Chapter 39
Designated Driver
It took six months to adapt to his new routine, but Davik had finally gotten used to flying The Argent solo. It wasn’t anything spectacular, just odd ferry jobs and legitimate cargo hauling work here and there.
Cabin fever was a struggle he hadn’t learned to overcome yet, and he was happy for any excuse to get off the ship for a day. So, the opportunity to dock at the station that Marius and Carissa had settled was one he took immediately.
Plus, you keep walking by things that have her stickers on them, and it makes you want to send her a ping every time. You need to get off the ship and away from her shadow.
It was the one-year anniversary of Marius’ arrest, which seemed a macabre thing to celebrate, but Carissa wanted to make light of it. And it gave a great opportunity to fawn over little Leah being three whole months old.
Half a year had passed since they had gotten Marius out of cryo. Half a year since he had seen Fia. Half a year since Carissa and Davik had gotten so much as a hail from Drey.
Which made it astonishing that Drey, of all people, showed up for the celebration. They had all taken bets on why. Whether he was trying to crash on their couch, if he was on the run, or if he was genuinely there to finally meet the baby. Nobody put money on the last one.
“So, little man,” Marius gestured to Davik over the dining table with a fork as he spoke. “How the hell has the old boat been treating you?”
“Awful,” he snorted. “But nothing’s broken too badly. Haven’t been vented into the ink. Got most of her repairs done half-properly, though. So she’s not really limping anymore, just lazy.”
Drey chimed in, gesturing with a fork as well. “You should just sell the damn thing. Solo running is not your style, greenhorn.”
Davik noted that the fork was empty. The man had barely even touched his food.
“Yeah, I … I’m not really running like we used to, Drey. Actual work. Legit work.”
“Bullshit, legit,” he scoffed. “You’re telling me you bailed Marius out and bought this place through good old-fashioned fuckin’ elbow grease?”
Carissa glared, clutching Leah close to her chest. “Can you not cuss around the baby?”
“Her brain is barely hooked up yet, she’ll be fine. We’ve all grown up around people talking shop, slop, and slumming, and we turned out alright,” he said, rolling his eyes.
On cue, Leah let out a soft, protesting wail. Carissa shushed her gently as she stared daggers at Drey.
“Oh yes, you turned out very well-rounded.” She shook her head and sighed. “We are going to take a nap. Thank you for cooking, Dav. I might be asleep when you ship out, so give me a hug before you go, yeah?”
Davik nodded and kissed little Leah on the crown, waving as her mom whisked her off to find some peace.
“Okay, whatever,” Drey snorted as soon as the door closed. “Still, no way you’re all straight-laced good boys now.”
“They hauled some serious ass while you were off doing God knows what,” Marius snapped. “Carissa was out there hard-burning for six months, calling in every favor we had. Davik nearly got pinched at a Fed station. And you weren’t there to lift a single finger.”
“I was wrestling with my own demons, man. You know that.”
Marius slammed his hands onto the table hard enough to rattle the plates. “Fuck you, Drey! You can screw me over. That’s fine. That’s the norm. But you didn’t even try to help my goddamn wife!”
Davik watched with vicarious satisfaction as Marius towered over the merc, his knuckles white as he gripped the back of Drey’s chair.
“No, you had to do what you always do,” he continued.
“Bolt when it gets hard. Go rack up a fat bill getting new augs, new stims, new meds, shiny new guns, something to give you an edge to outrun that debt.” He grunted in irritation, shoving Drey’s chair to punctuate the words as he sat back down.
“You’re gonna run out of skin to swap, nerves to numb, and neurons to fry.
And, fuck, if you keep this up, you’re going to run out of people who will pull you out of the ditch again. ”
“Look, I had no idea they were doing anything high-risk! I swung by to check in, and everyone was all hush-hush. Didn’t tell me a damn thing.”
Davik rubbed his temples and sighed. “Yeah, Drey. You were strung out. Respectfully, didn’t think you were up for it.”
“See?!” Drey said, gesticulating wildly. “Nobody asked! So, stop cussing me out over not doing a thing that they didn’t even want me to do.”
“That’s not the point,” Marius nearly growled the words through his tight-gritted teeth.
“They had to break a test subject out of a freaky Fed torture chamber. That is how dire things got. Just so they could get the coin to bail me out before the baby came. You put them in that position. I was in cryo in the first place because you were nowhere to be found when the Feds came calling after that scavver job!”
Davik winced. The scavver job was one he had run logistics on. He thought he had planned their route perfectly. They had gotten intel about the patrols near where they were traveling, and they should have been fine. But, for the umpteenth time, something went wrong with a plan he had put together.
Usually, his mistakes were just a hindrance. Something that led to missing inventory, or getting shaken down for a travel fee from local gang muscle. But this job went sideways, and they got caught with hot cargo.
And Marius had taken the fall.
This whole mess traced all the way back to him. Not Drey, him.
“We’re all here now, though,” Davik offered quietly.
Marius shook his head. “Yeah, and I’m glad for it. But you shouldn’t have had to go it alone.”
Davik wilted at the words. They hadn’t been alone. They had help. Carissa had a keen-sensed Sentu scouting for danger. Davik had a guardian angel, ushering him through what should have been an impossible job.
She should have been here, should have been around to meet Leah, should have been here to put Drey back in his place again.
“You,” Drey said, staring at Davik intently. His augmented eyes oscillated as the merc focused in on him, and the scrutiny set his nerves on edge. “You and C, you cracked into a Fed station?”
“Kinda. Wasn’t officially a Fed property.
Private, KurelTec. We got a good job spec.
It was clean, lucked out.” He pushed around a few cubes of carrot on his plate with a fork as he sought a route to get off the subject.
“It was a one-time gig, though. I’m done doing jobs like that again.
If that’s what has you looking at me like I’m a meal ticket, cut it out. ”
An eerie stillness settled on Drey’s features. The accusation hung in the air for a painful few seconds of silence before Marius spoke up.
“Like you said, Dav, we’re all here now, though.
So, Drey, just—” His words cut off with a sharp inhale.
“I love you. We, as in all of us, really do love you. Mess and all. There’s not many of us from the tour days anymore, man.
Just stay out of trouble. Please. You’ve gotta be around to teach Leah how to roll a cigar when she’s grown. ”
That broke the tension enough, and the trio settled into a boisterous conversation about fatherhood.
Placing bets on how long Carissa would wait to take Leah to the range to practice sharpshooting with Mom.
Davik was banking on her at least waiting until her teen years, but Marius and Drey were certain she would cart her down there as soon as the little one was grown enough to fit into the ear protection.
“Hey, Dav?” Drey asked as he was packing up.
He looked timid for once. The man was nearly a foot taller than Dav, but his posture was stooped so far that Davik could almost see the crown of his head.
“Any chance I could … bum a ride?”