Caught by Menace (26 page)

immediate threat, Naya had been able to convince herself

that Menace didn’t need to know al the ugly details of

her teenage years. She had done her research and

learned that the things she had done were in a gray area

when it came to the statute of limitations.

Menace kept teling her the past was the past and it

couldn’t be changed. He had overlooked her

involvement in the Red Feather, but if he ever found out

about the other things she had done? Naya’s chest ached

with the very real possibility that he would turn his back

on her.

When she reached the floor where the armory was

located, Naya stepped off the elevator. The guard at the

doorway seemed surprised to see her but he scanned her

wrist and waved her through to the office Menace

occupied. She had come down here with him twice, both

times only to grab something he needed from his desk.

No doubt he wouldn’t be thriled that she’d broken

No doubt he wouldn’t be thriled that she’d broken

protocol to visit him while he worked, but the thought of

making the long trek back to their private quarters with

Terror hot on her heels made her sick. There were too

many infrequently used corridors where the frightening

Shadow Force soldier could snatch her.

She rounded a corner—and slammed into a very

familiar chest. “
Oof!
”

“Naya?” Menace grasped her shoulders and set her

back on her feet. “What are you doing here?”

“I just wanted to see you.” She glanced over her

shoulder to make sure she hadn’t been folowed.

Menace cupped her chin and peered down at her. An

expression of concern colored his face. “Are you okay?

You look scared.”

Naya licked her lips. “I thought someone was

folowing me.”

He caressed her cheek with his knuckles. “Did you go

to the med bay for your mandatory head check?”

She roled her eyes. “I’m not crazy!”

“I didn’t say you were. Space sickness is a very real

threat, sweetheart. You’ve gone from spending every

day of your life on solid ground to spending…what?

day of your life on solid ground to spending…what?

Thirty-three days in space? It can affect your mind.”

She huffed loudly. “I don’t have space sickness. I

thought Terror was folowing me.”

Menace reeled back in surprise. “Terror? He’s back

on the ship?”

“I just saw him in the retail sector.”

“He was probably trying to catch up with you to talk. I

know he’s terrifying on the outside but he’s a realy great

guy when you get to know him.”

“I’l have to take your word for it.”

Menace cracked a smile and checked his watch. “I’m

off-duty in half an hour. You want to come back to my

office and watch me finish inputting some data? We can

grab dinner when I’m done.”

Relieved that he would let her stay, she happily

nodded. “I’d love that.”

He slid his arm around her shoulders and led her to his

office. The space was cramped and hot. Menace

gestured to the chair in front of his desk but she ignored

him, choosing instead to slide onto the empty space next

to this workstation.

Chuckling, Menace dropped into his chair. “You are

Chuckling, Menace dropped into his chair. “You are

the prettiest damn paperweight I’ve ever seen.”

“You could hire me on as your assistant. I could perch

right here every day and brighten up the place.” Naya

crossed her legs, making sure to show off as much skin

as possible. It wasn’t often that she wore skirts back on

Calyx but up here on the ship she’d rediscovered her

childhood love of them.

Menace had discovered his love of the garments as

wel. His hand moved to her bare leg. He stroked her

skin. “Temping offer, sweetheart, but I don’t think I

would get much work done.”

“Probably not,” Naya agreed, only too aware of his

raging libido. She grasped his hand and returned it to his

desk. “Finish your work so we can go home and play.”

“We might not make it home,” Menace grumbled and

picked up the stack of shiny silver cards on his desk. He

scanned them one by one and tapped information into the

empty fields on the big touchscreen monitor mounted on

his desk.

“What are you doing?”

“I spent the morning certifying the first group of

soldiers to use the new weapons we’l be receiving

tomorrow. It’s the newest version of a plasma gun. It’s

supposed to be ideal for urban warfare.”

“I see.” Naya didn’t like the sound of that. If the men

in this sector of Harcos operations were gearing up for

urban warfare, it meant they had identified the locations

of rumored terrorists on Calyx. She feared what that

would mean for the innocent people down there who

would inevitably be caught in the crossfire.

Menace paused his scanning and tapping and pointed

to a smal digital catalogue on top of a pile of similar

weapons catalogues. “The specs are in there if you’d like

to see them.”

Naya picked up the lightweight catalog and swiped

her finger over the touchscreen to activate the sales pitch.

Images of explosions and terrifyingly large soldiers

decimating enemy forces popped onto the screen. The

bright-white bursts from the muzzles burned right through

armor, clothing and skin. The gaping holes left in the

bodies smoked and sizzled. Twenty seconds into the

pitch, she’d seen enough and stopped it. “Gross.”

He chuckled. “But effective.”

“You realize that the people down on Calyx are

farmers and milers and tradesmen. I mean, dentistry is

farmers and milers and tradesmen. I mean, dentistry is

considered magic to some of those people in the far-flung

corners of our civilization. Do you realy need a weapon

like this?”

“It’s not your people we’re worried about, Naya. We

know that the Harcos faction of insurgents, the Splinters,

are here. That bombing four years ago in The City near

our embassy had al the trademarks. There’s no doubt

they’re trying to sow seeds of dissatisfaction down there

to gain folowers and fighters for their dwindling army.”

“So what? You’re going to hunt them down with those

guns? What if you shoot the wrong people?”

Menace didn’t glance up from his scanning and typing.

“That’s war, Naya. Colateral damage is acceptable.”

Naya didn’t think. She puled back her fist and

punched him hard on the shoulder. “How can you say

that? Colateral damage? Those are people, Menace!”

He frowned and rubbed his shoulder. “That
hurt
.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” she replied sarcasticaly. “That was

colateral damage from my anger at your indifference.”

Menace’s jaw tightened. “What do you want me to

say, Naya? That we never make mistakes? I’m no liar.

Sometimes innocent people are in the wrong place at the

Sometimes innocent people are in the wrong place at the

wrong time. I can’t change that. I won’t sit here and lie to

you by promising you that these weapons wil only be

used against terrorists.”

“Okay and what happens when these weapons get

into the hands of those Splinter guys?”

“They won’t.”

His arrogance burned her already frayed nerves. “You

can’t know that, Menace. Helo! Your people have

imposed a weapons ban on Calyx for centuries, yet we

have weapons. You confiscated one from me,

remember?”

“Oh, I remember al right.”

“Then please listen to me. You are in the wilds of the

galaxy out here. You cannot protect every shipment that

comes your way.” Naya stopped herself before she said

something incriminating. This definitely wasn’t the time to

come clean to him, not here in his office. “Look, al I’m

saying is that there have been things that came through

the front doors of my pawnshop that were straight off

your ships. You couldn’t control pieces of tech. How the

hel do you intend to control the flow of weapons,

Menace?”

He sat back in his chair and studied her. Finaly he

He sat back in his chair and studied her. Finaly he

spoke. “I don’t disagree with your assessment, but that’s

not my department. I’m just the weapons specialist.”

She sighed slowly and dropped her gaze. “People are

going to die, Menace.”

“They already are, Naya. That’s why we have to stop

these terrorists before they gain a real foothold on your

planet. A handful of surgical strikes and we solve the

problem.”

She shook her head and stared at him. “That easy,

huh?”

“That’s what they tel people in my paygrade.”

Signaling an end to their discussion, Menace returned

to his work. Naya stifled the inner voice that urged her to

just fucking tel him already. Their discussion had given

her the perfect opening to just lay it al on the line. Fear

stopped her. The idea that he would react with anger or

disgust made it impossible for her to take the brave step

of confessing her sins.

Menace worked diligently at her side. The hands that

had brought her such pleasure and that cradled her close

at night mesmerized her. She gazed at his handsome face.

The thought of never again seeing his smiling face across

The thought of never again seeing his smiling face across

the dinner table or feeling his lips gliding over her skin

squashed whatever courage she’d been able to muster.

Refusing to ruin what she shared with Menace, Naya

convinced herself that Terror couldn’t possibly know

what she’d done. There were no records. She’d only

ever been arrested for petty crimes. Maybe Terror had

his suspicions but he didn’t have proof. She wasn’t about

to give it to him by unburdening her conscience on

Menace. Some secrets had to be kept…whatever the

cost.

Naya had gone awfuly quiet as he worked. Menace

scanned the last card and inputted the final pieces of data

before logging off. He placed the cards back in their case

and slipped it into the drawer of his desk where he kept

the range records of every soldier on the ship. Touching

her knee, Menace got her attention. “I have something I

want you to see.”

She roled her eyes. “I think you showed me that this

morning in the shower.”

Menace chortled and shoved out of his chair. “No, not

that
.” He held out his hand and tugged her off his desk.

“I was going to give it to you later but you’re here now

“I was going to give it to you later but you’re here now

so we may as wel play with it.”

“Now I know you’re talking about sex. Is it another

one of your weird toys?”

Menace frowned at her. “You make it sound like I’m

a sex-addicted pervert.”

“Um…have you looked in the mirror lately?”

“Watch

it,”

he

warned.

“There’s

enough

soundproofing in the shooting range for me to toss you

across my knee and swat that little ass of yours until it’s

bright-red.”

Naya laughed and patted his chest. “Tease.”

“You’re awfuly brave today, sweetheart.” He led her

into the shooting range and punched in the activation

code that would alert the control rooms and police that

any shots fired were for training purposes only. The last

thing he wanted was an SRU team storming the range in

the search for an active shooter.

“Take these.” Menace pressed a pair of headphones

and safety glasses into her hand. “You’l have to wear

them.”

She examined the protective equipment. “Why?”

“Because I’m rather fond of your beautiful eyes and

“Because I’m rather fond of your beautiful eyes and

I’m sure you like being able to hear,” he replied. “Once

we’re in the shooting area,” he gestured to the stations on

the far end of the room, “you’l wear that gear or else

you won’t get to fire your weapon.”

She perked up at that tidbit. “My weapon?”

Menace nodded. “Venom brought it down earlier.

Vicious and Admiral Orion finaly got around to stamping

my permit. I know this is your firearm, but technicaly it’s

mine now. That means I’m responsible for it which

means that after firing it today it goes right into the gun

safe in our quarters.”

“I understand.”

“I’l bring you to the range as often as possible.”

Menace unlocked the armory gun safe. Unlike the smal

box in their closet, this safe was actualy a room with

wals covered in weapons. He kept at least two models

of every weapon within the current Harcos arsenal in the