Chapter 7
Dani
Cash was slowly coming awake even though he didn’t want to. He felt safe and warm with his mate in his arms. It wasn’t possible, he knew that which meant he was dreaming. It was a better dream than most so he wished to hang on to it. Who could blame him?
Regardless of how he fought to stay asleep, he was waking in degrees. He could hear noises in the background and smell things in the air. It was the scent of cleaners and antiseptic. Just like a hospital. What had happened to him? His memory started to give him some answers. Dani had stunned him thinking him an intruder. But he’d recovered from that, hadn’t he? Yes, but then something else had happened. There had been real intruders and she’d been taking them out like a pro, but there were too many and she’d missed two.
It had been his intention to help, but then he had no memory of what happened next. They must have jumped him. That was the only reason he could think why he’d be in medical now. Rolling to his side, he felt a body against him. It was Dani. Had she been knocked out too”
“I’m glad to see you’re awake. Your mate is resting. She should wake soon.” The nurse brought him a tray with food and juice.
“Thank you.” Cash said.
“Just call when she wakes up. She needs to be fed regularly.”
Cash agreed. Dani had lost weight. He’d noticed it immediately just looking at her face. If she would agree to come back to test out their relationship, he’d see that she ate when she needed to. Dani moved restlessly and moaned in her sleep. There was little doubt that she would be waking soon.
His eyes ran over her seeing how skinny she’d grown. When he got up to her eyes, they were open. “You’re awake.”
“Yes.” She admitted as she sat up, scooting away from him.
He called the nurse who came with a tray. She’d assumed Dani was awake. “Here’s your food. Eat it all, okay?”
“I’ll try.” Dani replied. Cash intended to see that she did.
“Come home with me.” He said causing Dani to choke on her juice. He rubbed her back as she tried to catch her breath.
“We both know you’re not the relationship kind of guy.” Dani observed.
“With you, I think I could be. If you leave now, won’t you wonder if we could have made it work? I want to try.”
“You’re not being fair. You push me away only to pull me close then do it all over again.”
“I’d like to try because I think I love you.” Cash whispered.
She barely heard it, but she could barely believe it. “Do you even know what love is?”
“I believe I could learn with you. You make me want forever. You make me want a family and a pet.”
“Are you sure you don’t just want a mother for Toby?”
“Toby picked me. I pick you.”
“I’m not sure it works that way, but I’ll come back with you to stay until the lab raids are done. I won’t be you PA, but I will do some work for you. That will pay for staying in your spare room.”
Cash didn’t know why she’d agreed so easily, but he was happy. He knew with time he’d convince her to stay for good. “Okay. I’ll call Ralph to come get us. If he’s available. I believe we lost a day. They probably went out without me, at least I hope they did.”
“I don’t know Ralph.”
“He’s a new guy who pilots most of the time.”
“I suppose your new PA checked him out.”
“I’m sure she did. He’s been great so far.”
“Just my suspicious mind working overtime.”
“I like your suspicious mind.” Cash leaned in to kiss her, but she turned her head. He understood, sort of.
She was done eating so it was time to go. They’d both been put into hospital gowns so the search for their clothes was on. A nurse came in with them. “I thought you might want these.” She declared with a smile.
It looked as if they’d cleaned them. “Thank you.” Dani and Cash said together.
Once they were both dressed, Dani in the bathroom while he changed in the room, they called Razar to find out where Dani’s things were. Razar confirmed that Cash had lost a day, but things had run as usual without him. Should he feel unneeded or like he had good people working for him? He decided to feel like he’d trained his people well. They were still at the house waiting for pick up. He intended to bring everything back where it belonged. This woman was his, he intended to keep her.
They were taken back to Dani’s former house by some of Razar’s guards where Cash had a ship parked. The amount of belongings Dani owned was small. It made it easy to load. He had no trouble talking her into taking it with them, she apparently wanted her stuff close by.
Once it was all onboard, they took off for the moon. He would be so happy to have Dani at his side once again. With him was where she belonged and now that he knew it, she would give in. Their headquarters came into sight which made him relax. They landed and entered the building. Everyone greeted Dani, thrilled to have her back.
They all loved her plus they hoped it would make him less of a bear. It would. He could relax now that his woman was with him. Cash introduced her to the new people present like Ralph. The pride he felt having her at his side was obvious to all. “This is Toby.”
“Hi, Toby. Glad to meet you.” She held out her hand and Toby shook it.
A few whispers made it to his ears. “Don’t mess up this time.” What could he say? It had been his fault, all of it. This time he would love her and give her everything she needed. Now he knew he could never be happy or have peace without this gorgeous wonderful woman.
They settled in and although he wanted her in his room and his bed, it was still better than her not being around at all. Food was on the table so Dani and he sat down to share the meal with them. She fit in as if she’d never left.
Everyone laughed and enjoyed their meal until it was time to clean up before preparing for bed. He’d hoped tonight to be wrapped around his woman as they slept, but she wasn’t ready to give in to him yet. As they turned in for the night, he regretted having to get back on the mission tomorrow. His people had gone twice without him.
He’d be leaving his woman behind. Getting ready for bed, he showered, shaved, and threw on some shorts to sleep in because of Toby. Sleep claimed him quickly, but he woke just as quickly. Something was wrong. A loud crash told him being stealthy was no longer important. Cash ran toward the sound. Dani stood over someone on the floor she’d just restrained. She was holding her twin stun guns as she looked down at the intruder.
“Looks like this guy has several big bounties on him.” She stated.
“Okay. You’ll get a share. I also want to give the boy a share since he’s probably the target.” Cash admitted.
“I don’t mind giving the kid a cut, but he’s not the target.” She said.
“What makes you so…” Cash stopped talking as a glow surrounded Dani. “Someone do something.” He hollered, but she was gone. “I need on that ship before it takes off and she’s out of here.”
“I’ll try to hack them. Holy shit.”
“What?”
“Your girl just messaged us. She’s not sure what to do. The bridge crew is out temporarily, but she has no restraints. Dani is claiming the ship if they own it because they kidnapped her.” Ralph laughed.
“That’s not funny. I bet it’s a nice ship.” Cash grumbled.
“Yeah. It looks like the latest Starfighter model.” Ralph described.
“Get me up there so I can take care of her.” Ralph raised his brow.
“She needs restraints and someone to show her what to do.” Cash commented.
“I’ve got exact coordinates. You sure you want to do this?”
“Is it safe?”
“I believe so. It didn’t hurt her, but it is a new transportation method.” Ralph explained.
“Send me up.” He felt weird and everything around him began to glow. There was a flash of nothingness and he was on a ship. It was cutting edge and so cool he had no words for it. “I’m here to help you. Here’s five of my restraints. Start securing those guys and I’ll secure these.”
There were eight guys total and someone pounding on the bridge she’d managed to lockout. “What now?” She asked when they were all secured.
“She’s just a tad too big to dock here. You’ll have to check with Razar to see if you can land her on the planet. I’m sure since you and Lista are thick as thieves, it won’t be a problem.” Damn! He sounded like a pouting school kid.
“That’s a great idea. They’ve been thinking of buying one of these. I bet if I let him take her out for a run, he’ll check her out and keep her down there for me. Thank you, Cash.”
“Yeah, you welcome. Let’s handle the other guys. I’ve got a gas grenade I grabbed just in case. I bet these guys are all criminals and will have a bounty or two on them. Let me show you how to open and close the door. When I get there, open it. As soon as I toss the grenade in, close it. Understand?” Dani nodded.
Cash walked to the door waiting for it to open. When it did, he pushed the button on the grenade and tossed it in. The door swished shut immediately. They worked well together. Someone pounded on the door now panicked because the gas was putting them to sleep. He knew how scary that was having had it happen to him in the past.
Thinking back on his past, he was lucky to be alive. Now that he had Dani and Toby in his life, he would slow down on the dangerous shit. If Dani let him, that was. She seemed to be enjoying the action more than he’d ever thought she would. Her eyes gleamed as she looked over the ship she might own. Only if it was stolen would it go back. A ship like this was hard to steal with all its security devices. He saw no way it had been stolen.
“Razar is on his way. He wants me and one of his computer experts to check the computer files to see if there’s anything useful.” Dani explained.
”Why didn’t I think of that?”
“Same reason Razar didn’t. I suggested it. People who work with computers and information are going to think of that.”
“I feel a little bit better. You know I’ll have to get back to bed? I have an early morning mission.” Cash informed.
“I know. Maybe we’ll find something to make this worthwhile. You need to stay and hash out the custody of the prisoners with Razar.”
“I know. I bet every one of them has a big bounty on them.” Cash guessed.
“This one does. I looked him up. He’s wanted on three planets and two meteors.”
“I’m sure Razar will be reasonable.”
“About what?” Razar asked as he walked in.
“Did you override the lock?” Cash asked.
“I called your guy so he could let me in. Love the ship. I’ll check it out and keep it for you, Dani. You hit gold here.”
Cash knew he was pouting, but he wanted the ship too. Sure, Dani had more right to it, but he could do more with it. “I’ll need the prisoners for their bounties.”
“As soon as I’m through questioning them, they’re all yours. I’ll even have my guards transport them to you.” Razar offered.
“Deal. I need to get some sleep so I’m not dead on my feet tomorrow. I trust you to get Dani back in one piece.”
“Of course. I’m not sure how long it will take, but when she’s done we’ll get her back to you.”
Cash nodded and he knew he could leave now but he didn’t want to go. Razar had a squad with him, plenty to keep them safe. He still felt the need to stay with Dani. Was it a gut feeling or just the need to keep her close?
“You’ll let me know if you need anything.” Cash whispered in Dani’s ear.
“I will. You better get some sleep.”
“Okay. Bye everyone.” Cash walked out to a chorus of goodbyes. Razar had one of his guards pilot him to the moon landing right in front of headquarters. Everyone was up waiting for him to hear what had happened.
Once he told them all what had happened, they all turned in. He stripped to his shorts and turned in actually managing to sleep a few hours before the alarm went off. When he got up, he peeked in to Dani’s room, but she wasn’t there yet. Justice and Envy were cooking breakfast so he sat down getting a plate put in front of him right away.
“Razar called a little while ago. They hit the jackpot in the ship. There are extensive files on board. It will be noon before Dani gets home.” Envy explained.
“That’s good. We need all the information we can get.” Cash admitted.
“This information won’t help us. It’ll help Tar and others. It’s about the lab locations.” Envy explained.
“We needed to know more about them too.” Cash admitted. It was great to have the new information, but why did it seem it all hit at once. They were either sitting around twiddling their thumbs or so busy they had no time at all.
They finished eating once Toby and some others joined them. “Sure you won’t stay home, Kid?” Justice asked. Toby shook his head quickly. “Okay, just asking.”
The team and Toby cleaned up then they all trailed outside to the ship. Cash lusted after Dani’s ship as well as her. Boy, it would have been nice to be in that ship with her along too. Ralph grabbed the pilot’s seat getting ready to take off right away. They all got in their seats and belted up for safety. There was no time to spare before they were off into space.
All Cash could do was think about Dani and worry that she was alright. It was crazy, she had been taking care of herself better than he had. That didn’t stop him from thinking about her nonstop. They got the first two on their list, but the third was nowhere to be found.
“They know.” Toby whispered.
“Probably.” Cash admitted.
They went to the next two targets and came up empty there as well. Toby had it right. The word was out. Now they would have to hunt these people through tips and rewards. It was time to head back.