The higher up Skye went on their guest list, the more in-person hoops she had to jump through. She always thought it strange that Krell allowed her through, because she had never once stayed here under her real name.
Still, the name she used made the folks who ran Krell sit up and take notice—primarily because she had been a regular guest for four years.
She opened the door and stepped into an antechamber. To her surprise, the scruffy guy stood off to one side, talking with two other men. They wore similar clothing to the scruffy guy, and had the same scrawny power. They moved away when they saw her, standing outside of normal ear range.
Fortunately, she didn’t have normal ears.
She moved toward the main door, but made it seem as if she had a few other things to prepare before she entered. Then she focused her hearing on the scruffy guy. With luck, he would tell her what job he was doing for Liora.
Instead, Skye heard a name she hadn’t expected.
“…yes, Jack Hunter,” the scruffy guy was saying. “At the Starcatcher.”
“He’s probably working for someone else now,” one of the other men said.
“It doesn’t matter who he’s working for,” the scruffy guy said. “He’s still our problem.”
Skye’s mouth went dry. How many conversations like this had she overheard over the years? None had made her heart rate increase like this one was.
She had to work hard to continue to feign disinterest. She pulled a small reservation tablet from the stand near her. She fiddled with the tablet as she listened.
“You know he won’t do anything,” the other man said. “He’s a good guy.”
“That’s our problem,” the scruffy guy said. “He doesn’t think we are any longer.”
A light went on near the door. It meant that the reservation room beyond was empty. Skye moved slightly to block that light from the men. She wanted to listen to this conversation for another minute.
“So?” one of the men said. “He’s not going to be a problem. He’s just an investigator.”
“He’s talking to Rikki Bastogne right now,” the scruffy guy said. “He may be an investigator, but she’s not.”
“She left long ago,” the third man said.
“To go freelance,” the scruffy guy said.
“You think she’s going to come after us?” the second man said.
“You want to wait to find out?” the scruffy guy said.
Skye frowned. Rikki Bastogne. Why did that name sound familiar? She would have to check it as well—and not just because Jack seemed to know her well.
“She can’t take on all of us by herself,” the second man said.
“Probably not,” the scruffy guy said. “But she can go after some of us one at a time.”
“He’s just afraid she’ll come after him,” the third guy said to the second.
“I am not,” the scruffy guy snapped. “Just get rid of Hunter. He’s a problem.”
“Get rid of?” the second guy said. “Are you serious? I’m not killing one of us.”
“He’s not one of us, don’t you get that?” the scruffy guy said.
“He is to me,” the second guy said, then pivoted and left.
“You going with him?” the scruffy guy asked.
“Naw. I figure there’s money in this. You gonna pay me to take out Hunter?” the third man asked.
“Only if you manage it here,” the scruffy guy said. “Otherwise, I’m bringing in real experience.”
Skye’s breath caught. She pressed her hand on the door frame and let herself inside the empty room. She wanted to flee Upscale Reservations and warn Jack, but she didn’t dare—not from the antechamber, anyway.
If she registered again with the hotel part of Krell, she could leave from the back.
She forgot her resolve to get a new room. It would take too long. Instead, she went to the desk. A woman appeared. She was a hologram. Apparently the day was too slow to bring in a real person.
Skye asked to extend her reservation, noting with satisfaction that her voice remained calm as she did so. She had no idea what Jack was into, and she didn’t really care.
She liked him. And that was enough. She would warn him about these men.
And Liora.
She wondered what Liora’s involvement was. Had the Guild sent her? If so, why would she hire someone else to take out Jack? Liora was an assassin. She could easily kill someone. Liora could have killed Jack as she walked past the open-air part of the Starcatcher, and probably not have gotten caught. She was that good.
Skye didn’t know what was going on, but she would figure it out.
She would warn Jack, find out what he knew, and get him out of here.
After that, he was on his own.
Chapter 11
Jack picked up the napkin that Rikki had knocked off her chair when she left. She had hurried away, anxious to leave Krell. Not that he blamed her. She hated it here. She usually worked jobs where she was more comfortable—her last was on a cruise ship.
And that had gotten her into the worst mess of her life.
He crumpled the napkin in his right hand and stared at the remains of the burger on his plate. Having two of those gut-busters in less than twenty-four hours wasn’t good for him. He probably should have had the special soda and nothing else.
He sighed. Rikki had left him shaken. She rarely got upset. Never, really, not since they were children.
She had met a man on that cruise, an assassin with the Assassins Guild, and had fallen for him. She swore she hadn’t, but Jack knew Rikki.
For the first time in her life, she was in love.
And if what she told Jack was true, she had fallen for the worst man she could possibly have found.
He set the napkin down and smoothed it out. She had asked him for his help. He wanted to do more than vet the guy.
Jack wanted to punch him. Just for upsetting Rikki.
Jack would find out everything he could about the man, even if it put him at odds with the Assassins Guild. He was already at odds with the Rovers. What would it matter if he offended the other large group of assassins in this sector?
He smiled without humor and started to stand, when a hand caught his left shoulder and forced him back down. He started to worm away, but the grip got tighter.
“Don’t move,” said a familiar voice he thought he would never hear again. “Pretend like you’re happy to see me.”
That wasn’t hard. He was. He had to exercise great control over his face to keep from grinning like an idiot.
Skye stood next to him.
He turned, grabbed her by the waist, lifted her, and stood up all at the same time. He brought her close, hugging her like she was a long-lost girlfriend.
He had thought she was lost, just not that long ago.
Her body remained stiff for one half second, then she wrapped herself around him, burying her face in his neck, like she had done the night before.
When she had been naked.
He was instantly aroused and he knew she could feel it.
But to his surprise, she didn’t look at him and grin. Instead, she wrapped one hand around his head, holding it in place.
“I just overheard something,” she said. “I don’t know what it is, but there’s a man on this station who wants to kill you. He’ll get paid if he does it here and soon.”
She spoke so softly no one else could have heard it.
And he couldn’t lean back to see her face. So he kissed the spot behind her ear instead, then whispered, “How could you know this?”
“I overheard it,” she said. “You have a ship?”
“Yeah,” he said, his heart sinking. Was this some kind of scam?
“Let’s go there. It’ll be safe.”
“Not if someone is after me,” he whispered.