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“Wait a second,” I answer, not wanting to get Allie’s hopes up – especially since they’re likely to be dashed. “This is a lead – and a thin one at that.”

I look at the expression on her face.

“We’re trying, Allie – but this is nothing more than a lead right now.” I feel her focus and determination through the Bond. “Allie - don’t get any ideas. You not going to The Rhino alone. If they do have any involvement with those space-pirates, a beautiful young thing like you is going to be snatched up and sold instantly.”

Her determination is unwavering. I know she won’t take ‘no’ for an answer.

“Allie, if you go, you go with us. All four of us –together.”

Allie’s lips harden into a thin line. “I can take care of myself.”

Yesterday, I’d sensed softness from her. Vulnerability. Now, that’s gone. All I sense is a survivor in front of me. Someone who’d kill me, if I stood between her and her goals.

Allie raises her eyebrows at me. “Besides, if you three go, they’ll sniff you out in an instant. Back at Spur’s joint, I suspected you were Law Enforcement a mile away. Me going alone is a better plan.”

Anger flares up inside of me.

I respect Allie – in fact, I’d do anything for her…

…but for her to disrespect my craft?Notacceptable.

“Your former boss didn’t suspect anything,” I counter. “Be honest – you didn’t know anything for sure when we got there – and even if you did, we still got you locked away in a cell. We’ve done undercover work before, Allie – and we’ll do it again.”

I feel like I’ve been slapped when I get the realization that my words are false.

We won’t do undercover work again.

I’ve spent the last two hundred years serving Aurelian Law Enforcement. Now? Our career is over, even if nobody outside this room knows it yet. We talk about justice – but we’re about to become wanted fugitives; betrayers of the only form of justice I’d once believed existed in this universe.

Daccia is wordless. He’s sitting at the helm, concentrating on bringing us into orbit above Salcus. It’s easy enough piloting – but when you’re approaching an independent world in an Aurelian Reaver, entering orbit is the time a planet’s anti-ship defenses are most likely to ‘accidentally’ open fire, or some other incident occurs to demonstrate how the Aurelian Empire isn’t welcome on that world.

Not everyone likes Aurelians. Especially not Aurelians who arrive in an Empire-Class Reaver, which can only mean you’re working for the Army, Law Enforcement…

…or you’ve gone Rogue.

“Well,” Allie counters, “what if I decide to go alone? Are you going to stop me? Are you going to keep me locked up in the hotel room?” Her eyes narrow. “Tell me plainly, Hadrian. Am I still a prisoner?”

She’s challenging me.

Half of me wants to put her over my lap and turn her bottom red for that insolent tone. The other half? It knows she’s right.

Allie is no prisoner – but there’s still no way in hell I’m letting her walk into The Rhino alone and unprotected. From what I’ve read in the files the AI brought up, The Rhino is the kind of place you go to buy sex…

…and, if you like it, you can buy the woman who provided it.

Tempers always run hot in places like The Rhino, too. They’re hotbeds of bar fights and stabbings. It gets even worse when when Aurelians come into the pictures. The kind of guy who frequents establishments like The Rhino generally have chips on their shoulders. They find themselves feeling emasculated around Aureliens – and sometimes, such men can’t resist trying to prove that they’re the big dog around such parts.

They invariably fail – and it’s an ugly process when they do.

In short? I wouldn’t let Allie go into that place alone.

“Yes,” I warn her. “Iwillstop you. I’ll personally hold you down before I let you go into The Rhino alone.” I can’t hold back: “Are youstupid? Do youwantto follow the clues the right way? Or do you only intend to find out what happened to your little sister by sharing her fate?”

Allie’s anger is suddenly like boiling magma, scalding me through our Bond.

She also reacts physically – and I let her slap hit me hard across the cheek.

I’m actually impressed. Allie is very fast for a human. I’ve got reflexes honed by a century of combat, and two-hundred years of police training. I could have stopped her if I’d wanted, but…