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I’ll bet when you left, those planets had fewer people than when you arrived.
“Where do you think you’ll go from here?” I asked, curious to hear what story he’d come up with. I took a tiny nibble of my flavorless meal. The problem wasn’t the food; it was me. Even the five-alarm chili would have tasted like sawdust.
“It’s too soon to know. Higher-ups will wait for tomorrow’s outcome before notifying me where I’m headed.”
“Assuming everything goes as planned, you’ll leave tomorrow?”
“Probably the next day. I expect there will be some residual matters I’ll need to deal with.”
“At what point will I be free to leave?”
“As soon as I receive notification Imana is in custody, and the ship has been impounded.”
Given how much I knew of the cartel, he couldn’t release me. He would have to put me on that slave ship or kill me. My heart pounded. I must get out of here tonight!
“And what happens tomorrow if the humans don’t get rescued and/or Imana isn’t arrested?”
He averted his eyes for a moment before returning his attention to me. “You mean in general, or what will happen to you?”
I’d meant my situation, but the big picture mattered, too. More, actually. “Both.”
He rubbed a horn. “We have a lot of manpower assigned. More than me and my partner are working on this,” he said. Yeah, he has a whole cartel behind him. “The chance of failure is remote.” Remote, but not impossible? Can this evil plot be stopped? “To use one of your sayings, we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it,” he said and swallowed the last mouthful of chili. He’d scarfed the fiery concoction down like a starving man.
He was still playing the secret agent angle, still trying to keep me ignorant and compliant.
If I don’t act now, tomorrow I’ll find myself on that slave ship. My gaze slid to the handheld on the counter. I jumped to my feet. “I’m sure you’ll want to shower. I think I left you some hot water.” I faked a laugh. “I’ll clean up here while you do that.”
He swept his gaze over the dirty plates, lingering on my dish. I’d hardly touched my meal. “Are you sure? Would you like something else to eat?”
“I’m sure. I wasn’t as hungry as I thought.”
“Okay, then. I won’t be long.” Snagging his handheld, he headed down the hall.
Dammit! I grabbed the dirty plates and stomped to the kitchen. The stratagem hadn’t worked, but it did yield an important tidbit of info. He trusted me quite a bit less than I thought. But I would keep trying. One of these times, he might forget his handheld.
However, that didn’t mean I’d be able to get into it.
Thunder rumbled. From the waning light filtering in through frosted windows, I could see the sky had prematurely darkened. Without a clock, I couldn’t tell the exact time, but I guessed it wasn’t that late.
It’s going to be a long night. How am I going to get through this? Had I not overheard the conversation, we would have snuggled up on the sofa or in bed, laughed and talked, had sex again. He would still be expecting that. I rubbed my eyelids, feeling the beginning of a stress headache. Would he buy a headache excuse?
I’d no sooner cleaned up the kitchen when he emerged in a pair of clean pants. His still-damp chest fur had darkened from the water. He set his device on the counter.
“There’s a hair dryer in the cabinet. You don’t have to go around with wet fur.” I seized another opportunity to separate him from the device.
“I might try that next time, but I’m okay.” He smoothed a hand over his furry pecs. “I produce a lot of body heat, and my fur is very short, so it dries fast.”
I’d slept next to him, slept with him. He wasn’t lying about the body heat.
He cocked his head and looked at me. “Are you all right? You seem…preoccupied.”
“I’m worried about tomorrow.” Truer words never spoken.
“I know you are.” He enveloped me in an unwelcome hug. I didn’t want to feel his hard body beneath the quick-drying, soft fur or smell his enticing musk, but I forced myself to hold him around his waist.
“I am getting anxious. I could use a distraction,” I said and then silently cursed. I could guess what he’d say.
Right on cue, he pulled back and waggled his eyebrows. A suggestive smile danced on his lips. “I’ve got an idea.”
