Page 8 of The Edge of Dawn

She couldn’t allow its glowing indicator lights to give her away.

The robot slowed to a halt, cycled its lights, and then switched off.

So much for the promise of riches. She had to figure out a way to get out of there. If she was lucky, there might be another exit tunnel further along.

She heard footsteps—people coming down the ladder. Was that two or three of them? Had the Federation caught up with her already?

But how?

She didn’t have her tracking implant anymore. She hadn’t accessed any kind of service that might lead to her bio-sig being logged. And the family dugout was off-grid.

As far as she was aware, there weren’t any Federation surveillance towers in the tiny settlement, either.

She quickly moved down the corridor, trying her best to make her footprints silent on the rough earth. There was a thud as one of the men landed on the ground. She quickly rounded a corner, fearing she would show up on their heat-scanner.

In the darkness, she could only navigate by touch, running her hands along the rough stone wall.

Shit.

She hadn’t expected them to find her so quickly. As far as she was aware, Cameron didn’t even know about this place.

Had they gotten to her family? Her father knew about her so-called diagnosis, but part of him was still in denial. He was a tough, stoic man who didn’t believe in mental health. And every time Jade had spoken to him on the holo, she’d been perfectly lucid.

The problem was that he liked Cameron Pitt. He very much approved of their marriage because Cameron was an easygoing charmer from an influential family of distinguished lawyers and a lawyer himself.

“Marry up, not down,” her father had always said. It wasn’t that their family was poor by any means; the Gannett family had plenty of money to go around, thanks to the rare earth minerals mining company that he’d built from a small exploration company into a profitable, listed enterprise.

But Matthew Gannett was a self-made man who’d come from humble beginnings. He’d always wanted her to move up in the world.

The Pitt family’s political connections had certainly helped him think she could.

Could her father have believed she needed to be committed without knowing all the facts? Could Cameron have convinced him?

She hated to admit it, but… it was entirely possible.

To think she might come to the end of her journey in an old, disused mine shaft in the middle of the South Australian desert.

With the memory of voices running through her head and the echo of him imprinted upon her.

Dragek. That damn Kordolian.

What would he do if confronted by a group of Federation Enforcers?

He’d had a terribly dangerous aura about him: ripped, sinuous, radiating quiet menace and power.

He’d kill them, wouldn’t he?

Shit. Why am I thinking about that guy right now? He has nothing to do with this. He’s probably just a figment of my imagination, anyway.

Maybe you really are crazy.

Maybe you’re better off doing what Cameron thinks is best for you.

No way.

Over. My. Dead. Body.

In the distance, she heard a faint clink.

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