Ronan: Ziva Payvan Book 3 by EJ Fisch Read Free Book Online

and taking up fistfuls of his jacket. “What happened ?”                           
    “Take it easy, Ziva,” he said. His voice remained low and even, and he maintained eye contact despite the passersby who had stopped to see what was wrong. Although Ziva had never known him that well, she’d always admired his ability to keep his cool regardless of the situation. “There’s not much I can tell you because I don’t know that much. You’ll need to talk to Emeri if you want details, but…there was an accident.”
    She released him immediately and took a step back, fighting away the sickening wave that coursed through her stomach. “What does that even mean?” she snarled, hoping she hadn’t sounded quite as desperate as she felt.
    “Short version? Zinni has been taken and I lost contact with Skeet and Aroska earlier this morning.”
    “Taken? When?”
    Adin swallowed hard. “Four weeks ago.”
    Ziva stood with a gaping mouth as the word weeks echoed through her mind. Hours she could live with, maybe even days. But weeks? “ Huhren shouka souhn ,” she swore, spinning on her heel and taking off as fast as she could down the corridor. She tore through the employee canteen and up the stairs, pausing just long enough to swipe her access key and grant herself entry to the spec ops wing. She slipped into the first open elevator she found, pacing back and forth across the car for the duration of the painfully slow ride. When the doors opened onto Emeri Arion’s private floor, she stormed across the room and slammed her fist against the call button outside his office door…then again, and again.
    There was a soft click as the director disengaged the locking mechanism from the inside – apparently he’d gotten tired of people barging into his office uninvited. The door slid open and she strode in, immediately fixing her gaze on the man who stood in front of the massive picture window across the room.
    “ Four weeks ?” she shouted.
    Emeri sighed and moved over to his desk. “This is exactly why I told Stannist to send you up here immediately,” he muttered, running a hand through his graying hair and disturbing the impeccably-combed turquoise stripes.
    “Why the hell didn’t anyone tell me?”
    “Ziva, I need you to calm down and listen to me.” He passed her a data pad, and she suddenly realized she’d left her other one on the floor in the hallway. “We’ve compiled all the information we have on the situation; you can look over it more thoroughly when we’re done here.”
    “I said why didn’t you tell me? You think some damn communication rule trumps this ?”
    “Payvan, please!” Emeri closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. When he spoke again, his voice was quiet but carried a commanding tone that compelled her to listen. “I can assure you the communication limitations had nothing to do with it. We chose not to inform you because you were barely halfway through your rehab session at the time, and we didn’t want to risk you trying to return to the planet before you were healthy enough to do so. The Royal House wouldn’t hear of it anyway, not before your hearing had taken place.”
    “That is the biggest load of sheyss I’ve ever heard,” Ziva said. She’d been tempted to leave the base several times throughout the last few weeks of rehab, not necessarily with the intention of avoiding her trial, but just to get a taste of freedom again. She’d refrained, of course. Despite the brutal training sessions, the short break from the insanity of ops had been enjoyable, and the thought of the Royal Officer’s people chasing her down seemed rather unappealing after her bout with Dasaro. Now it appeared the one time she’d chosen to settle down and follow the rules, everything had gone to hell.
    For a moment Emeri didn’t seem convinced that keeping her in the dark had been the best move, but he composed himself and