live dangerously,” he said as he bent forward and sealed his lips over hers again in a quick kiss.
Jo gasped as she was turned, placing her body between Manota and Tony. She felt her feet leaving the ground at the same time as Tony pulled away with a laugh. Massive forearms circled her waist, pulling her back against an equally large and solid chest. Jo watched as Tony chuckled as he ran down the hallway and slid between the doors of the elevator as it started to close. The twinkle of merriment and challenge burned in his eyes as he gave a last minute salute to Manota.
“I’m going to kill that bastard,” Manota said, staring at the closed doors.
Chapter 9
Manota paused as he looked over the items that had already been stored. They had been on Earth for almost two weeks now. He had focused on learning as much as he could about Jo’s life here, as well as monitoring the situation back on Kassis when he was aboard the warship. His brother had been rescued and would be on his way back to Kassis soon.
He wasn ’t surprised to discover Tai Tek had been behind Jazin’s abduction. His father refused to tell him any details, explaining he would share everything once they returned to Kassis. Manota knew the former councilman, who had been behind the assassination attempt on his older brother and the attack at the dinner, would have tortured Jazin in an attempt to get information from him.
He might be limited in what he could do from Earth to avenge the wrong done to his family but there were other things that could be done in the meantime. He had directed Kev and K ’tar to step up their efforts to find every source of credit Tai Tek had and shut him down. Both men had taken on the task with glee, finding source after source and freezing or confiscating it.
“ When do you believe we will be able to leave, my lord?” Kev asked as he came to stand next to Manota in the loading bay.
“ Tomorrow night,” Manota said.
He looked at the two small crates sitting forlornly in the corner. Jo ’s parents did not have much that they wished to take with them. He had expected the cargo area to be at least partially full. Even Jo hadn’t wanted to bring much, just a few boxes.
The tall female, Ricki, had taken care of the sale of Star and Jo ’s condo and Tami and Alan’s place in record time. She had also deflected questions from a detective who was working the case. It would appear Jo’s condo association had installed video surveillance cameras shortly after their disappearance. It was checked after a neighbor complained about discovering that the large potted plant on the eleventh floor was now embedded in the outside wall of their condo while they were gone. The detective was able to identify Jo from the grainy video. If that wasn’t bad enough, a reporter had also been ‘sniffing’ around according to Ricki.
The only reason they couldn ’t leave tonight was because there were a few unanticipated visitors aboard. His thoughts turned to Jo and her unexpected guests. Alan and Tami Strauss had arrived at the isolated cattle pasture outside of Orlando several hours ago with more items they wanted to bring with them. Only this time, they had not been alone. Walter, Nema and Ricki had been with them. Walter had explained that he wanted to check out the warship, just to make sure it wasn’t some elaborate scheme or trick.
It would appear not much got by the little ringmaster. Alan had explained that Walter had several of the performers who were experts in ‘unmentionable’ skills keeping an eye on him and Tami. Walter had been concerned that someone was targeting the circus performers from the Cirque de Magik after the girls disappeared. When his contacts reported Alan and Tami were heading to Jo’s condo in a hurry, Walter had called in some re-enforcements which is how everyone ended up at Jo and Star’s condo at the same time.
Jo had explained to Manota what a few of the ‘unmentionable’ skills included. He
Jo gasped as she was turned, placing her body between Manota and Tony. She felt her feet leaving the ground at the same time as Tony pulled away with a laugh. Massive forearms circled her waist, pulling her back against an equally large and solid chest. Jo watched as Tony chuckled as he ran down the hallway and slid between the doors of the elevator as it started to close. The twinkle of merriment and challenge burned in his eyes as he gave a last minute salute to Manota.
“I’m going to kill that bastard,” Manota said, staring at the closed doors.
Chapter 9
Manota paused as he looked over the items that had already been stored. They had been on Earth for almost two weeks now. He had focused on learning as much as he could about Jo’s life here, as well as monitoring the situation back on Kassis when he was aboard the warship. His brother had been rescued and would be on his way back to Kassis soon.
He wasn ’t surprised to discover Tai Tek had been behind Jazin’s abduction. His father refused to tell him any details, explaining he would share everything once they returned to Kassis. Manota knew the former councilman, who had been behind the assassination attempt on his older brother and the attack at the dinner, would have tortured Jazin in an attempt to get information from him.
He might be limited in what he could do from Earth to avenge the wrong done to his family but there were other things that could be done in the meantime. He had directed Kev and K ’tar to step up their efforts to find every source of credit Tai Tek had and shut him down. Both men had taken on the task with glee, finding source after source and freezing or confiscating it.
“ When do you believe we will be able to leave, my lord?” Kev asked as he came to stand next to Manota in the loading bay.
“ Tomorrow night,” Manota said.
He looked at the two small crates sitting forlornly in the corner. Jo ’s parents did not have much that they wished to take with them. He had expected the cargo area to be at least partially full. Even Jo hadn’t wanted to bring much, just a few boxes.
The tall female, Ricki, had taken care of the sale of Star and Jo ’s condo and Tami and Alan’s place in record time. She had also deflected questions from a detective who was working the case. It would appear Jo’s condo association had installed video surveillance cameras shortly after their disappearance. It was checked after a neighbor complained about discovering that the large potted plant on the eleventh floor was now embedded in the outside wall of their condo while they were gone. The detective was able to identify Jo from the grainy video. If that wasn’t bad enough, a reporter had also been ‘sniffing’ around according to Ricki.
The only reason they couldn ’t leave tonight was because there were a few unanticipated visitors aboard. His thoughts turned to Jo and her unexpected guests. Alan and Tami Strauss had arrived at the isolated cattle pasture outside of Orlando several hours ago with more items they wanted to bring with them. Only this time, they had not been alone. Walter, Nema and Ricki had been with them. Walter had explained that he wanted to check out the warship, just to make sure it wasn’t some elaborate scheme or trick.
It would appear not much got by the little ringmaster. Alan had explained that Walter had several of the performers who were experts in ‘unmentionable’ skills keeping an eye on him and Tami. Walter had been concerned that someone was targeting the circus performers from the Cirque de Magik after the girls disappeared. When his contacts reported Alan and Tami were heading to Jo’s condo in a hurry, Walter had called in some re-enforcements which is how everyone ended up at Jo and Star’s condo at the same time.
Jo had explained to Manota what a few of the ‘unmentionable’ skills included. He
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