Reckless Bounty (Intergalactic Justice Book 1)

by Marly Mathews

  He reached across and without a word, took her hand. She sighed. Even when they were sparring with each other, they still cared.

  “When we meet back up with your little playmates, you aren’t about to make a scene are you?” Lord Devlin asked.

  He seemed almost hesitant. Did he think she’d embarrass him?

  “Who little old me? Why Dev, I can’t believe you think I would make a fool of myself. Fool of you, maybe. But never one of myself.”

  He sighed. “I don’t think. I know you will make a fool of yourself. Why don’t you just let me handle everything? I’m sure as soon as the men responsible for the attempt on Johanna’s life see me, they will surrender.”

  “Yes, that may well be. But as soon as they see me, they’re going to drop a load in their pants. And the day that I let any man take care of me will be the day that I’m six feet under. Haven’t you realized yet, that I don’t need a man running to my rescue?”

  “Of course. Pardon me. I can’t believe I forgot that you were the high and mighty Samantha Mallory.”

  “My surname is Cassidy.”

  “Not for long,” Devlin said.

  She held her breath, when they dropped beneath the sparkling surface of the water.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Samantha didn’t want to hand it to him, but she had to admit that he was right in this instance. He did hold a certain amount of sway on New Monaco, and it wouldn’t hurt her any, to have him walking behind her.

  But first, she’d have to find Veronica and confront her about leaving without gaining clearance from either her or Johanna. She was accustomed to getting her own way, and when someone went against what she wanted, she got raging mad.

  Veronica had to learn that she and Johanna were in command when it came to the bounty hunting, and The Excalibur. She couldn’t have Veronica messing with the flow of things. They had a certain way of handling things, and Samantha was determined to stick with it.

  She felt little jitterbugs fly through her nearly empty stomach, when they came into view of the underwater city of Atlantis. If she’d believed that the rest of New Monaco had been beautiful, then this came as a whole new surprise.

  “Holy crap,” she muttered.

  A thrill of excitement raced up and down her back.

  The city resembled Las Vegas on Earth only it was under water, and the architectural beauty of it, took her breath away. Devlin sure did know how to build beautiful things. He was a talented asshole, but he also had another talent that wasn’t at all related to the first one.

  “You’re speechless, that must be some kind of a record. Please, do try to make it a regular occurrence.” He grinned at her. Her fantasy shattered.

  “Shove it!” she muttered, sitting back against her seat. Maybe this wouldn’t be as bad as she thought it would be.

  Water had been the bane of her existence for as long as she could recall. When her mother had enrolled her in swimming lessons, it had taken a whole hell of a lot of convincing to get her to go anywhere near it.

  She’d finally learned how to swim, well enough to make sure she’d never drown, but she wasn’t nearly as skilled as Johanna. Johanna had been a lifeguard in her early teens, and she’d saved numerous lives. Her sister was fearless in the water, and Samantha wasn’t, and that drove her up the wall.

  She kept her water phobia a secret and aside from her family back on Earth, only Johanna, Dylan, Tyler and Devlin knew of the fear that she viewed as her only weakness. She’d been told time and again that her dislike of water was a phobia, but since she’d become a fearless bounty hunter, she’d slowly decided that it was her only fear.

  “Welcome to my third pride and joy. You’ve already met my first,” Lord Devlin said jubilation ringing through his voice. He winked at her. She didn’t want to know what his second pride and joy was!

  Eleanor approached the dome surrounding Atlantis City, and it opened a small door, to admit them. They went through some weird tunnel that must be the sorting area, so no water was admitted into the inner regions of the city.

  “And here I thought that I’d have to grow a pair of gills,” she said, sarcasm leaking into her tone. Devlin leaned back in his chair and let out a huge sigh. “What in the world are you doing?” she asked, finally turning her attention back to him.

  “I’m reserving my energy,” he remarked.

  She furrowed her brow. “I thought I told you to leave all of the physical things to me.”

  “You did. That being said, I’m not conserving my energy so that I can beat the crap out of the inhabitants of the Caterra Casino. I’m merely fortifying myself so that I can deal with your hotheaded attitude,” he smirked, to show her that he was trying to make a joke, even though he was failing miserably.

  “You are a frigging barrel of laughs, Devlin,” she mumbled.

  They guided Eleanor to a parking spot outside of the Caterra Casino, and they made a smooth landing that nearly made Samantha green with envy.

  Though she appreciated Aggie, she would give anything to have such a capable vehicle to do their bounty hunting with. If they had a Faerie Cruiser, no one would be able to avoid or defeat them. They’d be unstoppable!

  “Do you think your friends will be inside?” he asked.

  He reached inside of a hidden compartment and produced something that got Samantha’s interest immediately.

  “What is that?” she asked, reaching for the weapon that he held in his hands. A new weapon always got her attention. They were one of her favourite things.

  “None of your damn business. But if you ask nicely I might feel like showing it to you.”

  “If we weren’t in such a public place I’d show you something, and it wouldn’t be my collection of weapons,” she said.

  She placed her hands on her own phase pistols and sighed. Eleanor opened her door.

  “Samantha, take this,” Eleanor murmured.

  A cup of something cold materialized in her hands. “Will you stop doing that? It’s beginning to annoy me. What is this?” she asked, sipping at the purple coloured drink. She drank more of it, gradually beginning to feel better.

  “It will give you energy. My sensors told me your blood sugar levels were low.”

  Samantha gulped the rest of it down and began to feel as if she could take on two hundred men.

  “Wow! That’s great stuff. What’s in it?” She did feel better.

  “It consists of Liana Juice and New San Francisco grape juice,” Eleanor explained. “The Natives of New San Francisco have used it for thousands of years. It gives them the stamina to survive in their rough environment.”

  “I’ll have to have it stocked on The Excalibur.” This juice would really come in handy when she was feeling sluggish. Hell, Johanna would probably be drinking it morning, noon and night.

  “Don’t bother. It costs five hundred New Monaco platinum credits for one liter. You’re literally drinking gold there. I hope you enjoyed it!” Devlin quipped.

  She stared over at him in open astonishment. “Well, I did before. But now that I know what it cost you, I certainly enjoyed it. Just so you know, I’ve decided not to order it for The Excalibur. When it just goes in and comes right out again, it isn’t worth it.” She smiled.

  He was almost too much fun to bug.

  “I can’t wait to see what you say about it in, oh, I’ll give it about ten minutes,” he said. He winked at her and began walking ahead of her. She took in her surroundings. She’d have to be very careful.

  Devlin was in his element, and she was out of her element. She didn’t like that.

  “Goodbye!” Eleanor called out.

  Samantha actually waved back at her. As soon as she proved Tyler’s innocence, she was going to go and have her head examined. And she meant that literally.

  *****

  “So this is the famous Caterra Casino,” Samantha said, leaning up against the doorframe. A security guard gave her a dirty look.

  Samantha stuck her tongue out at
him and then made a funny face at him. He sighed, looked at Devlin, bowed and walked away.

  “Do they kiss your feet, or dance if you want them to?” she asked. She followed Devlin farther into the casino. Slot machines rang out around them and farther in she could see that people were closely milled around the gaming tables. “I can see why you were worried about me making a scene. There are a lot of witnesses. But don’t worry. I’m not the shy sister. You haven’t met her, yet.”

  She swaggered into the casino.

  All eyes suddenly turned to Samantha and she basked in the glory of all of the attention. This was new, having an audience, but hell she was always willing to entertain. As long as they got out of her way when bodies began flying.

  “That’s very encouraging, Samantha. Never ever decide to become a therapist. You’d have the poor person ready to go apeshit bananas as soon as you opened your mouth.”

  “Ha, ha, I’m laughing on the inside, Devlin,” she said.

  Someone let out a shocked exclamation upon hearing her insult to Devlin.

  “You should not speak to our Lord in that disrespectful tone,” A woman said, nosily poking her head into something that was not any of her business.

  “Oh, I’m sorry, Lord Dickhead,” Samantha drawled out.

  The woman let out another shocked gasp. She pushed the woman not so gently out of her way, and then tried to pinpoint Veronica and Ross.

  She whistled in appreciation, when she heard something crack against a wall, followed by Veronica’s angry bellow.

  “I don’t think that you’ll have a very hard time, finding your friends, they seem to be getting the show started without you,” Lord Devlin pointed out.

  He had a weird expression on his face. He seemed almost uncomfortable. Well, if that’s what Veronica’s act did to him, then he hadn’t seen anything yet. She was about to get started.

  “Attention hogs!” she muttered, clearing herself a path. She arrived just in time, to catch the gist of what Veronica was talking about.

  “You’re the lowest of the lows. I’m going to bend you backward like an accordion and reacquaint you with your asshole!” Veronica threatened, breathing deeply in the man’s face, as she held him up against the wall. “Or do you think that I should play find them if you’re able?”

  “Find what?” the man sputtered.

  Samantha walked up beside Veronica. “Well, they come in a pair, and they’re something that you probably don’t want to live without, at least that’s what I’m guessing. Though truthfully, I’d like to buy the ticket for the first act,” Samantha decided.

  Veronica stared incredulously at her, keeping a firm grip on the man she’d plastered up against the wall.

  “What are you doing here?” she muttered.

  Samantha gave her a charming smile. “I’m here to watch the show, and then become the star.” She gave Veronica a look that simply stated shut your mouth, and we’ll talk later. “Where’s your dear hubby?”

  “Open your eyes. He’s over there keeping the other guy busy while I interrogate this one. I didn’t want to make too much noise and Ross’s ways are a little more subtle than mine.”

  “I can see that,” Samantha answered, following her hand. She wanted to laugh so badly, that it was taking all of her willpower to hold herself back.

  Ross was sitting drinking a cup of tea or coffee. She couldn’t guess which, looking as innocent as the day he was born. Everyone would believe that he was a great big loveable harmless man, except for the fact that he was keeping the man in question busy, by sitting on him.

  “I can honestly say I wouldn’t want to be in that guy’s place right now.” She flinched.

  Veronica shook the man and then pulled back her fist, readying herself to inflict some more damage.

  “Just a minute, Veronica…” Samantha interrupted, gaining a relieved sigh from the man. “Your whole form is wrong, here let me show you how it should be done,” she said, inching in front of her, as she took over and slammed him up against the wall. “Oh, did that hurt?” she asked, “Because if it didn’t this is definitely going to,” she promised, bringing her knee up. “I take it that you were the one that went into my ship, The Excalibur and attacked a woman when she wasn’t looking.

  Newsflash buddy, that woman was my sister. And well, I’m rather fond of her. I don’t take kindly to piss ants like you trying to kill her. Tell me whom you work for, and we won’t have to play hide and go seek.”

  Devlin stepped into the fray, to give his two cents. “I’d humour the woman and tell her who you’re working for because you’re going down one way or another. But I could consider making a deal with you if you sing like a little birdie. I don’t really think that you want to face the gallows, just because someone is paying you good money. After all, no amount of money can be worth your life, and your life certainly wouldn’t be worth a lot of money.”

  Samantha stared over at Devlin and wanted to shoot him for referring to her as a mere woman. He’d pay for that later.

  “I’m no snitch,” the man said.

  Devlin approached him and gave him a death stare that even Samantha admired.

  “Do you know who I am?” he asked.

  The man nodded his head. “Yeah, and I don’t work for you!” he spat out. His beady little eyes filled with anger.

  “See, here’s how I see things. I can understand you are not being impressed by Mister Big Shot, but I’m telling you. You should be impressed by me, and since you’re not, maybe you don’t know who I am,” Samantha said. A hint of danger entered her voice.

  “I know who you are! You’re Lord Devlin’s slut, and you’re the one that’s trying to get a cold-blooded murderer off, with a slap on the hand. It’s not going to happen. Tyler Cassidy’s a dead man,” he promised. She narrowed her eyes. Slut? Who the hell did he think he was talking to?

  Devlin stepped in and punched the man so hard, she saw a few teeth dislodge. She winced, as the guy moaned in pain.

  “Is that what this is all about?” Samantha asked. “Someone is framing Tyler because he’s got a vendetta against him?” she demanded, barely keeping herself from wrapping her hands around his neck, and strangling the life out of him. His face was bloody and he looked like he was in a hell of a lot of pain. Good.

  “Nobody’s got to frame him. The evidence speaks for itself,” he bragged.

  She felt a tight little knot form in the pit of her stomach. “This just stinks to High Heaven. Tyler’s being set up, don’t you see that now?” she asked, turning to Devlin.

  “What I see is a group of men heavily armed, at the entrance to the casino. And, just in case you’re wondering they don’t belong to me. It seems as if someone’s just itching to start a war, and if they want it, I’m going to give it to them,” he vowed.

  “Oh, shit!” Samantha said, turning around. She dropped the man, pulled out her phase pistol, and shot him. “Don’t worry, he’s just stunned. He’ll keep for later.”

  “Why would I worry about him? He called you a slut…I was about to finish him off for you.”

  Ross suddenly jumped to his feet.

  “Ever been involved in a mob war before?” Samantha asked Veronica. The woman shook her head and checked her weapons for ammo. “Me neither, but hell, there’s always a first time for everything,” she muttered, just as the battle began.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Samantha hated it when everything around her somehow went berserk, without her actually giving her permission. She needed to be in control of every situation she suddenly found herself involved in. But this time, she didn’t even know what she was fighting. She knew they were adversaries of Devlin’s and so in all probability they were in The Business.

  What Samantha didn’t know and wanted desperately to know, was who the hell was their ringleader. Obviously, the person had balls, not to mention a lot of power and money.

  She watched as Ross and Veronica prepared for battle. Samantha could feel the tension hangin
g in the air and knew almost immediately, that she was soon going to be facing a life or death situation.

  Whoever the small army belonged to meant business and that meant they didn’t care who they hurt in the process.

  Gamblers and whores raced for cover. She had to hand it to Devlin. He didn’t even seem affected. Devlin moved forward and grimly regarded the man that seemed to be in control of the mini army.

  “You don’t want to do this.” Steel entered Devlin’s voice. “No one wants a war with me because I don’t lose!”

  “Neither do I,” Samantha piped in, standing at his side. A frown flickered across her face as she felt a unique sensation beginning to flow through her body.

  Samantha gasped, as she began to feel re-energized and giddy all at the same time. She felt as if she could single-handedly take down the whole small army, without breaking out in a sweat. Yep, now she knew what Devlin had meant by his smart-ass remark concerning that blasted juice.

  “Oh, this is not good!” she decided, as strength flowed through her.

  “That’s clearly an understatement,” Veronica muttered, falling into a fighting stance.

  Everything went straight to the dogs, as soon as a muscle in Samantha’s arm twitched. Shots fired out around them and Samantha pulled down a roulette table to take cover behind. Then she began taking down their attackers at an alarming speed. Her hand-eye coordination was amazing. It was as if she didn’t even need to think.

  “This is freaking fantastic!!!” Samantha mumbled, boldly standing up from behind her makeshift guard. Anger rolled through her as she began to think about the idiocy of her situation.

  She was in a seemingly fantastical world beneath the sea. She was furious about the attack on Johanna and she wanted to nail the real murderer now more than ever because someone didn’t know how to play nice. Well, if they wanted to play a dirty game she could play along too!

  Throwing all caution to the wind even for her. She stood out in the middle of the room. Just egging someone on to confront her, while she took them out of action in the blink of an eye.