They followed him and took their seats on one side of the table. To his surprise, Flek sat down too.
That was new.
The proprietor activated the sound-dampening field and waited for the system to activate. Then he spoke. “I have job for you. It pays well… but there will be complications.”
“What’s the job?” Xaber asked.
“And what makes it complicated?” Mace asked.
Flek didn’t answer their questions. Without a word, he tapped at the data tab and then set it down on the table between them.
The screen was large enough that he had a clear view of the photo displayed. He leaned over anyway because he didn’t believe what he saw.
Mace sat beside him, his entire body completely still.
The photo was of a human female with dark skin and long, black hair styled into braids that started close to her scalp and fell down her back and out of view. The female’s face was fuller than it was now, but there was no mistaking who it was.Tix.
Only that wasn’t the name displayed beneath the picture.
“Tishna Vay?” Mace read the name out loud. “Her name isn’t Tix?”
“She lied to us.” Xaber waited for the anger to hit. He’d welcome a wave of white-hot rage because it would burn away the tangled knot of feelings that sat in the center of his chest.
Mace thumped his fist on the table and glared at him. “I’m not stupid. It’s obvious that she lied. I meant that it’s not much of a name change. She should have picked something different from her real name.”
Despite the frustrated look Mace gave him, his batch-brother sounded calm, even thoughtful.
Xaber glared back, not sure what was going on. Why wasn’t Mace angry? Why wasn’the?
“You’re not mad?”
Mace shrugged. “I’m pissed that she lied to us. She should have told us the truth. We didn’t know she needed protecting. Now we do.”
Xaber looked down at the datapad again. There she was, the female he trusted enough to invite into his bed and into his life. The mechanic who had done so much more than repair their ship. She’d fixed their lives.
He didn’t need to be angry right now. He needed answers.
He picked up the tablet and read everything in the file. It didn’t take long.
The fury he had craved came once he was finished. But Tix, or Tishna, or whatever she wanted to call herself, wasn’t the target anymore. Someone had a lot to answer for.
He set the datapad down with care, despite wanting to throw it across the room. “This entire thing is bullshit. There’s no way she’d do any of this. Assault? Theft? That’s not who she is.”
“Show me.”
Mace held out his hand, and Xaber passed the device over. Then he scrubbed his hands over his face as if that might help him sort through this mess faster.
Tishna Vay was a runaway slave. Someone owned her. She was property, just like he and Mace had been.Re’veth.That’s why she understood them so well. She’d lived it. Was still living it. And she hadn’t trusted them enough to tell them, because of what they did for a living.
Mace snarled. “That explains why she didn’t react well when she found out we were bounty hunters. She was afraid we’d turn her in.” He handed the device back to Flek. “How long has this been on the job boards?”
Flek lifted both hands and wiggled them side to side in a gesture Xaber didn’t understand.
“Before I answer questions, I have one for you. Will you take the job?”
“No!” Mace barked the word.
“We won’t,” Xaber agreed.
