Page 111 of Journey to the Forbidden Zone

He paused, letting the implication hang. Nick would have laughed at his lies if his life didn’t depend on them. There was no chance Díaz knew shit about the Forbidden Zone.

The expression on C’Aard’s face changed. He was thinking, considering.

“But I can find her,” Nick pressed, his voice dropping, becoming colder, more persuasive. “I know her routes. Her contacts. Her weaknesses.” He let a cruel smile touch his lips. “I know what breaks her.

“You want your asset back? Alive? Or just proof she’s erased? I can deliver either. But you need someone who can move in the shadows she knows. Someone she won’t see coming until it’s too late. Someone …” he met C’Aard’s eyes squarely, “… who wants her broken just as much as you want your toy back.”

Silence hung thick and heavy. The hum of the stealth ship’s systems was the only sound. C’Aard stared at him, his chest rising and falling rapidly.

“Why?” C’Aard finally spat, the word loaded with suspicion. “What’s this woman to you?”

“Because she cost me my ship, my crew, my reputation. I want her crawling. I want herbegging.

“And then I want her dead.” The raw hatred in his voice was genuine, a furnace blast. “You get your asset. I get my revenge. Our interests align, Mr. President.”

Another agonizing pause. C’Aard looked away, his fingers steepled before his face, trembling slightly. He knew he was cornered. Nick could see it in his eyes. He couldn’t risk his career, his life over this.

“Listen, Mr. President,” he added, twisting the knife one more turn, “you send these assholes into the Forbidden Zone, and they mess it up again, it’ll all come back on you. A government stealth ship in Forbidden space? Good luck explaining that to the Senate and the press.

“But a smuggler? A pirate? I’m easy to cut loose. You can tell everyone you had nothing to do with me. Hell, if I screw up, I won’t even be connected to you.

“All I need is a ship and a free hand. I’ll get your prize back for you. And I’ll make the woman who took her from you pay.”

C’Aard met his gaze. Nick knew in an instant he’d convinced him. The last line had done it. Ronaal C’Aard wanted revenge, too.

“Fine,” the UPA president said. “Have your vengeance. Just bring me my property.”

The viewscreen went dark. K’Shaa looked pissed.

A wave of cold triumph washed over Nick Corso. He’d turned death into opportunity. He’d bought himself a ship, a mission, and another shot at Carmen Díaz.

This time, he wouldn’t miss.