Starfall (Starflight #2)(39)

The flutter in her stomach multiplied. “It does. More than you know.”

“I’m glad to hear it.”

They sat there grinning at each other for a while. Then Jordan clapped his palms and rubbed them together as if to get down to business.

Over the next fifteen minutes, he told her about a rebel raid on one of the royal fuel stations, and Cassia suggested adding barricades to block the station access. She also advised that he move the location of the royal armory to an abandoned grain silo to prevent weapons from falling into rebel hands.

When her turn came to give a report, she told Jordan everything she’d learned at the black market satellite, including the identity of Arabelle’s former owner, Reegan “Necktie” Fleece. “From what Arabelle told me, it seems possible that the mob is involved—maybe with Fleece acting as the go-between for Marius and his backer.”

Jordan tapped out a message at his workstation. “I’m sending his name to the tech team for an immediate search. Let’s see what they turn up.”

“He was traveling off world when we took Arabelle. I think he’ll come for her.”

“Agreed. If nothing else, he’ll want to preserve his reputation.” Jordan raised a brow as if remembering something. “Listen, I know this is a touchy subject, but we need to talk about your friend Kane. I think he might be feeding the rebels information.”

She groaned. Kane was the last person she wanted to discuss. “He’s a lot of things, but a rebel isn’t one of them.”

“That’s not what I’m hearing.”

“Hearsay isn’t proof. You know that.”

“Just be aware of what you tell him. That’s all I’m asking.”

That wouldn’t be a problem. She had nothing to say to Kane.

A beep sounded from Jordan’s workstation, and he glanced at his screen. “Well, that was fast. We’ve already got a hit.” He leaned closer to the screen and blinked in shock. “No way.”

“What?”

“The team was able to hack the transmissions between Fleece’s ship and the black market satellite. They say he’s on his way to New Haven—”

“That’s not too far from here,” she interrupted.

“That’s not the interesting part,” Jordan told her, still reading the screen. “Looks like there’s an outbreak on New Haven identical to the one here.”

“Maybe the mob is behind the contamination.”

“It’s possible. Assuming the mafia supplied Marius with weapons, they would have access to more of the same.”

“And if the mob is using biological warfare against settlers, Fleece could have all the answers we need. Maybe even the antidote itself.”

“We have to capture him,” Jordan said.

Nodding, she thought for a moment. “Nobody outside Eturia knows Marius is imprisoned. As long as you keep jamming the interplanetary transmissions, nobody ever will. What if I contact the satellite and pretend I want to buy weapons from Fleece? Now that I’m Marius’s wife, it shouldn’t raise any suspicions if I act on his behalf.”

“And then we grab Fleece when the deal goes down.”

“Exactly. But we have to hurry or we could lose him.”

Jordan stood from his desk and prepared to sign off. “I’ll assemble a team and meet you on New Haven. We can work out a plan once I’m airborne.”

The transmission ended, and Cassia rose from the bed feeling lighter and more hopeful than she had in weeks. Finally, she had a lead on a cure. Her call with Jordan had restored her sense of gravity, and she couldn’t wait to set their plan in motion. She even found herself wearing a grin when she palmed the keypad and opened the bedroom door.

But her grin fell when she found Kane on the other side.

“Cassy, hear me out.”

“Get out of my way. I have new coordinates for Renny.”

He moved forward, crowding her until she had no choice but to back up while he came inside and shut the door behind him. “I know what you’re thinking because I know how your mind works.”

She imagined giving him the finger. “What am I thinking?”

“You want me to go screw myself.”

“Close enough.”

“You also think I want to be with Shanna.”

Cassia’s stomach tightened, but she faked a lazy shrug. “That’s none of my business. I don’t care what you do, or who you do it with.”

“I hope you don’t mean that. I care what you do.”

For some reason that caused her anger to burst.

“Really?” she snapped. “Then take a wild guess what I was doing while you were hooking up with that girl. I was hobbled on the ground while a pair of bounty hunters took turns kicking the shit out of me and asking me where you were.” She saw pain in his eyes and knew she was fighting dirty, but she couldn’t stop herself. “I took a beating for you, Kane. I would have died to protect you. And if the Daeva had taken you instead of me, I would’ve come running. I wouldn’t have let anything stop me.”

“Do you think I stayed here by choice?”

“That’s exactly what I think!”

“Damn it, Cassy,” he yelled. “I did come running. I made it all the way to the air-lock in nothing but my swim trunks. When Doran and Gage tried to reason with me, I started throwing punches.” He raked a hand through his hair until it stood on end. “Solara stunned me. I hated her for it, but she did the right thing. I knew it when you told me my survival was all you had to hold on to. If it weren’t for her, I’d be dead.”