Chapter Twelve
Jack heard his name and literally flinched. He’d been hoping they could escape the courthouse without meeting someone he knew. He should have known better. How often did he go anywhere in town and not see someone he knew? Never was the answer to the question.
Axel looked up at the sign on the wall behind Jack that said, “Justice of the Peace” and pierced him with a look that said the youngest Grey brother would need to explain himself. Pronto.
Jack glanced at Madelaine, still in her disguise as a bespeckled, red-headed babe, toting an accordion file under one arm, and an expression that told him they didn’t want to linger here. Rock or hard place. Why did he keep finding himself with only those two choices lately?
“Axel,” Jack said in greeting. He figured it was the safest thing he could utter. But then something else occurred to him. Maybe it was okay running into Axel here unexpectedly.
Before Jack could say anything else, his brother grabbed his arm, nodded once at Madelaine and Seraphina, then pulled him several feet down the hall, out of earshot of the women.
“What did you just do?”
Jack inhaled and exhaled. “I would rather not say, but I do need to ask a favor.”
“A favor? Really? Do you need time off for a honeymoon, by chance?” Axel asked sarcastically.
“Yes. Something like that.”
Axel’s expression morphed into several variations of disbelief before he shook his head once, as if to clear out the chaos, and a serene smile shaped his lips.
“You know what? I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt.
I will pretend I didn’t see you coming out of the Justice of the Peace’s office, sporting a gold wedding band on your left ring finger with a redhead who looks suspiciously like the woman who broke your heart five years ago. ”
Jack’s eyes went round. “How did you know it was Madelaine?”
“I knew Madelaine, Jack. She was part of our family for years. We all knew her. You think a hot babe wig in the shade of cinnamon, fake glasses and a new attitude make her invisible? Well, they don’t. Honestly, I don’t understand this at all. I don’t understand what you’re doing, little brother.”
“Well, unfortunately, big brother, I can’t explain, not yet. Maybe not ever.”
“Jack,” Axel said, his tone a cross between concerned older brother and best friend asking if he was off-the-rails crazy.
“Swear to me you won’t tell anyone about seeing me here, Axel. It’s really important that you don’t.”
Axel paused before he reluctantly nodded. “Okay. I swear.”
“Also, may I have the next two weeks off?”
“Two weeks?” His tone was less brotherly concern, more “what in the space potato farm are you thinking?!” He smiled, visibly forcing himself to relax and go with it.
“Sure, Jack. Take two weeks off. I’ll square it with Cam when he gets back.
And I promise that I won’t tell him about seeing you in the courthouse with Madelaine Archer, coming out of the Justice of the Peace’s office. ”
That was rather specific, like a game of Clue and an end reveal with Cam shouting, “The culprit is Miss Archer, in the courthouse, with the marriage license!”
“Thank you.” Jack said. “I’ll try to explain when I return, but please, I beg of you, don’t rat me out to anyone, especially not anyone in our family. Not any of our brothers, our sister or any of the cousins or either of our parents or Aunt Dixie or—”
“Yeah, I get it,” Axel said, holding up one hand to stop him. “I won’t tell anyone. I promise.” He glanced at Madelaine with an uncertain expression. “I just hope you’re okay and that you know what you’re doing.”
Jack followed his gaze. “So do I. We’ll have to see.”
And with that, he moved away from Axel and toward his new bride, Madelaine Archer Grey. An unfathomable occurrence. One he planned to never regret, no matter what happened.
“Everything okay?” Madelaine asked.
“Yes. I made him swear a blood oath that he never saw us here today.”
“That’s good.”
“And I got the next two weeks off, too.”
“Excellent.” Madelaine glanced around the hallway at the streams of people seemingly going about their business and, hopefully, not paying them any mind. “Let’s get going.”
They left the courthouse without seeing anyone else they knew and walked to their vehicle in the parking lot.
Ten minutes later, they were on the road, headed to the rental house and then on to the next stop. Jack didn’t have a clue as to where they were going next, just that he needed to be able to pilot a ship and speak for Madelaine on less progressive planets.
He and his brothers had all learned to pilot during summer vacations on Alpha-Prime when they were teens. He was confident he could still do it, though it had been a couple of years since he’d had the opportunity. He’d have to get some practice in on the way there.
Madelaine wanted privacy to open the package of further instructions. Seeing his brother Axel as they exited the JOP’s matrimonial suite had been bad luck, but neither Madelaine nor Seraphina mentioned it as they drove to the rental house.
He was secretly glad that at least one of his family members had seen him before he embarked on this time-sensitive journey with Madelaine, his new bride.
Jack toyed with the gold band on his ring finger, sliding it round and round. He couldn’t believe he was married.
To Madelaine. Forever, if it was up to him.
For the time being, if it was up to Madelaine.
He chose his forever plan.
Seraphina told Madelaine as they exited the car that she would be staying in Alienn at the rental house, in case Madelaine needed her.
“As I agreed to from the beginning, I’m available to you until your errand is complete.”
“Thank you, Seraphina.”
Madelaine excused herself to the bedroom with the odd accordion file tucked under one arm, leaving Jack alone with Seraphina.
“Are you her assistant or a fixer or something?” Jack asked while they stood in the front room.
“Or something,” she said with a smile, which told him she wasn’t explaining herself further.
Jack sighed out his displeasure at her answer, but it didn’t make her spill any information.
Madelaine read the note inside the accordion file folder. She’d almost asked if it was a joke, but knew it wasn’t. This was serious business. She hadn’t had the opportunity to stow the accordion file in her backpack before they ran right smack into the personal space of Jack’s older brother, Axel.
Unfortunate, but it had worked out.
It did save time for Jack, since he’d been able to secure time off for his “honeymoon” without having to visit the Big Bang Truck Stop before they left the planet. It was one less stop to make on this fraught journey and that was always good news.
As she had been in yet another disguise, she wasn’t worried about being recognized. She’d been born a blond-haired, blue-eyed baby. Now she’d been a brunette for the bank and a redhead to elope with Jack in a matter of a single day.
The parchment paper in the accordion file provided details about the planet she had to go to, Malvoraxis Veil, located on the border of the Caldera Forte Galaxy and the Tri-Spiral Galaxy.
The two galaxies were considered one, as far as galactic law was concerned.
Once separate, Caldera Forte and the Tri-Spiral Galaxy had been aligned a hundred years ago or more, although no one remembered why all these years later.
The accordion file included a curious black stone, which she set aside for closer examination later.
For now, she needed to focus on the rules that needed to be followed during her next package retrieval. Strict rules. For a visit to Malvoraxis Veil, there was a lengthy list of what she and Jack would be required to do and not do.
They had to pilot the Paladin Seeker through a wormhole to their destination. Once they were in range, Jack would have to be the one in the pilot’s seat answering any communication.
Madelaine had never heard of Malvoraxis Veil. What she did know from reading all the dos and don’ts on the parchment paper made her think she was going to hate it there.
The vast distance they would have to travel made her grateful she had Jack with her for the rest of this mission.
It would certainly not be a honeymoon adventure, but it was comforting to be with someone she trusted. She knew he would always have her back, just as she would protect his.
Malvoraxis Veil was likely to be a challenge for Madelaine’s new husband. That designation was going to take some getting used to.
She’d have to let him read the instructions, as he’d have to do all the talking at their next stop. The harder part was hers. Keeping silent in the face of bias regarding her feminine gender was never going to be her strongest skill. Not even close.
Jack would have to memorize lots of rules and she would have to learn to keep absolutely silent. Space potatoes, Jack definitely had the easier job.
Jack memorized the instructions on the parchment paper Madelaine showed him.
He expected to hate Malvoraxis Veil and how its inhabitants were making his new wife—he really loved calling her that—silent and unseen while they visited the planet.
Still, he’d play along and do what was necessary.
He wanted his wife to succeed. He needed her to know that she could trust him, always.
He’d gone back to his place to pack for two weeks, since his go bag only held five days’ worth of stuff.
By the time he returned to Madelaine’s rental house, she was packed and ready to go. She led him through the woods to her hidden ship, the Paladin Seeker.
“Cam will not like this,” Jack said. “Something similar to this happened during the Interstellar Colony Inspection a while back. I thought I’d found all of the possible places in the area where a spacecraft could hide.”
“Guess you missed one.” She wasn’t trying to be flip. She knew the Alphas took security very seriously here on Earth. She’d lived that for all her life before she’d been sent to Alpha-Prime for Paladin Cabal business. “Or whoever you sent missed it.”
“Well, even if I’d come here to look for myself, I wouldn’t have seen anything.”
“True. My cloaking device is state of the art. It not only hides the ship, it projects an immovable structure or object in its place—for example, a small hill made of granite—so my ship is even more securely hidden.”
“Yep,” Jack said, shaking his head as in dismay. “Cam will not like this at all.”
“Are you going to rat me out before we even start this trip?” she teased.
Jack looked at her in surprise. “No. I will not rat you out ever, okay?”
“Okay. Thank you.”
“Thank you for trusting me with this big secret.”
Madelaine smiled.