38. Ashes to Ashes
Capt. D. Vaughn
Give me another chance.
I jumped when my comm pinged. Looking down at the message, I had to work hard to train my face not to smile. It was our pre-arranged code phrase. It meant he and Darren had enough to move forward with charging and apprehending Cassidy.
“You okay?” Cassidy watched me from his desk.
I showed him my comm. “He won’t leave me alone.”
Cassidy read the message and frowned.
The comm pinged again.
Capt. D. Vaughn
Please.
And that single word meant that everything was ready to go for his arrest when we arrived at port in less than twelve hours.
“I didn’t realize the captain knew the word ‘please,’” Cassidy growled. The fact that he was so threatened by Vaughn pleased me. However, he had no idea the biggest threat of all was sitting right in front of him.
“He can message me all he wants. He knows he’s lost. He only cares because of his pride,” I lied, stowing my comm back in my pocket.
Needing to keep a close eye on Cassidy until we reached Ganymede, I took a deep breath before enacting the final stage of our plan.
“I need to catch a few hours of rest before we land,” I told him, stretching as I rose from the couch. “Will you help me fall asleep?”
It was more important now than ever to keep up the charade of the future I’d promised to share with Cassidy.
His eyes lit up at the offer. “Of course!” He scrambled back from his desk. “I’ll ask Rion to cover for me until we’re closer to port.”
In order to continue to go along with the ruse of a budding relationship with Cassidy, I’d had to endure letting the sick fuck be somewhat physical with me.
At the very least, he seemed to understand how delicate I might be after ending things with Vaughn, so he’d been respectful enough to let me lead the way.
As we made our way through the ship, up to Cassidy’s room, I twined my fingers through his, wishing they were Vaughn’s, missing how much bigger and warmer his hands were, compared to Cassidy’s slim fingers and somewhat clammy hold.
Once inside, I stripped down to my regular nighttime wardrobe of a tank top and panties. I didn’t relish having to literally and figuratively get into bed with Cassidy, but with only hours to go until he’d be exposed, I would have done anything to make sure this mission succeeded.
“You sure you don’t want to depart at Ganymede?
I’ve got plenty of Meridian contacts that could get us back to the inner system,” Cassidy asked as he slipped into the bed first. I’d made sure that I took the side of the bed closest to the door, rather than against the wall of the ship, like I preferred in Vaughn’s quarters.
I couldn’t stomach the thought of feeling trapped in the bed next to him.
“We’ll be okay. Other than the couple of messages I showed you, the captain’s left me alone,” I told him as I swung my legs onto the bed, slipping them under the covers.
“Probably realizes it’s not worth losing the pay for this run if he pisses you off.” Cassidy snorted.
If he knew the captain at all, he’d know that Vaughn would be far more concerned with the rest of his crew being out the money, rather than himself.
“Probably,” I agreed through a yawn.
Cassidy tentatively slung his arm over my waist, gently pulling my back to his front. I suppressed a gag at the feel of his arousal against me.
“You don’t need to worry about Vaughn, L,” Cassidy whispered, nuzzling against my hair. “When we get back to Phobos, I have a feeling he won’t be a problem for much longer.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat at the clear threat. Trying not to betray my intentions, I looked up at Cassidy, mustering as much sincerity as I could manage. “You don’t have to do anything. Just the fact that I’m leaving with you will be enough.”
Cassidy leaned in and placed a gentle kiss along my jaw. “It’s always been you, Lark. Even X couldn’t keep us apart.”
I took a deep breath, mentally reminding myself that if I slapped him, it would ruin everything, and what he had coming would be worth the wait.
“Try to get some sleep, babe,” he instructed.
But the sleep wouldn’t come until I was safely back in Vaughn’s arms.
“Approaching port,” Vaughn’s authoritative tone came over Cassidy’s comm while we were grabbing a quick breakfast together in the mess. I hadn’t left his side since I’d gotten word from Vaughn that everything was a go. “Report to your stations,” he ordered.
“We better go,” I told Cassidy as I took our empty dishes to the sanitizing station.
Hand in hand, we walked down to the lower level, pausing in front of his office.
“Come find me when we land. I know a great place where we can grab some food while the ship is unloaded.”
“Can’t wait.” I provided a saccharine smile as he leaned in to give me a peck on the cheek.
My stomach was roiling with nerves as I departed at last to make my way to the engineering bay…the smile still wreathing my face, but for reasons entirely different than Cassidy could surmise.
Cassidy Paulson, aka the Phoenix, and his congregation of criminals had taken almost everything from me, and I was about to return the favor.
There was a lot to smile for, after all.
Thankfully, the docking procedure for a ship as new as the Radiant was almost completely automated, unless something went wrong. But the universe was smiling down on us that day, clearly aware of the justice that was about to be brought to the scourge of the system.
“Ready to go?” I knocked on Cassidy’s door after we’d successfully docked.
“Sure thing.” He beamed, snagging my hand as we made our way to the cargo hold.
Jordan and Ethan, who were preparing to oversee the payload transfer, eyed our hands warily from the opposite side of the cargo bay door.
And somehow, without turning, I could sense Vaughn’s presence behind me, confirmed a moment later when Jordan glanced toward the entrance to the cargo bay, giving him a brief nod, her face tight with worry, likely over the physical closeness I shared with Cassidy.
I couldn’t afford to turn around, or I’d break. I hadn’t seen hide nor hair of Vaughn since the day I packed up my things from our quarters. My heart beat pounded in my chest. I wanted to run to him, but I had a job to finish.
Painfully slowly, the cargo bay ramp began to lower. I held my breath as I watched the dock gradually come into view. Ganymede’s port was one of the nicest in the system, and also one of the largest.
The sensation of Cassidy’s hand at the small of my back as he escorted me down the ramp seared through my uniform. And for a moment, I thought there had been a mistake—that something had gone wrong.
But the second both of his feet were firmly planted on the dock and not the Radiant, we were swarmed by men in black uniforms and tactical gear. I was wrenched from Cassidy, while he snarled at the men, reaching for me in the chaos.
“What the fuck is this!?” he screeched.
“What you deserve,” came a booming voice from the ship.
Time seemed to stand still as Vaughn made his way down the ramp, his gaze firmly trained on Cassidy. I couldn’t help but let mine linger on Vaughn. He was such a sight for sore eyes.
“YOU did this!?” Cassidy roared, his fury aimed at Vaughn.
But when Vaughn’s route redirected to make his way to me, Cassidy’s expression faltered. His eyes met mine, blazing with betrayal.
I was glad to know he felt it, although he’d never know the depths to which I’d felt his.
Finally at my side, Vaughn wrapped his arm around my shoulder, pulling me into him. I felt like I could breathe again.
“We did this.” My tone was frigid.
“You said you loved me!” Cassidy argued, as if that would somehow change things.
“You KILLED my family!” I cried in response, my voice twisting with the words.
“I would have given you everything.” Cassidy seethed, still trying to fight against the men that held him hostage, some securing him while others kept their weapons dutifully trained on their target.
Lacing my fingers with Vaughn’s, I kept my gaze steady when I told him, “I already have everything I could ever want, except for Xavier.”
Vaughn squeezed my hand as I blinked back tears.
“You haven’t won,” Cassidy sneered, his attention still focused on me and Vaughn. “Meridian’s reach is beyond comprehension. I’ll be released in a matter of hours and you’ll regret the day you were born.”
Darren appeared behind him through the throng of shoulders. He strode forward, giving Cassidy a pat on the shoulder as he passed. “We’ll see about that, son.”
Cassidy bared his teeth and continued to fight as the soldiers turned him and began their march toward the awaiting prisoner transport.
“He doesn’t know I’ve spent the last week preparing to have every last corrupt official named in the decrypted correspondence you passed along suspended pending formal investigations.
We started arresting people less than an hour ago, when you landed, and I’m already getting reports of the Phoenix’s network crumbling. ”
More hope flooded in.
Because it was not with a bang, but rather with a whimper that Cassidy was apprehended, none of it felt real. The mission didn’t feel as though it had been completed.
“Looks like the two of you are getting along.” Darren smirked, his eyes flicking down to our entwined hands.
“Oh, like this wasn’t some matchmaking ploy from the start.” Vaughn huffed behind me.
Darren threw his head back in laughter, but I was still watching the soldiers and Cassidy recede from view.
Darren glanced behind me to see where my attention lay.
“Every single one of them was handpicked by me to come here today. Their lives have all been destroyed by Meridian, and we’ve got an armada in orbit, waiting to escort us back into the inner system,” Darren reassured me.
“His trial will start immediately. The evidence you both uncovered is irrefutable.”
I gave a slow nod, still in disbelief.
Vaughn released my hand to wrap his around my waist. “You did it, Trouble,” he whispered in my ear, then placed a soft kiss at my temple. “I’m so proud of you.”
“We did this,” I repeated, smiling up at him.