And then he sensed … amusement.
The presencenow at the door to the apartment, he was surewas like a cloud of billowing smoke in his mind. He could almost see it. As he felt it becoming more solid, more real, more here, it suddenly lit up as if a silent explosion had lifted it in a ball of soaring flame.
Lumiya.
Lumiya.
Luke rushed to the front doors, at the same time concentrating hard on using the Force to jam the two sets of doors in the corridor outside that stood between the apartment and the lifts. He’d trap her. She’d lied. Mara was right. All that nonsense on the resort satellite, all that I-mean-you-no-harm was just a feint, mocking his indecision
The doors parted with a gasp of air and Luke sprang into the corridor with his lightsaber raised. One set of doors was wedged open with something, trying repeatedly to close and making little mechanical groans each time the inner edges hit the obstruction and bounced back a few centimeters. There was no sign of Lumiya.
But she’d been here seconds before. Luke could almost taste her on the air. It was as if she’d sprayed perfume too liberally and was leaving a cloud wafting behind her, except it was a scent of darkness, not rare oils. Frustrated and furious, he strode down the corridor to see what had jammed the doors apart.
It was a pair of black boots, army boots with segmented durasteel plates around the ankle, the kind that Ben wore. He parted the doors with a Force push and squatted to recover the boots.
They were Ben’s. Not only did Luke recognize them, but he also felt Ben in them when he picked them up. Luke rarely jumped to conclusions. But he was certain who’d left them there, and what the message was: If I can take personal items from your son, I can take him, too.
The thought hit Luke like a hard slap in the face. Maybe she’s abducted Ben. He felt for his son in the Force, and sensed no crisis; in fact, Ben seemed to be leaving a trace in the Force of someone soundly and safely asleep. How long he’d stay that way, though, Luke wasn’t ready to bet.
He went back into the apartment to grab his jacket, opening his comlink to Jacen as he went. He didn’t care what time it was. Jacen answered immediately. It seemed he didn’t sleep much, either.
“Where’s Ben?” Luke demanded.
“Asleep, Luke.” Jacen had that calm, mock-soothing tone that did anything but soothe him. Patronizing little jerk. “Is there a problem?”
“Have you had any intruders in GAG HQ tonight?”
Jacen gave a quiet little laugh. “We’re the ones who do the forced entry, Luke.”
“Someone’s left Ben’s boots here as a calling card.”
“I don’t understand. Did he leave them behind?”
“He doesn’t keep any of his uniform at our place. Someone’s taken them from your headquarters, and as juvenile a prank as it seems” Luke almost stopped short of mentioning Lumiya, because he had no idea yet how deep her inroads into the GAG had become, or even if Jacen was consciously aware of them. But he was angry and scared for his boy, and that always colored his judgment. “It’s Lumiya. She’s taunting me. Showing me she can get at Ben anytime she pleases.”
Jacen was silent. Luke waited.
“I can’t give you an explanation for that, I really can’t,” Jacen said eventually.
“Well, Lumiya’s jerking my chain, as she probably was at Gilatter, too.” Stupid, stupid, stupid. How could I ever have been fooled like that?
“And she has someone inside your organization, so I suggest you get that sorted out fast.”
“We’ve had one investigation already, and found nothing. We’ll have another, if it makes you happier.” Jacen’s voice sounded both offended and irritated, but Luke couldn’t even take that at face value any longer. “But I can assure you Ben is safehe’s even got pretty good protection right next to him. Lieutenant Lekauf.”
“Nice to see the guy get promoted. He strikes me as being very loyal to you.”
“As his grandfather was to Vader, Luke. You can’t buy loyalty like that. Ben’s in good hands. Let’s talk again in the morning.”
Luke shut the link dead. No, the morning wouldn’t do, and there was no point talking to Jacen, who was clearly trussed and tied as far as Lumiya’s influence was concerned. She was right under his nose. So much for what he’d learned about arcane Force techniques during his five-year sabbatical.
Luke jogged to the landing pad and tore off in the speeder, maybe a little faster than was safe. Lumiya had left a very clear trail, beckoning Luke to follow. Well, he wasn’t falling for that. It had to be a diversionor an ambush.