Beneath the Fallen City (The Omni Towers, #1)

Chapter 2-2

“Ah, sad but true,” Xantham lamented.

Zane stood and wiped his hands on his pants before offering his hand to Kayla in greeting. “Nice to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you. Cruncher says you’ve got a knack for locks?”

Kayla shrugged, deciding the change in subject was a welcome one. It probably wasn’t a great idea to keep reminding Carl she’d been stealing from under his nose for months. She studied the lock Zane abandoned. “I’ve been called more than fair. That’s an 8600, right?”

Zane nodded. “Yeah. We brought it up a few days ago to let the others practice on it. It’s one of the most difficult in the series. I figure if they can c***k this one, they should be good on most of the others in the line.”

“No one’s been able to beat Zane’s time yet. With the new equipment, he’s running at one minute fifty-four seconds,” Cruncher added.

“One minute forty-six seconds,” Zane corrected proudly.

Kayla c****d her head and said casually, “Is that so? Well, how about a friendly wager? I’d be willing to give it a shot.”

Zane looked interested. “Sure. How much are we talking?”

“A token. How about twenty credits?”

Zane nodded at the amount. Carl rubbed his chin and considered Kayla for a moment. “If you don’t mind, I’ll sweeten the pot. One hundred credits for the best time.”

Surprise crossed Kayla’s face, but she shrugged in response. It wasn’t an exorbitant amount, but it wasn’t chump change either. “Your money. V, would you mind grabbing my equipment for me?”

Veridian nodded and headed back out the way he came. Carl studied Kayla carefully for a minute and then motioned for Cruncher to follow him. Kayla flashed a charming smile at Carl, inwardly cursing his intuitiveness. “I’m sure your equipment is nice, but for a hundred credits, I prefer to handle something I know can get me where I’m going.”

Carl smirked. “There’s no doubt in my mind my equipment can take you well and beyond where you want to go.”

She arched a brow, scanning him up and down to assess his “equipment”. He might be right, but she damn well wouldn’t admit it. “We’ll see about that.”

When he grinned, she turned away to hide her smile and pretended to look over the equipment in the room. Veridian and Cruncher returned a few minutes later. Judging from Veridian’s demeanor, Kayla knew he had planted the listening device. He handed her the equipment, and she walked over to the lock, confidence in each of her steps.

“Start the timer, boys, and I’ll show you how it’s done.” Kayla knelt and placed her frequency detector on the safe. With practiced motions, she slid her lock-picking tool into the lock and easily worked through the combinations.

With a flourish, she pulled the handle and the door swung open.

“One minute fourteen seconds,” Cruncher said in amazement.

Xantham chuckled in amusement while Zane stared at her in disbelief. “I’ve never seen anyone work a lock that fast.”

Kayla sauntered over to Carl, holding out her hand and rubbing her fingers together. “I believe that’s another hundred credits you owe me?”

“Apparently so.” His eyes skimmed up and down the length of her body as though assessing and considering her in a new light. “If you’ll join me in my office, I’ll transfer the credits now.” He turned to Zane. “I’ll do your transfer as well. I believe you owe her twenty?”

Zane nodded sheepishly. “Mind if I take a look at your equipment, Kayla?”

She hesitated for a moment before handing her equipment to Zane. Motioning for Veridian to stay behind and retrieve the device when Zane had finished trying it out, she followed Carl back toward his office.

“Protective of your equipment, are you?”

“I like to keep my toys clean. Nasty things happen when they leave my sight.”

“But you left them with Veridian,” Carl pointed out.

“Yes, I did. They’re safer with him than they are anywhere.”

“You have that much trust in him?”

Kayla frowned, becoming uncomfortable with the personal direction of the conversation. “You ask a lot of questions, Carl. But, yeah, I do. Veridian is… I guess you could say he’s like a brother to me.”

“A brother then,” Carl mused. He nodded as though that cleared up some question in his mind. “He mentioned family yesterday. Is that important to you?”

Kayla shrugged. “Only Veridian. Most other people are a waste of perfectly good oxygen.”

“I see,” he observed, stepping back into his office. Kayla hopped back on the edge of the desk and watched while Carl initiated the credit transfer. So far, the day was turning out to be more profitable than she’d expected. When the transfer was complete, she verified the transaction.

He put down his commlink and leaned across the desk to study her. “Now that we have that settled, I’d like to talk to you about the reason I asked you to come here.”

Kayla tucked her hair behind her ear and c****d her head. “Is this the part where you try to turn me into a legitimate scavenger?”

Carl smiled. “Something like that. You’ve met most of my crew, except for Jinx. She’s out mapping some sectors right now. I asked the crew to stick around today so you could meet them. But we usually try to do two separate shifts. One group is on one day and the other on the next. It seems to work out well for us.”

Kayla nodded. Most crews scavenged that way. She was scheduled to be back underground tomorrow.

“I know what most ruin rats think of us, but we’re not bad people. In fact, the majority of trader crews are made up of former ruin rats.”

“Yeah.” Kayla blew out a breath. “Ruin rats who decided they’d rather sell themselves and live under OmniLab’s thumb.”

“It’s not that bad, Kayla,” Carl insisted. “The benefits far outweigh the negatives. I’m prepared to offer you a salary with an added percentage of whatever you scavenge. This percentage would be directly from an OmniLab trader with no negotiation fees attached. It would be far more than you’ve ever seen working with Leo.”

“How much?” Kayla wasn’t really interested but was trying to hurry the conversation along.

Carl walked around the desk to stand next to her. “Five hundred credits a month with a twenty percent bonus to whatever you bring in. I’ll pay for all of your equipment and living expenses, and you can spend your credits on whatever you want. Send it back to Leo, for all I care. I want you, Kayla.”

Kayla was momentarily taken aback. She hadn’t been expecting such a generous offer. But either way, there was no way she’d accept the offer of a trader. The thought of working for OmniLab left a bitter taste in her mouth.

“No, thanks. I wouldn’t ever leave Veridian.”

Carl studied her for a long moment. “If you want him, you can have him too. He’ll have a salary of two hundred fifty a month. No bonus, though, since he doesn’t scavenge.”

Kayla’s eyes widened, her fingers gripping the edge of the desk to prevent her from falling off. She hadn’t expected Carl to want both of them. Veridian was skilled, but he wasn’t a scavenger. Most trader crews had plenty of techs, but there was a high demand for people who were actually willing to navigate the ruins. “Holy s**t. Um, wow. Uh, I guess I’ll think about it and get back to you.”

“Of course,” Carl said easily with a trace of a smile on his face. He tapped a few instructions into the keyboard on the desk and pulled up a contract. “I’d appreciate it if you could read through this. I’ve outlined the salary, bonus percentage, and other benefits. The contract is for a year. At the end of the year, we can renew it for the same terms or renegotiate. Veridian will have a separate contract.”

Kayla sighed as she glanced at the lengthy document. “You want me to read through this now?”

At Carl’s nod, her shoulders slumped in dejection. Resigned to her task, she pulled her hair into a ponytail to get it out of her face.

Carl froze, studying the side of her neck. “Is that from yesterday?”

“Huh? Is what from yesterday?”

“You’ve got a particularly nasty bruise back there.” Carl frowned, his gaze fixed on her neck. She reached up to touch the area in question and winced when her fingers brushed against a painful bruise that crept up from her shirt.

“Yeah. Guess so,” she said with a shrug. “It happens when you fall through the floor.”

“I heard about that. I’ve got something that can help.” He moved around the desk. “You should take a couple of days off to heal. Your muscles won’t be relaxed, and you could injure yourself even more if you try scavenging too soon.”

Kayla scoffed at his statement. “Some of us don’t have the luxury to take days off. I’m amazed people aren’t lining up at the door if you treat all recruits like this.”

“Not all,” Carl admitted and reached into a drawer to pull out a bottle of dark-colored liquid and two glasses. “Just the promising ones.” He opened the bottle and poured a small amount into each glass.

She accepted the offered beverage, sniffed it apprehensively, and grimaced. “You want me to drink that?”

Carl didn’t reply. Instead, he lifted his drink and took a long sip, savoring it before putting his glass back on the desk. Kayla looked at his beverage and then considered her own. It seemed harmless enough. Raising it to her lips, she took a drink, making a face at the unfamiliar taste. Her eyes watered from the burn in her throat.

“Hell’s balls. What is that?”

He chuckled at her reaction. “It’s an old-world drink OmniLab recreated called scotch. It helps relax the muscles.”

“Hmm.” She licked her lips. “It’s not too bad once you get past the burn.”

She reached over to confiscate the bottle, poured herself a slightly larger amount, and took another drink. This time, it went down a little easier. She examined the bottle while Carl watched her in amusement.

“Be careful,” he warned. “It packs a hell of a punch, especially if you’re not used to drinking it.”

Carl reached into the desk drawer and pulled out a small tube of cream. Kayla recognized the OmniLab medicinal cream used to promote healing. It was extremely expensive and, in Kayla’s experience, should only be used in dire emergencies.

He tried handing it to her, but she pushed it back toward him with a look that clearly let him know she thought he was nuts. “It’s a bruise, not a gaping wound.”

“Use it. You ruin rats don’t take care of yourselves and wait until someone’s near death before trying to fix the problem. If you use it, you’ll heal faster and it could help prevent further injury.”

“If you say so,” Kayla huffed. She put a tiny amount of cream on her finger and rubbed it half-heartedly on her neck before handing the tube back to him.

Carl sighed at her lackluster display. “Well, there’s not much point if you’re going to do it that way.”

He flipped open the cap and squeezed a generous amount of the cream onto his fingers. When he touched her neck with the cream, she yelped.

“Hey! That’s cold.”

“Shh. Don’t be such a baby.”

She scowled but kept silent. Gentler than she thought he’d be, Carl massaged the cream into the back of her neck and shoulder. She relaxed against him and closed her eyes as his fingers caressed her skin.

He pulled his hands away far too soon and closed the cap on the cream. Kayla opened her eyes in disappointment and watched as he dropped it back into the drawer.

“That’s much better. You looked like you were falling asleep. I can’t let that happen when you’ve got important reading to do.”

“Yeah, right,” she grumbled and turned back to the detailed document. She was relatively quiet for several minutes while she skimmed the monotonous legalese, making occasional, colorful mutters about boring contracts. When she finished, Kayla pushed the tablet away and hopped off the desk. She pulled out her ponytail and shook out her hair.

“All done. Is that it?”

Carl nodded and crossed the desk to stand in front of her. “For now.” He looked down into her eyes, and a tingling feeling crept into the pit of her stomach.

Yep, I should have clocked him yesterday when I had the chance. He’s too damn pretty for his own good.

“Ah, looks like I missed some,” he added when he spotted a tiny bit of cream still on her shoulder. He ran his hand along her shoulder and gently massaged it into her skin.

Yeah, too damn pretty, and I’m a sucker—a sucker with a bug to plant. Kayla placed her hand on Carl’s chest, curling her fingers into his shirt. With her other hand, she discreetly slipped the listening device out of her pocket and attached it to the underside of his desk.

Leaning closer to him, she closed her eyes and tilted her head back. That was all the invitation he needed.

Carl lowered his mouth to hers, capturing her lips with his. He tasted like the scotch—warm, spicy, and surprisingly soft.

Damn, the man can kiss. Might as well enjoy this.

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against him. This time, she didn’t resist and pressed her body against his, winding her arms around his neck. Kayla let out a soft moan, and he deepened the kiss in response. His mouth moved against hers, nipping and teasing and she clutched him tighter, wanting more.

A loud beep interrupted them.

“Damn,” he swore as he broke away from her.

She wasn’t sure if she was talking about the kiss or the noise. Kayla blinked in confusion, trying to get her head around what happened. He pulled back slightly but didn’t release her. Running his thumb along her swollen bottom lip, he gave her a long, heated look. Kayla swallowed and managed, “What was that?”

Carl smiled, looking amused and smug by her flustered state. “It’s probably Cruncher and Veridian. Your friend is probably worried about you.”

“Oh, right.” Kayla slipped out of his grasp, casually straightening her shirt. She glanced up to see Carl still watching her. She flushed and nodded toward the door to remind him about the visitors. He sighed in resignation and hit the button to open the door.

Cruncher and Veridian stepped inside. Veridian was grinning and held up Kayla’s equipment. “Zane wasn’t able to beat your time even using OmniLab’s fancy equipment. I think he got frustrated and gave up. He wants to watch you again at some point.”

Cruncher took a quick glance around the room, his eyes moving to the bottle of scotch on the desk and then settled on Carl’s annoyed expression and Kayla’s mussed hair. His mouth twitched in a grin.

“How goes the recruitment, Boss? Convince her to switch sides yet?”

Carl frowned, giving Cruncher a dark look. “It was progressing nicely. I think I covered most of the major points. Did you have any other questions, Kayla?”

She shook her head, shoving her hands in her back pockets. “Nope, I think you covered everything.”

The door beeped again and slid open. Xantham stepped through the door and tsked at Kayla like she was a naughty child. She narrowed her eyes at him. He held up a small metal device no bigger than his thumb. “Hey, Boss, you know how you mentioned you wanted me to do a sweep to make sure Kayla and Veridian didn’t accidentally leave anything behind? Well, I found this little bug in the comm room. It must have gotten away from them.”

Xantham slid the listening device across the desk. Carl picked it up and examined it closely. He tossed it back down on the desk and looked at Kayla expectantly.

She looked down at the bug and then back up at Carl, giving him her best innocent look. “Gee. Looks like you’ve got bug problems here too. Nasty little things. You know, we had that same problem up until last night. Seems like there’s something going around.”

“Imagine that,” Carl replied in a dry voice. He turned to Xantham. “Start scanning my office.”

He leaned across the desk toward Kayla. “I can only guess what we’re going to find in here too. Although, I can’t say I didn’t enjoy your little distraction.”

Kayla bit down on her bottom lip, still feeling the effect of the kiss. With a small shrug, she said, “It’s always nice to take pleasure in one’s work.”

He raised an eyebrow at her. “You’re going to be more trouble than I expected, aren’t you?”

Veridian snorted. “Leo tells her that all the time. You might want to reconsider whatever offer you made.”

Carl gave Kayla a long, lingering look and then shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. The offer still stands. I enjoy a challenge.”

“Glad to hear it,” she replied easily and winked at him. “I’ll enjoy giving you one.”

She took her equipment from Veridian and turned to look at Carl one last time before heading out. “Thanks again for the tour. It was enlightening. Good luck with your bug problem.”