Page 48 of Badass Alien Boss

She could be the one getting arrested. She heard Nsia end his conversation, so she gestured and they rejoined the inspector.

“Anything taken?” he asked.

“Not that I could tell,” she lied truthfully.

“Puul got a vid of the suspect.”

When Puul arrived, he plugged the data chip into the hologram platform and the vacant building lobby appeared. “Notice the time.” He pointed to the floating numbers.

“That’s about forty minutes before I got home,” she said.

Three seconds later, a man in black and dark gray entered the building. He’d rolled the ski mask into a cap but walked with his head down to hide his face.He knows he might be under surveillance.He boarded the booster, getting off on her floor, and headed straight to her unit.I wasn’t a random pick. He knew where he was going.Outside her apartment, he pulled a handheld from his jacket pocket, shot a beam at the palm reader, and then pushed the door open.

“Shit!” she exclaimed.I’ll bet he used the same device to break into the lockbox.

“Now we jump ahead.” Puul pointed to the time. In the vid, she and Ruyn entered the building about three quarters of an hour after the intruder. They boarded the booster and strolled down their corridor, pausing outside his unit. They kissed, he went into his unit, and she proceeded to hers, palmed in, and entered.

“Wait for it,” Puul said.

One minute and thirty-two seconds later, the door burst open, and the ski-masked man ran for the stairwell. Michaela stepped into the hall, watched him, and then returned inside.

She thanked her lucky stars the hall-cam angle didn’t give a clear view of the illegal weapon in her hand.

The hologram shifted to the man emerging from the stairwell into the lobby. The ski mask had been rolled into a hat again. Keeping his head down, he strode briskly out of the building. His jacket pockets bulged more than they had when he’d entered the building.My weapons.She glanced at the two detectives. Did Nsia or Puul notice? They didn’t seem to.

The hologram winked out. Puul withdrew the chip. “We’ll get footage from street cams to track his movements and try to get an image of his face. With facial recognition software, we may be able to identify him,” Puul said.

“It looks like a simple breaking and entering, burglary gone wrong, but the fact you said he was armed kicks it to another level,” Nsia said. “Given that he fled, I don’t think he’ll come back, but do you have another place to stay?”

“She can stay with me,” Ruyn said.

“If he can zap his way into my apartment, he can zap his way into yours,” she pointed out.

“But I’ll be with you.”

“Fine.”

“Good,” Nsia said. “I’ll be in touch if we learn anything.”

The bigif. She didn’t expect to hear from him. She walked the men to the door.

“Crime like this used to be almost unheard of on Luturna, but it’s becoming more frequent, I’m sorry to say,” Nsia said. They left.

“They seemed professional, but after the way the authorities botched the investigation in your attack, I’m not optimistic they’ll come up with anything. I’m going to ask for a copy of the hologram from the building superintendent so I can study it,” she said.

“Good plan.” Ruyn pulled her into his arms. “But not tonight, okay? Let’s go to my place, have a crappy frozen dinner, and curl up on our uncomfortable bed.”

She chuckled and relaxed, hugging him tight. “That sounds wonderful.”

Chapter Seventeen

“Are you sure you don’t want me to go with you?” she asked. Having arrived at the office, Ruyn braced himself for the confrontation with Korsan.

“I’m sure. I appreciate the offer of support, but I need to do this alone. I’m basically going to accuse him of malfeasance. He’s not going to like it—and he’d like it even less with an audience.”

“I understand. While you’re gone, I’ll take another look at the hologram we got from the superintendent and get the footage from the street cams.”

“Good idea,” he said. “Well, wish me luck.”