One of my ex-boyfriends has a criminal record. I know because I pressed charges against him for stealing from me. I also learned at that point that he had done it before. Fleet wouldn’t accept him, even if he tried to join. The second one works for New Worlds too, in security. Before that, he worked for the city of San Francisco doing street clean-up.”
Trowly glanced up from his device. “What about your other boyfriends? Maybe one-night stands? Is there some guy who wanted more from you but you refused?”
She felt her cheeks heat. “That’s it. That’s all. I’ve had two boyfriends. No one-night stands.”
The security investigator didn’t look convinced.
“Look…I’ve worked from the time I was fourteen to help add to my college fund. After I graduated from general education, I crammed five years of schooling into three and half years. I had no time to date with all those classes. Nor was I going to screw up my dreams by risking getting accidently pregnant. Birth control implants can fail. It happened to my mom. When I wasn’t in class, I had part-time jobs, and I got hired on by New Worlds when I was twenty-one, two days after I earned my degrees. I’ve already told you how long and how often I’m gone on jobs. It’s difficult to meet men, and the ones I work with tend to lie about being single. No way did I want to start a relationship with someone, only to find out he was married or had a girlfriend when we returned to Earth. It happens all the time in my line of work.”
“You said one of your ex’s works for New Worlds.”
“I got him the job,” Vera admitted to Trowly. “I didn’t meet him at work. I also haven’t seen him or worked with him since we broke up. That was at least four years ago.”
Roth softy growled next to her, probably remembering her telling him about that.
“Well, someone wants you dead, and only fleet personnel have access to you on Defcon Red.”
“That’s not true, and you know it.” Clark stared hard at Trowly. “We have civilian workers onboard. Don’t forget what happened on that planet we took her from. Someone drugged all those people. Miss Wade is the only survivor. It’s possible whoever is responsible didn’t like that she got away. They could have offered money to anyone on this boat—civilian or fleet—to kill her. We need to start checking all messages from Earth.”
Trowly leaned back in his chair. “We have over two thousand souls aboard. That could take months. Right now, we’re focusing on trying to find whoever left the poisoned beer at Miss Wade’s table. He was careful not to leave any prints or DNA traces. We may not have seen his face, but we’re analyzing everything we can to try to identify the culprit.”
“How long will that take?” Roth asked.
Vera wanted the answer to that question too.
Trowly hesitated a bit too long before he spoke. “Days to perhaps a week. The culprit was very careful to shield his identity. We’re narrowing it down to men between five-nine to six feet tall, approximately one hundred and fifty to one seventy-five in weight.”
“What about the bar employee jumpsuit he wore? How did he gain access to it?”
Vera kept silent, happy to let Roth ask the questions. That wasn’t something she’d considered.
“Anyone with access to laundry services could have stolen one,” Clark answered. “Or bribed someone who worked there to steal one.”
“We’re looking at ex-employees of the bar and ones who weren’t on shift first,” Trowly shared. “Not all of them are civilian workers. Some of our fleet members earn extra money taking shifts in bars and other establishments.” He looked at Vera. “I’ll assign one of my security officers to stand at your cabin door. For your safety, you will remain sequestered there until you leave us. We got word that New Worlds is sending a shuttle with company representatives to collect you in two days. An officer is waiting outside to escort you to your cabin.”
“No,” Roth suddenly growled. “Vera will go home with us.”
She turned her head, staring at him in surprise.
He looked at her. “You’re in danger. No one will harm you. I won’t allow them to. Do you trust me?”
She didn’t have to think about it. “I do.”
“You will come with me.” Roth rose to his feet.
“Wait a minute. I’ve already made arrangements,” Trowly protested.
“Too bad,” Roth snarled, glaring at him. “Vera is in danger. She stays