The Star Thief (Star Thief Chronicles #1)(50)
Author: Jamie Grey

Leave Myka behind.

Leave Finn behind.

Her fingers twitched, and she forced them into her pockets. The kid had been nothing but trouble since she’d found him. And Finn…he’d already left her once. Why stay and watch a repeat performance?

She let out a growl and turned away from the market. She needed a drink before making any decisions. And she could use the time to contact the right buyer.

The closest bar was a seedy place tucked into a dank alley. When she pushed through the doors, the smoky, dark space welcomed her like she’d come home. The scent of spilled alcohol mingled with disinfectant, and her boots squelched against the floor as she made her way to the bar.

“New in the area?” the bartender asked. The Delfine smiled before leaning toward her to rest an elbow on the bar. “What’ll it be, gorgeous?”

She passed over a few credits. “A shot of Jade Sour and a beer, please.”

“Anything for you, love.” He reached under the bar and produced a small glass cylinder, snapping the top of the beer off before placing it on the counter in front of her. Then he grabbed one of the larger bottles behind him, flipping it between fingers. His spiky purple hair swayed as he tossed the amber container in the air, then poured her shot. “Anything else to go with that? My comm number perhaps?”

Renna tried not to roll her eyes. It took more than some fast fingers and smooth moves to get in her pants. “Thanks. I’m full up on my quota of bartenders for the moment, but I’ll let you know if that changes.”

She grabbed her drinks, then wove between tables to the empty booth she’d spotted in the corner. Renna sank into the seat, taking a position where she could keep an eye on the door. Wouldn’t do to get careless.

She downed the shot, chasing it with a sip of beer. The familiar warmth burned through her, and the muscles in her shoulders finally relaxed. Everything was going to be fine. She’d done this a million times before. Find the fence. Sell her stuff. Buy passage on the next ship out of here. Leave all her troubles behind.

Most of all, she needed to ignore the tickle of memories at the back of her mind. Places like this always reminded her of home, of running with the gang. Of the first time she’d met Finn and Blur and the rest of them. It had been a long time since she’d felt like that, a long time since she’d let herself trust anyone else.

Yet here she was working with another team. With Finn again. This one just followed the rules a bit more.

Godsdammit.

She raked a hand through her hair, letting her head rest in her palm for a moment. Running made her a coward, but staying…staying made her stupid.

“Call Keva,” she ordered her implant, finally looking up again.

“What is it, Renna?”

Keva’s voice hitched, and Renna’s stomach dropped. “How’s the captain?”

“Still in surgery. He’s got three broken ribs, a punctured lung, and they’re trying to stop the internal bleeding.”

Her eyes squeezed shut for a moment before she asked, “Will he be okay?”

“They haven’t said yet. Nurse says they should know more in an hour or so.”

Renna nodded, though she knew the lieutenant couldn’t see her. “Keep me posted, okay?”

“I will. Thanks for getting him out of there, Renna. Finn said you saved his life.” She let out a long exhale. “I was wrong about you, Renna. I’m sorry for being such a bitch.”

Keva’s words wrapped around her, tightening like a noose. Renna had to clear her throat before she could speak again. “Thanks. I appreciate that. And…I was just doing what Dallas brought me into do. Anyway, I’ll see you back on the ship.” She turned off her comm and drained the rest of her beer.

What the hell was she going to do?

Renna sighed. She had to stop saying that she was going to quit and just do it. Once and for all. After she’d sold the Star and the items she’d taken from Aldani, she could more than afford her luxury-garden-world dream.

Renna rummaged through her pack until her fingers closed around the strange box she’d found in the facility’s safe. What was important enough to the mercs to lock away in the middle of an impenetrable facility?

She stared at the squat metal box on the table, then flipped the latch and opened the lid to reveal a plastic bottle full of orange pills. What the hell? Renna shook one out onto her palm and studied it. Simple gelatin coating, orange grains inside. She sniffed it, but there was no scent, no clue as to what it might be. Was this what they were making in the underground lab?

Renna dropped the pill back into the bottle and locked the box. Maybe the fence would have a suggestion for a back alley clay lab that could run an analysis for her. There had to be one on this planet somewhere. At least it would give her something to do while she tried to find a buyer for her haul. And maybe it would squash the guilt crawling through her gut.

Renna drained the last of her beer and got to her feet. Then ducked back down to hide behind a large Trezian when she spotted the familiar broad shoulders hunched over the bar.

By the gods. Viktis.

What was he doing on Lenue? Did that mean Myka was here, too?

The alien downed a shot of something and made a joke with the bartender that had the Delfine laughing.

Her heart kicked as all her plans shot out the window faster than a speeder car. If she stayed, she might be able to fulfill at least one promise. The most important promise. But Viktis couldn’t know she was here.

Viktis slapped a few credits on the bar and shoved his way to the door. Several of the other patrons glared at him but gave him a wide berth when they got a full dose of his f**k-off expression.

Renna followed at a safe distance, hanging back in the doorway of the bar for a long minute as Viktis headed down the alley away from the main street. With any luck, he was going back to his ship. And that would lead her to Myka.

Viktis walked at a sedate pace—not fast enough to look like he had a purpose, but not slow enough that people would jump him. Renna held back, keeping to the shadows.

Eventually, he turned down another street, navigating toward a three-story building that had seen better days. Boarded-up windows looked like blind eyes in the flaking wooden façade, and garbage had drifted against one side, piling up higher than her thighs. The place fit Viktis’s personality perfectly.

He stopped and looked behind him. Renna flattened herself against the building across the street. Her stomach tightened as his gaze raked the alley where she hid. A few moments later, he turned and went inside. Renna let out a breath. Viktis knew most of her tricks. If anyone had been able to spot her, it would have been him.