by test
“You’re alive! ” Dylan breathed. His big eyes became even bigger.
“Glad to see you too, Dylan!” Thankfully her heart had begun to beat normally.
“We thought you were a goner for sure,” Veronica stated, staring at her in disbelief.
“Thanks to my brilliant brother-in-law, I have managed to cheat death for another day at least.” She glanced around the destroyed bar.
“So where did those two blithering idiots we were questioning before the brawl, get off too?” Dylan rasped, as Ross let him lean against him.
Samantha barged forward and got in Dylan’s face, completely ignoring his question.
“We have to get you back to Johanna, she should look at that noggin of yours,” Samantha muttered. She pushed his hands away and quickly inspected the slight gash.
“They left as soon as the shit hit the fan. You had to go and throw the first punch, and then POOF everything went hog wild,” Veronica grumbled, even though a fleeting expression of satisfaction passed across her features.
Samantha couldn’t believe the woman! Dylan couldn’t have been the one responsible.
Why, he didn’t have an aggressive bone in his body. She hadn’t believed Devlin when he’d said Dylan started the brawl…guess she was wrong.
“Oh, get off of it, Veronica. I don’t believe for one minute that Dylan could have started RECKLESS BOUNTY Marly Mathews 112
all of this.” She swept her hand toward the scene of destruction. “This looks like something matching your M.O.” She loved goading Veronica and she was going to revel in it a bit more before saying she did believe her.
“Are we talking about the same man here, or did I somehow step into an alternate reality?” Veronica shot back, as Ross furrowed his large forehead.
“I don’t think that Dylan did anything wrong. Just ‘cause he called the man a walking, talking, Neanderthal didn’t give the guy a reason to try decking him one.”
“Yes, and then what happened?” Samantha demanded, glancing impatiently at Dylan.
“Then he blocked the guy’s punch, and sent him flying across the room. I’ve never seen such a quiet guy display such a loud temper,” Ross said, laying his hand on his buddy’s shoulder.
“I’m kind of impressed.”
“Please, don’t tell me that this situation could have been avoided, if only you’d kept your big mouth shut,” Samantha sighed, placing her pistols into their holsters.
“The man said that Johanna was a stupid slut. He said she betrayed Lord Devlin.”
Dylan’s glared at her.
“Huh,” Samantha managed to say, as murderous intent entered her eyes. “You shouldn’t have simply called him a Neanderthal, you should’ve bypassed words and gone straight for the action part,” she decided. They slowly made their way toward the exit to the bar.
They walked into the elevator, and Samantha felt a strange feeling overtake her as Veronica pressed the button for the main floor.
“Do you smell smoke?” Dylan asked.
Samantha shot him a worried gaze. She could hear something sizzling. Slowly, she put her finger to her lips to tell everyone to be quiet. Her heart thudded. Gradually, recognition dawned.
“Shit! ” she cursed.
Veronica let out a blood-curdling scream. They all reached for something to grab onto as the elevator plummeted.
* * * *
Samantha tried activating her com link to The Emerald Star, screaming when she realized that something or more likely someone blocked her signal. Frantically, she stared up at the ceiling and found an escape hatch.
“Hey, Ross, how’s about you give me a lift?” she asked, pointing to the ceiling as they all battled their feelings of anxiety.
Inwardly, she wanted to scream and cry out in frustration and fear. But she was a strong person, and no matter what, she would do anything to save the people that were with her. She was Samantha Cassidy. It was her job to save the day.
She grunted, as they worked against the speed of the elevator.
“How much weight do you think your grapplers are designed to hold?” she asked Dylan.
His face spread into a grin and she nearly kissed him.
“I’ve designed them to be strong enough to tow a couple of hover cars, let’s hope that they hold this bloody elevator,” he whispered.
Samantha tore the hatch open and reached to fasten one of her grapplers to the roof of the elevator.
“Everyone, say a hope and a prayer, and cross everything imaginable,” she instructed, dropping easily to the floor of the elevator.
She activated the grapplers, and though only a few seconds had passed they’d dropped RECKLESS BOUNTY Marly Mathews 113
about twenty floors. She scrambled over toward Dylan. Veronica and Ross pressed themselves together.
She took a hold of Dylan’s hands and prayed. She said every imaginable prayer that she could think of, and then when they suddenly lurched to an abrupt halt, everyone stared at each other, as if they had been given the greatest gift in the world.
Samantha’s relieved expression slowly faded. The sound of the cords of the grapplers straining beneath the weight of the elevator, made a shiver run up and down her spine.
“Now what?” Veronica asked, staring over at Samantha.
“Why are you asking me? ” Samantha shot back, feeling another headache coming on.
“Because you saved the day once already, and I’m all out of ideas,” Veronica returned.
“Besides, you’re the Queen of Danger, and this is a dangerous situation. I expect you to pull our butts out of this. After all, we wouldn’t be here, if it weren’t for you in the first place!”
Ross gave her a reproachful glare. “We’re in this bind together, Betsy,” he murmured.
Samantha gave him a grateful stare, and made a mental note to find out why Veronica was called Betsy when they got back to The Excalibur.
She wasn’t defeated yet, and she was going to do everything within her power to get them out of the elevator. Veronica was right. She had through some coincidence of fate become their leader. And leaders didn’t let their team down. She was a born leader. Her mother had always said so.
“Do you think the jet pack would work?” she asked a slightly woozy Dylan.
“Sure,” he drawled, smiling lopsidedly at her and following it up by sticking his tongue out at her.
“Okay.
Spill it! Which one of you gave him a painkiller?” she demanded, staring accusingly at Ross and Veronica.
“I did. He was getting on my nerves, it was the only way to shut him the hell up.”
Veronica shrugged her shoulders.
“I’ll shut you the hell up,” Samantha said, maddened at the fact that Veronica had given Dylan something to knock him so completely senseless. “I hope that damn painkiller was Earth certified.” Samantha stared up at the ceiling and tried to come up with a reasonable escape plan.
“Nope. I’m afraid not. You can’t find those lovely suckers on Earth, I’m sad to say, and Earth authorities wouldn’t touch anything that was on the Intergalactic Black Market,” Veronica said, flashing her a grin. “Though I’ve taken them before, and I’m none the worse for wear.”
“That’s a matter of opinion,” Samantha shot back. Biting her lower lip, she considered how large the elevator shaft would be.
“What’s going on?” Dylan asked, earning a look of pity from Samantha.
“You’re my little monkey boy, and I’m going to take good care of you.”
“Really?” he asked. “Kay.”
Her heart fell again. Her engineer was a blabbering idiot when she needed him the most.
She was no mathematical genius, so how the hell was she going to figure out how they were going to get out of this little situation?
* * * *
Deep calming breaths! She couldn’t allow herself to go to pieces. This wasn’t an ordinary circumstance for Samantha. Normally, she only had to worry about lifting her own a
ss out of the fire. This time, she had to be concerned about Dylan, Veronica and Ross. If she got Ross out of the elevator first, then maybe Veronica and Dylan would stand a better chance. She thought for a moment, as the elevator jerked once again and the grapplers groaned with the RECKLESS BOUNTY Marly Mathews 114
intense weight.
“I’ve got an idea. I don’t think I have time to use any of my grapplers, though I do have a jet pack, which could probably bring us up to one of the floors. Seeing as no one else has any ideas, I guess we’ll just have to go with mine.” She frowned, and quickly studied Ross’s bulky form. How she was going to get him out was something she didn’t really want to think about.
Her muscles were already screaming. Where was Tyler when you needed him? Oh, yeah.
Locked up, under heavy guard. She just wanted to do what she had to do to get Ross out. She could only hope that it worked.
“Ross, you’re going first. No arguments. You weigh the most, and if you’re out of here, then the strain on the grapplers will be lessened.”
“Betsy or Dylan should go first. Betsy’s a woman and Dylan’s injured,” Ross protested.
“Don’t you be getting all macho on me now, Ross,” Veronica huffed, poking him angrily on the chest. “I’ll thank you to remember that I can sure as hell take care of myself. I don’t need you to take care of me, so just get your ass moving, you great big lug.”
Samantha watched the exchange between the couple, and fought down the butterflies that were in her stomach. What if she couldn’t support Ross’s weight? Granted, she was in excellent shape, but she wasn’t all that big of a woman, and well…Ross was massive. But if she were really determined would his size make much of a difference? Probably not, she internally answered, nervously flexing her fingers. She would have to use her backup if needed, and hope Ross didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary.
“Well, Ross, let’s go,” she said nonchalantly, hiding the jumpiness she felt. “We’ll have to climb up onto the roof of the elevator, then you’ll have to wrap your arms around me, and leave everything else to me. I’m the pro at this.” Yeah, and she also could tap dance, but what did that matter?
Ross nodded his head, and gave her a helpful boost. She stood precariously on the top of the elevator swallowing thickly when the grapplers groaned, again. Ross made the elevator rock, as he came up to stand beside her. He obediently wrapped his arms around her, and she inhaled deeply, once again noticing the differences in their sizes. “Here goes nothing,” she whispered, pressing the activation button on the jet pack.
She gasped, as they were propelled upwards. She strengthened her hold on Ross and felt him slipping. Her eyes searched for a door. None of them were opened, which meant that she would have to open one of them herself. She was okay with that. She was specialized in knocking down doors, AND making new ones.
“Hang tight,” she whispered, lifting one arm off of Ross.
She felt like she was going to break beneath Ross’s burden. But she would survive. She hastily grabbed for her suction grenade. She aimed accurately and then threw it at the door, where it latched on securely. Then as it did its duty, the metal of the door would begin to disintegrate. Within seconds, they’d have an exit, ready and waiting for them.
“WOO-HOO!!! ” she yelled, as the door melted in front of her.
She lowered Ross onto the floor sighing with relief when she was detached from the bulky man. She rotated her body and gunned for the elevator.
She was finally mastering the art of flying with a jet pack. Her ponytail flew out behind her and she basked in the adrenaline that pulsed through her. She was going to make it! She shut the jet pack off and lowered herself into the elevator.
“Who’s next? ” she asked, though she really wanted to take Dylan first, she had to seem like she wasn’t playing favorites.
RECKLESS BOUNTY Marly Mathews 115
“Take Dylan,” Veronica said, earning a gasp of surprise from Samantha. “Hey, don’t start thinking I’m a Saint or something. It’s just that he’s heavier than me, and he isn’t thinking straight at the moment, if something were to happen while you were gone....”
“Say no more, Big V. I get it,” Samantha said, reaching for the dazed Dylan. “Come on monkey boy, you’ll have to grab a hold of my hands when I reach down in for you. Big V, can you help him if he needs it?” she asked. She climbed up onto the railing of the elevator, and lifted herself up onto the roof.
“Sure thing,” Veronica answered, guiding Dylan. He followed the steps that Samantha had taken. Samantha reached down in for him, and grasped his wrists, heaving him out of the elevator. Veronica helped things along by pushing upwards on his ass.
“Wow! I really don’t like heights. Hey, Samantha, you know I don’t like heights. Why’d you take me up here? I liked it better down there,” Dylan muttered, clamping his eyes shut.
“When I have to go up and fix things on the ship I swear I shit a brick every time.”
“You’re never going to take pain medication again, while you’re on active duty. That’s a new rule. I’m going to write it down as soon as we get back to The Excalibur.”
“Okay, Captain Lady,” Dylan mumbled.
She rolled her eyes. Grabbing his hands, she wrapped them around her waist. Then she wrapped her one arm securely around him.
“No
matter
what,
you
HAVE to hold onto me, Dylan!” she stressed, once again activating the jet pack.
“Gottcha,” he slurred, blinking his eyes open, and then shutting them again. “Could you make everything a nice purple color, maybe? That way, I know I’ll live or if you screw up, I’ll blow up....” he rambled.
“Bloody wonderful,” she muttered, as she ascended toward the opening that Ross was standing in. “Just don’t get sick on me.”
She handed Dylan to Ross, who was by now fast asleep. Just then, she turned her head.
Her heart stopped. The grapplers made the most wretched noise. In an instant, they made another horrid noise. Then, they finally broke beneath the weight.
“Shit!!! ” she cursed, turning her body toward the elevator.
She quickly set her jet pack at its highest speed. Cringing, she heard Veronica’s panicked scream. That woman could scream like no other. She sounded like a tortured banshee. Purple light streamed in front of her as she called upon her abilities to speed up the jet pack, praying that Veronica wouldn’t notice and that the energy flowing from her wouldn’t turn on her.
I have to get a medal for this! She raced toward the opening of the elevator. She sped toward it, and sighed with relief, when she noticed Veronica desperately trying to cling to the roof of the elevator.
Samantha didn’t have much time. She swooped down. Veronica’s eyes met hers. She reached for her hands. They connected, just as the elevator fell out beneath Veronica’s feet.
They rushed toward Ross and Dylan, and Samantha wanted to pat herself on the back for her mind-blowing skills.
She raced to where Ross stood, and handed the stunned Veronica over to him. Timing it perfectly, she perched herself on the edge of the opening and shut the jet pack off at that exact moment.
She smiled triumphantly as she felt the ground beneath her. Her eyes went straight to Dylan. He was still fast asleep, and his face was awfully pale. She moved over and checked Dylan’s pulse, sighing when she discovered that it still beat in a regular pattern.
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At that moment, her com link crackled to life, and she heard Johanna and the Red Falcon’s frantic voices both at the same time.
“Slow down! ” Samantha ordered. Veronica and Ross were still collecting their composure. “What did you say? ” Dread dawned in the pit of her stomach.
No. This couldn’t be happening. Her day had been bad enough, and now incredibly it was becoming even worse. “Uh, guys,” she said, addressing Veronica and Ross. “The building has been rigged to ex
plode in approximately five minutes.” Well, she’d managed to deliver that sounding as if she was reporting the weather. Damn, she was good.
They gaped at her and she nodded her head in confirmation.
“Ross, can you grab Dylan, and then we should really be moving our butts!”
Veronica took the lead with Ross right behind her. Ross slung Dylan over his shoulder.
She had to admit, the guy was big, but he did come in handy.
“Why can’t you just transport us out of here?” Samantha demanded, not needing to address her question. Johanna was probably worried half to death and she certainly didn’t need to be told her husband had lost consciousness.
“Too much interference. I’m sorry,” The Red Falcon answered. She sighed, hearing true regret in his voice.
“Okay, where’s my miracle?” she muttered, glancing briefly at the ceiling.