Page 106 of Freedom Mine
Liet gave the signal, sending Ranth and Alli toward the longhouse to watch for slave activity, while he, Jace, and Masher snuck into the house and grab Garitt. Instead of heading toward the longhouse, Alli made a sharp turn east, toward the building where she’d been held.
“Where are you going?” Ranth whispered.
“Getting Kayo.”
“You don’t know where he is.” A guard patrolling nearby stopped and turned toward them. Ranth pulled Alli against him, into the shadows of the longhouse.
When the guard finally continued on his rounds, Ranth released her but said nothing. Alli ignored the ire in his eyes, and continued toward the building, Ranth following close behind. Either Ranth agreed with her, or he wanted to make sure she didn’t encounter any trouble. A warmth spread through her when she realized how many friends she’d made since Kayo had bought her. Leaving them would be hard, but leaving Kayo to his fate here with Garitt was unthinkable.
Alli entered the building where Garitt had chained her. The place remained empty, the hole in the floor from when she had escaped a stark reminder of her life as a slave.
“Where else would he be?” she asked Ranth, her stomach knotting with fear.
“He could be anywhere on this property, and the property is as large as ours, too large to search without knowing where he is.”
“Then we ask Garitt where he is. Force him to talk.”
“You know they’re gonna knock Garitt out, to keep him from alerting the guards.”
“Then we can—”
Ranth held up a hand. “Kayo’s not our objective tonight, Alli, you know this.”
“I thought he’d be here, that we could free him.”
“And what? Take him back to our property where he can be tracked? It’s one thing for a slave to escape a property, but anywhere an escaped slave goes raises suspicion. We stick to the plan, expose Garitt, and let Jace buy Kayo, legal.”
“He’s in a cage, Ranth! I can’t just leave him!” Alli pushed away from Ranth and ran to the first stable. Despite the bleating harkifa, she shoved the doors open and inspected every stall. There was no sign of Kayo.
Ranth finally grabbed her by the arm. “There are a dozen stables here, some with extra storage rooms. Locked, too. How are you going to check every one in the few minutes we have left? You expect to stay here for the hours it could take, eluding Garitt’s guards? And when you still don’t find Kayo, then what?”
“I can’t leave him here!”
“You can and you will! The others will have Garitt by now and each minute you search puts them at risk. The harkifa are already agitated, making more noise than normal for this hour. The guards will investigate. If you stay here or get caught, the plan fails. We need you to get Garitt to that retina scanner at the port. We need to go.Now.”
He was right. But it didn’t make leaving Kayo any easier. With a slight nod, she followed Ranth out of the stables and across the compound, to the meeting point. From a distance, she could barely make out Masher’s hulking frame with a body slung over his shoulders. Liet was running point, and Jace took up the rear. They moved smoothly, as one cohesive unit. Perhaps it was their military training showing.
She couldn’t help glancing over her shoulder, not for the guards, but for some sign of Kayo. As she and Ranth caught up to the others, Jace took up the spot behind her, frowning, as if he knew what she was thinking, but he said nothing. What could he say? They’d left Kayo behind.
* * *
KAYO
Kayo watched from the tree line as Jace, Liet, and Masher carried Garitt away from the compound. It didn’t matter what they were up to, he wouldn’t let his men get caught and charged with kidnapping. He’d drawn the guards away from the group, buying his men the time they needed to flee. As for his next step, he wasn’t sure. He glanced behind him at the blonde girl who’d freed him from the cage. She’d taken a huge risk freeing him. The thought of leaving her here, even with Garitt gone, went against every fiber of his being. Others would prey on her; he needed to see to her safety. He couldn’t leave her here, where the guards and the other slaves would find and abuse her further.
He started walking her toward the longhouse to gather some clothing and supplies, but she stopped midway, her green eyes wide with fear. He didn’t want to imagine what she was thinking.
“We need to find you a safe place,” he said, hoping she’d believe him.
His eyes passed over her tattered clothing that revealed too much and settled on her bad leg. Screw supplies, that limp of hers would keep her from running, and they only had a few hours at best before the guards realized Garitt was missing. Sooner or later, the guards would suspect the two missing slaves of taking Garitt, and they’d track her and Kayo both.
“I wish you’d tell me your name, little one,” he said, only to receive that blank stare of hers.
She reminded him of Alli, wounded yet not broken.
He could cut her chip out to prevent them from tracking her, but that was a drastic step, one he hadn’t even dared to do for himself. With her bad leg, he doubted she’d be able to climb rough terrain. He’d have to hide her on the property, far from the compound. If he could get the chip out of her, without injuring her, she could hide in Garitt’s mine, where the pozite would wreak havoc with the drones’ sensors, masking her body heat. She’d be safe, for a while at least. Hells, the more he thought about it, the more he knew that removing her chip wasn’t a good plan, but it was the only way to keep them from finding her.
Green eyes stared at him, pleading, and still, she didn’t say a word. She was trusting him to make the right choice.
