Page 63 of Agent's Integrity

“Sounds good to me.” She gave me a squeeze before releasing me. I scratched at the base of one of my dreadlocks and cleared my throat.

Julia nodded, as though agreeing it was time to move on to other things. “We ought to go join the others. I’m sure Emerson will want Steel and I to start interrogating his men as soon as possible.”

Some of my light mood diminished. “Be careful around Steel. Darkness follows in his wake.”

She shivered. “I agree. He’s dangerous.”

“He’s a panther.”

“A panther?”

“Panthers are powerful guardians; he’ll protect those he loves with his last breath. Death lives in their shadows. I have met a few of them, and he is by far the deadliest. I’m not sure he’s an enemy, but he is certainly not safe.”

“Agreed.” She rubbed her forehead. “I’m heading down to get something to eat. Are you coming?”

I shook my head. “There’s something I need to do first, but I’ll be down before long.”

She nodded and moved to the door. When she set her hand on the knob, she paused and looked over her shoulder. “I understand why you didn’t tell me about your past. I…I don’t like the fact that you are connected to something that brings me such pain, but I know you and drugs are not the same thing. I know you are changing your life, and that means more than your past. Thank you for telling me.”

I nodded to her, grateful she understood why I did what I did and could still forgive me. “Thank you for telling me about your past too. Seems we are both trying to change ourselves.”

A faint smile settled on her face, and she left, closing the door behind her. I dropped back onto the bed and let the air out of my lungs in a rush. I felt confused now, and I wasn’t sure how to fix it. I rubbed my jaw and sighed. I was drawn to her, and more than just a little. It had been a long time since I was attracted to someone, and I wasn’t sure what to do about it. There was so much going on, and she was right about feelings developing in situations like this. Often, they didn’t last.

But there was something different about her. I’d felt it from the beginning. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but I didn’t think my feelings were produced by adrenaline. Although I didn’t understand my feelings, I couldn’t deny that there were feelings there. And she had feelings for me, too.

That thought made me smile and I touched my lips. Her kiss had been light. I wondered if she was afraid. She probably was. With our pasts, I couldn’t blame her for being unsure about the attraction between us.

This wasn’t the time to pursue a relationship, so I knew I needed to set it aside and be patient. There were more important things to worry about. Like the fact that people were still out there trying to track Julia down and kill her, and now me as well. That needed to take precedence. And we were also trying to help a mercenary track down a shipment of weapons that was stolen before he could turn them over to a mob boss. That certainly complicated things.

My part in all of that was to check in with Goliath and see if he knew anything about what was going on with Archuleta. That was something I could do. I grabbed a tablet I had borrowed from Emerson off the chair and clicked it on. I sent a message to Sosa telling him I needed to call him as soon as he was free.

He messaged me back almost immediately saying he was free, so I clicked the call button. It took only a few moments for him to answer, and his face appeared on the screen. “Ethan.Da mein, my friend.”

I couldn’t help but smile when his familiar features filled the screen. “Da mein. What have you done with your hair?”

Sosa chuckled and ran his hand over his skull. Where long dreads used to be there was now a scant two inches of hair. “I made a change. It was past time for it.” He turned his head to the side so I could see where the lower half of his scalp was completely shaved. “What do you think?”

“You look like a punk. Like when we were fifteen and you decided to go bald. That didn’t last long.”

He squinted at me, making his already dark eyes look black. “You’re just jealous.”

I laughed. “That’s exactly what it is.” I peered closer at the tattoo that stretched up his neck and touched the sides of his face. “I see you’ve added another bit to your tattoo.”

“You like?” He turned his face the other way and poked at his skin. “The branches are finished and most of the leaves are done. I only have one more session until the tree is complete.”

The tattoo did look pretty good. “I like it. Fits you well.”

Sosa smiled, flashing white teeth at me. It looked like he was in a den or a living room. He dropped onto a sofa and propped his face on his fist. “What’s up,rinwayo?You aren’t using your normal account. I thought you were on some dried-up planet chasing the rain?”

Some of the humor left me. “Well, I was. Something happened, and now I could use a little help.”

He sobered up immediately. “Anything, E. What’s going on?”

I licked my lips and tried to sort out exactly what I should and shouldn’t tell him. “I was on Cadium, working, when some men appeared with a woman and tried to kill her, right in front of me.”

“Let me guess: you saved her?” Sosa almost smirked. “Always the gentleman.”

“Yes, okay, I got her away from them and back to my ship. We don’t know who they are, but they want her dead. Badly. We had a few close calls on the planet, but we got away, though they damaged my ship severely, and we could only make it as far as Esmuna, and she needs to get back to Viridis.”

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