Garret's Gambit by Dale Mayer (best sci fi novels of all time txt) 📕

“Which we can,” Garret said, “but Kano is probably looking to do a much bigger search. Those databases are very bandwidth heavy, and we could be pinpointed, if somebody were looking for us.”

“Why the hell would anybody even know you’re here?” Amy said. “That’s ridiculous!”

“Because you called,” he said. “That immediately sends people alerts, especially if they’re after us.”

She snorted. “God, why is everything always about you?” she said. “This has nothing to do with you.”

“Well, I hope that’s true, but you’re also the one who left a message saying you thought Gregg had something to do with my accident. The plane crash. Remember?”

She flushed bright red at that. “No,” she said. “I didn’t mean that.”

“Seriously?” He stared at her, his heart sinking. “Then why did you say it?”

“He told me that you’d had a bad accident, but that nobody was talking and wouldn’t tell him anything. I figured, if you wouldn’t come because he was missing, you might come if it meant you could get your revenge on him.”

“Jesus Christ, Amy,” he said, rubbing his face with both hands. “Look. I don’t waste energy on revenge,” he said, his gaze narrowing. “You two are together now, and I’m just glad to be out of the whole triangle mess.” Immediately her back stiffened, as she just glared at him. “The bottom line is,” he said, “that my brother is missing, and that’s why I’m here.”

“Are you telling me it’s not because you thought you could actually get answers about the accident?”

“Answers would have been nice,” he said. “And it certainly would justify Kano being here too. But, as usual, we’re dealing with your lies and deceit. I told him that we couldn’t trust anything that came out of your mouth.”

“But you came anyway?”

“My brother is missing. How many times do I have to say that?” he said, trying to exercise patience. “No matter the circumstances with you, I need to find him. Dealing with a lying, cheating person like you makes it more complicated because I can’t believe anything you say, but I still have to get him back.”

“Why do you keep insulting me like that?” she said.

“I’m not insulting you at all,” he snapped. “It’s the truth, Amy. If you don’t like it, you shouldn’t act that way.”

“For the love of God, you two,” Astra said, “can we get back on track here, instead of hashing out all your old crap?”

“Gladly,” Garret said. “If your sister has nothing to offer, I’m out of here.”

“Wait,” Astra said, as she raced behind him. When he looked down at her, she frowned. “My sister is still in trouble.”

“I don’t know why,” he said, tilting his head.

“That’s because you’re still in a haze of anger,” she murmured. “And I get that. I really do. But remember the people at the hotel? No matter what you’re feeling about Amy right now, she’s carrying Gregg’s baby—maybe the last bit of him you’ll ever have.”

He froze, closed his eyes, and, leaning against the porch wall, said, “Shit.”

Chapter 6

What Astra had heard actually made her feel better. Because all this back-and-forth was just a sign of having an outlet for that anger, that initial rage Garret needed to vent. But no love was in his tone, nor any love in his gaze, as he stared at Amy. He appeared to be really over his relationship with her sister. That was good news.

What wasn’t good news was that he was right. Her sister, true to form, had lied and cheated to get Garret over here. But why? Because his brother was missing, and she thought that he wouldn’t care enough, which in itself proved that she didn’t really understand Garret all that much. And, once again, he held it against her for having deceived him. He was desperate to find out who was after his team. Whether that involved his brother or not didn’t make it a priority over everything else going on, including the fact that Garret’s own life was still in danger.

Astra reached up, patted Garret’s cheek, and said, “Honestly I wouldn’t have brought it up, but for the fact that she’s my sister.”

He opened his gaze, nodded slowly, and said, “And I can’t let go of the idea that it’s all still related to Gregg’s disappearance.”

“And, Garret,” she said, dropping her voice even lower. “I’m sorry that she lied. I know you’re desperate to find out what’s going on with the assault on your team, but we don’t know for sure if Gregg’s disappearance is even related. Although I would think that anything to do with Kingdom Securities is suspicious at this point.”

He stared at her, his gaze lowered, but she could see the cogs and the wheels turning in his brain. “You’re right,” he said thoughtfully. “We’ve got a search running on that company, but I think we need to deepen it.”

“I’ve got one running too,” she said, “but I’m not getting anything.”

He looked at her in surprise.

She shrugged. “Think about what I do,” she said. “I can pretty well get most things analyzed, but it’s not exactly the same field, and I can’t necessarily claim to have budget money for something like this, since it’s not about cases in the cybersex world.”

He smiled, nodded, and said, “Well, my budget isn’t limited to just those kinds of assholes. Ours covers all kinds of assholes.”

“Good for you,” she said. “Sometimes I wish I could do more.”

“You’re doing what you can, and, if everybody just did that,” he said, “we could turn the tide.”

“Instead, everybody does what they can do on the opposite side of life,” she said, “but I can’t leave my sister in this scenario.”

“I know,” he said. “Besides, she’s carrying my niece or nephew.”

“Exactly,” Astra said and was grateful that he seemed to have turned a mental corner and was getting past his old anger. Because this wasn’t the time. Astra understood his anger, but this wasn’t the time