Fool Me Once (Privateer Tales) by Jamie McFarlane Page B

applied a medical patch over my fractured cheek.
    “Not even a whimper. This isn’t your first time around the block. I’m sorry for being such a cad.”
    He turned to Tali. “You really going to give me his address so I can take care of him? Where’s Godzilla?”
    I saw Tali’s face betray a smirk before she responded. “Godzilla’s locked up in the bedroom.”
    “Thank God. That thing hates me.” He turned back to me “Lena, it was lovely meeting you. Let me buy you some lunch when you’re feeling better, sound good? And don’t worry about this guy. I’m guessing you won’t hear from him anymore.”
    A smile tried to break out on my face but it hurt so much I quickly quashed it. “Thank you Jordy.”
    “What’s a guy to do if he can’t rescue a damsel in distress?”
    If I didn’t hurt so badly I would have laughed.
    “You want help with the creep?” Tali asked.
    “Seriously? You really know how to hurt a guy. I’ll go take care of him and you take care of the patient.”
    Jordy had given me some sort of injection and the pain subsided but I was also having a difficult time maintaining consciousness. I could hear them whispering a couple of meters away but I wasn’t able to make out what they were saying.
    When I woke up again, I was in a bright room, sun streaming through the windows. My face hurt but I no longer felt any pain in my hip. I also noticed I was wearing a thin white night gown. Most importantly, I had to use the facilities in the worst way.
    I pushed myself up to a seated position and then froze in place. At the end of the bed lay what had to be a cat, only this one had to weigh at least twenty kilos. The giant orange tabby cat looked at me lazily and then resumed cleaning its fur.
    “Oh, good, you’re up.” Tali walked through an open door into the room carrying a tray. “And you’ve met Godzilla. She doesn’t normally take to people right away, but she seems to like you.”
    “I really need to go.” I said.
    “Look, we can talk about that later. You need to recover first.”
    “No. I mean, I gotta go.”
    “Oh. Ohhh! Don’t worry about Godzilla, she’s mostly harmless. Bathroom’s at the end of the hall.”
    I scooted out of the bed, although I hated to leave its warmth. I was on the upper floor of a two story house. A railing separated a hallway from a staircase that led downstairs at the opposite end, just in front of the bathroom. I noticed ruefully that I was wearing a different pair of panties.
    I looked at my face in the mirror and pulled back the med-patch. The healing had already started and the skin under my eyes had a greenish tinge. I'd completely missed the black and blue phase. Nothing looked too out of place other than some swelling, so I replaced the patch. I lifted the nightgown and pulled back the patch on my hip. All in all I had fared pretty well. Four on one and I was up and walking around the next day. Oh geez, I hoped it was only the next day.
    I padded back to the bedroom where I found Godzilla spread out on her back receiving a rough scrubbing from Tali’s fingers. The cat was making deep rumbling sounds that I was glad she hadn’t made when we were alone.
    “Hungry?”
    I looked at the tray. Fruit, toast, and yogurt. It looked delicious, but I had to get this cleared up and get out of here. Tali was in danger. I sat on the edge of the bed.
    “I shouldn’t have called you and you shouldn’t have come for me. I need to leave. You’re in danger.”
    “Right. Let’s have this conversation now,” Tali said and stood up to face me. Godzilla rolled around trying to get her attention.
    “These people, they’ll never stop looking for me. They own me. I appreciate you saving me, but you don’t know what they’ll do to you …,” I said and then in a quieter voice, “what they’ve already done to me.”
    Tali’s face contorted indignantly. “Own you?”
    “You know what I’m saying.” Tears of shame streamed down my face.
    “No ... I