eimarra | Serial: Bodyguard of Lies, episode 19: One of Those Offers (Reply)

Bodyguard of Lies is a serialized science-fiction novel updating once a week on Tuesdays. If you missed last week’s episode, Hot Date, it can be found here. You can catch up on the entire serial on this page with a description of the story and links to all published episodes.

Bodyguard of Lies
Episode 19
One of Those Offers

Sabra didn’t bother looking at her messages when she got back to her apartment. Yeah, Charly might have left some good information for her, but it would wait. It had been a long day, and she’d been hoping not to go to bed alone tonight. Instead, Mick was pissed at her, she wasn’t welcome at the arena, and Gareth was back in her life.

Even winning wasn’t worth it some days.

Sabra was scrounging through her cupboards for something resembling food when the vid chimed for an incoming call. She groaned. It might be important. Had she given Leo her override? She couldn’t remember.

Damn. If this kept up, she was going to need some of Vuest’s drugs just to function. No, she wouldn’t go that route. Not ever.

Robb Cole’s face flashed on the vid. “I hope I didn’t catch you at a bad time. You weren’t answering your calls.”

“So you decided to barge through anyway?”

He was a corporate head; of course he could do it if he wanted. He clearly had the money for it. With any luck, Charly was tracking the source of his creds.

“I thought you and I should have a chat. A friendly one, without you needing to posture for your boss, or worry that the wrong word was going to set my mercs off.”

She rubbed her forehead. She didn’t need this. She really, really didn’t. “What do you want?”

“I told you. A friendly chat.” He paused for a moment, looking around. “You should probably sit down. That would probably be more comfortable.”

Sabra jumped up on the counter top. “Okay. So what now? I already told you that you can’t buy my contract.”

He waved his hands dismissively. “I know, I know. That’s not what this is about. Not directly, anyway.”

She reached into the cupboard next to her and pulled out some crackers. Might as well eat. Her mouth full, she said, “Indirectly, then. You still want me to work for you.”

“You did such a good job today, saving my mercs with no more deaths. You should be rewarded for your efforts. I doubt Leo offered you a bonus.”

“Wasn’t necessary.”

“Perhaps not, but surely appreciated? Creds never hurt.”

She lifted one shoulder. “I’ve got enough to get by. To do more than get by, if I want. You can’t buy me, Cole.”

“Pity. Can I hire you when Leo’s done with you? I’d rather like to see more of you. Much more.”

“Not interested.” She jumped off the counter and headed for the vid controls. Cole was slime, and if it weren’t for him, Gareth would be — well, maybe not normal, but not awaiting trial for mass manslaughter.

“Wait! I talked to Gareth.”

She hesitated, her hand hovering above the switch. “So?”

“So I know you saved his life. More than once today. I want to thank you.”

“Why should you thank me? He killed your crew. I’d think you’d be happy to get rid of him.”

Cole shrugged. “He’s useful. And the tension between him and the merc leader keeps everyone on their toes.”

“You’re using him. Of course — you’re corporate, that’s what you do.” Gareth deserved better. “Fine, you’re welcome, he’s welcome, whatever. Can I go now, or are you going to invade my home again with your obnoxious vid presence?”

He grinned. “I hadn’t thought of that. I could pop in whenever I like. What time do you shower? I like a good show.”

“I don’t have a vid feed in there.”

“Pity. Guess I’ll just have to come in at random intervals, hoping to catch you naked.”

She hit the switch. He flicked right back in. She slapped down a flexx patch, and the signal scrambled.

“What did you do?” he asked. “The signal’s there.”

“Made sure you’re not invading my privacy. It’s within my rights. Now, you got something more to say, say it. Otherwise, we’re done.”

“Okay, I know you’re bound by your contract and all that.” His words came in a rush. “But if you decide to work for me, too, clandestinely, you could get twice as much creds for no more work. We’re all winners.”

“Don’t see how both you and Leo can be winners. You seem to have the same goal, and I don’t think you can share.” And the sooner Leo met his goal — the sooner Robb Cole was out of the picture — the sooner she could go back to the arena.

“That’s the problem,” he said. “Leo won’t share. There’s enough business to keep us both quite happy, and he insists on his little monopoly, subsidized by the religious nuts who discovered this plant in the first place. Surely you can see that if he concentrated on his current clientele, but allowed me to expand into other areas — ”

“Other areas? You mean to people who don’t know how much damage the drug could do to them? People like Gareth?” She wanted to punch something. She really should get a workout area set up here in her apartment. “Yeah, that’s what we need. More people running around trying to kill everyone they run across because they can’t think straight. I don’t think so. We’re done here.”

“But — ”

She cut the vid feed again. This time it stayed dead. She glanced at the message queue. Nothing from Mick. No, there wouldn’t be. Time to get some sleep. Tomorrow might be better, another day closer to fulfilling her contract and getting back to normal life.

Click here to continue reading with Episode 20, Divided Family.

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Originally published at Erin M. Hartshorn. You can comment here or there.