Page 68 of Freedom Mine
Chapter Fifteen
KAYO
Kayo woke feeling more energetic and alive than in quite a long time. Alli had done more than give of herself freely; she had trusted him completely to do as he pleased with her. Watching her arch on his desk had been freeing, for both of them. She’d discovered a new freedom in learning about herself, in taking control over her body, and he hadn’t felt like an owner for a brief few minutes, but simply a man.
He’d been more than tempted to let her go down on him, but she wasn’t ready. She hadn’t forced herself to please him, and that meant everything. He could be himself with her and trust that she would not lose herself to him.
Kayo dressed quickly, eager to see her, and then head back to Sanctuary to see if they could resume operations through one of the other shafts.
Jace said the main entrance would take weeks to unearth. They didn’t have weeks. Despite how dismal the prospect of getting anything from Sanctuary in a timely manner sounded, he had found a very promising vein, one he needed to pursue despite the risk.
As he made his way through the house and onto the porch, he found himself smiling. Alli had woven her way into his heart, despite his efforts to keep her out. Maybe he could have a future with her. The idea no longer seemed absurd.
“Yo, Kayo, how’s the leg?” Jace called from the middle of the yard. The men were gathering, ready to go out.
“Throbs like crazy, but I feel stronger. Where are you taking them? Freedom?”
“Sanctuary. I want to start expanding the adit we sent Blue through. It’s the most stable way in. Then we can work our way over to where you saw the vein.”
Jace signaled Liet to finish packing up the harkifa and then pulled Kayo aside, placing his back to the men. “That cave-in wasn’t an accident. I went back with Ranth after we got you and Blue back here. Two beams had been cut nearly all the way through.”
Kayo swept his attention to the group of seven men talking in the center of the courtyard. “Any ideas who?” He hadn’t asked why. The only one who’d gain from his death would be his neighbors, and sabotage wasn’t beyond Garitt. Hells, nothing was beyond Garitt, the leech had been trying to take over the property even back when Mac owned it.
“None of our men had any association with Garitt before you bought them,” Jace said, just as familiar with the trouble Garitt had brought in the past. “I checked the registries each time, per protocol. The only one I haven’t checked is Blue.”
“It’s not her.” He couldn’t believe Jace had suggested her, but Jace was thorough, even if a bit insensitive at times.
“How can you be sure? You said you didn’t want me digging into her past, and I respected that, but you nearly died in there, Kayo.”
“As did she.”
“True.” Jace didn’t push the matter. He hadn’t looked convinced that he believed Alli responsible, but he had to mention it. “You’re at risk. And if anything happens to you, then everyone’s at risk, except me. But I don’t want to be left with this mess, Kayo.”
“So you’ve told me, many times. For now, no one goes anywhere alone. Unless we have more than one saboteur in our midst, everyone will be under some level of scrutiny.”
“You want me to tell them about the beams?”
“They deserve the truth. Besides, they’re in the best position to spot something. The last thing I want is another cave-in.”
“Diggs and the others should be finished with the repairs on Qasig’s dam today. I’ll talk with everyone when they return.”
Kayo headed inside as Jace finished packing all three harkifa with supplies. Even the knowledge that one of the men was behind the sabotage didn’t dim his mood. He couldn’t wait to see Alli. He called up the stairwell to the attic but she didn’t answer. After searching the rest of the house, he ignored the pain in his leg and pulled himself up the stairs.
When she didn’t answer his knock, he entered. The room was empty. That feeling of dread returned, the same one he’d felt moments before his squad had entered that narrow ravine on Cirre 5. He’d waited too long to speak up, to warn his commander because he hadn’t had proof, only a stomach-dropping suspicion that something was wrong.
Kayo flew down the stairs as fast as his leg would allow and burst through the front door with such fury that the man across the yard turned at the sound of the door banging open.
“Has anyone seen Alli?” he yelled out to them. Heads turned, in all directions. Everyone looked blank. He had been the last to see her, last night.
* * *
ALLI
A voice floated overhead, and Alli tried to make sense of the words he spoke, but a fog filled her head. The cold floor below chilled her and smelled horrible, though from what she didn’t want to guess. She struggled to open her eyes as rough hands pulled her to her feet. Her head rolled forward. Why couldn’t she move?
A peppery smell passed under her nose and her eyelids flew open. She cried out when someone grabbed her hair and forced her head up. Her eyes focused, enough to see two men in front of her. A dark-haired man with a large chest and no shirt stood beside a tall, lean blond man dressed in casual clothing that hugged his form. She knew the blond. . . Garitt, the man who’d given her the knife.
“She’s waking up,” the man holding her from behind said. His voice was familiar.
