Trapped: A SciFi Convict Romance (The Condemned Book 1) Read online

  “Thank you.” It would have to be enough. She and Winthrop would never again have the clear-cut, protocol-sanctioned relationship that had guided their interactions before the crash, but they were on their way to building something more real.

  “Try not to worry too much,” he urged. “The rescue team will definitely be more cautious in their approach. Dismissing this latest crash as pilot error won’t be so easy yet again.”

  “How do we know they’ll come at all? Maybe they’ll decide it’s too dangerous.”

  “They’ll come. They know there is at least one Command Council survivor.” The tips of his ears turned red again. “It’s why we put the tracker in me as opposed to the ship. To contend with precisely this kind of scenario. Not to mention that the Command Council is desperate to know what we’ve found. It’s why they insisted I keep mum about the potential dangers of this mission in the first place. I shouldn’t discuss Command Council business, but they need this mission to succeed.” His voice dropped. “They’re nervous. Too much more failure and famine and they’ll lose the hold they have on the people.”

  Such a tangled web.

  She could only imagine how complicated it would become if the Command Council learned replicating the same conditions on Earth as Dragath25 would be impossible without extensive water supplies. Not only would the race be on to civilize and then strip Dragath25 of all its plants and soil, but all its water as well. The Council would stop at nothing to protect their power and add to their coffers. A scenario she didn’t think 225 and his pack would easily allow. And Caine would be right in the middle of it all.

  She swallowed hard. At least now, thanks to Winthrop’s revelations, she knew what she had to do.

  Winthrop’s gaze shifted to the sky. “By my calculations, they’ll be here any day now.” His expression brightened. “We’ll be able to go home.”

  “Not if the shuttle crashes.”

  Winthrop was as bad as all the rest on this point. Despite knowing about the previous crashes, he seemed almost deliberate in his refusal to consider what would likely happen to the rescue shuttle when it tried to find them. She’d witnessed it before with him. He preferred to bury his head in the sand when the predicted outcome didn’t suit what he wanted.

  But she couldn’t let him get away with it this time. After all, she couldn’t save anyone, least of all Caine and her siblings, if she couldn’t stop the rescue shuttle from crashing.

  “We have to figure out how to warn them. We can’t just hope for the best. Or think my pathetic pile of rocks spelling out danger will be enough of a warning.” She didn’t think Caine would stop working on his jammer, but she couldn’t know for sure—and even he hadn’t been certain he could ever get it to work in the first place. “Let’s meet in an hour to brainstorm more ideas. But first I’m going to bring some more rocks for defense. You should have Ava check on your bandage. And tell her we’ve made up. She worries about us all.”

  She turned to go. His hand landed on her shoulder. “I don’t want you to think what happened before…with that prisoner…matters. Once we get off this hellhole, everything here will seem like a bad dream. Easily forgotten.”

  Her stomach turned over. She knew he meant his words as a kindness, but what if she didn’t want to forget? Caine was a memory she intended to hold onto forever. And she was never going back to the accepting lump she’d been under Command Council protocol. She understood why Winthrop clung to the system. It served him well. But she wanted better for her brother and sister. For herself.

  “Pogue, come quick!” The panicked shout of one of the soldiers drew her attention. Within seconds, she was hurrying to where the soldiers had gathered. Winthrop right behind.

  “What’s wrong?” Her words came out in a wheezing rush.

  Pogue looked worried. “Ransom says he can't find Pratt or Cadet Davies.”

  “What?” She grabbed Ransom’s arm. A short squat guy with a permanent blank stare, he was content to take orders and ask no question, the perfect underling for Pogue. “Where did you last see them?”

  “On the plateau.” Ransom pointed up and to the left. “I was on watch.”

  It was the small plateau they’d all climbed numerous times. Ava had been particularly keen on collecting soil samples from there these last couple of days. Dirt was her specialty, and she’d agreed that those reflective mineral arrowheads might just be the most critical discovery of this mission. Though Bella had noticed her colleague had also taken to just going up there to stare at the sky, a haunted look on her face.

  “Cadet Davies was working,” continued Ransom, “and Pratt was supposed to relieve me for lookout duty. I saw them coming down the cliff, near the caves. Then something bright flashed overhead and…and I must have blinked. When I looked down, they were gone.”

  “Shit.” Mitchell, Pogue’s second-in-command and a first-grade asshole in his own right, shifted restlessly, his usual smirk nowhere to be seen. “I hate this place.”

  “One of them must have fallen. Or been hurt.” Bella tugged on Ransom’s arm. “Show me where you last saw them. We need to find them before something else does.”

  Ransom shook his head, his boots locked into the dirt, his gaze on Pogue. “I looked for them on the way down.” He swallowed hard. “All I found was Pratt’s gun.”

  “That can’t be.”

  Ransom’s frown lengthened. “I’m telling you. I looked. I shouted. They weren’t there. Just Pratt’s gun. No signs of even a scuffle. Or footprints. It’s like they just disappeared.”

  “They’ve got to be somewhere,” Bella snapped. “We have to widen our search.”

  Pogue swung his gun from his shoulder, positioning it in front of him at the ready. His gaze scanned the perimeter. “We need to get to our own cave.”

  Without hesitation, Ransom fell into line beside him. The five remaining soldiers did the same.

  “No.” Bella could not believe Pogue was doing this again. “We can’t cower inside. We need to go look for them.”

  “And die with them?” sneered Mitchell.

  Pogue’s hard gaze bore into her. “I’ve already lost too many men. I’m not losing any more.” His stare flickered to Winthrop, challenge in his gaze. “I’m certain the Command Council would agree as that’s standard crisis protocol.” He gave the signal to move out. “Keep your guns at the ready, men. We don’t know what’s out there.” Dust filled the air as the soldiers’ boots shuffled forward.

  A hand grabbed her arm. “I’ll go with you to look. Council protocol or not.” Winthrop stood by her side, a determined look on his face. “We’re not leaving Ava out there.”

  Relief washed over Bella, but it was short-lived. A quick scan of Winthrop proved he was breathing heavily from even that short run. Even more telling, the hand wrapped around his rib revealed the true extent of his pain. He’d never be able to help her against whatever was out there.

  There was only one man who could.

  “Jim, thank you.” She covered his hand with hers, hiding her small smile at the way his eyes widened in surprise at her brazen use of his first name. “But you need to stay here.” She searched for an explanation that would leave him some pride. “We have no idea what condition Ava and Pratt will be in when I bring them back.” She refused to contemplate any other alternative. “I need you to be ready with supplies by the time I return. We know Pogue won’t have done a damn thing.”

  “That’s crazy. You can't go alone.”

  She squeezed his hand. “I…I won’t be alone.”

  Understanding dawned, pain and resentment flaring in Winthrop’s eyes before his expression shuddered altogether. “I see.”

  She didn’t have time to gently handle a Command Council ego right now.

  “Caine is Ava’s best hope.” At least she hoped he would be. After the terrible way they’d parted, she didn’t know if he would help her or not. But she’d beg. She’d grovel. She’d do anything if it meant finding Ava.

  Spear l
ocked tight in her grip, she took off at a run.

  She’d gone about half a metral when a large object stepped into her path.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Bella opened her mouth to scream, her spear coming up and forward.

  “It’s me.” Caine blocked her thrust with his arm.

  “Oh, my God, I’m sorry. I saw a dark blur. I thought you were something else.” Her gaze ran the length of him. His scratches had healed. He looked good. And strong. And close enough to touch. Her chest grew tight. “Did I hurt you?”

  He shook his head, his expression grim. “You thought I was whatever got Ava.”

  Surprise thundered through her. “You know?”

  “I heard.”

  “How?”

  A beat of silence. “I was watching.”

  “Watching?” She didn’t understand. “Did you see what took them?”

  Regret flickered across his face. “I wasn’t watching Ava.” His stare bore into her.

  Because he was watching me.

  A warm feeling swept through her. All this time, she’d thought he’d let her go without a fight, but he’d been with her all along. Still protecting her. Still guarding her. Despite all that had happened.

  There was so much to say, but only one thing she could ask right now. “Will you help me find her?”

  “Of course.”

  That was all it took.

  They spent the next several hours looking. They started at the last known sighting and worked outward in larger and larger circles, searching the caves and the surrounding area.

  In the end, they found nothing. Which meant there was truly nothing to find. No footprints. No signs of struggle. No clues as to what had happened to Ava or the other soldier Pratt. Because Caine’s tracking skills were amazing and meticulous, and if there had been anything to find, he would have.

  By the time evening came, despair and desperation had settled over her like a heavy cloak. Thoughts of her friend hurt or afraid played over and over in her mind until she thought she might grow mad.

  “Bella, look out.”

  Caine’s sharp warning brought her head jerking up. She took a hurried shuffle-step to the side. She’d been so focused on scouring the ground right in front of her that she hadn’t realized she’d ventured too close to the cliff edge.

  “I think you need to stop.” His black gaze flickered in the light of the glow stick he pulled from his pack.

  “No. I’m not stopping. You…you should go. I know it’s only going to get more dangerous as the night wears on, and I don’t want you running into Pogue and his men either. I can’t thank you enough for all you’ve done.”

  He stared at her, his jaw tight, frustration pouring off him—and she braced herself for another scene like at his home—but he didn’t say another word. Didn’t bark an order. Or stalk toward her. Instead, after one more disapproving look in her direction, he turned and resumed searching again.

  If she hadn’t been so terrified for Ava, she would have broken down with relief and gratitude. But now wasn’t the time so she blinked hard against the sudden sting in her eyes and returned to the tedious task of examining the ground for any sign that might tell her what had happened to her friend.

  Another two hours later the glow stick began to fade while the hisses and howls of tigos and Dragath25’s nocturnal creatures grew louder and more frequent and the ground was literally starting to blur. So much so, she missed a big rock right in front of her face.

  She stumbled and would have fallen flat if strong arms hadn’t caught her.

  “That’s it.” This time Caine’s declaration brooked no argument. There was no anger in his voice, no wildness either, only determination. He set her solidly on her feet and dropped his arms.

  She missed his warmth.

  “We’re done looking for tonight,” he declared. “We both need to be alert and well if we have any shot of finding Ava.”

  He was right. She knew he was right and still…it was hard to give up. “I don’t understand why we can’t find any clue of what might have taken them or where they went.”

  “It’s definitely strange.” There was an unusual hesitance to his voice.

  “Why does it sound like you known something you’re not telling me?”

  He shifted his weight from one boot to the other. “I’ve heard rumors. Rumors of other prisoners disappearing into thin air.”

  “Taken by something like the saybak?” The thought of Ava in the clutches of that flying beast made her sick.

  “No, those creatures are vegetarians. They may use fire when threatened, but they don’t go around stealing people from the sky.” He worked his jaw as if he were debating whether to say more.

  “Tell me, please.”

  “When I first arrived, there was talk that Earth wasn’t the only one using this planet. Prisoners whispered not to get caught alone. Until today, I thought those rumors were just another scare tactic by 225 and his men to keep the others in line.”

  “Not the only ones? Are you…do you mean…aliens?”

  A few centuries ago, scientists had figured out how to travel to adjacent solar systems—an amazing accomplishment celebrated for a short time as the hope of humanity’s future—until it was discovered that no other habitable planets existed within. Plans to explore farther, to figure out how to travel greater distances had been in the development stages when the first waves of famine and blight had hit and efforts had to be abandoned. Still, speculation had been rife that further exploration would not only uncover more livable planets, but contact with alien life.

  To think that it had happened already. On Dragath25. And that Ava had been taken by some of them….

  “Oh, God,” Bella whispered. “If it was aliens, we’ll never find her.”

  Caine’s hands fisted at his side. “I didn’t say it was true. Just that it was something we need to consider. We’ll know more after we search again tomorrow. I want to take another look at the caves in the light.”

  “Right.” She stared at his hands. Wishing he would unclasp them and put his arms around her. Touch her. Hold her. Comfort her. But the fact was, she had no right to ask. That had never been their deal to begin with.

  And she was far less certain of where they stood now than ever before.

  Tension vibrated between them, a livewire of awareness she didn’t know how to interpret. He’d set no terms for what he wanted in return for his help searching for Ava. She wasn’t even sure what she wished he’d ask for, though the thought of saying goodbye and simply walking away made her eyes sting all over again.

  “There’s a small overhang less than five metrals from where Ava was taken,” he said at last. “We’ll stay there for the night.”

  So…she was staying with him.

  Her relief was embarrassingly immense. As were her nerves. They’d never been lovers in the true sense of the word, and yet he knew her body, her dark needs and cravings, better than anyone. From the first time, his touch had brought her nothing but pleasure. He’d seen the best and worst of her. It made her feel close to him in a way she’d never felt for another living soul. And vulnerable. Too vulnerable.

  She hadn’t been wrong about any of the things she’d said to him after the tigos attack, but she wished now that she’d stopped to think if maybe things weren’t so black and white. She’d accused him of being afraid, but the fact was, she’d been afraid, too. Afraid of being rejected. Afraid she was becoming nothing more than another burden. Afraid he cared too little. Afraid she’d never measure up to a wife she hadn’t even known he’d had. So she’d run before giving him time to make things right.

  But she wasn’t running now. Because time away had let her see that, as much as it hurt to have only a small part of him, it hurt a lot worse to have none at all.

  Determined, she stepped beneath the overhang. Soft, comforting light spilled into the space indicating Caine had engaged yet another of his glow sticks. A heavy hand fell on her shoulder.

/>   “Bella?”

  She swiveled around, her throat tight. She liked hearing her name on his lips.

  “I’m sorry.”

  She stared at him, her heart beating hard. Was he expressing regret over Ava’s disappearance? Or what had happened between them? His grim expression gave nothing away.

  “Helping me look for Ava today,” she began, “that’s more than I can ever repay.”

  “I don’t want repayment.” The glow stick thudded to the ground. His hands cupped her shoulders, his voice rough and low. “I don’t want anything in return.” He cleared his throat. “I shouldn’t have gone after you like that. I said you’d be safe with me, and then I did the unthinkable.”

  “You were dealing with some old stuff, I think.” She wasn’t going to tip-toe around the issue anymore. “Your wife and what happened with her.”

  “That’s no excuse. I trained as a soldier and a pilot and spent a lot of years fighting on Earth. But I never once raised a hand against a woman. Even when Gwen and I weren’t getting along. Even when she slept around. I don’t think I deserve praise for that. It’s…it’s just how a real man behaves. But…but I lost it with you and,” he blew out a breath, “and I’ve done a lot of bad shit in my life, but I never felt truly ashamed until that moment.”

  Needing to touch him, she slid her hands along his skin until her palms covered his wide shoulders. “Like you said, this place twists us all. You’re a good man.”

  She could scarcely believe he was sharing so much of himself.

  He swallowed hard. “By the time we met, I’d become more beast than man. Living alone. Caring only for myself. But you changed that. Touching you, being with you, watching you care so much for everyone and everything around you, brought me a little bit more back to myself. And the thought of losing that…of losing you….” His hold tightened. “You were one hundred percent right. I was afraid. I didn’t want to let you in further. I didn’t want to go back to what I was before you….then I lost you anyway.”