Page 41 of Kidnapped from the Paradise Resort

She felt herself tilting forward, as though she was falling into a deep, dark hole with no bottom.

No!she thought distantly.No, I have to stay awa?—

And then everything went black.

24

J’ORN

J’orn sighed in relief as he made his way back into the Fem Lovely Resort. The call about the Ambassador’s wife had been a false alarm. It turned out she’d just checked herself into a day spa for an intensive skin restoration without telling anyone. Once he’d located her and ascertained that she was safe, he’d informed her about the kidnapping ring and asked her to leave Paradise Prime for her own safety.

Unlike Kara—who was unreasonably stubborn, he thought with a frown—the Ambassador’s wife had agreed to leave at once. J’orn had seen her safely onto the Shuttle that went back to The Mother Ship and had made a report to Commander Sylvan. Now he was free to come back and keep an eye on Kara—even though he was well aware she didn’t want him to.

Despite her disinterest, he couldn’t stay away from the curvy little Elite. It was for her own safety that he was checking on her, he told himself as he slipped through the back door of the resort and up to her suite. It was getting late, but he was betting himself she was still up. Kara had always been what the humans called a “night owl” back when they were working together. He would just inform her that he was back and he would be around if she needed him.

Right—you know she doesn’t need you for anything. Or want you either,whispered a skeptical little voice in his head.You should just leave her alone, J’orn.

But he knew he couldn’t rest that night until he was sure she was safely locked in her suite. As he knocked on her door, he promised himself he would just make sure she was all right and then go get some rest—it had been a very fucking stressful day. Between finally getting to taste Kara—which he’d been dreaming about for years—and then the false alarm with the Ambassador’s wife he was fucking overloaded. He…

His thoughts trailed off as he registered the fact that she wasn’t answering his knock. Frowning, he tried again. Maybe she was soaking in the tub and needed time to get to the door. He didn’t think she was watching the entertainment screen—he didn’t hear it going, though he could definitely hear the muted sounds of some kind of program playing in the suite across the hall.

“Kara?” he called in a low voice. “It’s me—are you in there? Come to the door!”

But his words brought no response—not from Kara’s door, anyway. However, the suite across the hall opened and Lady Winthrip, who had been with Kara during the “mirror massage” earlier, poked her bright pink face out.

“Oh, hello,” she said blankly, frowning at J’orn. “What areyoudoing here?”

“Trying to contact Kara, er, the woman in this suite,” he said, trying to sound official. “We got a call at the front desk—some bad news from her home world. I need to speak to her at once.”

“Oh, well I’m afraid you’re out of luck,” Lady Winthrip said. “She left.”

“What?” J’orn felt his stomach clench. “What do you mean she left?”

“Exactly what I said.” She shrugged, apparently unconcerned. “She said something about going home early so I wished her the best and she checked out.”

J’orn frowned. He didn’t quite trust the woman’s glib words, but why would she lie? He wished he could break into Kara’s room and verify if she was telling the truth, but he couldn’t exactly do that with Lady Winthrip watching.

“All right,” he said, nodding. “Er, thank you.”

“Have a good night,” she said and her pink face withdrew as she closed the door.

J’orn made a show of walking down the hallway for a while in case she was still watching. But the moment he heard the sound of the entertainment screen come on again in her suite, he made his way quickly and quietly back to Kara’s door.

Using a small lock-picker he had under his robe, he let himself in as silently as possible.

Inside it was as he had feared—Kara’s clothes and belongings were scattered around the suite but she was missing. There were no signs of a struggle though—in fact, everything looked exactly the same as it had when he’d been here earlier.

J’orn frowned. Did that mean she’d been taken—ifshe’d been taken—almost right after he left her? But he’d been gone for hours! That was a long time—plenty long enough for terrible things to happen to the woman he loved.

Oh Goddess, no!he prayed silently. He hated to think of what might have happened but he knew for certain she hadn’t checked out—she wouldn’t have left all her belongings behind. Therefore something must have happened to her.

Luckily, he had taken precautions. He pulled the mini transponder from under his robe and activated it. It was tuned to the tracking device he’d placed in her pocket earlier when he hugged her. It would show her general location, which should give him an idea of where she was in the city.

Of course he could have checked it earlier—he could have just looked at it instead of coming all the way back to her suite. But he’d wanted to see her again—to look into her big brown eyes and hear her soft voice, J’orn admitted to himself.

When he pressed the button, a holo-map was projected from the end of the transponder. It included a single flashing red dot that indicated where Kara was.

J’orn’s heart fisted in his chest when he saw where the dot was located. It was right in the middle of the Red Light District—the place where all the brothels and sex clubs were located. Kara never would have gone there on her own—especially at night. Someone had kidnapped her and taken her there and the Goddess alone knew what might be happening to her right now!

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