The Bond That Consumes Us Part 27

Fallon entered the observation room to find Jenny sitting there alone. She looked around as she made her way to the table, but Zane and Tony were gone.

"I thought the captain and Tony were here too."

"Tony went to the lavatory and Zane and that Briel administrator will be right back.

Something about a bottle of booze."

The whoosh of the door made the two women look as all three of the men in question walked in.

"Fallon!" Zane roared as he rounded the table and clasped her in a bear hug. "I'm so pleased to see you safe and sound."

"I wouldn't have it any other way, Captain." Kamran said with humor in his voice.

When Fallon looked over at him, though, she could see something was bothering Kamran. She opened her mouth to ask, but he stopped her with a single look. This wasn't the time or place.

"I hope my wife didn't talk your ear off too much, Ms. Reist. She's been known to chatter away."

Of course he would have known about their conversation. He was always with her.

Right now she couldn't help but wish Taber was with her as well like that. She missed his strength and his subtle humor. Strange how quickly she'd grown accustomed to him.

"Not at all, Administrator. We had a lovely chat. Thank you for bringing the captain, Tony and Jenny here for me."

"You didn't think we were going to leave you here, my girl?" Zane patted her shoulder. "The s.h.i.+p isn't the same without you."

They spent the next forty minutes talking about the s.h.i.+p and what had happened over the past few days. Poor Lance had been beside himself trying to train her replacement and had begged Zane to bring her back.

"The poor boy doesn't know what to do without you."

"Well, I'll be back soon enough, once all this craziness is dealt with. Have you been to your quarters yet?"

133.

"No, but I think that should be our next stop. Then I can let these two young people go off duty and enjoy their evening," Zane smiled over at Jenny.

Fallon was about to say something else when Kamran's communicator sounded. He smiled, got up and took the call once he reached the far corner of the room. The group chatted for another few minutes when Zane let out a big yawn.

"My poor body doesn't know what time of day it is."

"We best get you to your quarters then, Captain," Jenny said with enthusiasm.

"You'd think the girl wants to get rid of me so she can explore the bars I noticed on our tour. Do you think you'd be able to show us the way, Fallon?"

"I'm afraid I need her here for a moment, Captain." Kamran said, smiling as he returned. "I hope you don't mind, but I have a problem that requires her a.s.sistance."

"The bar run out of mix?" Jenny said under her breath.

Kamran leaned forward, his eyes locked on the other woman. "No, my wife has need of her. And that is a good enough reason for me."

Jenny swallowed hard and straightened slightly. "Yes, sir."

Fallon didn't move while Davin showed them to the door, a security team waiting to lead them to their quarters. Kamran didn't say a word until the door whooshed shut behind them.

"What's wrong?" Both she and Davin asked at the same time.

"Sean just arrived. He said there is a problem and wanted to meet us here."

"Sean?" Davin said, crossing his arms across his chest. "It must be serious for him to leave the s.h.i.+p."

"Is Taber coming?" Fallon said, a tad more excited than she should have been.

Kamran reached out and squeezed her hand. "I put out a call to him, but he hasn't responded yet."

They waited in silence for almost ten minutes before Sean walked through the door of the observation room. A scowl was fixed on his face as he nodded to Kamran and Davin and walked to Fallon. He crouched down in front of her, forcing her to look solely at him.

"I have more bad news. Commander Bruce is dead."

Fallon felt the blood drain from her face and pool in her stomach. "Oh my G.o.d," she whispered.

"Has anyone approached you? Tried to get you alone since you arrived?"

She shook her head, tears making Sean's face blurry. "No. I've been with Taber almost the entire time I've been here. It wasn't until he went to meet Zane's s.h.i.+p that we were separated."

Sean looked over at Kamran. "Can you get Taber on the communicator? I've been trying since just before I landed."

134.

Both Davin and Kamran pulled out their communicators and tried to locate him.

Fallon watched them work as her body slowly started to unravel. Her hands began to shake and her chest tightened.

"He's hurt. Or dead," she whispered.

"Don't think that. Whoever it is wouldn't be able to take him out that easily. The killer isn't in his own territory, so it will be harder for him to remain undetected. And Taber knows this place like the back of his hand. We'll find him."

It then hit her why Sean was so tense. "It's one of the three, isn't it? Jenny, Tony or Zane."

"I'm sorry, yes."

"He's not on the grid and not responding to any calls." Davin said, cursing in a language Fallon didn't understand.

Kamran let out a frustrated wail and threw his communicator against the wall. The small device smashed into a thousand pieces. The men all stared at the damage, both Sean and Davin with shocked expressions on their faces. Fallon watched Kamran run his hands down over his face, his eyes screwed shut.

Fallon got up and slowly walked over to him. She placed her hands on his, pulling them down so she could look him in the eye.

"I feel the same way," she whispered.

"Do you? Taber has saved my life more times than I can count over the past thirteen years. Now when he needs me, I can't seem to help him."

Fallon squeezed his hands and took a deep breath. "I haven't known him as long as you, but I love him just as much."

Kamran stared at her, reaching up to caress her cheek. Tears welled up when she saw the approval in his eyes. "Yes, I believe you do."

"And he feels the same about you, Fallon," Davin said quietly. "I could feel that the last time I touched him."

"Is there any way I can help you find him? I'll do anything to make him safe," she pleaded, even though she knew they were as helpless as she.

Kamran looked up at the other men, and after a moment, came to a decision. "We'll do everything in our power to protect you, but this will be dangerous."

"I know."

"Then I think it's time to really make you the bait."

135.

Chapter Thirteen.

Fallon felt odd wearing the short black, sleeveless dress as she stood in a bar that wasn't her own. What made matters worse was the fact she needed to flirt with every miner, engineer or crewman who came by and offered her a drink.

"Where the h.e.l.l is Jenny?" she muttered.

"Zane is still with Kamran and Tony hasn't left his quarters," Sean's voice said softly in her ear.

The tiny communicator they'd placed below the surface of her skin still itched and it took a lot of concentration not to reach up and scratch it.

"And you're sure Jenny is here?"

"She came in with Bobby, one of our junior security guards. He's not answering any of his calls."

Fallon nodded her head and got ready to suck back another drink when she saw Jenny emerge from a hall near the back of the bar.

"Sara won't be pleased to learn someone discovered our spot," Davin said in her other ear. "Now we'll have to limit our activities to the observation room.

Fallon brought her drink to her lips quickly to hide her smile. "Okay, I'm going to make contact."

She slid from the barstool and made her way to the dance floor where Jenny was flirting with one of the security soldiers. The man's attention immediately s.h.i.+fted from Jenny to Fallon and he gave her a bright smile.

"Now I know I haven't seen you on the station before."

Fallon would have played the game for Jenny's benefit, but it was at that moment she noticed the look of frustration on the other woman's face.

"You know, I hate to tear Jenny away from you, but I need her for a moment."

Without giving her any chance to refuse, Fallon slipped her arm around Jenny's and half led, half dragged her to the hallway she'd come from only moments ago.

"There isn't a camera in that hall, so we won't be able to watch. Say my name if things go badly," Davin said softly to her.

She looked up at the security camera in the corner of the ceiling as they walked past and winked at it. Her heart pounded a little bit faster when she pulled Jenny inside and shut the door behind them.

"What the f.u.c.k are you doing?" Jenny screeched at her. "Even on a colony where no one knows us, you have to come along and f.u.c.k up my chances at having a little fun."

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"Jenny, I'm sorry, I never intended-"

"I don't give a rat's a.s.s if you're sorry." Jenny jerked her arm away, crossed her hands across her chest and glared at Fallon. "Do you know how sick I am of hearing about you? f.u.c.k! Nate talked about you obsessively. Fallon did this. Fallon's so sweet.

You make me sick."

Jenny was panting by the end of her rant. Her eyes were filled with tears and her normally pale face was beet red. Fallon felt her world spinning and was forced to lean back against the opposite wall so she wouldn't lose her balance.

"I'm sorry," Fallon whispered. "I had no idea."

"Fallon, you need to focus," Sean's steady voice rea.s.sured her. "Jenny could be a killer."

But standing there looking at the other woman, Fallon didn't see a killer. What she did see was a broken heart.

"How could you not have known? Men on the Damara practically threw themselves at your feet."

"Maybe because I wasn't interested."

"You weren't interested in Nate? Or Lukas? How could you walk away from men like that?"

She knew Jenny didn't understand and she wasn't about to explain her need to be dominated in bed by a man she could trust. While Nate was handsome, she knew he could never take charge the way she wanted. And Lukas, there was no way she'd ever trust a man like him. He was too much like her ex, f.u.c.k them and leave if they don't live up to expectations.

A stream of tears rolled down Jenny's face and Fallon finally realized what was wrong with her. She pushed away from the wall and went over Jenny, wrapping her arms around her in a hug.

"Leave me alone, b.i.t.c.h."

"You were in love with Nate."

Jenny sucked in a breath and she stared at Fallon. "How did...I didn't tell anyone."

Fallon pushed a strand of Jenny's black hair behind her ear and smiled. "There was never anything between us. He was just a friend."

"I know," Jenny said quietly after a minute. "He talked about you all the time. I just never felt like I had a chance with him because you were there."

"I'm so sorry."

Jenny let out a bitter laugh. "I guess it doesn't matter now. He's gone, we're here and his killer is still running around on the s.h.i.+p."