Hailey Armstrong

Location: Savannah City, New Savannah, United Commonwealth of Colonies

Hailey leaned back in her chair and sighed. She pinched the bridge of her nose between her fingers and tried to will away the headache that threatened to conquer her. Normally, she’d be in her office back at the Oasis, but that wasn’t going to happen for a while. The cops were still on the scene.

Technically, she hadn’t done anything wrong. Prostitution was legal on New Savannah, she’d been tested and cleared by a healthcare professional, and she wasn’t wanted for any crimes throughout the federation. Some white collar, interplanetary task force somewhere might have a file on her, but she was relatively new to the game and thus an unknown.

That was why Coop showing up on her literal doorstep was so surprising…and frightening. Never in a million years, among the hundreds of billions of humans spread throughout the cosmos, did she expect to ever see him again. Even if she wanted to see him, and he her, the odds of that happening were slim to none. All those thoughts had passed through her head the moment she recognized him, which meant only one thing. He’d figured out what happened to his dad, and was there to kill her. That was why she’d called a Code Black.

The term was meant to let security know that there was a life in danger. It was different than a code red, a medical emergency, or a code blue, possible police informant in the house. She’d done what she could to help the situation by kicking Coop over the banister. The rest was up to security.

Hailey went to get to her feet and winced. Her ankle was swollen and throbbing. She might have succeeded in disrupting Coop’s assassination attempt, but it had cost her. She was pretty sure it was broken, and running around afterward hadn’t helped, but adrenaline was a hell of a drug and she’d only started feeling it after everything settled back down.

As if on cue, Hilda, Hailey’s immediate boss, and the boss of all PFH in Savannah City, walked in with a handsome man. The man immediately made his way to Hailey and started examining her ankle.

“What’s the situation?” Hailey ignored the man and let him work.

“The cops just left the scene. They gave our people that standard line of not leaving the planet and being available for future questioning. I’ve got a cleaning crew coming and we’ll be open for business tomorrow.” Hilda took a seat across the table from Hailey where the chair only groaned slightly under her weight.

“Good. I’m sorry for all of this. I didn’t think I’d ever see him again.” Hailey felt an apology was in order, but Hilda waved it off.

“The universe is a much smaller place than people think. You’d be surprised how often you run into old acquaintances.”

Hailey was beginning to see that, and in her line of work that wasn’t necessarily a good thing. She nodded at her boss’ sage advice and checked her PAD when the silence lingered too long. She hit the banking icon on her home screen, scanned her GIC, and looked at her account. There wasn’t much there, but that wasn’t the number Hailey checked, it was the negative, red balance that drew her attention.

Despite all of the talk about being one, big, happy family back at the academy, Hailey had been given a rude introduction to the fact this was a business at graduation. As promised, she was making good money as an Asset Protection agent, plus her bonus of the revenue from her old tower after completing her mission, but that was just loose change compare to her debt.

Putting her through the academy and getting her all the enhancements wasn’t cheap. She was millions of dollars in debt to PFH, but she had all the time in the world to work it off. Already, she’d shrunk the number, and every cent of her bonus was going to the debt. If tonight had any silver lining then it was the money she’d made from the pirate.

It wasn’t without a cost. She pushed his debasement of her to the back of her mind and focused on the dollar signs. As was customary, the client paid upfront for the services. For her company and the cost of the room, Mr. Grisham had coughed up one hundred and twenty thousand dollars before even getting her into the room. That money was held by the establishment until services were complete, or in the case they weren’t, the client had to recoop the unused balance within forty-eight hours. So far, Mr. Grisham hadn’t come forward to reclaim the rest of his money, and she was prayed he wouldn’t. Hailey’s cut as a newbie was only fifteen percent of her cost, not including the room, but fifteen grand was fifteen grand. If he came back it was only going to be about three.

Hailey pulled her attention away from her PAD with a grimace when the man injected her ankle with something. Within a minute the throbbing subsided. The man watched his medical PAD for a full five minutes before giving a nod the Hilda and leaving. The man hadn’t said a word, or asked a question of Hailey during his entire visit.

“What are we going to do about this problem?” Hilda waited for the door to close before she broached the topic.

It was the logical direction of the conversation. Coop was a threat that needed to be eliminated. He’d cost the business easily into the six figures with his attempt on her life, and they couldn’t have any more disruptions in her business.

“First we need intel,” Hailey began. “Last time I saw him he’d just enlisted in the Infantry. Is he working by himself? Is this Commonwealth sanctioned? Did he get the boot and is now work for another outfit? We need answers to all the questions before we make a move. We can’t go kicking off a war.”

Hilda simply nodded because neither of them had any intel on Mark Cooper from the last year. She was about to say something when a knock on the door interrupted them. “Enter,” was all she had to say.

One of the security guards from the Oasis popped his head in. “Excuse me, ladies, but the guy who killed Tony just stopped back by the club.”

That was another thing that had not endeared Coop to the rest of the PFH, and only confirmed Hailey’s theory that he was there to kill her. He’d killed one of the guards, Tony, when he came to her rescue.

Hailey reminded herself. She hadn’t seen the aftermath since she was retreating to their nearby safe house, but the crime scene photos their contact in the local PD sent their way were graphic enough.

“What did he want?” Hilda was pretty low key, despite the persona she put on for guests, but killing one of her people would get the boss, also a former Asset Protection senior agent, blood boiling.

“He wanted to talk with her.” He pointed his finger at Hailey. “He tried to give me a PAD, but I wouldn’t take it, so he gave me a number.” He held up a piece of polyplast. Hailey couldn’t help but look confused. “Oh, he also told me to tell you this was no bullshit. He was pretty insistent that I relay the no bullshit thing.”

That made Hailey sit up straighter. Hilda noticed. “What are you thinking?”

Hailey didn’t answer for a moment as she concocted a plan. “I think I should call the number. I’ll see what he wants. He might slip and give us some information, which will save us time and money, or he won’t give up anything and we’re right back here. Either way, it can’t hurt.”

Hilda only waited a moment before nodding. “Keep me up to date.” Never a micromanager, Hilda took her leave to go back to the club and supervise the cleanup. They needed to open back up and start making money.

There were also reports to file with their superiors. Hilda might be her immediate boss, but there was a senior agent in charge of all the Asset Protection agents on the planet. Hailey needed to write up a threat assessment to her. If things continued to go south they might need to pull more agents from across the planet to get this job done.

Hailey tried to psych herself up for the potential action, trying to convince herself that it was no big deal.

No matter how hard she tried, she knew she was lying to herself. Walter was one thing. He was a step removed from her. Coop was something entirely different. Still, she knew if it came down to it she’d pull the trigger. It would just be living with the consequences that would be a problem.