Chapter Eight
Derek walked into the quiet squad room. A quick glance at the monitor told him all of the other agents were out in the field. His name on the roster was dimmed, showing his leave of absence status.
“Atkinson.”
He turned to face Captain Hoff. “Yes, sir?”
“Is that Sable Taylor’s Starwing in docking bay 7?”
“It sure is.”
“Where is she?”
Shrugging, Derek said, “Hell if I know.”
“Is she in the med-lab?”
Derek turned and leaned back against the counter, his arms crossing his chest. He eyed the captain carefully. “Not that I’m aware of. Why would she be?”
Hoff smiled easily. “Glad to hear that. I’d heard there was a spot of trouble with her ship. I’m relieved to hear she wasn’t injured.”
“Umm,” Derek hummed. This was getting interesting. “I thought you didn’t like vamps?”
“I don’t. On the Force. She’s a bounty hunter and a good one. She’s helped us quite a bit, don’t you think?”
“Sure. I’m just surprised to hear that you do.” He pushed away from the counter. “Well, it’s been fun chatting with you, Captain, but I’m still on leave, so I’ll be heading out now.”
“Are you leaving with Taylor?”
Derek studied the captain again. “Why would I do that?”
A red brow arched sardonically. “You came here in her ship.”
“You sure know a lot about what happens with her,” Derek pointed out.
“That’s my job, Atkinson. I have to know what’s going on with everyone who enters this building.” Hoff walked toward his office. “Enjoy your vacation.”
Derek watched the captain walk away, frowning at the thought that entered his mind. Hoff was far too interested in Sable, always had been. She was constantly being detained, sometimes for hours. In the past, he’d always assumed that her unconventional methods of capture had attracted the unwanted attention. Now, he wondered if there was more to Sable’s case than she’d let on.
How many secrets did she have?
* * * * *
Derek settled into the captain’s chair of the Viper and established a secure comm link with his assistant. He was not in a good mood. In fact, he felt murderous. He’d figured out where Sable had run off to. She was with Marius Drake. And he’d been chasing the two of them for almost three weeks. To his fury, he always seemed to be a step behind them.
Marius was a wealthy man with a dozen different residences scattered all over the galaxy. Unfortunately for Derek, he seemed determined to take Sable to each and every one of them, causing Derek to slowly lose his mind. So far he’d been able to detect by scent that Sable was using her own room and Marius was staying the hell away from her, but how long would that last? Loving Sable like he did, Derek knew it must be torture for Marius to have her so close and not take her. But if the other man touched her… And if she let him…
Derek growled.
The screen before him lit up with the image of his assistant and he offered a curt greeting.
“Good afternoon to you, too, sir,” Stein returned. “On the Viper again, I see, and from your tone, I take it you were unsuccessful at catching up with them.”
“Not for much longer,” Derek muttered. “Did you discover anything interesting since the last time I spoke with you?”
“Quite a bit, actually.” Stein fumbled around on his cluttered desk. “I managed to hack into President Drake’s file.”
Derek grunted. “About damn time.”