Page 61 of Rescued By the Convicts
“Have you seen Reece?” Zev asked.
“Here?” Jayce asked, surprised. Reece had been assigned the task of stealing Melina away from Hawke on Veenith and taking her back to the bunker. He didn’t know Reece was on Little Horse, looking for Melina.
“Reece stowed away on Namir’s ship,” Zev explained. “I sent him to look for you two while I stayed with Melina in the safe house.”
“Then why aren’t you with her now?” Ivan said, trying to channel his anger constructively.
“That was yesterday, Ivan. Reece never returned, even when the station entered night mode.”
Either this was the most elaborate trap, or Zev was telling the truth. Either way, once Ivan had Melina back, he might beat the man simply because Zev had lied to him and endangered the entire unit, especially her.
They climbed through maintenance tubes and accessed a public transport tube to move up three levels from where they had run into Zev. The station’s lights were dimming for the night. Zev moved swiftly through the corridor and then leaned into a retina scan at C412, the room Reece had told Ivan about.
“Mel?” Zev called out as he entered. The sound of Zev rushing through the back rooms made the hairs on the back of Ivan’s neck rise.
“Where is she, Zev?”
“Fuck!” Zev said, grabbing the note off the counter and handing it to Ivan.
Sorry, sweetie. I’ve been locked up enough lately. I needed to join the search. I’ll be back by the time the stores on the promenade close. I hope you’ll be back by then. You should have given me the access code. Love, Melina.
The handwriting was Melina’s, and it didn’t look shaky or as if it had been written in haste or under duress.
Ivan handed Jayce the note and promptly punched Zev in the face. “That’s for not giving her the code.”
“I told her not to leave,” he said, grabbing his nose and pressing on it until he could breathe right again.
“Didn’t you learn from her time in the bunker? She gets claustrophobic.”
“And apparently neither of you learned what she’s been saying all along,” Jayce interrupted. “We need to work together. You two are fighting, and she’s still out there.”
“The code, Zev,” Ivan demanded.
“567A290,” Zev said without hesitating.
“Jayce, you take up a position at the end of the corridor in case she comes in hot. I don’t want her to run past here thinking she can’t get into the room.” Ivan grabbed Zev by the back of his collar. “Zev and I are going to work our way through the promenade. Hopefully, we’ll find her there.”
Chapter Fifteen
JAYCE
Jayce memorized the code and headed into the hall, Ivan and Zev fast on his heels. He’d done everything he could think of to screw with Namir’s private guards and the station’s security via sending false reports through the station, but he hadn’t been able to cut the feeds flashing Melina’s and their pictures everywhere. The security office had a dedicated system, not accessible from the maintenance room where he’d hacked into the station’s communications and environmental controls.
Hopefully, a woman alone wouldn’t attract as much attention, but Melina was a beautiful woman and beautiful women tended to get noticed, especially in a sector where men outnumbered women five to one.
As Ivan and Zev split to go in opposite directions, a rowdy and affluent group of two men and two women headed in their direction. It sounded like they’d been drinking and having a good time. Jayce glossed over them, ignoring them until he heard a familiar giggle.
Down the hall, already past the group, both Ivan and Zev stopped and turned, zeroing in on that same sweet sound.
Jayce’s eyes snapped to the woman with shoulder-length hair. Between the fancy clothing and the much shorter hair, Melina had blended in with high society perfectly. Damn, she was sexy with that shorter hair, knee-high boots, and form-fitting pants. The low-cut blouse and essence stone she wore drew a man’s eyes all-too-easily. No one would recognize her from the naked picture of her Namir had splashed all over the station.
“I think you have an admirer,” the taller of the two men said, leaning over Melina’s shoulder.
She giggled. “Oh, Tom?” she said, eyeing Jayce. “He’s my overprotective brother.” She kissed the man’s cheek. “I was out later than I promised.”
“Will I see you again tomorrow?” the man wearing an expensive suit and gold thread woven into his hair asked as he ran his hand up her arm.
“If we’re still here. It depends on my brother’s business schedule. Don’t worry, if I’m here, I’ll find you.”
