Page 9 of Badass Alien Boss

“Halt!” A half dozen armed police officers stormed into the alley.

One of the thugs lobbed an object. A percussive blast knocked the officers off their feet, and the men disappeared down the alley.

The drone continued to shriek until the policemen got to their feet and shut it off. A med team arrived and administered first aid and then transferred an unconscious, bleeding Ruyn onto a litter and took him away.Jesus fucking Christ. How did he survive?

She forced herself to pay attention to how they processed the crime scene, collecting blood samples and bits of debris. They recovered a casing from the percussion bomb, but the men had taken the pipe and knife with them.

The assailant’s body was removed. What happened to it, she wondered as they carted it away. Had a forensic autopsy been done? Had the body yielded any hints to his identity? She tapped a note into her comm device to find out.

Finally, the drone footage ended.

The beating sickened her, and she dreaded having to rewatch the vid, but she had to study it to glean some clues authorities might have missed.

But not tonight.

After watching the hologram, she’d concluded the attack was premeditated but was meant to appear opportunistic. A pipemight be found discarded in an alley. Street thugs might carry knives.

Nobody carried a percussion bomb. You couldn’t make them at home or easily get them. No ordinary criminal would have one. And if they had access tothatkind of a weapon, they could acquire laser rifles, so why bother with a pipe and a knife, which required getting close to the victim? Why put themselves at risk? To wit, one of them had died.

Someone with connections wanted him dead and had tried to make it look like he’d been a victim of a random crime. This was a hit. Korsan was right. Ruyn needed protection.

She wished she could have seen what preceded the appearance of the drone. Had the men already been in the alley? Or had they followed him in?

She turned on the camera in his apartment. He lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling. He’d come so damn close to dying. It was pure happenstance he’d survived and recovered to the degree that he had. If the drone hadn’t appeared when it did…

I’m going to get those bastards, I promise you.

Disturbed, she turned off the viewer.

Chapter Six

A furious Ruyn exited his unit and waited in the hall for hisbodyguard. She reminded him of something unpleasant stuck to the sole of his shoe. He had to find a way to scrape her off.

As if on cue, she emerged from an adjacent unit within seconds. Wearing sensible shoes, gray pants, and a sky-blue tunic that matched her eyes, she looked put together and chipper, which further irritated him. He had some choice words for Michaela Perine—but not in the hall where they could be overheard.

“Good morning! What’s on the agenda today?” she chirped brightly.

Getting rid of you.“Office.” He limped for the booster. He’d skip the gym this morning; he’d gotten a pretty good workout last night. And frankly, he didn’t want her standing there watching him.

As always, his leg bothered him a lot in the morning, and especially so today. Normally, it loosened up by midday, relieving some of the pain and stiffness. Then, by evening, when he tired, it got uncomfortable again.

“How’d you sleep?” she asked.

“Fine.” Poorly. His leg had been killing him, the Michaela problem had weighed on his mind, and, after months of living here, he still wondered who the phuk had chosen the beds. A blanket on rocky ground would have been more comfortable.

He’d awakened in a bad mood and then made his discovery.

“Maybe we should call a hovercar,” she suggested when they stepped onto the street.

Why? Because he was obviously in pain? He’d get to the office on foot if it was the last thing he did.Show no weakness.She’d seen more than enough.

“I watched the drone footage last night,” she said quietly.

She had that?Hehadn’t seen it. Hadn’t known he could get a copy or even thought to ask for it. Why watch a vid when he’d lived through the experience with the special effects of shattering pain and the conviction he would die? “A little light entertainment?”

“Horrifying.”

Humiliating for him that she’d seen him being beaten. Unable to defend himself. Weak. Helpless.