“Thanks.”
“We need to gag him,” I whispered, “and then put him out of sight.”
“Already on it.”She pulled a roll of duct tape from her pocket and slapped a couple strips over his mouth and beard, then wrapped another piece around his head to hold everything in place.
Damn, that was going to hurt when he tried to take it off.
“You’ll need to move him, though,” she said.“I can’t do it without making a lot of noise.”
“Got it.”I hefted the guy by his collar and dragged him into the shadows where I’d hidden Lacy.He was scrawny, but unconscious, he was dead weight.I tucked him behind a stack of crates.He should be out for a while.
I rejoined Lacy.“Anything from the rest of the team?”
She nodded and pointed down the aisle to where Burn was flashing the all-clear signal.I flashed a response back.
“Same plan as before.”My hand cupped her cheek briefly.“Stay behind me and stay out of danger.”
Lacy nodded, then stooped to pick up a long wrench.“Okay, ready.”
I studied her choice of weapon.It suited her.“Okay.Just remember, quietly.”
Lacy rolled her eyes.“I’m new, not stupid.”
“I know.I just worry.”
Surprise flared in her eyes.She grabbed my hand with her free hand and squeezed my fingers.“I worry about you, too.Now let’s get to Burn.”
We moved through the hangar as quickly and quietly as we could, keeping a wary eye out for threats.The cavernous space distorted sound and with the racket coming from near the front of the building, we might not hear anyone who came up on us.Plus, the haphazard aisles and the ship parts scattered about the place offered any number of hiding places.
Burn was in sight, only fifteen feet away, when Lacy gasped.
I whirled around, raising my weapon as I did so.There was no one there except Lacy.“What’s wrong?”
“It’s...”Instead of answering, Lacy approached a nearby rolling tool chest.
“Burn, watch our backs,” I whispered before following Lacy to the workstation.“What’s wrong?”
Transferring the wrench to her left hand, she plucked an item off the top of it.“This is mine.”Though still quiet, her tone was somewhere between a growl and a whine.“She was here, Dax.My sister washere!”
“Lacy, baby, what is it?What did you find?”My heart was in my throat.What had caused such a visceral reaction for her?
Lacy turned slowly, her hand clenched around the base of a gray, plastic...I peered closer.A toy shark?
“My sister gave this to me.”She thrust it toward me.As she did, the head of the bobblehead shark started vibrating and the mouth started chomping at me.
What the fuck?
“Lacy, that could be from anywhere.Lots of people like toys.”I scanned the top of the tool chest for any other signs that Lacy’s sister had been here.Maybe a great big sign that saidLayla Dupree was here.But there was nothing.
“Look, I can prove it.”She tucked her wrench under her arm and twisted the shark around.She pointed to the lettering on the toy’s display platform.“Right there.”
Emblazoned was a word: MAKO.
“My sister did that.It’s the figurehead forMako.It lived on the console of my ship.”Her eyes widened.“That bitch!She stole my ship!”
I bit the inside of my lip to keep from laughing.Now she knew how it felt.Still...it looked like proof that we were on the right track.Now we had to learn what it meant.
She grabbed my arm.“Dax, if this is here, it meansMakomight be here too.I’ve got to find my ship.”
