Lovers in the Woods Read Free Page B

understood?”
    He wanted to ask why she knew, but came up with “Where do we
go?” Glancing over his shoulder, Sajitar considered it careless to
leave the unconscious men behind. If they awoke and were able to
get rid of the handcuffs, they would go about their business which
meant they would take up the hunt again. He would have voted for
Rayenne’s anger to explode and put an end to their lives. The
thought came around again and frightened him. Did I really think about killing someone? As much as possible, violence and he walked different
paths.
    “ There’s a small station
north of here with an overhead transmission line. Just a few
hours ahead. We’ll call for help and wait there.”
    She waited for him to lead his B-horse out of
the stable carefully. The stench of blood was in the air and though
his mare had been in many places, she shied away and would have
bolted without his hand at the reins.
    Outside, he mounted the
fidgeting B-horse with some trouble and watched Rayenne do the
same. She was slender, but he knew better than to take her to be
fragile. He had met enough women to accept that there was no such
thing as a helpless woman —n ot on Belthraine, anyway. And truly not in a job
that consisted mostly of dealing with hardcore
criminals.
    Again, it cut him to the quick that she
considered him to be one of them.
     
    The thought of being the target of
Sanjongy caused him to turn every now and again while the B-horses
trotted down the street. He had done some illegal things in his
life, but to be on a death list had never been a possibility.
Sanjongy! Every man and his mouse feared the gang that had more
deaths on their list than the police had employees. And that was a
conservative estimate.
    He tried to calm down and tell himself
that police officers made a much better target. No one loved to be
around them, and their reputation was worse than on other
planets.
    There were stories of policemen
being bribed by high ranking criminals to look away while a robbery
took place. Stories of how they used brutal force if they thought
it appropriate, and sometimes even if they were just out for a
brawl. Their appearance far away from Belson Park had made some
local folks nervous. This has to be the reason for two killers to show up.
Probably Felberi and Ray were in trouble with the gang and now they
want revenge.
    Reflecting on his situation, he was not sure if the police
escort would do him any good. Sanjongy might catch him anyway. What
was one police officer against gang members? He inhaled
deeply. Don’t expect the worst every
time.
    Rayenne held the reins with one hand while
the other rested on the butt of her gun. Her fingers danced along
the trigger and her dark brown gelding fidgeted, sensing her
nervousness much better than the people watching them leave
town.
    Sajitar kept quiet. He tried to look in
all directions at the same time, but he was not experienced enough
to recognize an assassin without looking into a muzzle. The end of
the shootout in the stable had been pure luck. He knew it, and he
was sure Rayenne did, too.
    If Sanjongy sent more freaks with the mission
to kill, there was no doubt about the outcome.
     
    They reached the main street of
the village. Now that the sun was up, there were women with
children as well as workers on coaches, snapping whips at their
B-horses. With one uniformed escort they were still worth a shy
glance —then all the passers-by hurried on. Sajitar sensed their sudden
unrest. The few men he had talked to had a crime register longer
than his arm, and right now Sajitar envied them being left alone
while he was led out of town. He glanced over his shoulder, but
there was no one to regret his departure.
    Belthraine had been a settlers’ dream for
one and a half centuries. There were diggers who had thought the
planet would be rich in gems or minerals, coal or oil, but for
years they had been unlucky. They had built settlements around the
huge woods and cut down trees