Living in Freefall (Living on the Run Book 1) by Ben Patterson Page A

you’re done. I want Viper beside us when we do Enri.”
    “Yes sir,” Riley said enthusiastically.
    “Before that,” Jordon added, “I’ll need to see you, Mom, and
Josh in my office alone. I have an idea that’ll require all your input.”

Chapter Eight
    Later, just as Ericca and Riley passed Captain Kori’s
office, he called her in.
    “You want the two of us, sir?”
    “No, just you, Ericca. Please. Come in. Sit.”
    She turned to her brother. “Go on ahead. I’ll be there
shortly.”
    He nodded and went on his way to Viper , their little
weaponized recon spacecraft. While she had words with Kori, probably her last, Riley
could prep the ship for their flight.
    “Sir,” she said, turning to her captain.
    Jordon seemed more sad than angry as he pulled a small, oak,
iron banded chest from a drawer and set it in front of her. “This is for you
and Riley.”
    Perplexed, she looked at the box, looked at him, then at the
box once more. “What’s this?”
    “It’s what I owe you. Payment in full for your services,
plus two months’ severance.”
    “Severance? So you’re firing us? I said too much, huh?”
    Rubbing his chin through his beard, he took and released an
apprehensive breath. “I’m not firing you, Ericca. But I have heard you.
Your boredom isn’t without reason.”
    Ericca felt awkward. This came to her as a complete
surprise, and she didn’t know what to say or think.
    Jordon cleared his throat. “Fact is I want you to see Freefall as your home and us as family. In light of that, I felt that your only tie to
me—” his breath caught in in his throat at the Freudian slip—“I mean, to this
ship, to us, should be your heart— plain and simple —not money owed you.”
She eyed him suspiciously. He diverted his eyes. “Clearly, Ericca, you need to
get out more—”
    “Don’t we all?” she cut him off, purposefully plying her sexiest
low voice to provoke a response. His eyes came up and his jaw dropped down. For
Ericca, this had just gotten fun. Jordon was human after all. Oddly, she
suddenly found his awkwardness as something cute. Funny she hadn’t noticed that
before. Then she recognized the look in his eyes. He had a thing for her. And
stranger still, that didn’t seem like a bad thing.
    Recovering quickly, he added, “Yes, umm, so there you go.
Spending money.”
    Ericca snorted back laughter. “You mean bail money.”
    At first, when Jordon raised a faint grin, she thought she
had amused him, but there was sadness in his voice. “Go ahead. Open it.”
    She turned and pressed her thumb to the touch lock. Responding
to her thumbprint, the box opened. Inside were small bars of gold bullion, and
an assortment of gold coin. She lifted out a bar to examine. “Gold? Seriously?”
    “It’s solid and pure. And unlike Prov or Confed notes, those
are spendable anywhere. But look at one.”
    Pressed into the face of every bar was the image of a
raven’s head; the coins too. “What on Earth?”
    “It’s the logo I designed for you,” Jordon said. “Not much,
but I thought . . .” He shrugged. Not knowing what to do with his
hands, he first gestured awkwardly to the box, put his hands on his hips,
dropped them to dangle at his side, then moved to put his hands in his pockets,
before finally deciding to cross his arms. Unable to help himself, one hand
shot up to his chin, resting one forefinger across his lips. “You’ll notice raven’s
head faces west.”
    Amused by his nervous fidgeting, Ericca, with a growing
smile, lifter her eyes to his. “I don’t know what to say, Jordon.”
    His eyes widened. Before now, Ericca had never called him by
his first name. It was always Captain, or Cap, or Mr. Kori. Her doing so now had its desired effect. Without wanting to, he was giving himself away. But
then she suddenly felt bad for him. She was being mean. Her teasing, pushing
those particular buttons of his, was just wrong. The man was being sincere, and
here she was, like a cat