Starfall (Starflight #2)(34)
Cassia had a feeling Kane might not follow her instructions to the letter, but she never expected him to come barreling into the docking lot with Arabelle hoisted over one shoulder, shielding his head with his free arm and yelling like his pants were on fire. Behind him, Doran and Solara ran through the open doorway, each armed with a stolen pulse pistol and firing indiscriminately at someone out of view.
So much for smooth negotiating.
Cassia darted up the boarding ramp while tapping her com-link. “Fire it up, Renny. We’ve got Arabelle, but it looks like we wore out our welcome.”
“Copy that,” Renny said from the pilothouse. The engine rumbled to life, followed by the low whine of the thrusters warming for takeoff. He asked in a tentative voice, “You’re sure they have her?”
Standing out of the way, Cassia glanced down the ramp and watched Arabelle’s skirt-clad rear end bounce atop Kane’s shoulder as he hauled ass—literally—onto the ship. “Yep, I’m looking at her right now.” Once Doran and Solara made it up the ramp into the cargo hold, Cassia punched the Retract button and told Renny, “Go!”
The floor lurched, sending Cassia to her knees. She met the metal grating with a jolt of pain and scrambled toward the stairs for something to hold on to. As soon as she gripped the bottom step, she hollered to Kane over one shoulder. “Did you scan her?”
He didn’t answer right away. He was too busy belly-crawling toward a stabilizing strap bolted to the floor. “Sure!” He wrapped one fist around the belt while hooking his opposite arm around Arabelle’s waist. “There was plenty of time for that in between holding her boss at gunpoint and running for our lives from the mob!”
The mob?
A burst of energy struck the hull near enough to travel through the floor and rattle Cassia’s bones. As the ship rolled in an evasive maneuver, she hung on tightly while her body skidded sideways. Screams filled the cargo hold, mostly coming from their new guest.
If Arabelle belonged to the Zhang mafia, that explained why Doran’s reputation as Daro the Red had backfired. Pirates weren’t exactly at war with the mob, but both groups were territorial. Every once in a while someone would sneak a toe over the line, and the other side would bring down the hammer. That meant the Zhang operative they’d just busted had two choices: close up shop and return to Earth, or kill the witnesses before word got out.
Cassia swore to herself. “We have to scan her,” she shouted. “We can’t hide if they’re tracking us.”
“Be my guest,” Kane shouted back, clearly in no position to help. He resembled a man stretched on a torture rack, both arms spread wide between Arabelle and the floor strap.
Arabelle’s red brows formed a slash over her eyes. “I’m not bugged! And I didn’t ask to come here with you people!”
Cassia fought to maintain her sweaty grip on the stairs. Before she could give the matter any more thought, the Banshee’s signature shriek pierced her eardrums, and the ship rocketed forward with enough velocity to pry her fingers loose. She slid across the floor until her back hit the wall, knocking the wind out of her.
For what felt like an hour, she stayed pressed there by acceleration. Then the ship slowed and lurched to a stop, sending her into a roll in the opposite direction.
She landed on her back, blinking at the dancing ceiling lights. All motion had ceased, but it took a few seconds for her body to get the message. Soon the engines powered down, and her ears detected a harmony of high-pitched ringing and low groans of pain. She pushed to her elbows and instantly regretted it. They were bruised, much like the rest of her.
Peering across the hold, she found Kane sitting up, massaging one shoulder and frowning at Arabelle, whose arms were still locked around his waist. Solara crouched near the opposite wall, one of her eyes swollen half shut. She rubbed Doran’s back while he pressed a palm over his lips in an obvious effort to keep from vomiting.
The whole crew was battered and shaken, but Renny only had eyes for Arabelle when he appeared at the upper landing. His boots formed a blur as he flew down the stairs. In the time it took Cassia to blink, the captain was kneeling by Arabelle’s side, delicately brushing the curls back from her face.
“Belle,” he crooned in the gentle voice of a parent rousing a child from sleep. “Baby, are you all right?”
The redhead smacked away his hand and tried to sit up, without success. “Don’t touch me. And don’t call me baby”—she thrust a finger at him—“ever again.”
Renny cradled her shoulder long enough to help her into a sitting position, then released her and flashed both palms like a robbery victim. “Belle, I know you’re upset.”
“Upset?” she screeched.
Cassia raised a hand. “The rest of us are fine, thanks for asking.”
“I feel upset when I stub my toe,” Arabelle raged on. “Or when someone tries to steal my shoes while I’m sleeping. Upset doesn’t describe how it feels when a man says he loves me and then leaves me behind to cover his debt!”
“Debt?” Renny’s mouth dropped open. “What debt? I only left—”
“Because you picked Ari Zhang’s pocket,” she finished. “I know. You told me in your letter. But when Zhang couldn’t find you, he sold me to pay for what you took.”