He turned to follow Tex and saw Amber still standing there. It was almost as if she wanted a moment alone with him. Why? He had no idea. After all, it wasn’t like she could say anything. Or could she?
She smiled. It wasn’t just the normal sexy, seductive smile. It was something totally different. There was a softness to it. An innocence. For the first time, he felt he was looking at a smile that didn’t express an agenda. But what did it mean? What exactly was she trying to get across? Relief? Appreciation? Gratitude?
If it said anything, he thought, it was telling him thank you for making the right choice. For believing in her, for never doubting, even when Frost had told him what he had. That good guys like him didn’t always come in last. That he might still have doubts about her but she had none whatsoever about him.
Reaching out, he touched her face and gave her a smile of his own. He then pulled her to him and putting an arm around her waist, guided her back to the car.
He wished he shared her confidence in him.
Chapter 11
Lulah knew. She knew the minute she saw the “Special Report” newsfeed.
“Repeating tonight’s top story: Police and emergency crews are still on the scene of what appears to have been a fiery shootout earlier this evening at the old Spaceport Inn on Comet Tail Trail.” Kim Kennedy was the camera-friendly, blonde anchor for the local news network. Her voice was thick with drama, as she continued on, “According to anonymous sources with the local Zone Police, a group of purported asset retrieval agents were attempting to apprehend a fugitive when they came under heavy fire by an unidentified party.”
Lulah dropped her head and began rubbing her temples with the first two fingers of each hand. Damnit, Tiger. What have you done now?
“Witnesses say the firefight that broke out was very intense,” Kennedy was continuing. “Explosions, laser and rapid pulse rifle fire could be heard blocks away. Part of this historic old hotel was heavily damaged, as you can see in the video footage taken at the scene.” It appeared that the firefighters were concentrating on an upper floor. Lulah sighed with relief. It didn’t appear that any damage had been done to the lobby or bar area. She’d be heartbroken if it had.
The babysitter left thirty minutes ago. Lulah had long since shed the red dress she’d planned on wearing out tonight. She was now back in a faded old Grand Orbital souvenir t-shirt and baggy lounging pants. Too bad! The little scarlet mini was a naughty, curve-hugging number that accentuated her assets in just the right way. And those high-heels I bought to wear with it … they were soooo perfect! What a waste. She knew she still had a figure that could turn heads. She might be a couple of dress sizes bigger than she’d once been. She might no longer be the twenty-something young girl that cavorted around with dashing young pilots. That had been over a decade and two kids ago. Those days were gone forever. But for a mom pushing forty, she wasn’t doing too bad. She still had a nice rack, some killer legs, and an ass that could still stop traffic on the Skyways. And she’d wanted to show it all off tonight. Was it so wrong for a woman her age to still flaunt what she had? She loved to see those young girls’ faces, as they turned envious, seeing what a real woman’s body looked like. Eat your bulimic hearts out, ladies!
It was not only that. A woman had needs, too. Not just physical, but emotional as well. Nobody had ever met all of her needs as completely as Tiger had. It’d been too long … way too long, and she’d really been missing him lately.
Really, really bad!
She wanted to be angry. She was certainly frustrated, anxious and frightened. Kennedy had already mentioned there had been casualties. She hadn’t heard a word from him since last night. Her calls to his PDC had gone unanswered. Tiger had never stood her up … ever. Something had happened. Something very bad. For years, she’d worried about Tiger’s dabbling in obviously questionable activities. She knew he was never in port anymore without paying that lowlife Cutter a visit. Yes, they went way back; that was the excuse he always made. Maybe so, but she wasn’t stupid and she wasn’t naive. He also knew she didn’t believe a single word of the bullshit he was slinging.
But what else was he going to say? That he was dabbling in shit he had no business being in? Don’t worry that I might end up in a Space Authority satellite prison or dead under some backwater Martian dome with my throat slit? I got it all under control, Lu.
Yeah, right.
She wondered who he’d fallen in with to run afoul of bounty hunters. What kind of dogs had given him fleas? Cutter? Possibly. Low-life Bastard! How she wished she could make him disappear into thin air. He was no good for Tiger. Yet deep down, she knew that more than likely he’d become involved in someone else’s battle ... again. Taken up someone else’s fight. That was more Tiger’s style.
She wanted to be angry, but all she really could feel right now was a sickening frustration. A nauseating fear ate at her stomach like a cancer. It was the fear of the unknown, and she hated it. Not knowing was the worst torture of all. She continually pushed persistent images out of her mind that reminded her that, at this very moment, he might already be dead or dying.
The thought that
