Page 14 of Colvin
She squirted her favorite splurge perfume on in the key spots and then picked out her sexiest lingerie set, in black lace trimmed with a hint of gold. Anticipation for the afternoon was running high in her emotions and she ached to be with Colvin in bed again. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, she chanted to herself as she debated between two sundresses, neither of which Colvin had seen before. Finally selecting one, she put on her cork heeled sandals and walked into the living room to get her purse and a light sweater.
Stopping on the threshold she froze.
Her ex stood in the small space, grinning ear to ear in a way that reliably portended trouble when they’d lived together. When the abuse first started she’d tried to appease him or cajole him into a better mood which she came to learn didn’t work. It was a game to him and her attempts to avoid the abuse he planned to mete out were part of the cat and mouse situation he thrived on. ”Been a long time, babe. You look real sexy—too bad the guy you’ve been seeing won’t ever get to enjoy it.”
“You can’t be here,” she said, terror for Darien making it hard to talk. Thank the Lords of Space he was safe at childcare. “I have an interstellar restraining order.”
“Did you learn nothing while under my roof? The Combine doesn’t pay any attention to pieces of paper. We’re more powerful than any bureaucrat you told lies to. I will say you led me a pretty dance, hiding yourself and my kid away here. Gonna have to be punishment for that.” His eyes gleamed and Ivy backed up a step. Meting out ‘punishment’ had been one of his favorite activities by the end of her relationship with him.
Spinning on her heel, she fled to the kitchen, hoping to grab a knife and escape out the door. Unfortunately the apartment complex was largely deserted at this hour since the IDA employees were at work but there might be someone who could help. She heard Ronn right behind her, laughing and as she opened the door, she ran into a wall of muscle. One of Ronn’s Amarotu goons was standing there to prevent her escape. He easily disarmed her, hurting her wrist in the process and held her by the elbow in a punishing grip.
“We’re going to walk outside to my groundcar as nicely as if we’re going to lunch,” Ronn said. “Behave yourself and I won’t add to your punishments.”
“I’m not going to help you find Darien,” she said, desperation making her voice hard despite her terror..
“Already took care of that, babe.” Ronn waved a finger in her face. “You think I came all this way for you? Of course not, gotta bring my son home and raise him the way he needs to be brought up, in the Combine way. I coulda just called in a hit on you and written off my loss but when it comes to my flesh and blood, no way I could leave him out here. We can do this easy or we can do it hard, your choice, but you are going into the car.”
Inspired by sheer terror, she decided to fight, hopeless as it was. She had a vague thought if she delayed Ronn long enough, his plans would be disrupted. Surely someone would come. She was no match for the two men and shortly her wrists were in a force lock behind her back, covered by the sweater. She had bruises and possibly a broken rib where Ronn had kicked her when his henchman knocked her to the floor. It hurt to breathe, her head pounded and she could barely walk but they got her out of the apartment and into the back seat of the waiting groundcar. Ronn held a knife to her side, threatening to kill her if she made any noise or tried to make a scene.
The area was as deserted as she’d feared, with only the gardening robos busily trimming the grass and the bushes. There was no help to be had from them.
As the limousine accelerated smoothly away from her cozy apartment, Ivy fought hard not to weep from pain, fear and frustration. The only good thing was they were headed toward the edge of the resort, away from the childcare location. She hoped that meant Ronn had given up on kidnapping Darien today, although she vaguely recalled he’d said he’d already taken care of that angle.
Please, Lords of Space, let him be wrong. Keep my little boy safe.
She didn’t care what happened to her as long as Darien was safe from his father. Wishing Colvin had been at her apartment this morning, she knew if he’d been there Ronn wouldn’t have succeeded. Her heart broke at the sure knowledge she’d never see him again. Ronn wouldn’t allow her to escape a second time—the way he was talking he might not even keep her alive.
Chapter Six
Colvin’s instincts switched to high alert as he rode his AGcycle up to Ivy’s apartment. She hadn’t arrived at the hotel at the appointed time and she wasn’t answering her com so he’d become worried. The door was slightly ajar which she’d never allow, as safety conscious as she was. As he got off the bike, he wished he had a blaster with him. Weapons were banned on Resort Planet but a few exceptions had been made and he was one of them, but his blaster was locked in a drawer in his hotel room. Carefully he made his way to the door and went inside. The house was too quiet and he found her purse and handheld lying on the table beside the door. Normally she never left without both. He checked the bedrooms, Darien’s in its usual messy state with toys and books covering the floor, and Ivy’s clothes strewn as if she’d been considering her entire wardrobe trying to dress for him. The bathroom was empty and then he checked the kitchen.
Heart sinking, he saw the signs of a struggle, items knocked off the countertops, a discarded knife on the floor and a few drops of blood. Rage flooded his heart, that someone had put hands on his mate and he hadn’t been here to defend her. In the living room he heard her handheld chiming so he rushed to grab it.
Goff Delain appeared in the holo field. He was much taken aback to see Colvin. “Is Ivy there? I need to speak with her at once.”
“No, she isn’t here but her purse and her handheld are. There’s obviously been a fight in the kitchen—what the seven hells is going on here, Delain?”
“We believe her son is missing too,” the resort manager told him. “He went with a teacher to gather crafts supplies from a closet in the rear storage area of the facility and neither he nor the girl have been seen since. We think she kidnapped him.”
“It’s her Amarotu ex behind this,” Colvin said. “It has to be. She told me she was afraid of him tracking them down and trying to get Darien back.”
“My security forces are on the lookout already for the boy and the teacher,” Delain said. “I’ll give them this new information and we’ll mobilize the entire department to search.”
“He won’t be here in the resort,” Colvin said. “That’s too obvious and easy. I’ll call you right back.”
His next com was to his old friend Captain Degrasay, commander of the Ardannan battleship Famptror, high in orbit above.
“Colvin, how goes the dating?” his friend asked genially when he saw who was on the call.
“There’s an unauthorized ship either in orbit or on this planet,” Colvin said crisply. “Probably Amarotu Combine but could be a privateer. I need you to find it, now.”
Captain Degrasay asked no questions but snapped an order to someone standing close by. “We’ll have the co-ordinates for you in a minute. What’s going on?”
“My fated mate and her son have been kidnapped by her ex, who’s a Combine higher up. She’s terrified of him, been running and hiding for over a year. I’m going to need help getting her back. IDA is co-operating in the search but we both know their security can’t do what we can do.”
“My Special Forces detail could use a training exercise about now,” his friend said with a perfectly straight face. “Doing a hostage extraction would be good practice for them, keep their skills sharp.” He accepted a chit from a crew person and read off a set of co-ordinates, which Colvin memorized, recognizing the spot as north of the resort, deep in the forest. “Armed shuttle from the profile. We’ve got it locked down with a reverse tractor beam. I’m sending a fighter wing to surround the mother ship in orbit. I can have a boarding party ready to go in ten minutes.”
“Don’t board until I know more,” Colvin said. “I’m assuming Ivy and her son are still here on the planet, at this shuttle. Have your men meet me there but take no action until I arrive on the scene unless absolutely necessary.”
