“And if I call Riker Phoenix—because, trust me, I can and I plan to—he will confirm your story?”
Luca and Ian shared another fraught gaze. Luca hoped that the leadership in their chain of command wouldn’t sacrifice both of them by disavowing their important, secret, unsanctioned-by-Alienn mission.
Ian said, “I sure hope so.”
Diesel looked up at the ceiling, shook his head and pushed out a long sigh. “All right. I hope you’re set to be released from the hospital today because I want both of you in my office this afternoon at 4 o’clock sharp. Am I clear? We have quite a lot of details to discuss, don’t we, gentlemen.”
Again, Ian answered for both of them. “I will make sure Jake Jones and I are there on time.”
Luca shot him a look. He didn’t want to kowtow to the leadership on Earth for any reason, least of all at the expense of his mission, but he was off his game right now and trusted his friend implicitly. He nodded his reluctant agreement.
Diesel left the room, telling Wyatt he’d wait for him in the hallway. The sheriff stepped closer to the side of Luca’s bed.“Hey, just so you know, the guy you work with at Dark Matter Metal & Leather is downstairs. He wants to come up and talk to you for a minute. Would that be okay? I told him I’d send him up when we were through.”
“Sure,” Luca said. “That would be fine. Thank you, Wyatt.”
“No problem.” Wyatt’s gaze shifted to Ian. “I’m glad to see you’re okay, as well.”
“Thanks,” Ian said. Wyatt walked out, closing the door behind him.
Ian said, “I know you’re not a fan of explaining yourself to the leadership here on Earth, but there’s some things you don’t know about that happened while you were unconscious. I will explain everything, but I don’t want your manager to see me. I’m going to hide in the bathroom until he’s gone. Hopefully, it will work this time.”
“How long was I unconscious?”
Ian shrugged as he backed away from Luca’s bed. “I’m guessing at least a couple of hours, maybe longer. Beryl really came through for you with her brilliant idea. She was truly the one who saved you.”
Luca frowned.Who is Beryl?Before he could question Ian further about anything, his friend disappeared into the bathroom just as someone opened the door to his room.
He was expecting Frederick Khang; instead, a beautiful redhead walked in, a relieved expression on her face.
“Hi,” she said, and grinned like she’d just won a prize. She really looked like Ian when she smiled. Were they related? “I know I’m not supposed to be here. It’s not visiting hours. But I had to see you were awake and okay with my own eyes.”
Luca squinted and said, “Sorry, sweetheart. I think you have the wrong room.”
The infectious smile dimmed and a frown appeared. Still gorgeous, though.
“Jake! It’s me. Don’t you remember?”
Luca watched the shifting emotions on the woman’s face—shock, dismay, sadness and back to shock.
Luca took the opportunity to scan his visitor from her coppery head to her boot-covered toes. She was absolutely beautiful, but he did not know her. He shook his head. “I’ve never seen you before in my life. And, trust me, I would’ve remembered.”
Suddenly restless, Luca flipped off the sheet covering his legs, removed the strange clamp squeezing his finger, unwrapped the constricting band that was around one biceps and finally detached the needle that was stuck in his arm. He carefully climbed out of the hospital bed and gave himself a minute to get steady before he tried to walk.
“But…” The redhead reached out and clutched his bare forearm. Her warm grasp fairly sizzled his skin, but he wasn’t in a position to appreciate it right now. He had things to do and places to be. He didn’t have time to deal with a beautiful woman.
In a slightly lower and definitely more seductive tone, she said, “Jake, it’s me, Beryl. I manage the Supernova Supermarket.” Beryl? Hadn’t Ian mentioned her name? Maybe.Pay attention. She is not your concern.
“I’ve heard of the place,” he said, then shook his head. “I don’t think I’ve ever been in there before, though.”
“You have. You made a bracket for my ice machine on the first day we met and then we…dated.”
His brows lifted at her incredible statement. He would never do that. “Oh? When did we do this?”
“The past few weeks. Listen, I don’t understand any of this.” Her voice sounded watery, which normally would make him pause, but he needed to get back up to speed, fast.
Luca opened the closet next to his bed, hoping to find some clothing to exchange for the insufficient hospital gown he wore. He felt a breeze on his bare butt.
Folded neatly in a pile on a shelf was his jacket, shirt, pants and underclothing. Awesome. On the shelf above was his timepiece, his earthbound communicator, called a cell phone, and a set of keys. He picked up the cell phone and that’s when he saw it. The clock. With today’s date, which was not at all correct.What in the space potato farm…?
