Page 16 of Hidden By the Convicts
Like the rest of them, she had no family she cared to talk about, just friends she’d left behind. And unlike the rest of them, she didn’t deserve to be here. Her boss had framed her to cover up the fact that he’d raped her.
After third shift, Harlis lumbered into the house. “Hi, princess.”
“I’m hardly a princess,” she said, but she smiled at being called that. Harlis had a better read on her now, or at least he was behaving, treating her as a person, not an object.
The chemist removed a pair of pants from his pack. “For you. Hardly regal, but they’ll keep you warm. I stole them from the smallest guy working the fields. They look like they might fit, even if they’re a little big.”
“It’s a jungle planet. Warmth is not a problem.”
His eyes moved to the floor beneath Bowen’s bed. The pit.
“Oh. Of course.” She shuddered again.
Bowen couldn’t blame her for her knee-jerk reaction to the thought of staying in the pit. That hole could be five times larger, and it would still be too small. He hated that it was the only way they had of protecting her. Putting her in a hole, a place he couldn’t force himself to go, was just wrong. But necessary.
She pushed up on her toes and kissed Harlis’s cheek. “Thank you.”
The man beamed. Bowen smiled at seeing Harlis doing something for someone besides himself for a change.Withoutbeing ordered.
“That was nice,” Bowen said as she disappeared into the bathroom.
Harlis shrugged. “Felt nice to be able to do something good around here.”
Bowen had never thought about it that way. Everything they did was for survival.
Teagen returned from the bathroom, humming a tune Bowen had never heard before. Sweet music. It had been so long since he’d heard anyone sing or even hum. She looked relaxed, even smiled as she headed to the kitchen. They didn’t have any furniture beyond a table and chairs in the kitchen area and the three beds where he, Harlis, and Gavin currently sat.
Teagen pulled a chair out and sat at the table, the one neutral place in the house. She’d been sleeping on the floor for the past few nights, in the middle of the house. Harlis had rigged an alarm system to take the place of one of them staying awake all night keeping watch. Bowen wasn’t convinced it was as good as a lookout, but losing sleep every night and then working double shifts had proved too draining. As a result, they were back to having three beds for four people. Each of them had offered their bed to her, but she’d refused, saying they needed to get a good night’s sleep for their jobs, and she could always sleep during the day since she was confined to the house.
Except sleeping during the day was risky. Unless she slept in the hole. Bowen didn’t want to think of her down there. He hated that she was trapped here. Hated everything about this whole damn situation, especially about how it would end, eventually. With Teagen recaptured and used by the guards.
Her humming drew his eyes to her. She looked up at that moment, making eye contact. With each day, she gained confidence around them.
Bowen swallowed. Hard. Even if she survived ten years here, Dresden would never let her return to Argus, or anywhere that she could tell The Company the truth about what happened on Narkos. Only miners were released back into the population, men without specialized skills or knowledge that could hurt Dresden.
Gavin got up and moved the table and two other chairs aside to clear some space before he extended a hand to her. “Would you like to dance, Teagen?”
She sat up straight, her eyes shooting from Gavin to Bowen and then Harlis.
“You’re safe here,” Bowen said, since she still needed that reassurance. He hoped she’d learn to trust them in time.
She flashed Gavin a cautious smile as she accepted his hand and rose. “I’m not much of a dancer,” she said, pushing her chair over to the others. “And there’s no music,” she added as she rested her other hand on Gavin’s shoulder.
“What you were humming is just fine.”
“I. . . ” Her nervousness stole her smile and her voice.
Gavin wasn’t one to give up when he set his mind to something, though. “If you can stand my voice, I know a song that will work.” Gavin started singing a tune Bowen had never heard before, but one that drew another smile from Teagen. It was probably one they both knew from growing up on Argus.
Gavin stood there looking like a cultured gentleman holding his hand out to her, patiently waiting. Slowly, cautiously, Teagen slipped her hand into his. He squeezed her hand and smiled. A moment later, he twirled and dipped her, showing a grace and talent Bowen never knew the man had.
With each dance step, Teagen’s entire body eased. Her face glowed with joy, but it was the look on Gavin’s face that surprised Bowen. Gavin held his head higher than usual. He was proud, as if he’d accomplished a grand feat. This man was responsible for keeping all the crops alive. He could identify any threat at the microscopic level and how to overcome those threats, and yet a simple dance is what made him proud.
“Pure favoritism,” Harlis complained, rising from his bed.
Bowen rose, preparing to put Harlis in his place if he started trouble.
“You can always cut in,” Teagen said, though she didn’t look interested in tearing away from Gavin. For the first time since they’d met her, she looked happy.
