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Kayla couldn’t stop the tears from spilling down her cheeks. “We knew it was a lie, but no one would believe us over an OmniLab trader. That bastard killed Pretz. He told us to run, and we did. I didn’t know they would kill him.”
Lowering her voice to a whisper, she spoke the words that had been haunting her for over a year. “I loved him, and Ramiro killed him because of me.”
“Shh,” Carl hushed her and pulled her onto his lap. Burying her face against his chest, she let go of the emotions she had suppressed for so long. His hands stroked her hair, and she was dimly aware of his voice murmuring soothing words.
Lost in her grief, Carl’s comforting presence wrapped around her until her sobs subsided and she fell into a troubled sleep.
Kayla woke up disoriented and confused. Rubbing her eyes, she wondered if the scotch had something to do with it. She was still dressed in Jinx’s clothes, and she recognized Carl’s private quarters. With horror, she recalled what she’d told Carl. Shame and embarrassment flooded through her as she dropped her head in her hands.
Not only did she practically throw herself at him, she’d turned into a blubbering idiot and poured her heart out. Feeling raw and wanting to escape, she stood up and crossed the darkened room toward Carl’s office. His light was on, and she could hear two low voices talking. She paused outside the door, not willing to face anyone until she got her emotions under control.
“That’s some nasty business if Ramiro tried to force himself on Kayla and killed that poor kid.”
Kayla started, recognizing Cruncher’s voice. Shame quickly turned to anger at the realization they were discussing her. This was exactly why she didn’t talk about her personal life. She should have known better than to trust a trader with her secrets.
“It fits,” Carl was saying. “It explains why Pretz was in a cleared sector that day. It also explains why Ramiro’s determined to get rid of Kayla and Veridian. When OmniLab finds out what he did and how he killed one of his employees, they’ll strip his status and freeze his assets.”
Kayla didn’t want to hear anymore. Backing away, she stumbled to the other door leading out to the hallway. She grabbed her UV gear out of the sanitation machine and pulled it on.
Veridian was just coming out of the crew’s quarters when he spotted her.
“Kayla? You okay?”
She put one hand against the wall to steady herself and managed to nod. “Yeah. I… I can’t talk about it right now, V.”
Concern etched on his face, he bent down to look at her closely. “You’re acting strange. What’s wrong?”
Kayla shook her head, trying to blink back the tears that threatened. Even though she knew Veridian would understand, she couldn’t revisit her emotional torment twice in once night. She never should have told Carl what happened with Pretz.
“I talked when I shouldn’t have,” she said angrily as a tear rolled down her cheek. “I hate crying. I need to go clear my head.” Pushing away from the wall, she took off down the hallway, intent on escaping.
“What did you do to her?” Veridian stormed into Carl’s office, looking furious. “I just saw Kayla, and she was crying. Kayla doesn’t cry! She gets pissed off, yells, hits, and throws things. But she doesn’t cry.”
Carl stared at him for a moment in confusion. As his words registered, Carl darted to his private quarters and swore at the sight of the empty bed. “Damn, she woke up. I thought she would have slept longer.”
Cruncher frowned, eyeing the bottle and empty glasses on the desk. “How much did you give her to drink?”
Carl rubbed his forehead. “More than I should have. She’s such a little thing. She seemed pretty smashed and probably still is. I should go talk to her.”
Veridian looked back and forth between them. “What are you talking about?”
“She was drinking scotch,” Cruncher explained. “That stuff has a pretty high alcohol content, lowers your inhibitions, and gives you a hell of a buzz.”
Veridian’s expression let Carl know exactly how stupid he thought that idea was. “Why would you give that to her, of all people? Why not just let Ramiro have his way with her? Lowering Kayla’s inhibitions is like throwing her off a cliff. She’s reckless enough as it is.”
Carl raised an eyebrow, unaccustomed to being reprimanded by a ruin rat. Apparently, Kayla and Veridian had more in common than he thought. Nevertheless, he couldn’t exactly dispute Veridian’s assessment. He’d been hoping she would have slept it off.
Before Carl could formulate a reply, Veridian’s gaze landed on his desk. His eyes widened when he recognized the image on the tablet. “Oh shit. She told you about Pretz?”
“You knew him well?”
Veridian nodded, still looking at the picture. “Ramiro sent him to our camp one day to drop off some equipment, and he met Kayla. He fell for her pretty hard. He used to go with her into the ruins whenever he had a day off. He told her if she didn’t join Ramiro’s crew, he was leaving after his contract was up to be with her. He was crazy about her.”
Veridian sighed. “She was really messed up after Pretz died. She lost it. That’s why she went to Ramiro’s camp the next day. I think part of her wanted to get caught. She blames herself for what happened.”
“That’s ridiculous. It wasn’t her fault.”
“Yeah, you try explaining that to her and let me know how it goes,” Veridian retorted, crossing his arms over his chest. “I can’t even bring up his name without her jumping down my throat.”
He had a point. Kayla hid her emotions pretty well, but it was obvious she was still grieving. Feeling responsible for her current emotional state, Carl said, “I’ll go talk to her.”
He took a step toward the door and nearly ran into Xantham.
“Uh, Boss?” A look of confusion came over Xantham’s face as his gaze darted between the three men.
Carl tried to brush past him. “Not now, Xantham. I need to find Kayla.”
“Yeah. That’s why I’m here. She took off on her speeder a few minutes ago.”
He shut his eyes, hoping he’d misheard. “What?”
“Yeah, I can’t get over how fast that girl drives. If the size of her bike’s dust cloud was any indication, she’s pretty pissed.”
“Shit.”
“It gets worse,” Xantham told him hurriedly, shifting his weight from foot to foot. “I don’t know how it happened, but Ramiro got into our system through a backdoor. I also picked up another bike on the radar that’s not one of ours. It’s trailing her.”
Carl felt the blood rush from his face. He turned to Veridian. “Do you know where she would have gone?”
“To the ruins. That’s where she always goes.”
“But it’s in the middle of the night and she’s alone,” Carl protested in disbelief.
Veridian gave out an impatient snort. “You don’t have a clue about her, do you? Day, night, alone, whatever. None of it matters to her. She says the only time she feels alive is when she’s in the ruins.”
“We need to find her before Ramiro does or she hurts herself. Do you have any idea which sector she would have gone to?”
Veridian shook his head. “There’s no way to know. She could be anywhere. She could have even gone back to another district if she was upset enough.”
“She headed east,” Xantham volunteered.
“Then we’ll head in that direction,” Carl replied and headed toward the camp entrance. “Xantham, track her bike and send me the coordinates the minute she stops. Cruncher, come with me.”
“I’m going with you too,” Veridian insisted.
Carl spared him a nod and continued issuing orders. “Xantham, do whatever you need to do. I don’t care what rules you break, but get into Ramiro’s channels. Find out what’s going on and if he’s the one trailing her.”
“On it, Boss.”
The three
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