Page 43 of Escape Velocity

Still, he found out quickly that Tudor was not a common last name, which argued that the guy might not have been born with it.

“How many people did you find?” Amber asked.

“There are fifteen here.”

She looked like she thought they were facing an impossible task. “That’s a lot.”

“But four of them are dead.”

“Okay.”

He ran his finger down the screen. “And six of them are women. Unless I hit a dead end, I’m going to assume that a woman wouldn’t be buying a series of expendable female slaves.”

She shuddered. “I hope not. And the guards talked like he was a man.”

He drilled down into the remaining five men. One was a mechanic at the spaceport. One was currently off planet on a mining expedition. One was a clerk in the office of Human Services. None of those would have had the credits to regularly import women unless they had a secret source of income. Another thought struck him, and he stopped short.

His expression must have changed, because Amber leaned toward him, alarm registering on her face. “What?”

“Nothing.”

He wasn’t going to tell her he was wondering about how this guy was getting rid of the bodies.

His lips set in a grim line, he went back to the men named Tudor. The fourth was in long-term senior care. Unless he was faking the address, that wasn’t him.

His fist clenched as he zeroed in on the last guy. He turned out to be the Deputy Director of Planetary Resources. Elgin Tudor.

Max whistled through his teeth.

“Did you find him?” Amber asked.

“It looks like it.”

She got off the bed and came to stand beside him as Max brought up a more detailed screen of information—starting with a holo of a middle-aged man with jet black hair that must have been dyed.

His nose was hawk-like. His lips were so narrow they almost didn’t exist. His features looked like they had once been sharp, but his jawline had just begun to sag.

“He’s sixty,” Amber murmured.

“Yeah. And his skin is pale, as though he spends most of his time indoors.”

He studied the look in the light eyes. He seemed both smug and watchful, as though he was evaluating the operator who had snapped the holo.

“You’re sure that’s him?” Amber asked as she peered at the image.

“I can’t be sure. Let me do a quick read on the other guys.”

He went into the details on the other men. Two were married to women who had also shown up on the list. And all of them except Elgin lived in modest to underclass surroundings.

Max went back to the prime candidate and saw Amber staring at the words floating below the man’s picture, her lips moving as she sounded them out. “Deputy Director of Planetary Resources. He’s in the government.”

“If that’s him.”

“And the authorities allow him to . . .?” Her voice trailed off.

“It’s obviously illegal. But it looks like he’s in a position to cover up anything he wants.”

“So, the government is corrupt.”

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