Page 2 of Alien Knight Blind Date Disaster

This was no ordinary date. This was a prearranged drop site where she was supposed to meet with the most dangerous people she’d ever dealt with. No, she wasn’t sure about that. Could be human. Might not. This was the first time she’d had to worry about being murdered by aliens.

Her initial contact had been an alien, and not just any alien. She’d been approached by the Caldorian base commander, Sevron Bashall, a few months ago. He’d told her a heartbreaking story and asked her to help him find his twin brother, Torrin.

Sevron had suspected that the humans running the black market on Earth might know where his brother was being held. As a Caldorian, politics didn’t allow him to pursue any human suspects.

But she could investigate for him. Get on the inside. She wasn’t police or military or any other government anything. She was nobody, a local reporter known for getting in a bit of trouble now and then. She thrived on revealing secrets that powerful people didn’t want out in the open.

This was no different. But this secret was terrifying, and the people in power weren’t necessarily human. Or maybe they were. Or maybe they were human beings so vile and evil they sold out their own people for money. Nothing different there. Even the threat of intergalactic war and annihilation by hostile aliens hadn’t changed basic human nature. Bad guys were still bad. Now they just had a much larger playing field.

She’d thought long and hard about walking away. Sevron had suspected this black market, and something possibly worse than anything she’d ever heard about. Dangerous. That’s what this was. If she wasn’t careful, she could be its next victim. Running a calming hand down her dress, she thought about how proud her father would have been of her, the first in her family to go to college. Subconsciously straightening her shoulders, she gave herself a mental pep talk.

Maybe she should have said no, but one look into Sevron’s broken gaze and she hadn’t been able to walk away. Not only that, but if half of what he’d told her was true, she would break the biggest story in a decade. Well, the biggest story since the Caldorians had arrived in the first place. She’d be world-famous. Respected. She’d save Sevron’s brother, shut down an evil operation, and be on every talk show in existence. It was an all-around win.

Assuming she didn’t die in the next ten minutes.

“Stop it. You’re doing it again.” Jessica’s hand landed on Isabella’s shoulder, and her friend pulled her to a stop in the parking lot, tugging until Isabella faced her. As Jessica spoke, she pretended to fix something with Isabella’s fake red hair.

“Doing what?” Oh, that question was a lie. She knew. She totally knew.

“I can feel your freak-out vibe, and I’m not even looking at you.”

Isabella glanced at the door. Soon there would be no turning back. “You should go home, Jess. Get out of here. This is too dangerous.”

“And that, my friend, is exactly why I am staying. Besides, the only way these crappy listening devices my little brother loaned us will work is if we stay within sight of each other.”

At mention of the device, Isabella automatically checked the tiny receiver in her ear. Equal parts scared and relieved to have her best friend with her, she smiled ruefully. “You’re stubborn.”

Jessica grinned. “Learned from the best.”

“Fine, but if this goes sideways, get the hell out. Don’t try to wait for me. Go straight to the feds. Not the police. This is bigger than the police.”

“I know. I know. We’ve been over this a dozen times. But you didn’t give me much to tell them,” Jessica protested for what felt like the hundredth time.

“I gave you enough. Trust me.” And she had. If what she’d heard the last few days was true, the few sentences she’d forced Jessica to memorize would be more than enough if she had to go to the proverbialMen in Black.

Hopefully, it wouldn’t come to that. This meeting was her final drop. Her efforts to convince the black market dealers that she was a legitimate source of tech, and not a federal or Caldorian agent, were about to pay off. She was so close she could taste it.

And once they trusted her, she would meet the man behind the mask. Before she could track down Sevron, however, or his brother, or find out what the hell was really going on, she needed to get on the inside. Earn their trust.

To that end, Sevron had been supplying her with black market items for weeks. She took what he gave her and, in turn, sold the items to third parties. This had been the plan: acquire an inventory of alien tech and smaller weapons, set herself up as a legitimate black market dealer, get the real bad guys to trust her, then start tapping them for information about Sevron’s brother. He had assured her all the items she would be selling were nonlethal. Mostly just hard-to-find ancient artifacts from dead planets. Healing ointments worth a fortune. Gadgets and gizmos that would amaze humans without giving them anything truly dangerous. The plan had been working until Sevron disappeared, too.

She took a few deep, cleansing breaths and patted her fake red hair back into place. She couldn’t afford to panic. Not now. She’d promised tonight’s buyer something big. The problem was that she had no way to deliver the goods without Sevron. Tonight’s deal could go very, very badly. Very fast.

She was in too deep to back out now. She needed answers. She knew who Sevron was. He was in charge of the whole Earth base. The commander. Earth had been attacked less than a month ago, and none of the Caldorians were talking about the incident other than to express their regrets and make promises about it never happening again. Their commander was missing, but no one could offer explanations.

In fact, they hadn’t even acknowledged his disappearance. Somehow, someone who looked just like him had been making appearances. Probably some sort of alien tech that could disguise faces and make him look just like Sevron. But she knew it wasn’t really him. Sheknew. Every attempt to contact him via their normal channels had failed. Whoever was impersonating Sevron had no idea who she was.

She’d only met a few Caldorians, but they were scary motherfuckers, pardon her French. Hotter than hell, but scary. Big. Huge. Alpha males. Very tight-lipped. Every time she tried to get information, she was met with silence and stonewalling.

Isabella looked at Jessica with none of the fear she’d been carrying around inside her ever since the attack. She was a professional. She’d damn well act like one, not a scared little nincompoop. She would see this through, protect her client, and expose the truth.

“Better?”

“Much.” Jessica’s grin was infectious, and they turned together to resume their walk.

The wig and glasses were probably overkill, but then, she’d been very careful in her career to use a false identity whenever she was working in order to protect herself and everyone around her. She’d never forget one particularly difficult assignment. The client had taken a liking to her and turned into a nightmare from Stalkerville. She shivered in the cool spring night, uncertain if the chills were from the frosty air, memories or just nerves. Isabella hadn’t thought about that stalker in years. Since then, she’d never gone on an assignment without knowing there was someone else close enough to help if things turned sour.

Glancing from Jessica to the parking lot, the restaurant and back to Jessica again, she whispered, “Remember to stay close. The bar up front, maybe?”

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