44. Torus
“Incoming call from Councilor Paige,” the com-link in Torus’s shuttle announced. “Accept or Decline?”
Torus heaved a deep sigh. He’d been sitting in his ship, which was parked some blocks from the courthouse, for well over an hour. He hadn’t eaten anything—he had no appetite. Instead he kept replaying his last conversation with Molly over and over in his head, wondering if he could have done or said anything different that might have convinced her to stay with him.
“Accept,” he said when the com-link asked again.
“Commander Torus?” the lawyer’s no-nonsense voice said.
“Hello—yes,” he replied. “What can I do for you, Councilor?”
“The jury just came back and they have a verdict.” Her voice was filled with barely suppressed excitement. “So you and Molly need to get back to the courthouse as soon as possible.”
“Molly’s not with me,” Torus said shortly.
“Oh…she’s not?” He could hear the surprise in Councilor Paige’s voice.
“No. She said she needed some time alone to think.” He didn’t elaborate further. “But she said you have her number. Just give her a call and I’ll meet you both at the courthouse.”
“All right. I’ll be right outside the courtroom,” she said and hung up.
Torus sighed as he left the ship. His long strides made the blocks he had to walk to reach the courthouse a quick trip. The protestors had all gone home and the large building was quiet in the deepening twilight. The formerly crowded halls were nearly deserted.
He entered the courtroom where they had spent most of the day, to find that there were just a few people there. The jury was already seated—they turned their heads to look at Torus as he came in.
Molly’s ex-Mate was sitting on his side of the court. He appeared to be on a phone call or else maybe he was just amusing himself by watching some kind of vid on his screen. Either way, he seemed completely absorbed—he didn’t even look up when Torus walked past him.
Councilor Paige was already seated on the other side of the court, closest to the jury. Torus felt a twinge of unease when he saw the lawyer was by herself—where was Molly?
“Councilor?” he murmured, settling in the too-small seat beside her. “Where’s Molly?”
She frowned.
“Oh, Commander Torus—there you are. I was going to ask you the same thing. I called her but she didn’t answer her phone.”
“She didn’t?” The sense of unease inside him grew, twisting like a worm in his gut.
“No, she didn’t.” Councilor Paige frowned. “Where was the last place you saw her?”
“Outside the courthouse—where you left us.” He shrugged. “She said she would stay in this general area.”
“Well, we need her back right away! Can’t you call her on your TET device?”
Torus frowned.
“No, unfortunately. She, uh, took hers off.” He didn’t tell Councilor Paige that Molly had actually flushed the device down the waste disposal unit. That was more information than she needed, he thought.
“Well, we need to find her. The judge won’t read the verdict without her and she’s not going to be pleased if she has to wait,” the lawyer said.
“I’ll go look for her,” Torus said, though he didn’t know where he was going to look.
“Maybe use a Think-me,” Councilor Paige suggested. “Do you have one in your ship?”
Torus thought about it and shook his head.
“No—we haven’t needed one because we were connected by the TET devices. So I didn’t think to bring one.”
“Well, I’ve got one back at my ship—my husband Lone can give it to you,” she said. “He was just getting our twins to bed when I got the call to come back for the verdict.”
She gave him the coordinates and Torus thanked her. His anxiety for Molly was growing by the minute—he needed to contact her and make sure she was all right.
As he left the courtroom, he noticed that her ex-Mate was still on his phone. He was looking at the screen and saying something in a low, intense voice. As Torus walked past him, he looked up briefly and shot him a smirk. It was a self-satisfied expression that made the worm in Torus’s gut twist again.
What was going on with the fucking human, he wondered briefly. Councilor Paige had been certain the verdict was going to go against him—so why was Zach Wyndham looking so pleased with himself?
But he didn’t have time to worry about Molly’s ex-Mate—he needed to find her as quickly as possible. He walked faster and faster and by the time he left the courthouse he was nearly running.
He couldn’t shake his ever-growing anxiety and the sense that something was very, very wrong.