Reckless Bounty (Intergalactic Justice Book 1)

by Marly Mathews

  “Oh, shit! Where did he come from?” Samantha asked. Rodgers grinned at them. Samantha’s stomach did a nosedive. “If you were here in solid form I’d wipe that freaking grin right off of your face.”

  “Hello, Sammy,” Rodgers drawled eyeing her lasciviously.

  When she did meet up with him in solid form, she was definitely going to wipe that particular look off of his face. “I see that you finally found my little treasures.” Rodgers pointed toward the clones that were by now nearly dead.

  “Yes, you bastard. I did. You should already be dead. When I find you, I’m going to make sure I finish the job that I started.”

  “Ah, you take my breath away. You’ve entertained me a great deal these last few days. No matter what, you always escaped the hit men that I sent out after you. Bravo, my dear. But you still have to die, if I can’t have you no one shall!

  As soon as my treasures stop convulsing, there will be a sweet little treat waiting for you, your sister, and your friend. See you later! Oh, wait…no, I won’t,” he declared, grinning from ear to ear as he waved to them and disappeared in a flash of light.

  “HOLY CRAP!!!” Samantha exclaimed, moving closer toward Veronica and Johanna. “Anybody hear anything ticking or any red lights?” Samantha asked, expecting the worst, as they looked around the room.

  “No…but what about that?” Johanna wondered, pointing toward one of the clones, which didn’t seem to be a clone at all, but rather an Android.

  Veronica crossed the short distance to the Android and leaned over it. After a split second, she straightened.

  “I think he just set off his self-destruct sequence!” Veronica concluded, her eyes getting as round as saucers. “You still got that handy dandy little jet pack of yours?” Veronica asked, running toward Samantha. “Or can you walk on the wind?”

  “Yeah. Grab on you two. We’re going for a ride!” Focusing, Samantha used her abilities to make an opening in the window so they could fly out it. The loud explosion had Veronica gasping.

  “Holy cow, remind me not to make you really mad,” she muttered.

  “You know, one of these days I’m going to leave a building without part of it, or all of it going ka boom! No worries though, I doubt the resulting bomb blast will be big enough to wipe out the entire hotel. It will probably only take out the penthouse,” Samantha said.

  “Yep, and we’re in that penthouse, Queenie!” Veronica snapped off angrily. Samantha sighed, and grabbed onto the two of them.

  “Hold on tight!” She opened her communication channel to Eleanor, and then they fell out into open air, just as the penthouse exploded. “Eleanor, we’re going to need a quick getaway. Get yourself prepared!!!” Samantha ordered, flying toward the parking lot.

  “This is so cool!” Veronica cried, staring around at her surroundings. “I have to get me one of these. They’re an absolute must in my books.”

  “Shut up, Veronica! I can safely say that I prefer having walls around me when I’m doing my flying!” Johanna gasped, just as Dylan’s voice blared out over the com link.

  “What is it Dylan?” Samantha asked, lowering them to the ground outside of Eleanor.

  “It’s Tyler. There’s something about the night of the murder that you guys don’t know about. I think you really should. It might give you the heads up you guys will need to help you solve the murder case,” Dylan said, obviously frustrated.

  “What is it?” Samantha asked cautiously, as her belly did another nosedive.

  *****

  “I’ve just had a little chat with my dearest brother, and he forgot to tell you something which is very relevant,” Dylan began, the strain carrying into his voice.

  “Lovely! Remind me to chew him out the next time I see him,” Samantha murmured. She looked to where Johanna strapped herself into the driver’s seat.

  “Samantha. Get your ass in here!” Johanna ordered. Samantha’s mouth fell open at her sister’s commanding tone. Silently, she climbed into Eleanor and fastened her seatbelt.

  “Yeah. Well, as much as you might feel like yelling at him, you can’t because he swore me to secrecy and now I’m blabbing to you lovely ladies,” Dylan muttered, the strain still evident in his voice.

  “Fine. Tell me what it is already. We’ve just been up against one freaking android and a whole lot of Tyler drone clones. My patience is at the max!” Samantha snapped off.

  “So I guess you’re having a normal day, huh?” Dylan concluded.

  Samantha balled her fists up and shook them in the air.

  “Listen, monkey boy. Either you spill it or I begin shouting.”

  “Okay,” he said exasperated. “Here it is. Tyler told me that before he left Lady Devlin’s that night, he tried to get a good glimpse of the map on her back. So obviously, he had to charm her a little.

  “He did his usual shtick and bedded her rather quickly. He got his own way, he saw the map quite clearly. Then, she wanted the both of them to have some wine and you know how he is about a good vintage of wine, so he partook a bit of it, and well he got…”

  “Pissed,” Samantha groaned. “So what else happened? Go on and tell us all.”

  “Well, he tried to decline her want for more of him, he’d already gotten what he wanted you see, and he wanted to make a fast getaway…”

  “Typical Tyler,” Samantha muttered.

  “Yes,” Dylan said, “Quite right. Anyway, he managed to get her off of him. Despite the fact that she was going at him like a cat in heat,” Dylan muttered, as Samantha imagined Dylan running his hands impatiently through his curly mop. “You still haven’t heard the punch line,” he continued. “My brilliant brother forgot to tell you that though he remembers leaving the house and remembers feeling groggy and wobbly, when he was walking down the staircase. He said that his knees felt like they were made of jelly and that he had to hold onto the railing for support.

  Then he slipped out of the house and just made it to the surrounding woods when he collapsed. He woke up two hours later and heard they were gunning for his ass, so he decided it would be wise to get his butt moving.”

  Samantha could feel the heat rising to her cheeks and barely took in the look of concern that Johanna sent her.

  “Cripes!” Veronica said from the back seat. “Guess you can’t say that you’re married to a super smart man.”

  Samantha wanted to know if Tyler had ever been faithful to their vows. Her money was on the fact that nope, he’d never stopped his lady killer moves.

  Samantha let out a loud groan.

  “Why did he think that he had murdered Lady Devlin? I’m going to kill him. He just bloody well made our job harder!” Samantha rushed out, clenching her hands together tightly.

  “Cut him a break, Samantha,” Dylan muttered. “He thought he was protecting all of us, and he didn’t want them going after you. They would have kept coming after you, and despite what you may think to the contrary, he was petrified Rodgers would finally succeed in killing you. I mean he might not love you the way I love Johanna but he does like you an awful lot.”

  “Gee thanks,” Samantha sighed.

  “And since he’s missing a few hours, Tyler knew it was quite possible he might have been the real murderer.”

  “Bullshit. He’s a son of a bitch, but he’s no murderer,” Samantha muttered, sighing. She put her index finger to her temple. “Johanna, you got anything for a headache?” Dylan’s voice cut off Johanna’s reply.

  “But I questioned him further. You know as well as I do, Tyler’s gotten as drunk as a skunk before, but he has never ever passed out. I got to thinking that maybe, he was drugged with something so the real culprit could murder Lady Devlin. His wine was most likely drugged,” Dylan explained. “Or…”

  “Oh, hell!” Samantha muttered, as it all began to make sense. “Rodgers is a master at using all of the new and improved magic drugs.”

  “The murderer could have been feeding an odorless, colourless, and tasteless drug into the air, which de
bilitated Tyler, and made Lady Devlin so sluggish that she didn’t have a hope in hell of fighting off her attacker,” Johanna concluded, using her analytical mind that Samantha envied her for.

  “Thank you, Johanna.” Samantha muttered, popping a painkiller into her mouth, to counteract her pulsing headache.

  “Good thing I brought along a pack of nifty gadgets because if we’re going to confront Rodgers, we’re going to need some insurance. He doesn’t play nice, and I’m not about to believe he’s reconsidered. I want us to be prepared for anything!” Johanna stressed, gesturing to a white box, which was nestled between her and Samantha.

  As Samantha recognized the medical box, she turned to Johanna and smiled.

  “I could kiss you right now,” Samantha muttered, opening the box.

  “Any ideas where Rodgers is?” Veronica asked, leaning forward, and sticking her head between Samantha and Johanna.

  “Yes, and I think we’re going on a bit of a journey if you get my meaning,” Samantha said, winking at the both of them. “Dylan, I’m going to need your help. I want you to set up a channel between the Red Falcon and Devlin. Make sure the two of them hear everything that’s going down between Rodgers and me.”

  “You got it. But I hope you know what a sacrifice it is for me, to be so near to Devlin. He makes me want to punch him!”

  “Oh, Dylan,” Johanna sighed, weaving her way through the traffic. “I take it we’re going to Gynnis Harbour then?” Johanna assumed. Samantha nodded her head in confirmation.

  “I know it’s hard for you, Dylan. But right now, Tyler’s life is hanging in the balance. Once I nab Rodgers, and Devlin gets the evidence he wants, all bets are off, and if you still want to, you can lambaste him one,” Samantha promised.

  “Thanks. Just make sure you get Rodgers. I’ll behave until that time, I won’t do anything to jeopardize Tyler’s safety, you can count on that,” Dylan vowed.

  The com frequency fell silent. Samantha turned her head to look at Johanna when she let out a huge sigh.

  “I’ve been thinking,” Johanna remarked, glancing at Samantha when she snorted. “Didn’t T4 say there were six Tyler drone clones created? And, we know for sure one of them was an android. What about the others?”

  “The two I took down, were both bleeding,” Samantha thinned her lips.

  The painkillers still hadn’t kicked in. She felt like throwing up.

  “Yeah, both of my clones felt the pain I inflicted on them!” Veronica agreed. “But now that I think of it, the one that Johanna shot, fell like a lifeless twig and she blasted a bloody hole through the other one. Johanna, I think there was only one that wasn’t real.”

  “So that means T1, the actual murderer is still wandering around out there. Oh, freaking terrific!” Samantha mumbled.

  “Sounds as if you three have a problem on your hands,” Eleanor muttered. “Boy, I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes.”

  They came into viewing distance of Gynniss Harbour. “Well. Ladies, I think it is show time!” Johanna descended to a landing, and Samantha tried to ignore the butterflies that were in her stomach.

  Samantha was going to nail Rodgers to the wall. And when she was done with him, he’d be begging for mercy.

  Only thing was she wasn’t in a merciful mood today.

  Chapter Forty-Three

  They walked toward Rodgers’s docked yacht, and Samantha felt her stomach muscles tighten as she read the name.

  The Journey’s Prize III.

  Well, for one thing it was going to be Rodgers’s last journey and she was going to give him the send-off. They met no resistance, and since Samantha was quite familiar with the plan of the yacht she led them in unhindered.

  Two of Rodgers’s goons met them and Samantha easily took down one with a roundhouse kick to the face, while Veronica dealt with the other. Johanna watched their rear and Samantha was yet again grateful for the leather gloves she wore because her palms were sticky and sweaty.

  “Let me do all of the talking,” Samantha said, as Johanna and Veronica each let out synchronized snorts.

  “Yeah. Like that’s going to happen!” Johanna scoffed. They walked slowly into Rodgers’s mahogany paneled office.

  “This guy sure as hell, spares no expense,” Veronica concluded, closely inspecting the richly decorated office.

  “Where the hell is he?” Samantha demanded.

  Her eyes scanned the full expanse of the office. Intuition drove her, and she settled her eyes on the massive high backed leather office chair. The chair slowly turned. Acid welled in Samantha’s stomach. She groaned.

  “Hello, beautiful!” Rodgers drawled.

  Samantha stared at Rodgers and nearly lost her cookies.

  “Hello, asshole,” she muttered, swaggering toward the desk. “Why don’t you give it up, and just confess to the murder of Lady Devlin? Then I won’t have to beat the crap out of you for the confession. because I’ll be getting one, one way or the other,” Samantha promised, deliberately resting her hands on her pistols.

  “I don’t think you’ve quite understood the full scheme of things, Samantha,” Rodgers purred, dragging on his New Cuban cigar.

  She narrowed her eyes and leaned forward. Then she wrinkled her nose at the revolting smell and turned her head at the sound of a door sliding open.

  “May I introduce you to my silent business partner?” Rodgers asked, motioning dramatically to the woman that stood in the doorway.

  “Oh, bloody hell,” Samantha cursed. She touched shoulders with Johanna and felt the tension rippling through her sister’s body. Both Johanna and Veronica gasped at the same time.

  “This is one mad world, I think I’ve seen enough crazy shit for one day!” Veronica muttered.

  “That’s okay, Veronica, crazy shit makes up my life.”

  The woman smiled at them, and Samantha closed her eyes briefly in disbelief.

  “Samantha, isn’t it?” Lady Devlin asked, extending her manicured hand.

  *****

  Samantha’s head was full of questions. She was so damn angry, and if she weren’t careful, she would lose control before she got the confession she wanted so badly. “You know what, Rodgers, I’ve just about had it up to here, with your bloody clones. It’s getting old, why don’t you try to reinvent yourself?” she demanded angrily, staring down the clone of Lady Devlin. “Not only did you murder the poor woman but you made a freaking drone clone of her also. You are one sick dude!” Samantha decided, wrinkling her nose.

  “Oh, Samantha! Jarrod was right, when he said you were entertaining. You’ve positively outdone yourself this time. I’m no drone clone, you silly woman. I’m the real McCoy,” Lady Devlin said, chuckling as she pressed a scented handkerchief up to her nose.

  Samantha glanced over at her sister and Johanna’s look of dawning realization, more than likely matched the expression she wore. How could she have been so bloody dense?

  She’d been a puppet in their little show, and the entertainment was going to stop here and now. Little did they realize everything they discussed was being closely monitored. It wouldn’t be long before Tyler’s name was cleared, and she could get her ass off of this damnable planet.

  As far as she was concerned, she didn’t give a flying New Grecian fig, if she ever saw New Monaco ever again.

  “Okay, I’ll bite. If you’re the bloody real deal, what would ever possess you to fake your own death by murdering your own clone?” Samantha asked, swallowing the lump in her throat and tightening her hold on her pistols.

  She knew everything could go haywire on them in a split second and she had to make sure she was ready.

  “The woman that was murdered wasn’t my clone. Samantha, I am perfection personified. I couldn’t be expected to allow such a freak of nature to be made in my image.

  Oh, no that would never ever do. There can only be one Lady Devlin. I needed to disappear, so I enlisted an old unwitting friend of mine to assume my identity. It was genius, actually. I hired Dolores a
nd told her she would only have to have plastic surgery, to take my place.” Lady Devlin produced a small gadget that displayed two holograms, sitting side by side. One hologram was Lady Devlin, the other well, Samantha recognized her.

  “This can’t be,” Samantha muttered. It was the woman that she’d seen in Lord Devlin’s mansion. Which meant, she’d been dead when Samantha had seen her.

  Oh, God.

  “It is good, isn’t it? The left image is of Dolores before her surgery. The right image is the way she looked after. As you can see, I had her physical features altered to perfectly match my own and even included the map that has been forever tattooed on my back. I had her biology altered so that if my idiot of a husband had an autopsy done everything would fit perfectly.”

  “Why would you do such a twisted thing?” Samantha asked.

  Her eyes flickered to Rodgers when he let out a cold chuckle. She whirled her head toward the man and tried vainly to control the disgust she felt.

  “Samantha, for being such a capable woman, you really don’t understand what real life is like for a woman like me, do you?” Lady Devlin asked.

  Johanna pulled Samantha’s coat sleeve and caught her gaze.

  The temperature in the room dropped and they each exchanged a knowing glance. Samantha knew Rodgers was probably poisoning the room with some kind of drug, which he and Lady Devlin had been inoculated against.

  “Well. I’ll tell you what life is like for me. It is unbearable. Did you know Devlin and I had a marriage contract, which kept me imprisoned in his life like a bird in a cage? He never truly wanted me—he wanted you. And I’m sick to death of competing with a woman like you—I mean look at you, who the hell would pick you over me?”

  Samantha shook her head and discreetly looked around the room. The sound of another door opening, which must have been hidden in the mahogany paneling, caught her attention, and Crenshaw and the clone known as T1 entered the room.

  “Come to join the party I see,” Samantha remarked.

  Lady Devlin sighed impatiently and snapped her fingers to catch Samantha’s attention.