Inter-Galactic Bounty Hunters

by KD Jones

  She couldn’t argue with that. He was intimidating. This was the first time she met a full Decaros though. She was curious. “Is it the horns? I have not seen your horns. I thought all full Decaros have them.”

  Victor leaned closer to her and parted a section of his tall hair that he styled up high almost like a Mohawk. She saw a small curved flesh colored horn that was pressed tight against his head. “It is true that all full Decaros have them. They typically stay in stasis against my head unless I experience extreme emotions.”

  “Like anger?” She reached out with her fingers to gently rub the horn. It was warm and smooth. It seemed to move, which had her jerk back her hand.

  Vic inhaled her sweet intoxicating scent. Fuck! “Arousal will activate them to lengthen as well,” he said with a rough voice. Vic was completely unsettled by his response to her touch. Maybe it had been way too long since he took a woman to bed.

  Daniela blushed as she looked around but still no Jagger. Victor took pity on her by dropping the subject of his horns. “What you really wanted to know was if Jagger was dating anybody right?” She nodded.

  “He hasn’t had a steady girlfriend in a while. But he does usually date a lot of different women. Rarely dating the same one more than once. He never lacks for companionship. Women find him appealing,” Victor told her.

  Daniela’s face fell. So much for thinking she might be different. “I need to go to the bathroom.” She stood but froze when Victor grasped her hand.

  “I don’t like you, but it’s not because I think you are guilty. It’s because...I see how Jagger looks at you. He’s never looked that way at any other woman. I worry he will get hurt.”

  “How does he look at me?” she asked, leaning closer with curiosity.

  “What’s going on here?” Jagger demanded, interrupting Vic from answering. He looked down at Vic’s hand on her and almost growled. Vic let her go immediately.

  “Um…nothing. I was just going to go to the bathroom. I’ll be right back.” She made to move past Jagger but he stopped her to cup her face.

  “Are you sure you’re okay?”

  She blushed. He was so intense when he looked at her. Maybe that was what Victor was hinting to. She gave him a reassuring smile. “I’m fine. I’ll be back in just a few minutes.”

  He let her go but watched her until she was out of sight. Then he turned on his cousin. “What happened?” He sat down in Daniela’s seat. He didn’t want her next to Vic.

  “Nothing.”

  “Really? Why the hell are your horns up?” He glared at Vic’s head.

  “Damn it!” Vic reached up to spike up his thick hair to cover up the horns. Times like this he wished he was only half Decaros.

  “You weren’t angry so that leaves aroused as the cause of your horns.” Jagger crossed his arms over his chest.

  “We were talking and she asked about my horns. I don’t think she has ever met a full Decaros. Then she…touched them.”

  Jagger was fighting for breath. He had to keep it together or he would rip those damn horns off his cousin’s head. He shook his head. Never had he been so angry with Vic before. But knowing that Vic allowed Daniela to touch him to the point he was aroused was making him see red.

  “Look, I didn’t expect the reaction. She is a beautiful woman. She smelled nice and she touched me. Not many women touch me without persuasion. I couldn’t help but respond to her. We both pulled away immediately.” Vic didn’t know what else to say. He felt guilty but at the same time, he had enjoyed her soft touch.

  “She’s mine,” Jagger growled at him. He felt threatened. That was not a good thing.

  “I know. Don’t make a big deal out of it. She is totally into you.”

  “She is?” Jagger’s anger started to fade. “Did she ask about me?”

  “She was trying to find out if you're dating anyone.”

  “That’s ridiculous. I told her I didn’t have a girlfriend. I wouldn’t have slept with her if I had another woman waiting on me.” Jagger was a little offended.

  “I know that, but she doesn’t know you that well. Neither of you knows the other that well. She needs to know where she stands with you. Look, I’m going to go and relieve one of the others for a while. Talk to her, cousin. Tell her how you are feeling.” With that advice, Vic stood and left.

  *****

  Lial threw his cell phone across the room. “Call, damn it!”

  What was taking this guy Crawley so fucking long? All he had to do was get someone to help him with one small woman. Grab the girl and get rid of her so no one would ever find her. How hard could that be?

  He ran a hand through his hair. Lial wanted nothing more than to get off the damn planet. But that would indicate his guilt. He wanted to be free of this and enjoy his hard earned money. Just one detail to take care of. He would give the guy another day. Then he'd have to send someone else to finish the job. Bitch was making him waste his money.

  *****

  Daniela washed her face in the sink in the small bathroom on the shuttle. She felt like such a mess. There wasn’t anything she could do about it. She headed back to her seat. Only Jagger was sitting there.

  “Where did Victor go?” she asked him, sitting down next to him.

  He frowned. Was she attracted to his cousin? “He went to relieve the others so they all could have a chance to rest.”

  “Oh.” She saw that Jagger had a frown on his face. “Is something wrong?”

  He didn’t want to keep things from her. “Victor told me what happened…with his horns.”

  Daniela blushed a bright red. “Oh God. I am so embarrassed. I had no idea that touching a Decaros' horns would make them…”

  “Aroused?”

  She covered her face with her hands. There wasn’t a hole deep enough she could hide her humiliation in. “What must he think of me?” She bit her bottom lip worrying it.

  “He says it was unintentional.” He hated seeing her upset. He took her hand in his and raised it to his own head. “I was jealous at first. I don’t have sexy horns for you to grab hold of.”

  She half laughed and half snorted. “It was quite the shock. I was just curious and then all of a sudden…” She ran her fingers through his hair. “I can grab your hair instead.” She pulled him to her and kissed him.

  Jagger groaned. She tasted so sweet, like vanilla. Just like her scent, which always smelled of vanilla and lavender. It was amazing how quick waves of pleasure rushed through him. He wanted to move her to his lap and fuck her right there. But he couldn’t. He pulled away from her reluctantly.

  “So, you wanted to know if I was seeing anyone? I had told you earlier that I wasn’t,” he questioned.

  “I…guess I just wanted to make sure that I wasn’t in the way.”

  “I haven’t been a relationship in a while. Didn’t think I wanted one either. Until now.”

  She looked at him with hope in her eyes. Was he saying what she thought he was saying? “Jagger,” her voice cracked. Jagger placed a finger over her lips stopping her from speaking.

  “It may be too early to start making declarations, but I want you to know that I’m taking this thing between us seriously. I know most relationships don’t begin the way ours has. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be any more real.” Jagger cupped her cheeks in his hands.

  She gave him a big warm smile that lit up her eyes. “I know I am just coming out of a bad relationship, but I am serious about this thing between us as well.”

  “Unfortunately, everything may have to be put on hold until all of this is cleared up. I hate that,” Jagger said.

  She nodded her head. “I know. I’ll deal with it.”

  “No, we’ll deal with it. We are in this together,” Jagger told her.

  “Together.” Daniela nodded her agreement.

  Chapter Fifteen

  “Enough, guys. This lovey-dovey crap is getting old,” Victor said as he returned to his seat. Isaac came with him.

  Jagger reluctan
tly let Daniela go to sit back in her seat. He watched as Isaac took an empty seat on the other side of Vic. “What’s up?”

  “Isaac thinks he found something.” Vic nodded at Isaac to explain.

  “I’ve been tracking everything that Mr. Wellings has been doing electronically from ATM withdrawals to emails.”

  “Wait, you’ve hacked his email?”

  “Yes. I sent him a random email with a link that led to nothing. When he clicked on it, it allowed me to be able to instantly access his email. Then I created my own back door password to get in and out of his email and his computer. I have tracked his every internet activity.”

  “That’s amazing. Is it legal?” Daniela asked.

  “Thanks and…not really,” Isaac admitted, blushing at her praise.

  Jagger growled. He didn’t like that Isaac and Daniela had a connection. “Stop showing off. What did you find out?”

  “So, I’ve been watching him carefully and he has been doing normal day to day stuff. Then, I noticed that several times he was viewing exotic vacation spots on the Bazin planet.” Isaac told them.

  “Bazin? There’s no extradition laws there," Jagger said with concern.

  “No there isn’t,” Vic agreed. “This could be a cluster fuck.”

  Daniela wasn’t following. “What is the big deal?”

  Jagger turned to her to explain. “If Lial makes a run for it and goes to one of the remote islands on Bazin, it will be nearly impossible to locate him.”

  “But wouldn’t the Bazin planet’s government hand him over if you have a warrant for his arrest?” she asked.

  Vic spoke, “Normally to implement extradition takes time. The requesting government authority has to make a formal request to another government authority. If the fugitive is found within the territory of the requested government authority, then the requested government may arrest the fugitive and subject him or her to its extradition process, only if that government has extradition laws. In this situation, Bazin does not have extradition laws. They would not have any obligation to surrender the fugitive. If the government wished to be a hardass, they can make it illegal for anyone to come into their territory without their permission to retrieve the fugitive.”

  Daniela had a sinking feeling. Lial was going to get away with this and leave her holding the bag to face the consequences. She had to fight to hold back her tears. Jagger reached out a comforting hand and squeezed hers.

  “We’ll get him before he makes a run for it. I promise.”

  “How?” Daniela felt it was hopeless.

  Jagger turned back to Isaac. “Did you find a money trail?”

  “No, but there are only three main financial institutions on Bazin. I am looking at all of them to see if I can find a link with one of them to trace back to Mr. Wellings. I am hoping that Wellings will try to log into the fake account at some point. When he does, I’ll get him,” Isaac reassured her.

  “So, until then I have to go to lockup?”

  “Yes,” all three men said at the same time.

  *****

  The shuttle landed and they walked out to find a large motor pod waiting for them. Daniela knew right away it was one of the bail bonds company’s transportation because it had a shield logo on the side that read “IGBH.”

  “What does that stand for, IGBH?” Daniela asked curiously. She watched as two more large men got out of the motor pod and helped put a cuffed Lial in the back.

  Vic growled while Jagger just laughed. “It stands for Inter-Galactic Bounty Hunters. Don’t mind Vic, he hated that I used that logo. It was what our company was originally named. Then it was changed but I never changed the logo on our shields or the company motor pods.”

  “It’s ridiculous. How will anyone take us seriously with that crap on our motor pods?” Vic’s face turned red with anger.

  Daniela thought she saw Victor’s horns start to stand up. Oh shit! The Decaros is getting pissed. That’s a dangerous thing, but everyone else just laughed. It was obvious this was a constant argument between the cousins.

  “Should I put the cuffs on the girl?” the driver of the motor pod asked.

  The large stranger was looking at Daniela with disgust. His eyes were almost purely black. It made her shiver. What was he?

  Jagger growled, “Don’t look at her that way, Maddox. And no, you will not cuff her.”

  Daniela was worried that Jagger was about to start a fight. Elsa stepped in. “Put you dicks away, boys. Jagger, help your lady get into the motor pod, Maddox, get over yourself. You’re not impressing anyone.”

  As Jagger helped Daniela into the middle seating of the motor pod she heard Isaac explaining the situation to the other two bounty hunters. Maddox still looked pissed but he got into the driver’s seat and started the vehicle. Elsa rode shotgun while Jagger, Daniela, and Isaac sat in the middle seating. The rest of the bounty hunters, Drake, Vic, Abe, and the new one sat in the back cargo space with Prescott. It would have been a quiet ride if not for their prisoner.

  “You can’t do this to me. I have rights. Let me go!” Crawley yelled from the back of the motor pod.

  The other bounty hunter that she had not been introduced to zapped Crawley with a stunner. Everyone looked at him. “What? I didn’t kill him.” He winked at Daniela. “The name's Harley.”

  She blushed. “Daniela Martin.”

  “She’s taken,” Jagger growled at the other man. Daniela looked up at him in surprise. He stared into her beautiful eyes. “You are taken.”

  She smiled slowly. “Yes, I am.”

  “Oh God, do we have to hear them go on and on like this the whole way?” Elsa snorted with disgust. Daniela and Jagger laughed and the tension eased some.

  *****

  Daniela was surprised they didn’t take her and Crawley to lockup right away. They drove to the bail bond company. “Why are we here?” Daniela asked Jagger as they got out of the motor pod.

  “We have a holding facility here that is approved by the authority for a 24-hour holding period. It’s small, just two cells really. But we’re hoping we can keep you and Crawley here until the last moment. It will depend on what the judge says.” Jagger ushered her into the building. He had no intention of putting Daniela in one of those dirty dank cells. He would keep her with him for as long as possible. He took her to his and Vic’s office while the others dealt with Crawley.

  *****

  Jagger sat down in his seat at his desk and pulled Daniela onto his lap. He breathed in her intoxicating scent. God she smelled good. Like…his.

  “So what now? I go to lockup right?” Daniela asked.

  His grip tightened on her. The thought of her going to lockup made his stomach turn. “Not right away. I’m hoping we might be able to get something out of Crawley that will show a tight connection to Wellings. The judge might look at it and allow you to remain free until court date.”

  She shook her head sadly. “Lial’s pretty smart. He’s going to make sure his ass is covered.”

  “Let us worry about that.” He hated to see that worry on her beautiful face. He pulled her down to kiss her. She responded immediately. A few seconds later he let her go.

  Daniela breathed out trying to let the fear go. “So this is your office?” she asked, looking around.

  “Yeah. Mine and Vic’s.”

  “It’s a pretty big building.” She leaned against him.

  “We relocated a few months ago. Our business grew and we had to hire more bounty hunters. The other space was just too small. It could only accommodate ten of us,” Jagger told her.

  “How many bounty hunters do you have?” She ran her fingers through his thick hair.

  “Sixteen full-time bounty hunters including me and Vic. We have two bounty hunters who are part-time freelance hunters. We also have three bail bonds loan officers and two secretaries. So altogether we have a staff of twenty-three.”

  “What are freelance hunters?”

  “They are professional bounty hunters who
hire out their skills to different agencies.” Jagger nibbled on her chin.

  “What’s taking so long?” She glanced out of the large window looking at the others still standing there with Crawley.

  “Don’t know.” Jagger frowned. What the hell was going on out there?

  *****

  “I know my rights. I get at least one phone call,” Crawley complained loudly as the two bounty hunters, Abe and Drake, brought him into the bail bonds building.

  “We’re not the authority. We don’t have to give you jackshit,” Drake told him.

  Vic halted them. “Let him have his one call.” He gave a nod at Isaac. Isaac took out his smart phone and handed to Crawley.

  “I need my own phone. My…lawyer’s number is saved on speed dial.” Crawley tried to reach for his pocket where he kept his phone, but he felt nothing. “Where’s my damn phone?”

  Isaac came closer holding a phone out. “This is your phone. Dial the number.”

  “I need to hold the phone.” Crawley tried to reach for it but Drake and Abe pulled his arms down to his side.

  “I’ll hold it for you to dial and then I’ll hold it up to your ear,” Isaac told him.

  Crawley huffed. He had no choice. He dialed the number on speed dial.

  “Is it done?” a male’s voice answered over the line.

  “I am being held by the bail bonds men,” Crawley told him.

  “What? Why the hell did you call me? Is she there with you too?”

  “I needed to call my lawyer to come and get me out. Yes,” Crawley said the yes and looked at the bounty hunters surrounding him. “I need my lawyer here immediately.”

  “Listen you idiot. Do not call this number again. In fact, I am getting rid of this phone when we hang up. Delete this number as well. Keep your mouth shut and I’ll make sure you get released and you get your money.” The man on the other end of the phone hung up.

  Crawley tried to grab the phone so he could erase the phone number but the two big bounty hunters gripped his arms pretty tight. “Let go! This is abuse!”

  “Shut him up,” Vic said as he and Isaac walked away with the phone in their possession.