Chapter Twenty-Six
The two brothers eyed one another, Korsan looking hangdog, Ruyn appearing as if he wanted to punch him out.
“Let’s talk inside,” Michaela urged. As soon as the door shut behind them, she asked, “Would anyone care for a drink?”
“No.” Ruyn glowered.
“No,” Korsan said.
“I’ll put these boxes in the kitchen. Don’t kill each other while I’m gone.”
“Can’t promise,” Ruyn said.
She stowed their dinners in the cold storage, fortified herself with a deep breath, and reentered the sitting room. The two of them had squared off, Ruyn’s glare darkening, and Korsan looking even more miserable.
“Sit!” she ordered. “Both of you.” This wasn’t the first fight between brothers she had to mediate—although never had the stakes been so grave.
“What happened at the hospital?” Korsan directed his comment to her. “Will Ruyn be all right?” He shot a wary glance in his brother’s direction before focusing on her again.
“Do you care?” Ruyn snapped.
“Of course, I care.”
“We don’t know yet,” she said. “The situation is complicated. He was infected with a bio-engineered nanocyte that produces an antigen I am deathly allergic to. Apparently, he was poisoned by Murta.”
“Phuk. He can be cured, right?”
“Dr. Kurur isn’t sure. He’s consulting with a colleague on planet Oberia in hopes the nanocyte can be eradicated.”
“And if it can’t be?”
“Then it phuks up our lives forever!” Ruyn said. “Michaela and I will never be able to be intimate again because the antigen is passed sexually. I almost killed her!”
Korsan jumped up and began to pace. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I never wanted anything like this to happen. Never thought anything would rebound on you. Either of you.”
“It’s time to stop dancing around the truth and come clean. What did you get into?” Ruyn demanded. “How did you know Mama Murta is Prellim?”
Such a silence followed, she began to think Korsan wouldn’t answer, but then he raked his hands through his hair and exhaled. “I’ve been laundering money for the Prellim Cartel.”
Ruyn got to his feet and clenched his fists. “Of all the stupid, illegal, dangerous, self-defeating, asinine moves! Have you lost your phukking mind? Did I mention illegal? Like go-to-prison illegal? Galpol is going to catch up with you.”
“I didn’t know Murta was Prellim at first. She’d served as the defense minister! I started eating at her café. We’d talk. I’d shared I was worried about my business. Then she came to me and said a friend of hers, a fellow business owner, wished to shield some of his earnings.”
“It didn’t strike you as odd the defense minister would ask you to hide money?”
“Of course, it did. But I was desperate. I’d gotten into another financial jam.
Creditors were hounding me. I’d filed for bankruptcy once and couldn’t do it again so soon.
I would have lost everything. She promised that in exchange for laundering money, my debts would be canceled out.
” He sank onto the sofa. “Everything worked fine for a while. It was small amounts, nothing drastic. Some of the subsidiaries like the Starlight needed improvements anyway, so why not fix things up and doctor the invoices a little?”
Ruyn swore.
“But then the sums I was expected to launder increased exponentially. It got harder and harder to disguise. I didn’t like breaking the law, and I suspected my new business partners were involved in some bad shit.”
“You think?” Ruyn shook his head disgustedly and dropped into a chair.
“I informed Murta I wouldn’t do it anymore.
That’s when she told me who I’d been working with, and threatened that if I didn’t continue, I’d regret it.
It rattled me, but I wanted to do the right thing.
” His voice shook. “I refused to do it anymore. I was considering turning her in, turning myself in, and facing the consequences.”
His eyes were wet. “But…you had come home on leave.”
Oh. My. God. Michaela covered her mouth with her hand. She saw where this was leading.
“The night you gave the speech was the night I met with Murta to say I wouldn’t launder money anymore.
” Korsan’s voice shook. “You were attacked as a warning to me. I am so phukking sorry, Ruyn. Everything that happened to you was my fault.” Tears slid down his cheeks.
“I was scared to death. I-I-I was stuck. I couldn’t get out, or they’d kill you.
I hired a bodyguard for you because I was afraid they’d try again anyway.
I’d ruined your military career, so I gave you a job.
“Then you started digging into the finances, and you discovered discrepancies I couldn’t explain. I had no idea you were eating at her café. She poisoned you to try to kill Michaela as another lesson to me.” His shoulders shook. “I’m sorry. So sorry.”
Ruyn moved to the sofa to sit beside his brother. Their shoulders touched.
“You have every right to hate me,” Korsan said.
“I don’t hate you.”
“You should.”
“I don’t.” Ruyn touched Korsan’s knee. “You’re my brother. I love you. You tried to do the right thing, and you have to follow through and come clean with the authorities. You have to report what you know.”
He took a shuddering breath. “She’ll strike again.”
Michaela sat on Korsan’s other side. “Not if you act fast. Galpol is on to her. With your help, they can arrest her. She has to be stopped.” Korsan was the only one with direct evidence of Murta’s identity.
“Yeah.” He nodded, and Ruyn extended an arm across his shoulders in a loose hug.
“I’m going to contact Galpol right now, okay?”
He nodded again.
She took her tech tab into the kitchen. Tervik picked up right away. “Korsan is with us in our apartment. He has information for you.”
“I’ll be right there.”
“We live at—”
“I know where you live.”
They disconnected. She leaned against the counter to process the shocking information and give Ruyn time alone with his brother. Stunned herself, she could imagine what Ruyn felt. He had to be devastated—and this blow came on the heels of all the other bad news. But he’d handled it well.
Korsan had been not just na?ve, but—she hated to think it—stupid.
Shortsighted. How could he not have foreseen getting into bed with the Prellim Cartel would lead to disaster?
While he hadn’t known Murta’s true identity at first—she believed that—if he hadn’t been willing to break the law in the first place, none of this would have happened.
Nobody would be safe until Murta was apprehended. Until then, they’d need to maintain heightened vigilance. She pushed off from the counter and reentered the sitting room. The brothers sat side by side, speaking in low tones.
“The Galpol agent is on his way.” She’d no sooner spoken than the chime sounded, and the door cam revealed Tervik.
“That was fast!” she said as she let him in.
“I was on my way here when we spoke.” He stepped farther into the room. “You must be Korsan. I’m Agent Tervik of the Galactic Police Organization.”
At his direction, Korsan moved into the dining room where the two of them faced off across the table. She and Ruyn were asked to remain in the sitting area. They could listen, but Korsan couldn’t get any help from them.
To his credit, Korsan laid it all out. Tervik let him speak then asked a few questions and then, while still at the table, contacted someone on his tech tab.
“We got what we need. Arrest Murta, Chaumi, and the husband.” He paused. “And send a pickup to my location.” He put his tech tab away and looked at Korsan, his expression almost apologetic. “You realize I need to arrest you.”
“I know.”
Korsan stood up, and Ruyn hugged him. “Hang in there.”
“I will. If you can, if they allow it, let me know what happens…with your health situation, okay?”
“I will.”
She hugged him next.
“I’m so sorry I dragged you into this,” he said.
“I know you are.” Emotions were complicated.
She couldn’t bring herself to utter words of forgiveness because she hadn’t forgiven him.
His involvement in a crime had led to an attack that nearly killed Ruyn and then gotten him poisoned.
He’d misled her and GAL Friday about the real threats.
Serving as a bodyguard/investigator for a man attacked by a common street thug—as he’d presented it—was quite a bit different from protecting someone who’d been targeted by a galactic criminal cartel.
If not for him, she wouldn’t have met Ruyn. However, due to Korsan, they might never enjoy the future they’d envisioned.
A new agent arrived, cuffed Korsan, and took him into custody.
“What will happen to him?” Ruyn asked Tervik. “Any chance he’ll get a reduced sentence in exchange for his cooperation?”
“It’s not my call, but he might. I can’t promise.” He started to leave. “Thank you for contacting me.”
“You were on your way, so it’s moot,” she said.
“But many family members wouldn’t have done that.” He reached the door and turned. “I knew all along you weren’t involved with the cartel.”
“You’re kind of an asshole,” Michaela said.
“That’s been said before.” He saluted and left.
She turned to Ruyn. “How are you doing? Are you all right?”
He stood rigid and still, unspeaking.
She slipped her arms around his waist and hugged him tight.
“I knew…he had to be involved in something illegal. I had no idea it was this bad. The cartel. He could be convicted of treason.” Ruyn’s shoulders shook as tears slipped down his face.