The Tracker's Dilemma: (A Mandrake Company Science Fiction Romance) (19 page)

Though she could no longer see Heath, she walked forward slowly, moving from tree to tree, keeping her eyes open and her tranquilizer gun out. She wished she had more ammunition, but considering the only reason she had a weapon at all was because Ankari had stuck it in her pack, she couldn’t complain.

A rustling noise to her right made Lauren whirl in that direction. A black panther sprang from the foliage and up into a tree. She almost fired but jerked her finger away from the trigger at the last moment. The giant cat—it must have weighed three hundred pounds—stared down at her with amber eyes, its tail swishing, but it did not look like it meant to attack. It looked content, as if it might have just finished a meal. Knowing she needed to save her ammo for Hemlock, Lauren backed away slowly.

Not until she had put several trees between her and the cat did she turn around again. But she paused. She’d lost track of the copse of trees she had been maneuvering toward, the one where Heath had disappeared. The jungle looked the same in every direction.

She hissed in frustration. Had she truly gotten herself
lost
? Three minutes after Heath left her?

Something crashed through the foliage up ahead. She squinted in that direction, not sure if another animal was cruising through the area, or if that might be Hemlock with Hailey. Hailey must know people were following her. Maybe she was trying to make noise or leave signs for them.

Licking her lips, Lauren headed in that direction. If she did get woefully lost, Heath ought to be able to find her.

A rocky outcropping came into view up ahead. The ridge. That should mean she was going in the right direction. Good.

Before she had taken more than a few more steps, a thump sounded, followed by a man shouting. Heath? It sounded like a shout of pain.

Lauren hustled forward, darting around ferns and bushes, jumping over roots. She didn’t want to crash into the middle of a fight and get in the way, but also she didn’t want to delay. She had no idea what exactly Hemlock could do now, and she doubted Heath knew, either.

As she crept toward a chest-high shrub, something sailed through the air in front of her. Heath. He struck hard against a tree, his breath whooshing out.

Lauren was tempted to run right toward him, but it would be foolish to reveal herself to their enemy. She eased around the bush, searching for Hemlock. Orange laser fire came from her left. She gasped—it was aiming right at Heath. But somehow he anticipated, rolling away from the base of the tree where he had crumpled. He dove behind another tree, whipping his own laser rifle up to take aim. Blood trickled from the side of his mouth, but he did not hesitate to fire several shots.

Crouching low, trying not to draw attention to herself, Lauren scanned the foliage for Hemlock. There he was. He squatted in a position similar to Heath’s, also using a tree for cover. He leaned out and fired. The laser streaked through the trees and sliced into bark, just missing Heath’s head. A snap sounded as a branch above Heath broke. It wasn’t anywhere near where the laser had struck and shouldn’t have fallen but it did. It crashed down onto Heath. He rolled away, but not enough to completely avoid the heavy branch, and a grunt of pain escaped his lips.

From her angle, Lauren couldn’t get a shot off at Hemlock. She could only see an inch of his shoulder, and she wasn’t a practiced marksman. Further, the tranquilizer gun lacked the range of the laser weapons.

She left her spot, hoping she could circle around to Hemlock’s back without being spotted. Or, she added to herself as more laser bolts shot through the air, without getting in the way of Heath’s counter fire.

“What did you do with Keys?” Heath yelled between shots.

Whether he truly wanted to converse with Hemlock or just distract him, Lauren did not know, but she kept going, ducking from tree to tree, trying to get behind the corporal. Hemlock did not answer Heath. The laser fire halted. Lauren paused, afraid her own footfalls would be audible without noise drowning them out. With trees looming all around, she could no longer see the men.

Foliage rattled off to her left. Had Heath moved somewhere else? No, she couldn’t imagine him making such noise. Besides, the men hadn’t been in that direction. Maybe that was Hailey?

Lauren bit her lip, indecision tearing at her. Should she keep going in the hope of coming out behind Hemlock and shooting him? Or should she leave the man to Heath, hoping he could deal with him? Lauren knew Heath would tell her to look for her sister, but she continued a few more steps. She would check to see if Hemlock remained in that same spot. If so, and if she could take her shot, there would still be time to turn and find Hailey. Besides, it was possible that noise had been made by some animal fleeing the area.

When Lauren believed she had drawn even with Hemlock’s earlier position, she veered toward what ought to be his back. She peered around a tree, hoping to glimpse him. She recognized the place where he had fired from earlier, but he wasn’t there.

“Damn it,” she whispered softly, trying to see Heath. Both men had probably moved, trying to angle around each other.

She backed up a step, intending to check on that noise, and almost crashed into someone wearing mesh armor.

Lauren whipped the tranquilizer gun toward the man, but he struck too quickly. A fist slammed into the back of her knuckles, knocking the weapon into the leaves. She jumped to the side, trying to escape him and also dive for it. But Hemlock caught her from behind, yanking her against his chest.

“Did you think—” he started to say. Then something slammed into him from the side.

Lauren was released, almost shoved away. She struck the ground, landing hard on her shoulder. She didn’t let the blow keep her from scrambling out of the way. Heath and Hemlock were writhing on the ground, thuds sounding as they traded punches. Two laser rifles lay in the leaves—both men had dropped them and were hammering at each other with fists and boots.

One rifle was not far from Lauren, and she almost reached for it, but she felt more comfortable using the tranquilizer gun. As the men wrestled and snarled at each other, she patted through the leaves. Where had the damned thing gone?

Something flew past her head. One of the rifles. It hurtled through the air and slammed into a tree ten feet away.

“What’s the matter, Tick?” Hemlock crowed. “Can’t hold onto your weapons?”

Had the man used his
mind
to do that? Lauren groaned and patted more frantically.

“Why are you doing this, Hemlock?” Heath asked. “Even if you get a freighter-load of money, Mandrake will hunt you down and wring your neck.”

“Mandrake is a pussy.”

A boulder flew through the air, almost smashing into the side of Heath’s head. He ducked just in time, and it whistled past and slammed into a tree. The two men traded blows, twisting about on the ground again before Hemlock came out on top, his hands gripping Heath’s shoulders. Heath grabbed his wrists, keeping those hands from wrapping around his neck.

“Mandrake has a ship and a hundred armed men,” Hemlock snarled, “but does he go after the animals who were responsible for the destruction of our world? I thought he would, but
no
. All he worries about is staying out of the government’s way. I won’t make that mistake. When I have a ship again, I’ll go after them, and with this new power, I’ll hunt down and kill every one of them that deserves it.”

“Including me?” Heath struggled, bucking so that Hemlock fell off him. They grappled again, rolling about like fighting cats.

“If you get in my way, you fool,” Hemlock snarled as they thrashed. “Selling the girl will get me a ship again.”

The next thing to fly through the air was Heath. Lauren gaped as he crashed into a tree, much like the rifle had. His back crunched into the trunk, and he slumped to the ground. Ignoring her, Hemlock ran past and leaped atop Heath, raising a fist.

Lauren hadn’t located the tranquilizer gun yet, so she did the only thing that came to mind. She scrambled to her feet and ran at him. Doubting her weight would be enough to bowl him off Heath, she kicked him instead. He saw her coming and lifted an arm to block, but she still clipped him in the ribs.

Hemlock flung a hand toward her, and she had the oddest sensation as she was knocked from her feet by nothing but air. The wind whizzed past her ears, batting her hair into her eyes, and then she was landing on her butt with enough force that it hurled her in a somersault, legs flying over her head. She landed on something small and hard.

More punching sounds came, Heath getting back into the fight. Lauren grabbed what was jabbing her in the shoulder. The tranquilizer gun.

She sat up, black dots dancing before her eyes. The men were wrestling about again, leaves flying, and she dared not shoot. She pushed herself to her knees and then one foot, bracing herself so she could shoot accurately, as soon as she had the opportunity.

A soft beep came from the middle of the battle—Heath’s comm-patch. Captain Mandrake’s voice sounded, but Lauren couldn’t make out the words, not with the men rolling all over the place. Hemlock gave no indication that he would offer Heath the time to answer it.

Hemlock came out on top, straddling Heath and once again raising a fist overhead.

Lauren fired. And missed. The feathers on the dart skimmed past Hemlock’s head, stirring his hair but doing no damage. He glared over at her, lifting a hand, and she tried to brace herself for whatever mental attack he might throw at her.

Heath shifted his leg, jerking his knee up into his opponent’s crotch. Hemlock gasped and turned back to him, but Heath used the brief distraction to shove him to the side. They went down again, twisting and writhing.

Lauren loaded her last dart and ran closer. With her aim, she needed to be right on top of her target—or up in a tree right above him.

A scream of agony pierced the jungle, one of the men crying out. Her gut twisted. Heath? He was the one on the bottom again, with Hemlock atop him.

Lauren charged toward them. If she had to get close enough to stab the corporal in the neck with her dart, she would.

But before she reached them, Heath shoved his assailant to the side. Lauren skidded to a stop, her momentum almost taking her crashing into them. Hemlock slumped onto his back, his eyes bulging open, his hands gripping his stomach—no, gripping the knife sticking
out
of his stomach.

Heath pushed himself to his knees and then his feet, slowly, his movements stiff. Lauren slipped an arm around his waist. He looked like he needed support. Indeed, he winced and gripped his ribs with one hand. He pulled his last weapon, the laser pistol, out with his other and pointed it at Hemlock.

But the knife had done its job. The light faded from the corporal’s eyes.

“Shit,” Heath said. “I didn’t get any information out of him about your sister.”

Lauren supposed it shouldn’t surprise her that a mercenary would say so few words—words with no remorse—in the aftermath of killing someone. Even though she ought to have wished Hemlock this end, she did not. Seeing him dead before them disturbed her. She looked away, searching the trees for Hailey. Heath touched her shoulder and guided her away from the body.

“He must have left her somewhere,” Lauren said.

“Or he already delivered her to his buyer,” Heath said. A haunted, or maybe horrified, expression must have crossed her face, because Heath looked at her and amended his words. “But even if he did, we’ll find her,” he reassured her.

Lauren nodded, believing him. Needing to believe him.

Heath must have remembered the comm message that had come in. He lifted a hand toward the patch on his shoulder, though he gasped slightly, wincing at the movement. Broken ribs, she wagered. At the least. Bruises were already swelling on his face, blood ran from two splits in his lower lip, and one of his sleeves was nearly torn off, revealing cuts on his dirty upper arm. Leaves stuck out from his hair. She reached up, brushing them away. Her own body ached, but she didn’t think she had broken anything.

He smiled for her and started to say something, but a boom broke across the jungle, stealing his words.

As one, they spun toward the noise. It sounded like an entire building had been blown up—or perhaps a ship.

Though the leafy canopy blocked out much of the sky, Lauren could make out the ridge they had been heading toward, and thick black smoke roiling up from behind it.

“Sir,” Heath blurted, slapping his patch harder than necessary to open the comm. “Was that you?”

“The enemy ship has been blown up,” came Mandrake’s cool voice.

“But we don’t know if Lauren’s sister was on that ship. We found Hemlock—he’s dead, sir. He insisted on attacking me. But he was alone.”

Lauren had been hugging Heath, giving him support, but her knees weakened at the realization that Hailey might have been on that ship. Abruptly,
she
was the one who needed support.

“The captain said he hadn’t received his cargo yet,” Mandrake said. “He tried to bribe me. Said GalCon operatives were offering a big reward for Ms. Keys. Enough to buy a ship. Or two.” His voice was still cool, difficult to read. Was he annoyed with Hailey for not disclosing that there was a reward on her head? Had she known? Did it matter now? What if the bounty hunter had lied, and she had been aboard?

“I think that’s what he offered Hemlock to betray us. A ship...” Heath’s gaze drifted to the dead man’s face, as if he could explain himself now.

“We’ll land, help you look for our valuable passenger.”

He hadn’t said “their employer,” the term he had been using to reference Hailey before. Did that mean he’d decided that the company wouldn’t work for her anymore? Would Hailey be abandoned? Dropped off in one of the towns on the other side of the moon and left to fend for herself? Lauren rubbed her face. They needed to
find
her before worrying about that.

“We’ll find her,” Heath said, as if reading her thoughts. He offered a smile that came out lopsided, thanks to his swelling lip. “I can find anyone.”