Page 65 of Rescued By the Convicts
“I’m still working on not being so rash, Zev, so give me a break and promise me you’ll take care of them. All of them.”
Zev shook his head. “I have the best chances of evading both Namir and station security once you’re gone. I know this station. Once I send an encrypted message to my superior, he’ll find a way to extract me if I can’t get out on my own.” Zev approached Ivan. “Let me do this for the unit, Ivan.”
Reluctantly, Ivan nodded, but the way he looked at Zev sent a bone-chilling shiver through Melina.
Zev accompanied them as they headed toward the docking level. Zev would run any necessary interference. Melina held his hand, not ready to lose him. Lights dimmed and retail establishments closed as the station settled into night mode. Though there was no sunrise and sunset, the station mimicked the sun’s rotation around Argus. The planet was days away by ship, but Argus was the center of The Company’s operations.
The closer they got to the security checkpoint, the more Melina’s stomach twisted in fear. When Reece started signing to Zev, she let go of Zev’s hand so he could focus on Reece. She drifted close to Ivan and whispered, “I saw how you glanced at Zev earlier. What aren’t you two telling me?”
“Nothing.” His answer was short, clipped, and his facial muscles barely moved.
“The lying needs to stop. This desire you have to protect me is only hurting me. All of us, actually. What didn’t he tell me?”
“Jayce destroyed the outgoing communications array, to ensure we’d get away without Namir or Station Security notifying patrols. Zev can’t contact his superiors, Melina, not until repairs are made, and that will take several days at the earliest, time enough for Namir to find him.”
She came to a dead stop. “We have to go back. Come up with another plan.”
“I know this is hard, but losses are a part of war.”
“This isn’t war, Ivan!” she shouted in a whisper the best she could. They got a few looks from passersby, but most thought it was a lover’s spat. In a way, it was. Except her lovers had spread out along the corridor, so they wouldn’t appear to be a group. Reece bent over, pretending to adjust his boot, while Jayce and Zev leaned against the wall, pretending to have a casual conversation, all while throwing worried glances in their direction.
She was endangering them. . . all of them.
Ivan caged her against the wall and leaned in for a sensuous kiss, to pacify the few people who slowed down to watch them. The onlookers soon lost interest and continued down the corridor.
“This wasn’t my choice. It was Zev’s,” he whispered in her hair. “You want me to trust and respect him, well this is me doing that, Melina. I’m trusting he can get us through security and then hold off against Namir as long as possible. He has a chance, but not if we blow this and get stuck on this station. One man can hide here a lot longer than four men and a woman. And I have his superior’s contact information. We fly to the next closest planet and send a message. But we can’t send the backup Zev needs unless we get off the station.”
She nodded and kept walking. Giving in to the fear or even her anger would help no one, least of all Zev. Ivan and Zev had worked together on this. It was their best shot. If only it didn’t feel like it was going to rip them apart forever.
Chapter Sixteen
MELINA
People packed the security checkpoint for the public transit dock. The station had opened two extra lines to a total of eight. Each scanner, a short tunnel tall and wide enough for a single person to pass through, glowed green. If the scanner picked up the slightest trace of serilium, the color would change to red.
Ivan had sent Jayce ahead to keep a spot in line for Reece. He’d switch places with Jayce as soon as Melina applied the anti-serilium to Reece’s tatt, giving him a better chance of making it through security in less than a minute, before the solution’s effects on the serilium wore off.
“What if this doesn’t work? If the scanners pick up the serilium?” Melina asked nervously clung to Reece.
Reece kissed the top of her head and signed, ‘I’ll be fine.’
“It’s why the big guy’s going first. He’s not easy to take down,” Zev said.
Melina rolled her eyes before she rose on her toes and kissed him. “Be careful.”
“Jayce is almost at the front of the line,” Ivan said. “Reece, get moving.”
Reece pulled Zev in for a fierce hug. “Give ‘em hell, big guy,” Zev said, slapping Reece on the back. Reece nodded and held his wrist out for Melina.
After she uncorked the jar, Melina carefully poured a few drops of the precious liquid on Reece’s tattoo and rubbed it over the entire area. The tatt quickly faded.
“Go!” she urged.
Reece poured on his charm, smiling at the person behind Jayce. Jayce, who’d been chatting up a storm, patted Reece on the shoulder and quickly stepped aside to show he’d only been holding the spot. A second later, Reece stepped through the scanner and kept walking without a problem.
“It worked! He’s through!” Melina said, bouncing on her feet. “You’re next, Ivan,” she said as she opened the jar again.
Ivan held his hand out to Zev. “Don’t disappoint her,” Ivan said. “She’s expecting you to catch up to us.”
