A Touch of Lilly Page 14

  “Sawyer,” Bastower said as he stormed into the room. His boss was still in his Ka’al form—and didn’t this day just get crappier?

  “Sir.” Dallas stood, ready to present the ten-page report he’d already filed about the takedown at the tavern and the fake details of Lilly’s interview.

  “I need one of your men for a couple of hours.”

  That was not where he expected Bastower to go. “Sir?”

  “I’ve just been informed Ambassador Tervoss is making a refueling stop here on Garalon Five on his way to Reigis Alpha. He’s decided to meet some of his constituents at an impromptu news conference. In light of recent events his private security asked if QAL would add some manpower to his team. I’ve got three men, one more and we can do a complete surveillance of our own.”

  Thaegan’s gaze met Dallas’ for one telling instant. This was too damn convenient. Only hours before they were supposed to take down Hij’Rozhod and it appeared someone was pulling his team apart. No way in hell that was a coincidence. If their mission had been leaked again, it was highly likely there would be bloodshed at the tavern. He’d think about protecting Lilly later. Right now he wanted every man he trusted at his fingertips.

  “I’m not sure I can spare any men, sir.”

  “What about Lelkin?” Bastower inquired. “Seems to me, from all the scenarios we’ve been through that his position isn’t as critical as the others.”

  It was true, but Dallas hadn’t meant for the newest member of his team to know that detail. He and the Drikspa simply hadn’t developed the easy camaraderie he had with the rest of his team. Dallas wanted to think it had to do with the way the Drikspa kept to himself and not the fact that he’d been the one to fill the void left by Sarah’s death. Dallas shrugged.

  “I’d hate to be without him.” Dallas lied. “But I guess if Tervoss’ security team needs you both, then Thaegan can cover Lelkin’s position if you don’t get back in time.”

  The Drikspa stood, his hard red eyes glaring at Dallas. “No problem, Sir.” He spat the title at Dallas like a curse. “Glad to know I wasn’t an important part of taking down Grebetz tonight.”

  Bastower slapped the Drikspa on the back. “Don’t look so disappointed, Lelkin. Tervoss’ speech is supposed to be short and sweet. We’ll be back before the fireworks at the tavern even begin.”

  * * * * *

  Lilly bounced down on the edge of the bed and flipped through the channels on the televid. Nothing held her interest. She’d been wandering around her tiny hotel room, feeling lost and alone and more than a little on edge. She checked the time again. The afternoon continued to tick by at a snail’s pace. There was still more than an hour before she needed to leave for the tavern.

  The soft roll of excitement warmed her belly. She wasn’t kidding herself that it had anything to do with a bounty payment being within reach. Lilly credited it all to the fact she’d soon be seeing Dallas. She picked up his t-shirt from the bed. She’d reluctantly parted with it after her shower when she’d pulled on her leather pants and a silk blouse. A perfect outfit for taking down a criminal—or running for her life. Lifting the soft cotton to her face, Lilly inhaled deeply, the unmistakable masculine scent of Dallas wrapping around her nostrils and making her dizzy with want.

  After she’d gotten up at the cabin, the three of them had sat around the table strategizing.

  Somewhere between the cutting of her clothing and their lovemaking, they’d developed trust. But there had been something more. None of them had been anxious to leave the secluded confines of the cabin and their discussion of Treljon lasers and vantage points had deteriorated into another round of very hot, very sweaty sex. Her desire fueled by the knowledge her energy had no pull on Dallas and yet he still wanted her. Craved her was more like it. The two of them had managed another quick session in his residence while they were searching for clothes and Thaegan was contacting headquarters.

  Eyeing the computer on the desk, Lilly realized she’d be leaving for the tavern without knowing any additional information about Grebetz or his boss. The decoding program was still ticking away, working with her cochlear translator, trying to decipher the conversation she’d overheard between the Znedu and the Braugtot. A little stab of guilt twisted in her gut. She could have given the translator to Dallas. No doubt QAL computers would do a much faster job, but she’d feared it might make her appearance tonight unnecessary.

  Then again, it may also save some lives.

  Lilly couldn’t think that way. When this night was over, she didn’t want what she’d found with Dallas to be over as well. Yes, it was selfish, but the way karma had been kicking her ass lately, Lilly figured she was owed a little selfishness. And being with Dallas was certainly an indulgence she’d like to repeat. Having Thaegan around would make it a welcomed trio she could definitely get used to.

  Her body was still delectably bruised all these hours later. When she’d stripped for her shower, Lilly laughed at the bite marks on her breasts and ass, trying to remember exactly when they’d occurred—but not really caring. The memory of their hands and hot mouths on her skin and their silken erections filling her so completely had raised her energy. She’d stepped into the shower with a couple of toys, trying to bring it down a notch or two. Even now the current hummed along her skin, adding to the nervousness and the unsettled feeling making her fidgety.

  She studied the heavy pack next to the door, wondering if she needed to grab one of the sex toys again just to take the edge off the jumpiness. But rummaging through the neat stacks of clothes and books contained in the packs seemed like more effort than it was worth.

  Lilly wasn’t sure she would even be leaving Garalon Five. No one knew how tonight would play out. She’d packed her meager possessions earlier in the afternoon with the absurd thought that if she helped bring down Hij’Rozhod, perhaps QAL would reconsider her qualifications and allow her to pull out with Dallas’ team.

  But now that seemed like a foolish girl’s romantic dream.

  All Lilly knew for certain was that she didn’t want to give up what she’d only recently found with Dallas and Thaegan. QAL had sent her away once. But here in deep space where rules were different, she wondered if there was a way she could become one of them, a member of a ragtag family who would keep her from feeling so utterly alone and isolated.

  But putting that expectation on two men she’d just met, certainly seemed unrealistic. No doubt she was mistaking Dallas’ concern for affection. If she understood correctly, the men had not only lost a teammate but a lover. Thaegan had convinced Dallas that Lilly needed to be at the tavern and the man had reluctantly capitulated. She suspected his balking had nothing to do with his heart and everything to do with pride. It didn’t matter. Lilly would never forgive herself if she didn’t at least try to continue what they’d begun.

  Absently she flipped stations on the televid. Boredom had most certainly set in. Every channel looked the same to her. It took Lilly a moment to register what she was seeing. Hitting the volume control, she tuned to the English language station and cued in to the special bulletin being televised on every channel.

  “…Premier Commander’s inauguration is only ten days away. Ambassador Antonio Tervoss is making an unannounced stop on Garalon Five…”

  Lilly recognized the airstrip where a crowd had gathered. She’d landed there herself less than two weeks ago. It wasn’t more than a fifteen-minute walk from her hotel. Five, if she hailed a luna cab. She checked her watch. Perhaps she’d go down and see the man she’d voted for in person and burn off a little of her restless energy.

  “…will be speaking in less than thirty minutes. Elected into office, many say, because of his strong stand against illegal trades on Krystallos Three. We’re not sure if he’ll…”

  Lilly’s police training had her focusing on the aliens with the official security badges milling about the podium. Ambassador Tervoss had made few friends during his campaign and his protection detail was no doubt high.
A couple of Ka’al scanned the growing crowd, while a Xerick walked every inch of the open area where the ambassador would cross to the podium. But it was the Drikspa checking along the back of the staging area that nearly stopped Lilly’s heart. When he turned to face the camera and scan the crowd, nausea rolled hot and thick in her gut. Disbelief tripped over fury as she leaned in closer to the televid screen.

  The bulky Drikspa aliens with their white skin and hornlike protrusions on their head sometimes blended one into another. But there was one male Drikspa she would never forget. As the alien on stage turned to speak into his communicator, Lilly’s suspicions were confirmed. The horny protrusion on the right side of his face was incomplete. Burned beyond repair in a QAL takedown, the doctors at the infirmary told her they wouldn’t be able to mend the damage wrought by a Treljon laser.

  The laser she’d held to the Drikspa’s head as she’d taken him into QAL custody on Earth six months ago. The same Drikspa who had bought his way out of jail and imprisoned her on a freighter bound for Krystallos Three. A Drikspa she’d been tracking intent on exacting her own form of revenge.

  Lilly grabbed her coat, the Ba’alkin dagger and headed for the door. No way in hell was he getting away alive this time.

  * * * * *

  Dallas leaned forward on his hands, the hologram of the tavern illuminated in front of him.

  “Have they changed anything in the last thirty minutes, partner?” Thaegan slammed a wide palm on his back, lifting him from the morass of anxiety he’d fallen into.

  Dallas pressed a button on the control panel and the tavern melted away. “Tell me again I made the right decision allowing her to be there.”

  Thaegan laughed. “Let her? Did you really say let her? Nothing’s going to stop that woman when she’s got her mind set on something.”

  “Hey, Sawyer, isn’t this the bimbo you guys took into custody?” The geeky Xerick who monitored all QAL communication hollered from across the room.

  “What the hell you talking about, Harrick?” Dallas really wanted to be left alone to stew in his indecision.

  “This blonde human with the big tits.” The Xerick waved his hand at the monitor in front of him. “I need your confirmation before I radio Bastower. Seems too much of a coincidence after screwing up our missing last night that she’d also be skulking around a surprise visit by the ambassador.”

  Dallas strode to the bank of vid screens in three quick steps. Though the female on the screen wasn’t facing the security camera and the honey tresses that had tickled his skin were caught up in a long braid down her back, he would have known that curvaceous ass, hugged by soft leather from any angle.

  “Yes.” He pushed the simple word past the strangle hold of panic wrapped around his throat. She turned then and looked into the televid, her eyes searching the crowd. Her full mouth was a tight line of determination, her hand sliding under her coat, no doubt ready to draw a weapon.

  “What the hell?” Dallas hadn’t meant to pose the question out loud.

  “I’ll warn Bastower and Lelkin. They’ll have time to apprehend her—”

  “No.”

  “But I’m pretty sure—”

  “Dallas said no.” Thaegan’s voice was low and menacing, a Ka’al growl riding on the words. “He’s team leader. Are you questioning him?”

  “No Sir. No…I just thought…”

  “You’re right, it’s not a coincidence she’s there. I don’t want to chance alerting her if she’s somehow hacked into our frequencies. Thaegan and I will go down there ourselves.” Dallas headed for the exit. “Continue to monitor all channels, but don’t radio Bastower.”

  “But I can scramble the—”

  Thaegan’s angry roar vibrated off the walls.

  The Xerick’s trembling would have been comical if Dallas wasn’t so worried about Lilly. What the hell was she doing? Doubt clawed at his gut. The fact she was at the airstrip and in detective mode meant she was chasing a bounty—or worse—knew something about Hij’Rozhod she hadn’t bothered to share with him.

  “Harrick, just monitor the channels and keep me informed. If anything changes radio only me on my secure channel.” Dallas checked the charge on his Treljon laser before holstering it. “I’m taking Thaegan with me. The rest of you sit tight. Jones, you be ready for that interview. We’ll hook up with Bastower and Lelkin, see Tervoss safely through his speech and back to his transport and continue with our plans to take down Grebetz at the tavern.”

  His partner stared at him, a knowing look passing between them. In that instant, they both understood the interview at the tavern had been a ruse to keep the QAL contingent occupied on the desolate planet. The Ambassador’s unscheduled visit to Garalon Five had no doubt been planned weeks in advance—and someone had known about it. Someone who intended to make sure the man didn’t live long enough to be inaugurated.

  As he and Thaegan passed through the wall at a dead run, Dallas didn’t want to think his night with a beautiful woman— a woman who had wiggled her way straight into his heart—had been nothing more than an assassin’s very convincing fact finding mission.

  * * * * *

  She’d seen him. He had to be here somewhere.

  It hadn’t been ten minutes since she’d seen the asshole on the televid. Lilly had known the minute she’d hit the crowded street and seen the lights of luna cabs backed up for blocks that there would be no getting through the backed-up traffic. Obviously the surprise visit by Ambassador Tervoss was no longer a surprise to anyone in the Plaintar Quadrant of Garalon Five.

  Lilly had sprinted the distance from the hotel to the landing site in seven minutes flat—and in heels no less. But as she pushed through the crowd, the Drikspa was nowhere to be seen. There was no way in hell that dickwad slave runner was getting away from here. Lilly didn’t give a shit if the guy had a bounty on his head. She’d mete out some of her own justice if the authorities didn’t want to listen to her story.

  The way he’d been moving around the podium, Lilly was sure the alien was part of the security detail. She laughed in disgust. Wouldn’t that be just the way? It seemed QAL just continued to protect the criminals in its midst and punish the innocent. Assholes. Revenge tore through her, hot and hard, solidifying her resolve. The Drikspa would pay—not for what he’d done to her—but for the nearly one hundred souls he’d stolen from Earth.

  Revenge was a mighty sword and she’d wield hers with deadly force.

  This night she would not be denied. Lilly had been in enough dangerous situations to know how to take out one slave-running scum-bucket of a Drikspa and slip away undetected and unharmed. Searching the crowd, she made note of all the televid cameras readied for the ambassador’s speech. The Ba’alkin dagger lay in her palm, mostly hidden by the long sleeve of her jacket. Whatever she did to take this guy down, it would have to be away from the eyes of viewers. Though with the number of aliens filing onto the tarmac, she wasn’t sure there was anyone in the city sitting at home watching.

  The mob pressed forward, anxious to see their future leader who promised so much change. Lilly had believed it was the human colonies inhabiting Reigis Alpha who had voted him in. But this crowd of mixed aliens appeared to be happy to meet the human who would be inaugurated in a few days into the most powerful position in the galaxy.

  Lilly reached into the inside pocket of her coat, pulling out the earpiece and the QAL badge she’d had forged on Dallas Eight months ago. She would like to have put on the sunglasses for disguise, but even the flood lights pouring down on the tarmac didn’t make them necessary in the darkness of Garalon Five. Checking her timepiece, Lilly tamped down the panic. It was nearly time for Tervoss to take the podium. She’d wanted to find the Drikspa before he spoke, but perhaps hunting him down would be better done while the crowd was focused on Tervoss’ speech.

  Jostled once again, Lilly realized she needed to get out of the growing crowd. She debated working her way to the secured tented area to her left, pushing her way int
o the thick of Tervoss’ security. But getting close to the Drikspa when he was so intent on studying the crowd, would be difficult for sure. If she was going to take him down without bloodshed, she’d need to do it with secrecy as her advantage.

  Lilly searched for another plan. To the right of her, a staging for media had been set up. The front of the platform was lined with televid cameras pointed down at the crowd. Behind them stood several aliens she recognized as city officials. Perhaps from that vantage point she could better scan the crowd.

  And that’s when she saw him—behind the media, mingling with dignitaries—the Drikspa who, six months ago, had made her worst nightmares a reality. Her world became a narrow focus of anger, revenge and the alien. He spoke to another Drikspa. Their heads were close together, their eyes surveying the area, wrists lifted to their mouths as they spoke to an unknown entity. Definitely with security. The two looked at each other and nodded before separating and her Drikspa headed off the platform.

  But she no longer followed his movements.

  The crowd burst into a loud round of applause and she was vaguely aware of Ambassador Tervoss taking his place behind the podium. The roar of the crowd barely penetrated the rush of blood pounding in her ears. Lilly stared in disbelief as the second Drikspa took up position behind the media, hidden among the dignitaries.

  The crowd quieted and the ambassador spoke. “Good evening. I’m pleased to be here on Garalon Five…”

  But Lilly wasn’t focused on what Tervoss was saying. The Drikspa above the crowd now had her fully attention. Sometimes karma smiled and shined in her direction. The alien above her wasn’t a Drikspa by birth. This alien wore the tattoo of a Braugtot and the marks snaking along his neck to swirl up his cheek and around his left eye were the same ones she’d seen on Grebetz’s communicator last night. Hij’Rozhod. Lilly had no doubt. He’d come here to take out the Commander-elect.

  “…will be meeting with the league of galaxies and begin working…”

  The Ambassador’s words rolled into the background noise of the crowd around her. The instincts of a detective, honed from years on the Chicago force, kicked into gear without any thought for her safety. Lilly’s own problems would wait. She had probably been the sole witness to the last-minute plans of an assassin whose intended target was Ambassador Tervoss.