“That follows.”
“The other worry that occurs to me is that I don’t know the scope or depth of his influence in this matter.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning he might have powerful friends that could make your journey difficult even if he does not involve himself directly. So be extra vigilant. Don’t trust anyone with the exception of your husband.” His tone sounded amused whenhe mentioned Jack. She didn’t comment, but tucked that tidbit away for later pondering.
“As it has been from the start, I will only trust Jack.” Madelaine mulled over the fact that she didn’t trust anyone except Jack anyway and even the Secret Keeper knew it.
However, now every person she ran into could possibly be a disciple of a man she’d never met who held a grudge for possibly his own foolish reasons.
“It seems Jack Grey was clearly the best choice for you,” the Secret Keeper said.
Madelaine smiled for the first time during this disturbing conversation. “Yes. In fact, he was the only choice for me.”
“Right. Be safe, Madelaine. Call if you need to.”
Madelaine snapped the phone closed without further conversation.
“Who might be dangerous?” Jack asked the second she hung up.
Madelaine tucked the phone back where it belonged and gave him a Cliffs Notes version of what the Secret Keeper had said. She would have put the phone on speaker, but the communication device didn’t offer that function.
It was a secret phone, after all.
“Do you know a man by the name of Dirk Zandis?” Madeline asked as she moved closer to Jack.
Jack shook his head. “Nope. Never heard of him, but Alienn is a growing town and has been for a number of years. It’s still small, but as the population gets bigger each year, not everyone knows everyone else. Plus, Alphas are allowed to live in Old Coot and Skeeter Bite. The alien circle widens more as time goes on.”
Madelaine nodded. “We need to watch out for him or anyone with seemingly too much interest in what we are doing,since the Secret Keeper mentioned he might have influence over others in this matter.”
Jack nodded. “Yep. For when he doesn’t want to dirty his own hands. I get it.”
Once more, they were standing close together. The Secret Keeper had interrupted their almost-kiss. Madelaine knew they needed to get going to the next destination, but decided one little kiss wouldn’t shatter the plan and she wanted it.
She moved into his personal space and he didn’t retreat.
Madelaine slid her hand along his handsome jaw, hooked her palm around the back of his neck and pressed her lips to his. She was glad he was with her, wished they could have forever.Enjoy the time you have with him. It won’t last.
Jack wrapped his arms around her, taking her tender kiss to the next level and then up a few more levels. She relaxed into his tall, solid frame in this soul-captivating kiss…
An abrasive alarm sounded on the dashboard control panel, signaling that their fuel was getting low.Space potatoes.
They pulled away from each other, both of them a bit out of breath.
Jack grinned ruefully. “I wonder if we’ll ever be able to kiss the way we want to without an alarm of some sort sounding off to break us apart.”
“I doubt it. Forces larger than us seem to be at work here. And, to be fair, wedoneed to load more fuel in the tank.” Madelaine grinned back at him. “I’d intended to do it before we lifted off from Verdara, but I was thwarted by a Class Four rain and thunder windstorm.”
“Right. I remember.” He released her slowly, but didn’t move away to silence the alarm. He watched as she reached over to the table to put the petrified timber back in the burlap envelope, resealed it, tucked it in the tan sack, along with the parchment instructions, and stowed everything in her backpack.
Then, Jack walked over to silence the alarm on the pilot’s console.
Together, they moved to the rear of the ship and the storage area to replace the spent bauxite fuel cubes. They’d probably used a significant portion of fuel in their emergency blastoff from Verdara.
Madelaine pulled open the fuel locker and gasped.
“Space potatoes!” Jack said.
