Microsoft Word - RecklessBounty

by test

  The dog beside her let out a ferocious growl and if she had been able she would’ve echoed that growl.

  Instead she braced herself, and glanced up, wincing. She was nearly blinded by the early morning sunlight that streaked across the sky. There were three smelly bastards and one of them was slinking toward her. She was as sober as a baby, while they were as drunk as skunks. Come to think of it, they smelled like skunks as well, unless that was her wonderful scent she was RECKLESS BOUNTY Marly Mathews 96

  inhaling. Being dumped in a garbage heap wasn’t something she ever wanted to experience again.

  One of them moved forward and she quickly grabbed his wrist in a joint lock when he tried moving to touch her.

  “Haven’t you ever heard the old saying…you can look…but don’t touch? You stupid bastard!”

  She wrenched it, and pulled it behind his back. She heard something in it give way and snap, and he howled with anger. His two other cohorts seemed ticked off by this and they pulled out their phase pistols.

  “You just messed with the wrong people, bitch. You’re going to pay for that…in a big way.”

  Samantha still held him at the ready as the mangy dog chomped down on one of the other man’s ankles. He screamed out in agony dropping his phase pistol. He moved in to attack the dog, which distracted him nicely.

  “Nice doggie. I knew you and I would be great pals. Go and take another bite…he deserves everything you can give him.”

  Samantha pulled the man that she was holding and used him as a human shield, just as the third man discharged his phase pistol. The first man, dropped like a sack of potatoes in front of her and in a flurry of movements that even surprised her, she had whipped out of the alley, dodging gunfire all the while. She heard the dog growling behind her. He let out three loud barks. She couldn’t be certain if he followed her…but she’d welcome him into the fold if he did.

  Her breath came in short gasps. Her bare feet thudded against the hot pavement. She ran out into the middle of a busy street, teeming with people and nearly collided with a few of them.

  Hover cars whined above her. She stared up and frantically attempted to decide her next course of action. Yesterday had been absolute hell and she decided fairly quickly that today didn’t look so shit hot either.

  * * * *

  Samantha dashed madly through the crowd of people. Gunfire rang out behind her.

  Cripes, did the idiots ever give in? Her thoughts were all over the place. She ducked as another shot rang out past her, hitting a store window. She bit her lip and glanced behind her. The dog had pursued her. He came up behind her and fell into step beside her.

  Her bare feet were getting quite sore, and she really wanted to kick the jerks in their collective asses, though she knew when she’d been beat. She couldn’t go up against a phase pistol. They would eventually hit her, even if they were poor shots. They’d won the first round, but she’d be damned if they’d win the second round.

  She wanted to twine her hands around the Red Falcon’s neck, and watch his sapphire eyes bulge right out of his head. She suspected he’d been responsible for this, even though she didn’t even want to contemplate it. Who else could have thought to do such a horrendous thing to her? Devlin was an obvious suspect, but she still didn’t know how he’d manage to gain access to The Emerald Star’s transporter system. But he was still on her list right under The Red Falcon.

  Someone wanted her to die. So they’d put her down in the middle of hell central, in her pajamas, knowing that she was vulnerable and therefore didn’t stand a chance against anyone that might wish to attack her. But they didn’t know about her special talents and if she was pushed much further, she was going to unleash them and say to hell with the possible consequences. Using her abilities out in the open would put her at risk of being hunted by RECKLESS BOUNTY Marly Mathews 97

  psychic bounty hunters and she didn’t have the training that Charlotte did to avoid them. That’s why she had to keep her abilities a secret. Only her family could be trusted to not give her away to those that could exploit her.

  But she wouldn’t give up. Even though she was in the middle of a horrible area of town, she would get through it. Then she’d find the nearest communicator and ask her sister to come and get her. Only, one problem remained. She had no money.

  “What do you think, bud?” She glanced down at him, and patted his head. He tilted his head to the side. Then, his eyes gravitated to something ahead of he, but she couldn’t see what he had seen. The crowd was too thick. He barked, nudged her side, and in a flash, he was gone.

  “Wait! Oh just great,” she grumbled. Her only companion had just left her in the lurch.

  With her recklessness and ability to take on anything, she’d survive this hellish morning.

  She was quickly living her worst nightmare and a burning stitch nagged at her side. She nearly slammed into a man that seemed to be a wrestler and muttered an apology. He merely grunted to her in reply.

  Casinos and brothels lined the strip and her eyes filled to bursting with all of the wanted men and women that she recognized. She’d have a heyday searching down bounties if she didn’t have other things on her mind.

  Now, she most certainly had to add Lord Devlin’s name to her list of being killed.

  Perhaps, she’d even strangle the life out of him, before she treated the Red Falcon to the same thing. Of course, she knew that in a pinch, she wouldn’t kill Devlin…she couldn’t, but it was nice to fantasize about at the moment!

  Lord Devlin was probably just gunning for Tyler’s ass because Tyler had made the mistake of marrying her. She’d played a hand in Lord Devlin losing someone he loved, and now he was bound and determined to take Tyler away from her. She snorted, considering the possibility that Lord Devlin hadn’t even loved his wife and had simply used Lady Devlin as a means to an end.

  She’d always known Lord Devlin wanted her to pay for what she’d done to him in the past. She’d broken his heart and he still hurt. But she had never known that he would seek retribution by wanting to eliminate the man she loved. Lord Devlin let other bounties walk around his streets seemingly unbothered and yet he seemed hell bent on taking Tyler down.

  Maybe he had been the one that had actually set up Tyler. He had the means and the motive. From what the Red Falcon had relayed to her, Lord Devlin and Lady Devlin hadn’t exactly been on the best of terms. Even though she knew Lord Devlin was ruthless she also knew he was a great many things--but a fool he was not. The man had a cunning intellect. All of the lights were on in his head…and someone was always home.

  He had probably discovered his wife’s constant infidelities and had realized that perhaps her behavior would stain his untarnished image as a respectable crime lord and undisputed ruler of New Monaco.

  Lord Devlin almost certainly reasoned that her death would ease his troubles a great deal, and implicating Tyler in her murder would work out perfectly. Essentially, he would’ve killed two birds with one stone.

  But then her theory was blown all to hell when a phase pistol was tossed in her direction.

  She quickly caught it, not knowing where it had come from. Narrowing her eyes, she let out a dangerous laugh. The three men that pursued her stopped dead in their tracks. They almost looked frightened.

  “Hello Boys! ” she smirked. “It’s payback time, I think!”

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  They stared at her in stunned surprise, and then fired at her. She lunged behind a hover car, and then peeked her head up. She was a crack and quick shot and rarely missed even when she was drop dead tired. She hit two of them straightaway. Then she tried taking down the last one but couldn’t seem to get a good lock on him.

  “Would you just stand in one spot, asshole? ”

  She felt as if she were playing dodge ball. She sighed, and waited for a few moments before she finally dropped the other one as well.

  “Phew, just made it!” she breathed, looking down at the pistol th
at no longer had any charge left on it.

  Well, perhaps she’d been a bit sloppy. But that could only be accounted to her lack of sleep. She turned around expecting to see her sister smiling back at her and her jaw dropped, when she realized who had assisted her out of her rather life threatening situation.

  “Good morning, Samantha. I see you look just as lovely as you always do.” Lord Devlin murmured, in his silky tone. Did she detect a trace of sarcasm in his voice? Jerk.

  For one brief moment, she contemplated shooting herself in the foot with the pistol that she held. If only, it had some bloody juice left in it! Her life was too damn complicated. Why did it have to be the one man that she hated the most in the galaxy?

  Why couldn’t another person hell, she didn’t care who, come to her assistance by giving her a weapon? She groaned loud and long. She slapped her forehead when he smiled and flashed his perfectly straight white teeth at her.

  He would remind her of this moment until the day that she died, and revulsion welled in her stomach. The thought of being indebted to such a man, made her want to hurl. Yep, she was in for a life sentence of absolute misery.

  * * * *

  “I must say, Samantha, that you don’t seem to be in top form at the moment. However, I greatly enjoyed that remarkable performance of yours. May I ask for an encore?” he remarked, staring her up and down. She flinched, beneath his unwavering gaze.

  “Oh, why don’t you, piss off! ” she frowned, and attempted to push past him. She didn’t want to be anywhere near him. As always, his smug little grin made her want to smack him.

  He put out a restraining arm, and took the useless phase pistol from her. She didn’t fight him for it, as it was useless to her anyway.

  “I am not in the mood for your asinine arrogance this morning,” she decided between clenched teeth. He pulled her back toward him and she gave him a dirty look.

  She was ticked off by his familiarity with her and promptly kicked him in the shin. He groaned out in pain and she muttered, “You got off lucky. You are very fortunate that I didn’t make your balls do a disappearing act.”

  He regarded her with a raised brow, and cautiously removed his arm.

  “You’re quite a catty bitch! But then, I’d warrant many men have told you that.”

  She resisted the tempting urge to smile.

  “Get in the hover car,” he ordered, pointing toward his parked vehicle.

  “The hell I will. Why don’t you take a long drive off a short bridge?” she retorted, moving farther away from him. For some reason, Lord Devlin thought he could have everything his own way. He must have been a spoiled child.

  She slammed up against his bodyguards and let out a muffled grunt, realizing with trepidation that instead of the hulking Amazon women, they were even larger men. She couldn’t possibly fight her way out of this situation without being injured or worse, embarrassed and RECKLESS BOUNTY Marly Mathews 99

  exposed.

  “Does it come with a mini bar?” she shot back, moving toward the vehicle of her own accord.

  She scowled at the men and snorted, when Lord Devlin waved them away.

  “Since when did you want to give me a helping hand?” she grumbled, staring hatefully at the black limousine.

  “Since you became my Danny’s property,” he retorted, grinning widely. She didn’t care for the way that he deliberately goaded her temper. He was playing with fire.

  Samantha heaved out a long sigh. She knew that losing her temper wouldn’t accomplish her anything but she just had to express her fury at him in some way. If she didn’t, she’d explode.

  As a result, she did the only thing that she could think of. She went straight up to him, and hauled off and belted him one, right in the kisser. She cradled her throbbing hand to her chest watching with satisfaction, as blood spilled down his face. Man, he had a hard face.

  “The next time, you refer to me as someone’s possession, I will focus on a much more sensitive part of your anatomy!” There that would teach him.

  Without saying anything further, she dove into the hover limo and began simmering. He climbed in after her, and sat across from her. He had become silent. As silent as the grave.

  Unfortunately, the silence didn’t last for long.

  “I may be a great many things, Samantha, but you had better count your lucky stars that I don’t strike women. Don’t touch me in anger ever again…I won’t be so kindhearted the second time around.”

  “Oh, I’m like shaking in my boots! And don’t worry…touching you…doesn’t exactly give me a thrill.” She glared at him. He served her with a look that nearly froze the air between them.

  “You aren’t wearing any boots,” he pointed out, gingerly pressing his handkerchief to his bloody lip. “And if I wanted you to…you’d be begging to touch me.”

  Snorting, she looked out the window, and tried to figure out when she had become so dependent on others. She was an independent capable woman. She didn’t need anyone to help her and yet here she was sitting in the back of a bastard’s limo, while he sat in front of her regarding her as if she were some sort of monster. Every which way she turned the last few days someone did something to effectively put the screws to her and she was fed up.

  “I find it hard to believe you even care what the Red Falcon would think of your actions against me,” she began. She held her chin up high, and tried to forget what she smelt like. He was staring angrily at her and looked as if he needed a few shots of New Monaco Whisky. She cringed, but met his gaze head on. So, she smelt putrid. If she just ignored the smell, maybe he would too. But she wouldn’t hold her breath, even though it would be better than breathing in her rather interesting aroma. She fought the urge to gag.

  She could never figure out what her sister had seen in him. She’d been able to resist his charms. Sure, he had those brooding dark good looks, but he seemed to be missing something.

  Ah, yes, he was missing a tolerable personality. She watched him as he dabbed at his puffed up lip again.

  “I respect Danny, and I care for him. I want to see him happy.”

  She pitied the man really, here he was loaded to the point of being one of the richest men on The Rim, and he couldn’t even show his affection for another human being without seeming put out by it.

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  “Danny was nothing when I finally found him. He was a street kid and I rescued him from his living hell. In return, he showed me that you don’t always have to be concerned about yourself. I’m appallingly selfish, and yet when I had a ten-year-old boy to look after I had to make some compromises. I taught him everything, and he repays me at every given opportunity.

  He would do the same thing for me, if the woman I loved were in danger. After all, he did save you and your sister’s lives, when those pirates were attacking you. I intend to happily attend their executions tomorrow morning. You may despise me, Samantha, but I assure you that I’ll never let anything happen to Johanna. Whether you choose to believe it or not, I would have treated the woman I truly loved as if she were a queen.”

  Something in his tone made her think he wasn’t exactly telling her the truth about Jordan, but she shook it off.

  “Yes, but you wouldn’t have given her what she really needs,” Samantha countered matter-of-factly.

  “Tell me, what exactly would that have been?” he asked, leaning forward. His eyes glittered.

  “Freedom. You would have put her in a crystal palace and your dangerous life would’ve ultimately been the undoing of that woman. And, if you’d married her, she would be in Lady Devlin’s unfortunate place right now. Because if you didn’t have her murdered, then it was most undoubtedly your life that killed her.”

  Lord Devlin stared at her with a gaze that if looks could kill she would have been dead ten seconds ago.

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  Chapter Eleven

  “I seriously doubt Tyler would’ve killed the woman I wanted as my
wife, even he could not be that black hearted. My true love, in no way resembles my dead wife.”

  “Guess we’re going to play that game again, huh,” she grumbled, suddenly remembering she hadn’t brought the dog with her. She should’ve run after him.

  The mangy mutt had saved her life, and she had repaid him by leaving him behind.

  Suddenly, she felt quite nauseas. The dog had just disappeared. She’d seen him leave…but then he’d just vanished in the crowd. Damn, she needed some coffee. That just might jumpstart her brain.

  “We have to go back...,” she began, nearly pressing her nose to the window. She could see by the skyline that they hadn’t gone very far. It wouldn’t take them long to return.

  Lord Devlin threw his bloody handkerchief away, and gave her a ‘ you’ve lost it look’.

  “Why, so that you can make even more of a spectacle of yourself? Or were you going to add some special effects to your performance?”

  She wrinkled her nose at him, grasping the side of the leather upholstery. Did he know about what she could do? Her heart raced at that prospect.