“Probably.”
I looked at the warden, not expecting an answer from my mate. “What is this Café Solar?”
She tightened her lips into a straight line, looking from Jessica to me as if trying to come to some kind of monumental decision. I used my most commanding voice. “Tell me. Now.”
Jessica lifted one bare arm from within the blanket and waved the warden away, as if sparing her my ire. She was mistaken. The anger rising within was directed solely at my mate, as I suspected she had put her life in danger. Her words confirmed my suspicions.
“It’s the main hangout for a drug cartel.”
“The drug cartel. They run the entire northeast section of the country. From that restaurant.” Warden Egara crossed her arms. “You are insane. Aren’t they the ones who framed you in the first place to get rid of you? They would probably kill you on sight.”
The threat to my mate rumbled through my body in a soft growl, which Jessica ignored, speaking directly to the warden.
“How do you know they framed me?” she asked. “I never told you.”
The warden raised an eyebrow. “Please. I process criminals in this place every day. I know the difference between innocence and guilt and I knew your background. It wasn’t hard to put two and two together.”
“Thank you.”
I could smell my mate’s tears.
“Why are you crying? Are you in pain?” I looked down at her to find a watery smile on her face.
“No. It’s just, no one else believed me.”
The warden shook her head. “I wouldn’t be so sure about that, Jess. But what could they do?”
“Nothing.” Jessica wiped her eyes with the edge of the blanket and just that quickly, the strong, bold warrior woman was back. “Which is why I have to get those pictures downloaded and sent to the cops and my media contacts before they find Clyde’s body.”
The warden opened a compartment in the wall and carried a tablet to my mate. “Will this work?”
Jessica perked up quite a bit from seeing the device and flipped it onto its side, inspecting the openings there. “Yes. Thanks.”
“Clyde who?” I asked.
Jessica humphed. “Clyde Tucker. The man whose house I was running from when you found me. When the Hive found me. He’s also the mayor, the government leader of this city. They… the drug dealers, bought him off.”
“Mayor Tucker? That asshole. I voted for him.” Warden Egara’s glare would have killed a Prillon warrior dead on sight. I tilted my head at her spirit, considering.
“You would make a fine mate for a Prillon warrior. You should enter the program.”
Warden Egara bit her lip and looked away until Jessica spoke to her. Jessica’s voice was clipped, and she tried to pull away from my chest. I simply tightened my hold. She could do whatever she needed to do from my lap. She had no need to be jealous of my comment to the warden. I did not desire the other woman. The only mate I desired was in my arms, and I was not letting her go.
Jessica swatted at my hand where it rested on her hip but spoke to the warden. “Can you hand me my camera, please?”
“Sure.”
Once Jessica had the camera, she pulled two cords from a compartment on the back of the camera I hadn’t noticed before and connected them to the tablet. She asked the warden about the Internet passwords, and focused her complete attention on her task. Photographs flashed across the screen as she downloaded and categorized them, sending messages and whatever else she needed to do. I did not recognize any of the people or places in the photographs, not that I expected to. I didn’t concern myself with them either, for we would not remain on Earth for long. As long as Jessica was safe, I had no issue with anyone from this planet. The only human male who had intended her harm was dead, dead at the hands of the Hive.
The Hive threat was being dealt with by my second and I was, not for the first time, grateful for Commander Deston and Dare’s advice that I take a second, grateful that Ander had stepped forward. He had proven worthy, and our mate had been in more danger than either of us had anticipated.
Killing this mayor, Clyde, was the first and most likely only time that I was pleased with what the Hive had done. I just wouldn’t have minded completing the task of killing the human myself. He had hurt my mate, the only thing I cared about right now.
That one thing was currently typing a message on the flat screen of the tablet the warden had given her. My Earth communication device rang and I touched the earpiece, waited for the strange blank sound of empty space.
“Speak.”
“I’ll be at the processing center in ten minutes. How is our mate?” Ander’s arrival was good news. The sooner he arrived, the sooner we could get our mate safely off this planet.