Page 85 of Caught By Menace

He glanced away from her. “After Sindee died.”

“Sindee is dead? How?”

“A new strain of the cough got her in Safe Harbor,” he said. “It came off one of the sky warrior ships. They took too long giving the treatment to the hospitals in the colonies.”

She stroked his hand. “I’m so sorry, Nattie.”

He shrugged, the movement twitchy and jerky. “It was a long time ago.”

“That doesn’t mean it hurts any less,” she countered.

“Is that how you feel about me taking your money?”

Her belly lurched as the pain of his betrayal became fresh again. “Sometimes,” she admitted.

“It was wrong of me to do that. I know what you risked and how hard you worked to get that money together. I should have taken you with me.”

She sighed. “It was a long time ago, Nattie. We can’t change what happened.”

He didn’t say anything. Instead he pointed to the ceiling. “They told me you got taken by one of the sky warriors.”

She nodded. “His name is Menace.”

“Menace?” he repeated with a laugh. “Not exactly warm and fuzzy.”

“No,” she agreed with a smile.

“Do you love him?”

“It’s complicated,” she answered honestly. “And what I feel doesn’t matter. We’re not together anymore.”

“But you’re doing his bidding,” Nattie said and scratched at a phantom bug on his neck.

“I’m not doing his bidding. It’s another man who sent me here. A very, very dangerous man,” she insisted. “You don’t want to be here when he comes.”

Regret and sadness flashed across his good eye. “I don’t have anywhere else to go, pet.”

Even though Nattie had hurt her so much, she couldn’t shake the need to gather him close. He’d always been so weak and so easily manipulated. It was no wonder he’d ended up in this position. “You could come with me.”

He seemed to be considering her offer. Eventually he shook his head. “Where you’re going, I’m not keen to follow. Come on.” He rose slowly, using the bars for support. “Mama wants to see you.”

Not exactly thrilled by the thought of her impending family reunion, Naya took her sweet time climbing to her feet. She took another drink of water. Shivering with cold, she finally realized they’d taken her coat and pistol. A flex of her ankle told her the knife was gone too.

Defenseless, she stood back as Nattie opened the door to her cell. He touched the gun holstered on his hip. “Don’t make me use this, Naya.”

“I won’t.” With his twitchiness, she didn’t make any sudden movements. Being shot by Nattie wasn’t on her bucket list. Side by side with her brother, Naya walked through a maze of hallways. The pungent scent of fuel and chemicals filled her nose. “Is this an old manufacturing plant?”

Nattie glanced at her. “They used to make batteries here before they got that newfangled solar power plant set up across town. The size and location makes it perfect for our needs. Besides, with all the toxic fumes and the dump site out back, no one wants to come here to nose around.”

Naya tried not to dwell on the effect all those toxic fumes were having on her right now. She could almost feel her brain cells melting.

They passed through a set of double doors and entered the main manufacturing space of the warehouse. Most of theequipment had been cleared. A living space had been set up in one section and small mess hall in another. Dozens of hard-looking men and women stopped what they were doing to watch her.

One entire side of the room was taken up by stacks of crates. They bore the stamp of the central government and were labeled as perishables. Her brain pieced together the information. There weren’t any food shortages and the Harcos treaties weren’t demanding too high quotas. No, some corrupt bastard in the government was selling food supplies to the Sixers.

“It’s a good deal,” Nattie said, his gaze moving over the floor-to-ceiling stacks of food. “We get a wholesale price. Mama sells it to the Splinter guys for three or four times as much as we paid. They need supplies so badly they’ll pay anything. They’ll even do food-for-gun deals. You should see the shit they hijacked last night and traded us this morning!”

“So you get your hands on weapons and cash while the Splinter cell gets to agitate the people of Calyx,” Naya murmured.

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