The three men headed east for what seemed an eternity. Exasperated, Carl barked into his headset, “Dammit, Xantham, give me something.”

“I’m working on it, Boss. But someone’s scrambling the system so I can’t lock on a trace. Give me a second. I’m trying to shut down the backdoor and flush our system.”

“Just do it.”

A few minutes later, Xantham’s voice came back over the headset. “I’ve got her. I’m sending the coordinates to you now. It looks like she stopped, but I don’t know how long she’s been there.”

Carl glanced at the coordinates that flashed on his onboard screen. “Is that Sector Twelve?”

“Affirmative.”

Carl swore angrily and turned his bike north toward Sector Twelve. They were at least twenty minutes away, which was twenty more than they could afford. He pushed the speeder into a higher gear, determined to cut down the time as much as possible. When they arrived, two bikes were parked above the entrance to the ruins. He recognized Kayla’s bike as one of them.

“Shit,” Carl muttered and yanked off his helmet. “They’re both down in the ruins. Let’s get the cables set up. Cruncher, I’m going to need you to go down with me. Veridian, can you handle monitoring from here?”

Both men agreed immediately. Cruncher began setting up the equipment with Carl while Veridian crouched down near Kayla’s equipment.

“Something isn’t right,” Veridian announced. “Kayla doesn’t set up her equipment like this.”

Carl looked up to see Veridian raise the cable. Almost immediately, the cable came to the surface. “The end of the cable’s been cut. He either dropped her or didn’t want her to be able to get out.”

Carl pushed aside his growing concern. He needed to focus on facts. Crouching down, he examined the frayed end. Whoever had cut the cable wanted it to appear an accident.

“Xantham, connect me to Kayla,” Carl instructed over his headset.

“You’re patched through. Go ahead, Boss.”

“Kayla? You there?”

There was only silence on the other end. Ignoring the dread in the pit of his stomach, Carl grabbed the harness from Cruncher and strapped himself in. Cruncher did the same, and they began the long descent.

As they moved slowly downward through the levels, Carl peered around with his flashlight looking for any sign of Kayla. He finally saw her when he reached the fourth level. She was lying on the ground, not moving. The rest of the cable had fallen around her. From the amount, he estimated she’d fallen at least two or three levels.

Fear gripped him as he said over his headset, “I found her.”

He stopped the cable’s descent and climbed out of the harness. Another figure was facedown a few feet from her.

“Cruncher, check him out,” he instructed and went directly to Kayla. He dropped to his knees next to her, calling out her name. She didn’t respond.

Her helmet had been tossed aside, and her dark hair covered her face. He moved to unzip her jacket and realized her harness was missing. She couldn’t have fallen. Ramiro must have been trying to recreate Pretz’s accident.

Hoping they weren’t too late, he felt for a pulse. It was weak, but she was alive. He brushed her hair back from her face and his hand came away wet. It was covered in blood. Her lip was cut, and there was a deep gash near her temple. Dark bruises were forming around her throat where it appeared someone had choked her.

“Shit,” he said into his headset. “She’s alive but unconscious. She didn’t fall. She was practically beaten to death. Call Zane and Elyot. Tell them to get out here now. We’re going to need a lift to bring her up. I don’t want to move her more than necessary. Drop a med kit down to me, and tell Jinx to get the med room ready.”

Cruncher moved over to the large man lying near Kayla and rolled him over. Vex’s fixed gaze stared back at them. A deep cut was across his neck, and he was covered in blood. Cruncher shook his head at the brutality. “He’s dead, Boss. It looks like she hit an artery. What the hell happened down here?”

Carl didn’t bother to respond. He pulled off his jacket and shirt to rip them into makeshift bandages. Pressing firmly against Kayla’s head, he tried to slow the bleeding. Her skin felt cool and clammy, and her pulse seemed to be weakening. He cursed himself for letting this happen to her.

Cruncher grabbed the med kit the moment it was lowered. He pulled out two monitors and handed one of them to Carl. “These are the new vital sign monitors. Attach one of the monitors to the inside of her wrist and one near her heart. It’ll give us a more accurate reading.”

Following Cruncher’s instructions, Carl pressed one of the monitors on the inside of her wrist. He lifted her shirt to place the other monitor and faltered at the sight of the dark bruises around her rib area.

Cruncher shook his head, shaken by the sight. “Oh shit. What the hell did he do to her?”

Carl’s jaw clenched, but he kept his hands gentle as he pressed the other monitor to her chest just below her breast. If Vex wasn’t already dead, he’d be tempted to kill him again. When he was confident the device was in place, he nodded to Cruncher to activate the monitor inside the med kit.

“We’re picking up her vitals now, Boss, but they’re faint.”

Carl leaned over her. “Kayla, can you hear me? We’re going to bring you up soon. You’ve got a nasty bump on your head and some bruises, but you’re going to be okay.”

Saying a silent prayer, he hoped his words weren’t superfluous. The alternative was unthinkable.

He glanced up as Cruncher moved away and picked up a knife off the ground. Examining the blade, Cruncher spoke into the headset. “Veridian, does Kayla usually carry a knife?”

Veridian hesitated before answering. “Yeah. Ever since the incident with Ramiro and Pretz, she’s kept one on her. It’s embedded into her belt and isn’t noticeable unless you know it’s there.”

Carl exchanged a look with Cruncher and observed, “There’s no doubt how this would have turned out if she didn’t have that with her.”

Cruncher made a small noise of agreement and packed the knife away in the medical kit. Carl turned back to Kayla, knowing Cruncher would probably return it to her at some point. The two of them had developed a relationship of mutual respect and even affection.

Although Cruncher had been working in the trader camp for years, even before Carl had taken over the camp, the older man had grown up as a ruin rat. He didn’t speak much about his origins, but Carl had learned to value his opinions when dealing with the surface-dwellers. Cruncher had proven to be an excellent judge of character, and Carl was thankful for his guidance.

It was Cruncher who had first brought Kayla to his attention. He’d initially been skeptical when he heard about her abrasive nature, but he’d been fascinated from the moment they met. Carl was inexplicably drawn to her. His attraction went far beyond her skill as a scavenger.

She constantly challenged him, forcing him to stay one step ahead of her. Her brilliance and passion inspired him to look deeper within himself. It was so easy to get caught up in the politics of the tower and planning his future, but she reminded him of the importance of focusing on the present.

Kayla was wild and impulsive, but in the rare moments he’d been able to lower her defenses, he’d glimpsed a fragile softness within her. He wanted to draw it out and see it blossom.

His throat tightened at the thought of losing her now.

Xantham’s voice came over the headset, interrupting his thoughts. “Zane and Elyot are a few minutes out. They’ve got the lift and the extended bike to bring her back. Jinx is setting up the med room now. She wants to know if you want her to contact OmniLab to get any additional equipment.”

“Not yet. It looks like she may have some bruised or cracked ribs, but I can’t tell beyond that. The head injury worries me. She’s lost a lot of blood.”

“She’s tough. She’ll make it,” Cruncher said in a low voice.

Carl continued pressing the makeshift compress against her head, hoping Cruncher was right. Time seemed to move in slow motion while they waited. When Zane and Elyot finally dropped down, Carl breathed a sigh of relief. Kayla’s pulse had grown even weaker.

Both men were equally shocked when they witnessed the violent scene, but they quickly worked together to transfer Kayla to the lift. The mood was subdued as they lifted her out of the ruins. Veridian nearly lost it when he saw Kayla’s still figure covered with blood. Cruncher put his hand on Veridian’s shoulder. “Keep it together. You won’t do her any good if you fall apart right now. We’ve got to get her back to camp.”

Veridian squared his shoulders and bent down to help reattach the lifting board to the extended bike. His hands trembled, and Carl stepped forward to take over. He motioned for Veridian to climb up next to Kayla. “She needs you.”

Veridian’s head jerked up, his expression one of surprise but quickly changing to one of gratitude. Carl offered him a reassuring nod before directing the rest of his men back to camp.