Page 9

We hit a junction three doors in, and Rennick peeled off left without breaking stride, angling away from a door before any of us got a look at it. An object behind it ticked, then went quiet.

“What’s in there?” I nodded at the door.

“Just storage. Nothing important.” Rennick didn’t even look where I gestured. Was that because I was interested in a problem he wasn’t willing to share?

I huffed out a breath. “I’ve heard better lies out of guys trying to dodge a bill for a busted regulator repair. We need to see everything, or we’ll miss the critical error.”

“And you don’t want us missing the critical error,” Monica called out ahead of us. “Or it could be kaboom for this beauty. No one wants to see that happen, do we, girl? Not when you’re so pretty, but sooooo sad.”

Rennick turned and looked at me, but still didn’t answer with the truth.

Star damned son of a bitch. What was he hiding? Was he carrying illegal cargo? If he was a people trafficker, I’d blast his ass into next year, two point six million or not.

I kept my focus on him, trying to figure out his angle. In my previous career, I’d spent years reading the difference between a wire that was dangerous and a wire somebody didn’t want touched. This felt like the second problem. Which meant Rennick had a reason for secrecy.

If it was smuggling people, I’d shoot him myself, and the others would help hide the corpse. “Will we find live cargo on this ship?”

Tambi drew in a sharp breath, but didn’t say a word. We all waited to see if Rennick was the bad guy. It would explain how he could afford us. People smuggling still paid big, even in these allegedly advanced times.

His gaze narrowed. “I don’t smuggle people if that’s what you’re implying.”

“If we find evidence of that, you’re screwed. We take your credits, your ship, and hand you to the authorities. We clear?”

“I run a legitimate business.” His nostrils flared, and his fingers flexed.

“We’ll make sure you do.”

The lights ahead flared bright enough to sting my eyes, the gold veins in the ceiling blazing white, like the ship was trying to short out its own art installation, then they dropped to black, then back up.

“She do that a lot?” I kept my hand on the wall, since it seemed to calm the ship.

“Every day.” Rennick kept moving, leading us away from that closed door. “It’s different every time, though, so it’s not messed up signal coding.”

A panel beside Tambi lit up red and screamed a warning, pitched high enough to make me wince, then cut dead silent mid-note, like a hand had come down over its mouth.

“Cool!” Monica kept walking, nodding as she looked around. “Cool, cool, cool. Very fine. Very normal ship. Just a bit... hexed? Is that the right word? A hexed ship. Do Kelvane have witches who hex ships?”

“We don’t believe in witchcraft,” Rennick said.

“Neither does Cass. Or ogres. They’re real, though.”

“She’s joking,” I said.

“Am I? My mind is open to all possibilities. If it’s a hex, Rennick can find the un-hex spell. That’s also a thing, isn’t it?” Monica turned away, her shoulders shaking, while Doc nudged her.

“She really is messing with you,” I muttered.

“So long as Monica’s repair skills make up for her poor ability to diagnose this problem, I have no concerns,” Rennick said.

I wheeled around. “Hey! Monica is shit hot at what she does. Don’t judge because she makes a few jokes about how scary this place is. You feel the creepy vibe, too. You’re jumpier than a kangaroo on spring stilts.”

Rennick’s gaze settled on me, and when his attention shifted to my mouth, heat flushed up my neck. Damn, must get this lust knot of horniness out of my system fast.

“I don’t know what those last words meant, but my apologies. It’s admirable that you support your crew.”

“We support each other, and we hate half-truths.” I glanced away before I started feasting on that frustratingly gorgeous mouth. “Be honest with us, and we’ll get her moving and happy. Make sense?”

“Mostly.”