Read Online DusktoDust_Final3 by adrian felder - Free Book Online Page B

quietly as he could, he slung Alana ’ s backpack over his own duffle and made his way into the smaller, rank, lower tunnel. In the glow of the trivisium he started formulating his plan. Don ’ t worry , he thought. I ’m coming back for you .
     
    This was not going to plan. Burleigh was going to be pissed. If Dominguez was dead the mission was scrubbed. The task had been to observe and follow the duo all the way to their Windcorp employers. But the glassers had ruined that plan. When given the choice of stopping the criminals or letting them escape from their pursuers, Ski had made the right one. But that meant the chase was over.
    Letsego wasn ’ t pissed because Captain Burleigh was going to be upset. He could care less about how that arrogant bastard felt. Letsego was pissed because of the wasted opportunity. For the first time, he had received carte blanche and a damn good chance to stop Windcorp, and he had botched it. And because of it the Peacekeepers would continue to struggle helplessly against the operations of the criminal syndicate.
    The priority now was to find the body. As unfortunate as it was that the team ’ s chase had been cut short, they needed to know for sure it was over. And if he was to report that Mr. Dominguez was dead, Burleigh would want proof.
    The team held its position at the site of the cave-in. A few well placed shots deterred the remaining glassers from advancing. Yang and Conway went to work carefully sifting through the rubble looking for any sign of the dead man. Smith took watch down the tunnel from where they had come. Ski guarded the unexplored portion of the tunnel. That left Letsego to deal with the prisoner.
    Mrs. Dominguez- whoever she was- had been freed from the electro-net. She was now sitting against the tunnel wall, her hands bound. She hadn ’ t said a word. Her face was emotionless, her gaze fixed on an uninteresting point in front of her. For someone who had just lost her husband/partner, she didn ’ t seem very distraught. She didn ’ t seem much of anything. Maybe it was shock.
    Letsego decided to extend an olive branch. If Dominguez is really dead, maybe he could make her open up. “ Here. ” He offered her a water bottle. She looked at the container suspiciously. “ I ’ m only going to offer once, ” he said with an edge in his voice.
    She hesitated and then reached up with her bound hands and took the bottle. “ Do you mind? ” She nodded toward the bottle cap which she couldn ’ t manipulate with cuffs on. Letsego unscrewed it for her. “ Thanks. ”
    He watched her drink the water. As it had been before, her face was emotionless. As if the events of the past forty eight hours hadn ’ t even happened. Letsego figured it took a special kind of criminal to show so little feeling when losing a partner. “ Are you satisfied? ” He asked.
    Mrs. Dominguez looked up. “ It ’ s okay, ” she said, referring to the water.
    “ That ’ s not what I mean. ” He pointed over to the pile of rubble. “ Are you satisfied with how this turned out? Your way of life got your partner killed, not to mention the hundreds of other lives you ruin with your smuggling. ” He watched her face for signs of remorse but saw none. Instead she tried to keep up the ruse.
    “ You ’ ve got the wrong idea. We are not- ”
    “ Bullshit! ” Letsego leaned down to look her in the eyes. “ I know who you are, lady. Or should I say who you were . You were a pair of smugglers working for Windcorp. You were a pair of individuals with no morals, no honor. You were a team that likely killed hundreds because of the contraband you smuggled. You were the scum of the planet. ” He let that sink in. “ But now you are alone . Your partner is dead and I am going to take you back to Skylift where you will be locked up for a very long time. ”
    She returned his stare. “ What do you want? ”
    “ I want you to show one ounce of remorse for the crimes you ’ ve committed.