Page 24 of Arresting the Warlord

I stripped down, stepped into the shower and fiddle with the controls.

“Blue to start. Red to stop. Yellow is air dry.”Jake advised.

“Thanks.”I unpinned my bun and allowed my long black hair to tumbled down my back. I tossed the pins in the corner. Hitting the blue button, I sighed in pleasure as jets of hot, pulsating water pounded my stiff muscles. I closed my eyes. It was better than a massage.

“Don’t fall asleep on me. We still have a lot to do.”

My eyes popped open.“Stay out of my head.”

“No can do. Only death can sever our mental link. I can sense when you’re happy, worried, or hurt,”Jake advised.

“That’s how you knew I had been shot.”

“It is. Get a move on it. We’re dining with Zarek and Uncle Saul.”

“Oh yay.”I hit the yellow button. Hell’s tornado spun around me. I let out a yelp and hit the red button. The hurricane of hot air stopped. “That’s one way to get dry.”

I stepped out of the shower and realized my uniform, weapons belt and boots were gone.“What did you do with my stuff?”

“Shrek collected them for safekeeping.”

“I’m never unarmed,”I grumbled.

“Along with the battle armor, you get a weapons upgrade.”

“I want my stun gun back.”

“I’ll retrieve it for you,”Jake promised.

I quickly dressed and to my surprise everything fit perfectly. Rats. My hair pins had vanished in the hurricane. “Got a rubber band or a hair clasp? I need to braid my hair.”

“I have something better.”

“Okay. Did Zarek find out who the three stooges work for?”I was dying of curiosity.

“Giovanni Dragos.”

“Is he related to me?”

Jake popped into the room. “A distant cousin.”

“When I was trying to find my birth father, I researched the Dragos clan. They’re mostly conmen and thieves.”

“You never found Aldo Dragos?” Jake seemed surprised.

“Nope, I stopped looking when the Dragos assassins kept showing up. I still have no idea why they wanted us dead.”

“Do you think Aldo sent them after you?”

I shrugged. “Father interrogated some of the hired assassins. He discovered there was a million-credit bounty on my head, but none of the hired guns knew why.”

“Maybe I can help with that. Central Command has a lot of data on the Dragos clan.”

“You would do that for me?”

“Without hesitation. We need to know why they want you dead. If we can find Aldo, you can ask him in person.” Jake sat on the bench and held up some long bronze chains. “Sit down and I’ll braid your hair.”

“I can braid my own hair.”

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