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DEEDECK DESIGN
Chapter 17
Jax planted his back against the corridor wall and held up the com unit, barking, “Go,” at the image of his distant employee. Connie appeared at his side, and Jax flashed the man a challenging glance. Connie responded by prudently ignoring him, eyes trained on Besh’s image.
“Sir, the transfer tech, Jaime Rutledge, is gone. This is his shift, but he didn’t clock in today. His living unit’s empty. No one’s seen or heard from him. Except the doc.”
Jax bared his teeth. “Time to call in the dogs. Get Daily on it. Tell him full alert, local, galactic, and government. Cite chapter and verse on our part in it. We don’t get cut out just because they step in. Make sure Daily gives Galactic Patrol the whole picture on DeeDeck’s silence.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And get me everything you can dig up on Rutledge. I mean everything—family, history, employment, friends, habits. I wanna know what he had for breakfast this morning, Besh.”
“You got it, boss.”
Jax snapped the unit closed and began to pace, his movements full of savage, leashed energy. Connie watched him for a moment, before saying quietly, “Finally pissed you off, huh?”
“Fourth time’s the charm. And I got this bad feeling we’ve been played. I saw Rutledge when the doc was talking to him. Unless he’s a grade A friggin’ actor, he’s too small a fish to pull this off by himself. He was in the right place and has the tech to do the hits, but it stinks. If he wanted her dead so bad, why save her pattern the first time around?”
“To throw off the dogs?”
Jax shook his head. “It was too elegant a hit. He could’ve been off and running before anybody figured out it wasn’t an accident. Remember, he was the one who cried foul when she woke up. He could have called it an accident, and Beta’s uppers would’ve been happy to go with that. So why call attention to it being a hit?”
“Maybe he thought somebody would figure it out anyway.”
“Remorse, Con. You should’ve seen his face. She thanked him for saving her life, and he damn near swallowed his tongue. But he still went ahead and tried three more times.”
“So somebody’s pulling his strings.”
“And him disappearing now is not a good sign. Whoever’s on the other end would want Rutledge to take the fall. He’s either in deep shit, or we’ve got a tail.” Connie made a deep, dangerous sound in his throat, and Jax nodded. “Four tries is enough. I aim to take it to ‘em before number five. Go see how Kreel’s doing. I need to check with Nat.”
Connie made an affirmative sound and slipped back into Moira’s chamber. Jax continued to pace instead of using the com. Fury was only part of what was thrumming through his muscles. The rest was Moira.
He swore, low and fierce, unnerved by how she could scramble his brain and throw all his senses into the red with the barest touch. He’d had lusty reactions to women before, but he was usually naked and thrusting before he reached the same level of passion and slipping control. Not after one light, quick kiss. He’d been ready to rip their clothes off and pull her onto his lap, damn the consequences, his responsibilities, and their current dangerous situation. His body was still tight with a need so strong that it was scary. Even more alarming was his suspicion that the need had more facets than just physical.
Dodging that thought with alacrity, he flipped open his com and made the convoluted, secure connections to home base. Nat responded with her usual elegant calm.
“Nat, what’s your progress?”
“You’re going to be overjoyed,” she responded with a cynical smile. “The DDEC has put out a restraining order on Coltier Intergalactic Securities. Pending federal investigation, we are no longer allowed to communicate with them or receive any information on the agency or their operations, current or historic.”
“Nice,” he snarled.
“Knew you’d like it. So I’m under blackout with that angle. Feds have put a lock on our com and confiscated all known material on the Bannen case.”
Jax shrugged off the government interference. The information they had so far wasn’t helpful to their current situation, and they had backups the feds wouldn’t find anyway. “Leave DeeDeck alone for now. We’ve got a lead on the hitter. Jaime Rutledge, Beta 1 transfer tech. He’s got the know-how, he was in the right place at the right time, and he’s missing. Work the IT stations from that end, and find out what you can on him. He’s got strings, and we need to know who’s pulling ‘em.”
Then he gave her a quick synopsis of their eventful trip. True to her nature, her only reaction to his revelation that they were stuck out in space was a lifted eyebrow and a sigh.
“Jax, how do you manage?”
“Just lucky like that. Work fast, Nat.”
She nodded as if that was a foregone conclusion. “If you die, can I have your office?”
“If I die, you’re all fired for doing a shitty job, the place gets liquidated, and all proceeds go to that homeless shelter on Argenta.”
“Oh, good. I’ll at least have a place to live.”
With that dry comment, she ended the transmission, and Jax pocketed the com with a wry smile. Nat was good for many things, not the least of which was giving him perspective.
Connie stepped out of Moira’s chamber, his face set in his usual stoicism, but Jax could tell by the lift of his head that things were turning around. “Sir, Kreel has the hatch closed and is working on atmo. He’s asking if you want him to remote fly this boat to the zone.”
Jax raised his eyebrows. “He licensed to pilot?”
“Don’t think so,” Connie responded with a smirk. “Just acting like a kid with a new toy.”
“Tell him maybe next time. When he’s got full atmo and seal, I’ll fly her to the zone.”
“That’s a load off my mind,” Connie said in a suspiciously neutral tone.
“You been taking lessons from the doc, Con?” Jax asked with a narrow look.
“No, sir. I got total confidence in your rusty-ass piloting skills. Just glad it ain’t the stick-happy tech-geek flyin’ us.”
“Your trust is inspiring. I’ll go watch for the green light. Stay with the doc. She’s pretty shaken up.”
Jax thought for a moment that Connie was going to comment on his boss’s recent dubious efforts to comfort her, but the big man only nodded and slipped back into Moira’s chamber. Jax shoved his hands in his pockets and stared at the door, thinking about soft eyes and even softer lips. Then he spun on his heel and walked away, trying to ignore the disconcerting sensations of regret and loss that seemed to chase him down the corridor.
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