we’re ready for takeoff we need to go. While we’re out waiting for our seller to show up, you need to monitor communications in case this guy calls back. If he does, don’t answer it. Just let me know. As soon as we get the guns, we haul back to the ship, drop them off at Archuleta’s, and then we make a beeline for Viridis. He’s going to be tracking the ship, so keep an eye out for anyone following us. Don’t take chances; blow them out of the sky if need be.”
My body relaxed when I realized Emerson wasn’t going to kill us. He was still going to get us out of there. It was foolish of me to doubt him because I knew he had my back. I knew he was a good guy underneath his gruff exterior. I was a little ashamed that I had doubted him.
Reuben nodded to Emerson and went back to his station. He immediately began sending out commands. It took barely a minute before we were lifting into the air. “On our way.”
Emerson looked at me. “I didn’t recognize this guy, but I don’t think he’s a mercenary. He seemed like ex-military. I wish Steel had been here to see him. He’d have picked out more specifics. If we get you back to Viridis and they follow, are you going to be safe?”
I hadn’t thought about them following us all the way back to Viridis. But then again, that’s where they had kidnapped me from, so it didn’t seem likely they would have a problem returning there.
“If we make it to the IPF office, then yes. At least for now. That’s the best-case scenario.” I didn’t want to think about what would happen if we didn’t eventually catch these guys. I doubted they would stop hunting us.
Emerson frowned. “I’m not so sure about that.” He looked between me and Ethan. “We need to be careful. We’re walking a very thin line.”
I agreed with him. Ethan sighed. “This is going to be an interesting day.”
That’s an understatement.
After a short while, the ship landed again, and Emerson led us down to the loading bay. Goliath had his orders to wait until it was closer to the meeting time before leaving, but the three of us and about a dozen of the crew climbed into the shuttle and flew out to the meeting place. It was a tense ride, though I couldn’t explain why. Maybe it was the anticipation of a fight, or maybe it was knowing my kidnappers were onto us again. Maybe it was both.
Whatever the reason, I was happy when we finally landed. We climbed out, and I tried not to shiver. There wasn’t any snow on the ground here, but the temperature was frigid. I pulled my coat tighter, and Ethan took my hand and gave it a squeeze before dropping it. I smiled at him, glad we were still in this together.
Part of me wasn’t sure why Ethan continued to hang around. He could have left anytime. I wouldn’t have held it against him. I was the one in danger. It was possible that my pursuers would go after Ethan if he left, but also maybe not. Their focus would have to be on me. Ethan could have gone with Sosa and left me to figure this out on my own. But he hadn’t. He had stayed.
Because he likes you.
It felt weird to acknowledge that, but he had gone out of his way to make it obvious that he cared about me. And I cared about him. Far more than I had any business to.
Let’s just hope both of us make it out of this without a scratch.
We made the short trek over a couple of hills until we came to the abandoned warehouse. We moved carefully and swiftly, dividing into two teams. Emerson led us over to the collection of old machinery. His men started to fan out to find places to hide.
Out of nowhere, Steel suddenly appeared, and I jumped. I took a deep breath, trying to dispel the adrenaline. He gave me an amused look before addressing Emerson. “Everything’s still quiet.”
Emerson nodded. “Good. Did you send the rest of the men back?”
Steel nodded. “They were happy to get away from me.”
“I can’t imagine why,” I muttered.
