Poisoned Pawn Read Online Free Page B

She sat across from me and stared pointedly at Clark. He munched cookies with a look of pure bliss on his face. I pulled the tin away from him, my own mouth full. He finished chewing and looked at me, at the tin, over at Jasyn, then back at me.
    “Forget the bonus,” he said. “Real food on a ship. I’ve died and gone to spacer heaven.”
    “You get to wash up.” I was trying hard not to like Clark and failing miserably. Which only made me more determined not to like him. “And we don’t bother with standing watch. The ship has full automatics.”
    “So what did the dragon captain make you promise in your contract?” Jasyn asked Clark.
    “A one way trip to wherever it is you’re going. Free of charge, except now she’s going to make me do the dishes.” He reached for another cookie.
    “She’s a slave driver,” Jasyn said.
    “What kind of contract are you under?” Clark asked her, although he was still looking mostly at me. And the remaining cookies.
    “I’m half owner.” She shot me a smug look. She was as proud of her name on the deed of ownership as I was of mine.
    “Nice ship,” Clark said, finishing his cookie. “Although some of the equipment is not exactly standard.” He waited for me to answer.
    I picked up a cookie and ate it, very slowly, deliberately not answering. Jasyn pulled out a nail file and worked on her nails. He waited, feeling the silence build.
    “Well, that seems to answer that,” he said after a very long few minutes. “Do you have a ship schedule?”
    “We keep whatever time we feel like,” I answered. “As long as you’re there when the reentry warning sounds, you can keep whatever time you like.”
    “Then I think I’ll go unpack,” he said and went into the third cabin. The door slid shut behind him; the lock light blinked red.
    “Interesting,” Jasyn said when he was gone. She looked across the table, the nail file dangling from her perfect fingers.
    “He didn’t even look at you, not after that first stare,” I said. “No offense, Jasyn, but men just don’t ignore you.”
    “Except Tayvis,” she said, and started on her nails again.
    “He at least looked, I saw him doing it,” I answered.
    She laughed. “So why didn’t Clark look? Maybe I should try wearing that red outfit.”
    “I still think you should burn it.” The dress had almost caused a riot when she wore it to a dance hall on Tebros.
    “You’re jealous, Dace. You should try it on, I bet it would look great on you.”
    “Only if I’m too dead to object. You aren’t going to win, Jasyn. Not on that one.” She had talked me into styling my hair. It didn’t look like an animal nesting on my head anymore. It didn’t look much like hers either. My hair was short and mousy brown, with just enough curl to have a mind of its own. It went where it wanted. I settled for combing it and pretending I wanted it to look that way.
    “You think he’ll work out?” Jasyn asked.
    “Do you?” I shifted, putting my feet on a chair. “What’s Dru’Ott like?”
    “You’ve never been there?”
    I shook my head.
    “Then we might have half a chance of not getting in trouble.” Her teasing tone took out any sting the words might have had.
     

 
Chapter Four
     
    Clark settled into our routine as if he had been there from the start. We ate when Jasyn cooked, slept when we felt like it. I checked on the ship status every few hours, a nervous habit from flying ancient ships that were one step away from disintegrating. Clark cheerfully washed any and all dishes. He didn’t ask any more questions over our equipment, just accepted that I wasn’t going to tell him anything. He didn’t ask much about anything. He pulled a deck of cards from his belongings and taught us new variations of Comets.
    The only thing that kept bothering me was that he didn’t go gooey eyed over Jasyn. He treated her as just one of the crew. I was the one he kept watching, green eyes speculative whenever they met mine. It