Blake, Abby - Hot Inspiration [A Bride for Eight Brothers 5] (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme Forever) (10 page)

He was about to grill Lachlan for an explanation when the man behind him pulled his gun. Bryce reacted immediately, his weapon in his hand without any conscious thought.

“What the hell is going on?” the man asked Lachlan, never once lowering the gun he pointed at Bryce.

“Leroy,” Lachlan said as he stepped between the two guns. “This is my brother Bryce.”

“Yeah well your brother”—he spat the word—“is a well-known drug dealer.”

“Interesting,” Bryce drawled, deliberately keeping a mocking tone in his voice, “coming from a man like you.” He barely recognized the guy, and if Leroy hadn’t pulled a weapon on him, Bryce may have missed it. Stepping off his family’s cruiser was the absolute last place he expected to find one of the drug runners he’d dealt with while working undercover.

“Damn it. Both of you lower your weapons while we sort this out.” Bryce gave the other man a mocking grin as they both lowered their guns and pointed them at the ground. He might be willing to listen to Lachlan’s explanation, but he wasn’t stupid enough to put away his gun.

“Bryce, this is
Officer
Darkeen Leroy Haloden. Leroy, this is my brother Bryce Davidson. Bryce recently retired from ten years working undercover for the drug enforcement agency.” Lachlan shook his head as a laugh escaped him. “Fourteen billion humans in this universe and I had to find a cop who knows your history.”

“Not just my history,” Bryce said, relaxing just a little. “Your friend Leroy was pretty high up in the drug food chain himself.”

Leroy had obviously started to relax as well because he flipped the safety back onto his stun gun and shoved it into its holster. “That’s true,” he said with a wide grin, “until I managed to shut down their operations and get them all arrested.”

Bryce laughed. He knew that feeling. The one that made him feel like every shitty thing that had happened while undercover was finally worth it. He holstered his gun to secure the cruiser before they headed inside.

“Leroy is here to uncover evidence to support Zedahla’s testimony. Hopefully, he’ll be able to get arrests without setting off a civil war.” Lachlan ran a hand down his face tiredly. “It’s more than obvious that some of the religious leaders on this planet don’t agree with the Earth laws that are currently in place.”

Bryce nodded in acknowledgement but then turned to more personal matters first.

“How did you manage to leave Mikayla with only one husband? No offense to Brock’s skills, but I thought we all agreed she would always have at least two of us by her side.”

“Try explaining our reasoning on that one to Tracey’s husbands.”

Bryce nodded as a smile curved his lips. Rick, Tony, and Ashton were all highly trained police officers and were more than capable of protecting Mikayla and Tracey. Hell, they’d probably protect Brock while they were at it. And they wouldn’t be impressed by the inference that Mikayla still needed two husbands to protect her when they were around.

“You two may as well grab something to eat. I’ll meet you in the communications room. I reckon our annoying little visitors will be back now that the cruiser is powered down.”

“Have any landed?” Lachlan asked.

“Not yet. But I think it’s only a matter of time. At least they seem to have missed Zedahla’s escape from the planet.”

Ten minutes later, the three of them sat in the communications room monitoring the skies over the research station as they discussed how best to find evidence to support Zedahla’s story. Not one of them doubted she was telling the truth, but it was obvious from the records that Leroy had managed to collect from Earth’s database that most of the people listed as missing on this planet were young women. Add that to the seemingly accidental non-registration of female births, and it seemed obvious that women were being mistreated in horrendous ways.

“From what we can figure, Zedahla’s birth was only registered because she was knocked over by a loaded cart in the public marketplace and taken to the local hospital. She was three Earth years old at the time. Her older sister is not registered at all. Neither was her cousin.” Bryce felt his blood run cold at the realization that females could’ve been born and murdered and no one outside of the religious community would ever have known they existed.

“So what are you planning?” Bryce asked. It was obvious by the clothes he wore that Leroy followed the same faith.

“You need to understand,” Leroy said, looking rather frustrated, “that these fanatics do not represent my religion or my beliefs. They have taken the principles I hold dear and twisted them to serve their own purpose.” Bryce and Lachlan nodded. They knew this religion was widespread and for the most part peaceful. They had always assumed Zedahla’s family was part of the extreme fanatical element that seemed to sprout within organized religions. But it was good to hear their assessment confirmed by someone on the inside. “I’m thinking if I go undercover, warn them of Zedahla’s actions, and then claim to have taken care of her and her testimony, it might give me a way in.”

“So you’re going in there to tell them that you murdered Zedahla?” Bryce asked with interest. It was certainly a foot-in-the-door story. From what he understood of Zedahla’s father, he’d likely welcome Leroy with open arms.

“It’s the only way I can explain my history. I’m a registered cop with a long history of working closely with a judge who is actively working to shut down these types of fringe elements to our religion.”

“Won’t that be really dangerous?” Lachlan asked. It was obvious from his expression that Lachlan was only now beginning to understand the dangers of undercover work. His experience was in the military, and in war you usually had a clear idea who the enemy was. But in undercover work, an officer walked a very different path. One wrong decision could literally get them killed or worse. Bryce rubbed his leg absently, even though it didn’t actually hurt anymore, the human memory was a powerful thing.

Leroy made eye contact with Bryce before answering his brother. “Yes, but it has the added advantage of making things safer for Zedahla. I’ve already arranged for her death to be registered.” He smiled at the grim expression on Lachlan’s face. “I’m still trying to get a new identity for her, but I’ve had trouble convincing the powers that be that a new identity is justified. They have suggested I wait until the case is closed and then simply remove notification of her death, but we all know she will never be safe while she is using her own name.”

“I have some old contacts who can help,” Bryce said. “You just worry about this end. We’ll make sure Zedahla is protected.”

“Good,” Leroy said with obvious relief. “She has been so brave and so helpful. I would hate to think it got her hurt later on.” He seemed to hesitate a moment but then said, “Unfortunately, if I do this, it will only make your situation here more precarious.”

“We’re only a couple of weeks away from being finished on this planet,” Bryce said.

“And we can take care of ourselves,” Lachlan assured him.

Leroy grinned. “In that case, I wish you well. Any chance of a lift into town?”

Chapter Nine

Bryce wandered through the corridors, the pessimist in him wondering how many minutes before liftoff that they were likely to encounter trouble. Three days to go. Two and a half if they packed up the station in record time

The proximity alarm began to clang, and he was almost glad to hear the annoying sound. He hated the waiting. If trouble was coming their way, he always preferred to face it head on. He met Lachlan at the cameras just as the small pod landed inside the base. After a few moments of zero movement, the door finally opened, and a woman staggered out. She moved slowly like she was in terrible pain. Her face was covered, but her clothes were soaked in blood. Bryce glanced at his brother and recognized the same instinctive need to help and protect that he felt in his own heart. But caution held him back this time.

Despite the woman’s outward appearance, there wasn’t really any evidence of actual injury, and there was another occupant in the pod who hadn’t yet shown themselves. As much as it pained him, Bryce knew they needed to determine the real situation before they reacted to what they saw. Fortunately, Lachlan seemed to agree because he, too, stayed where he was.

“Are the cameras recording?” Lachlan asked.

“Yes,” Bryce replied. “I’ve kept them on around the clock and just delete the uneventful video files once a week. Something tells me this one’s going to be a keeper.”

Lachlan nodded his agreement as they watched the woman stagger closer. She dropped to her knees and then lowered herself to the ground. But again, something was off. It didn’t look like the collapse of a severely injured woman. It looked more like a performance by a second grader in a school play.

Their suspicions were confirmed a few minutes later when the woman lifted her head and looked back at the flying pod. Clearly, lying on the ground pretending to be injured for more than ten minutes was not in the plan. Faced with uncertain rescue, the woman became agitated, moving more freely than she had on her way out of the pod. Eventually, she lifted to her feet and hurried back the way she’d come.

A loud noise stopped her in her tracks. This time she did crumple like an injured person.

“Stay here,” Bryce said as he pulled his hand gun and keyed the exit code for the door. Lachlan was a good soldier, and he’d realize that they needed to keep the front door secured. He heard Lachlan’s calm voice as he called for Ryan and Ty’s assistance. Then the door slammed closed behind him and all his focus went to rescuing the woman bleeding to death on their front lawn.

The man fired a couple of wild shots before slamming the pod closed and taking off. Bryce was tempted to fire fruitlessly at the retreating craft but realized he needed to concentrate his energy on the woman.

Worried that the pod would return, or more would come, Bryce lifted the woman in his arms and ran back to the front door. Lachlan opened it immediately, and Ryan and Ty were right there with the medical equipment.

“Hell,” Ryan said as Bryce laid the woman on the tiled floor and moved out of their way.

“It’s not all hers,” Lachlan said as he again monitored the cameras. That became evident as Ryan and Ty stripped the woman’s clothing from her and located the single bullet wound high on her chest. Bryce grabbed the soiled clothes and stuffed them into a bag with a vacuum seal. His brain had clicked into cop mode, and he gathered as much evidence from the scene as he could without disturbing his brothers’ attempts to save the woman’s life.

“I’ve called for police and ambulance,” John said as he came into the small foyer area. But Ryan and Ty were already using the resuscitation equipment without success.

“That’s Zedahla’s sister,” Bryce said as he watched helplessly as her life drained away.

Despite their frantic efforts Zedahla’s sister was pronounced dead by the medical team when they arrived.

* * * *

Lachlan checked the video file over and over. He’d already made several offline backups and sent duplicates via subspace communications to Leroy’s boss and several other contacts he and Bryce had in the police force. It was essential that they make certain that multiple copies existed. Zedahla’s sister’s husband had reported seeing his wife murdered by Lachlan Davidson. The police officer was the same one Lachlan had dealt with when he’d rescued Zedahla, so he was willing to listen to Bryce and Lachlan’s account. The video fortunately confirmed that Zedahla’s sister was not killed by Lachlan. It very clearly showed her husband shooting her in cold blood as she hurried back to the pod.

Lachlan sent a copy of the video to Brock as well with explicit instructions to store it offline and to make sure Mikayla never saw it. The last thing she needed was to learn of Zedahla’s sister’s death by watching a video transmission of her murder.

“Okay, that’s it for now. We’ve recorded your testimonies and have copies of your surveillance footage, so this should be enough for a conviction. When are you leaving the planet?”

“Three days. Less if we can swing it.”

“I would suggest sooner rather than later,” the officer said. “It’s clear that they are desperate to get Zedahla back.”

Lachlan glanced at his brothers. All seven of them seemed to be in agreement.

“We’ll go within the hour,” he told the officer.

“Good,” the man said as he shook Lachlan’s hand. He handed him a business card. “That’s my direct subspace line. Contact me every couple of weeks. I’m hoping I won’t need you to get a conviction, but I don’t want to risk this guy walking.”

Lachlan was relieved that the officer didn’t ask for contact details. The fewer people who knew where Zedahla was, the safer she would be. As the police and coroner’s vehicles left the research base, Lachlan felt his gut tighten with anxiety.