Odd Girl Out

Carefully, I turned around, my hand still inside my jacket. Lieutenant Bhatami had appeared from some nook or cranny inside the spaceport and was striding through the foyer toward me, flanked by a pair of cops with guns in their hands. Bhatami's own sidearm was still in its holster, but his hand was resting on the grip.

'Hello, Lieutenant,' I greeted him, easing my hand out of my jacket and holding it out to demonstrate its emptiness. 'What brings you here at this ungodly hour?'

'My job,' Bhatami said as the three of them reached me. Behind me, the police cars had braked to a group halt, and I could hear the sounds of multiple doors opening as they spilled their own collection of cops onto the circular drive. 'Hands behind your back, please,' the lieutenant added as his two fellow cops veered off and approached me warily from both sides.

'What's going on?' I asked, doing as he ordered. One of the cops stepped close and cuffed my wrists together at the small of my back.

'Let's start with what you're doing here,' Bhatami said, stepping close to me and pulling my Beretta from its holster. 'Odd time of night to be leaving the planet.'

'I wasn't leaving the planet,' I said. 'My assistant and I checked into the Hanging Gardens and I came back here to pick up our luggage.'

'In a very nice van,' Bhatami commented, running his eye over it. 'A rental?'

'No, I borrowed it from Mr. Veldrick,' I told him. There was no point in lying—they would have had the tag data before I'd even parked. 'He had some equipment he needed to send out to the Tube. Since I was coming out here anyway, I volunteered to bring the crates along and put them into secure storage until the next torchferry run.'

'You talked to Mr. Veldrick personally about all this?' Bhatami asked.

'We discussed it earlier this evening, yes,' I said, choosing my words carefully.

'It would have to have been earlier, wouldn't it?' Bhatami's gaze shifted to a point over my shoulder, 'Isantra Golovek?' he invited.

'That is the one,' a Filly voice came from behind me.

I turned, squinting at the bright lights of the police cars still pointed in my direction. It was my old friend Comet Nose, striding toward me with a cop on either side of him. 'Yes, it is definitely the one I saw,' Comet Nose continued. 'It was he who murdered Mr. Veldrick.'

'Thank you,' Bhatami said. 'Frank Donaldson, you're under arrest for the murder of Anton Charl Veldrick. Sergeant, take him to the station for booking.'

'Wait a second,' I protested as one of the cops took my arm and started to pull me toward the assembled cars. 'That's it? An uncorroborated accusation from a single alien, and that's it?'

'Patience, Mr. Donaldson,' Bhatami said, eyeing me closely. 'You're acting as if you've already been convicted and sentenced.'

'I'm acting as if I'm sitting in the middle of a massive setup,' I countered. 'Those crates contain highly valuable equipment. Am I supposed to just trust that your men will resist the temptation of pilferage after I've been hauled off?'

'No need,' Bhatami assured me. 'Those crates are evidence in an ongoing investigation. As such, they'll be returning to the station along with you and secured in the evidence room.' He cocked an eyebrow. 'If it'll make you feel any better, I can arrange for you to ride in the van along with them.'

'And the rest will also be secured?' Comet Nose put in.

'Yes, as soon as it's been located,' Bhatami assured him.

'The rest of what?' I asked.

'The rest of the material you allegedly took from Mr. Veldrick's house,' Bhatami said. 'Isantra Golovek gave us a full description.'

I frowned. What was he talking about? The pieces of coral they'd loaded aboard their cars?

And then, suddenly, I understood. 'Let me guess,' I said. 'Several metal boxes the size of Quadrail lockboxes?'

'What makes you say that?' Bhatami asked, eyeing me thoughtfully.

'Because I've recently seen boxes like that,' I told him. 'Only not at Mr. Veldrick's house. They're the property of someone else entirely.'

'If so, the owner has nothing to worry about,' Bhatami assured me. 'Assuming this person you name can prove title, the boxes will be promptly returned.'

I sent a sour look at Comet Nose, noting again the subtle cues of Modhran control reflected in his long face. So that was the new game plan. The Modhri didn't particularly care if the murder frame-up against me worked or not. In fact, he probably didn't even care if Bhatami ultimately returned Rebekah's boxes to her. All he wanted was the chance to get his coral outpost and her boxes all thrown in together in the police evidence room. 'And where exactly am I alleged to have stashed these other boxes?' I asked.

'Your assistant was alleged to have driven off with them in another car,' Bhatami said. 'We're looking for her now.'

I looked around at the collection of cops loitering around us. There were eight of them, plus Bhatami and the two who'd been hiding in the spaceport building with him. 'That's a neat trick, considering most of your force seems to be right here,' I commented.

'We're a larger department than you seem to think, Mr. Donaldson,' Bhatami said. 'And the group here will be back on patrol duty as soon as you and your cargo have been properly secured.' Stepping forward, he took my upper arm at the elbow. 'Now, as you'd expressed interest in riding in the van with the crates—'

'Lieutenant!' one of the cops at the edge of the pack cut in. 'Car approaching along the south access road.'

'Take him,' Bhatami ordered, shoving me toward one of the other cops. Drawing his gun, he stepped to the front of Veldrick's van and pressed himself against it, his eyes on the approaching headlights.

This was it—McMicking was finally making his move. I took a casual half step forward, easing a little in front of the cop who now had me in tow. As I did so, my cuffed hands brushed the key ring on his belt, a ring that included the key to my cuffs. If whatever McMicking had in mind was spectacular enough, I ought to be able to get my hands free while everyone else's attention was distracted.

The car was still approaching, running rather faster than seemed prudent. Was it a diversion, rigged with a tied-down steering wheel and braced accelerator? I glanced surreptitiously around the rest of the spaceport grounds, searching for a sign of the real attack.

But instead of crashing into the parked police cars, the incoming car turned sharply to avoid them and braked to a halt directly behind my van. As it settled into the glare of the police cars' headlights, I saw that it was Karim's car.

'Out of the car,' Bhatami shouted. 'Keep your hands where we can see them.'

'Don't shoot,' a female voice called back. The two front doors opened.

And Bayta and Rebekah stepped out into the light.

I shot a look at Comet Nose. Even given his alien physiology, I had no trouble seeing the satisfaction on his face. For over a month he'd been searching for this girl, and now here she was, walking right into his arms.

And because I was watching Comet Nose, I completely missed Bhatami's own reaction. 'Rebekah Beach?' he demanded, his voice sounding annoyed and stunned and relieved all at the same time.

I switched my gaze to the lieutenant. He'd holstered his gun and was hurrying over to the car, his expression the same combination of annoyed and stunned and relieved that I'd heard in his voice. 'Where in h—? Where have you been?'

'Hello, Lieutenant Bhatami,' Rebekah said, her own voice quiet and subdued. 'I know, and I'm sorry'

'Sorry doesn't begin to cover it,' Bhatami chided. Giving Bayta a quick, speculative look, he took Rebekah's arm and led her away from the car toward our little group of cops. 'The whole department's been looking for you for the past month, ever since your sister left.'

'I've been hiding,' Rebekah said simply. Her eyes brushed Comet Nose and me and then turned back to Bhatami. 'There are people who want to hurt me.' She hesitated. 'They hurt Lorelei, too. She's …' Her voice faded away.

A muscle in Bhatami's cheek tightened briefly 'Yes, I know,' he said gently. 'The word came in from Earth