Page 26 of A Redemption for Ulrek

His thoughts went instantly to the male who’d confronted her the other day at the pub, then to the pair of humans they’d caught snooping around his hangar yesterday. They’d given them quite a scare, and Ulrek doubted they’d be back. Could he have been wrong?

Angie stuffed her comm back into her bag and pressed her lips in a thin line. “Delaney was supposed to go down to the hall to sign some papers. She never showed.”

Ulrek let out a growl. “The male from the pub.”

“Exactly. A guard chased him off here yesterday. We checked his work and home.” Angie crossed her arms. “He’s nowhere to be found.”

“Then why are we just standing around? We are wasting our time.”

“We?”

“She is my technician.”

“Ha! That’s what you think. They gave the verdict this morning. They’re making a special exception for this case. The contract currently still stands, but she can end it anytime she wants. You can leave now.”

Did she think Ulrek would abandon Delaney because of a silly verdict?

“Have you traced her comm?”

Angie frowned. “Did you hear me?”

“Yes. Why the fuck would I care about the verdict when Delaney is missing?”

She studied him for a second. “Her comm isn’t traceable. Colonists like their privacy, you know.”

Everyone on Ulrek’s crew had tracers in their devices, and some even had locators embedded in their bodies. He did, Tuhror did. It was part of keeping everyone safe.

Ulrek pushed himself off the tree and started toward his transport. He’d taken it out today instead of walking since he’d been in such a hurry to see Delaney.

“Where are you going?”

“To find my—.”

“She’s not—”

“And I said I don’t care.”

Angie stopped at his personal transport. “You sat her in your lap the other night while she was tipsy.”

“I did. I fed her too.”

Surely the female understood what that meant; she was mated to not one but two strong warriors. It was part of Tallean courting, and something Ulrek hadn’t understood until he’d suddenly gotten the urge to do it with Delaney. Between the inner planet females fighting for his attention and the ones given to him as gifts by the Dominion, he’d never had to court anyone before. Something about having her eat directly from his fingers gave him an enormous sense of satisfaction.

“That’s worse.”

“You do not have to like it. In any case, I’m going to look for her.”

“Whatever,” she huffed. “Do you even know where to start?”

“We were followed on our way to my ship yesterday. I found two human males poking around my ship afterward.”

“Interesting. I’ll see if anyone can identify them from the dock security feed.”

“Get in my transport. I’ll take you.”

She eyed his transport warily, clearly still not trusting him.

“What are you afraid of? That I will abduct you again?” Ulrek wasn’t sure Angie had left Earth as merchandise on theStellar Fortune, or on one of the other ships. But it didn’t matter; no one ever remembered the names of the other captains.

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