Bounty Hunter: Dig Two Graves

by Rachel Aukes

His matching smile faded. “I know about Zenith, and I’m going to—”

  “It’s okay,” she interrupted. “We’re safe here. Artie’s been a blessing, and he’s allowing us to stay for as long as we need to.” She went to Artie, and Joe noticed she touched his hand. An emotion pinged inside Joe. It wasn’t jealousy; he wanted to see Sara happy, and he couldn’t miss the happiness on her face. It was a sense of loss; a part of his life that hadn’t changed in the last ten years had suddenly shifted into a new direction.

  “So you won’t be going home?” he asked.

  She shook her head. “Not for now. Not until we know that the kids will be safe. Joe, Zenith’s out there, but they’re a bigger problem than any of us can do anything about. It’s best to just avoid them. That’s what we’re doing, and I hope that’s what you’ll do as well.” She chuckled. “But I know you’ve never been good at avoiding problems.”

  “Believe me, I’ve been trying. I don’t go out looking for problems. They just have a knack at finding me.”

  She eyed him with suspicion. “Promise me that you won’t do something foolish, like going after Zenith.”

  “I promise I won’t go after Zenith.” But he didn’t promise that he wouldn’t go after certain Zenith officers, especially one who went by the name of Supreme Commander Renzo.

  Relief washed over her features. “Good. Going after Zenith is suicide, Joe.”

  “Trust me, I like my life and would like to keep it for a while.”

  She smiled. “So what will you do now that you’ve rescued the people of Clearwater and us from the Sloans?”

  He shrugged. “I figure I may as well keep bounty hunting.”

  “You’re good at it, and you make a difference. Just be careful. There are some very dangerous criminals out there.”

  Joe thought of Renzo and how many others stalked the wastelands without tickets on their heads…criminals ripe for the picking if only someone was willing to go after them.

  A cryptic smile tugged at his lips. “Don’t I know it.”

  Epilogue One

  Joe entered five wrong alleys in Far Town before he found the door he was looking for. It was a nondescript door, covered in chipped paint and graffiti, just like every other door in every other alley he’d come across in Far Town. The only difference was that this one had a tiny scorpion painted on the expansive graffiti of letters, swirls, and images.

  He tapped the panel on the wall next to the door. There was no response—not even a light to hint that the device had power—but from experience, he knew the crude-looking panel was high tech and scanning his face through his exoshield.

  Several seconds later, the door slid open, and Joe stepped into the dim storage room. Crates were stacked alongside the walls and in several spots on the floor. He took tentative steps, stepping over the three tripwires he came to. At the far end of the storage room, he came to another door with a panel. He raised his hand to tap it, but the door opened.

  He stepped through to a much smaller room. Crates were stacking around this one as well, but in the center sat a ten-by-ten-foot Faraday cage. Within it was a computer setup more robust than Joe had ever seen in use by a single person. At least a dozen screens were running programs or displaying video. Before them sat a woman, who spun in her chair to face him.

  “Hello, Scorpion,” Joe said.

  “Hello, Havoc,” she said. “I was surprised to receive your message. I figured that once we were even, I wouldn’t hear from you again.”

  Scorpion watched him with her head cocked. She looked the same as he’d seen her last: too thin, too pale, and the same silver artificial eyes that seemed to see everything. He didn’t know what had happened to her eyes—if she’d lost them or voluntarily given them up for improved technology. He could ask her, but he doubted she’d give him an answer. The hacker had never been one to share information, even when he’d first found her.

  Four years ago, Joe had spent over a month tracking Scorpion. The bounty on her head was five thousand credits, a nice chunk of change, especially for a non-dangerous target. With a little perseverance and a lot of luck, he’d tracked her down to this room—only to learn that his luck in finding her had actually been breadcrumbs she’d sprinkled to draw in her prey. The moment he’d entered the room, she’d sprung her trap: a hundred bionic spiders, which had covered him before morphing into a metal shell, encasing him better than any prison cell.

  She’d waltzed right up to him, pulled the ticket from his pocket, and used it to access the Bounty Hunters Guild systems, where she’d then erased her ticket from the system, along with whatever other changes she’d wanted.

  Since he had no ticket on her, he didn’t arrest her, and he’d promised not to reveal her location to anyone. Surprisingly, she hadn’t killed him. It wasn’t until a month later—to the exact minute and second he’d first encountered her—that a dead bionic spider containing a tiny vial of poison had tumbled out of his helmet. Her number was added to his contact list, and a message appeared on his armlet: Okay, I’ll let you live.

  The message had been signed with the image of a scorpion. He supposed he could’ve shared her location with anyone after that point. Maybe she was still eavesdropping, and maybe she’d decided that if he said nothing for a month, the likelihood of him talking about her was nil.

  A year after that, she’d contacted him for a favor. A pair of thugs had been wreaking havoc on her block, and she needed them gone. It was an easy enough task, especially when the job was in line with his scruples. He’d found the thugs demanding protection money from a shopkeeper a half-block from Scorpion’s location, and he’d dispatched both men. To Scorpion, he was muscle when she needed it, and she was his hacker when he needed it.

  “I have a favor to ask,” Joe said.

  “Go on.”

  He reached into his pocket and pulled out the Z-key. “Do you know what this is?” From the way her brows rose, he had no doubt she recognized it.

  “I do, and I’m guessing it came from the war room at the bottom of that Zenith silo that blew up last week,” she said.

  “It did. Sheriff Vane thinks this is the reason Zenith blew up their own silo,” he said.

  “That’s likely, especially since the silo self-destructed.”

  Joe hadn’t known how the silo was destroyed; he hadn’t even known siloes had a self-destruct feature. The idea would haunt him.

  “So you want me to get you into the Zenith systems with that?” she asked.

  He shook his head. “I want you to hold on to it for now. Keep it safe. I figure that if anyone can keep this out of the hands of anyone who could use it to hurt a lot of people, it’s you.”

  “Who’s to say I won’t use it myself?”

  He shrugged. “I know that if you use it to plug into their systems, you’d be careful enough to not get caught.”

  “You should know, with the way this key works, any time I use it to access the Zenith network, my node will be visible. I could drop different bread trails, but there’s no way to use the card and be invisible, not with their systems. So every time it’s used, it puts me at risk.”

  “Then I hope you don’t use,” he said.

  She considered something for several seconds. “If you don’t plan to use it, then why didn’t you destroy it? Why give it to me?”

  “Because we might have to use it one day. That Z-key is our ace in the hole if we find ourselves with a lousy hand while sitting at the table with Zenith,” he replied and handed it to her through the bars of the cage.

  She eyed it for a moment before setting it down on the desk behind her. “Holding onto a Z-key isn’t much of a favor to ask. Even if I could only use it once before having to run, I think I’m well ahead on this deal with the information I could access with it.”

  “Because that’s not the favor, not really. Over the past few months, I’ve picked up a ticket or two on my head. Same with a friend of mine who’s been recently disavowed from the Iron Guild. I was hoping y
ou could expunge our records so we can operate at the Haft Agency with our guild credentials restored.”

  She spun in her chair to face her screens and tapped a multitude of keys. “You’re talking about Kit Argall, right?”

  “I am,” he replied, surprised.

  She spoke as she typed. “You have a problem.”

  He tensed. “What’s that?”

  “The Haft Agency is listed as guild status pending. No worries, I’ll get that fixed.” She tapped a key. “There. The Haft Agency is now an active guild company.” She glanced over her shoulder. “Rex Orlov hasn’t paid the company’s guild dues yet, so I changed the records to show he’s paid through a full year.”

  “Thank you. One more thing. Can you add guild credentials to Sheriff Val Vane’s ID record? She’s going to be out of Clearwater, and her badge isn’t going to let her get into places she needs to get into.”

  “You’ve piqued my curiosity. Usually the places hunters need to get into are the places no one else wants to get into.”

  He didn’t answer.

  She continued typing. “Done. The Haft Agency is officially current on dues and has four active hunters on its roster.” She held up a finger and typed several more commands. “I added an extra thousand credits each into all four of your accounts.”

  A thousand credits would cover room and board for over a month…meaning at least one more month Joe wouldn’t have to take out a loan from Sara’s boyfriend, Artie Law. His relief was swallowed by his question, “Why did you do that?”

  When she turned to Joe again, she smiled. “Let’s just say it’s insurance.”

  Epilogue Two

  Renzo stood before three screens. On each screen was the avatar of one of the three Zenith Elders: a man, a woman, and an intelligent machine. Together, the Elders had guided Zenith’s strategy since humans had first descended into the Zenith silo in the Tidelands. The human Elders had changed through the generations, but the AI had remained constant, bringing continuity to Zenith’s leadership.

  “What do you have to report, Supreme Commander?” Elder Woman asked.

  Renzo dipped his head to her. “While the Sloans can no longer spread dissent, they were successful enough. Early analysis shows that the Midlands is moving toward chaos. Per your guidance, Silo Fourteen has been destroyed, thus eliminating any artifacts that could damage Zenith.”

  “Good. Do you have confidence in the safety of the other installations?” Elder Man asked.

  “Yes, I believe all our siloes are safe. The command center in Silo Fourteen was not breached, and nearly everyone with first-hand knowledge of that silo is dead.”

  Elder Machine spoke. “The Monuments Republic Command has neither proof nor eyewitnesses that Silo Fourteen was ours, let alone a silo created since the mass building of siloes prior to the fallout. Without either, the Monuments Republic Command will assume it was simply a forgotten silo and will forget about it too. However, those outsiders who have seen the silo prior to its destruction will remember. They cannot be allowed to share those memories.”

  “I have drones monitoring them as we speak, and I will see to their deaths personally,” Renzo said.

  “You must be careful. We do not want any deaths connected to Zenith,” Elder Man said.

  “I intend to be careful,” Renzo replied.

  “Good. Once the people in the Midlands rise against the Monuments Republic Command, we will roll out the next phase of our plans across the wastelands,” Elder Machine said.

  Renzo revealed the faintest smile and dipped his head forward again. “I look forward to it.”

  COMING JUNE 30, 2020

  Bounty Hunter: Nothing to Nobody

  Pre-order your copy today!

  Message from the Author

  Message from the author:

  Thank you for reading BOUNTY HUNTER: DIG TWO GRAVES. I hope you enjoyed it. If you would take two minutes to post a review, I would be very grateful. Reviews don’t just help others decide whether to spend their quality time and money on a book; as an author—they help me improve my stories. I take reader feedback very seriously, as it helps me create better and more enjoyable books.

  If you write a review, please email me at Rachel@RachelAukes.com and I will add you to a list of early readers for the next book in the series. You will receive a free early e-copy in return for an honest review. It’s the least I can do to thank you for reading my work.

  Click here to review Bounty Hunter: Dig Two Graves.

  Bounty Hunter: Nothing to Nobody

  Book 3 in the Bounty Hunter series

  A dark threat is creeping across the wastelands.

  Bounty hunters are the closest thing to law enforcement across the wastelands, but most can't tell the difference between hunters and the criminals. Havoc Joe Ballast and his friends are trying to change that by picking their own targets.

  But when the bounty hunters become the hunted, the lines between right and wrong become blurred as they are forced to ally themselves with their enemies to survive. Join the bounty hunter guild as they fight off assassins and cyborgs in their search for the man who is hellbent on bringing war to the wastelands.

  Join Havoc Joe Ballast, the gunfighter of the wastelands, on his latest adventure.

  Buy Bounty Hunter: Nothing to Nobody today!

  Also by Rachel Aukes

  Bounty Hunter Series

  Bounty Hunter: Bushwhacked (prequel, coming 2020)

  Bounty Hunter: Lone Gunfighter of the Wastelands

  Bounty Hunter: Dig Two Graves

  Bounty Hunter: Nothing to Nobody

  Bounty Hunter: Rake and Scrape (coming 2020)

  Bounty Hunter: Sixes and Sevens (coming 2020)

  Bounty Hunter: Talking Iron (coming 2020)

  The Deadland Saga

  100 Days in Deadland

  Deadland’s Harvest

  Deadland Rising

  Fringe Series

  Fringe Runner

  Fringe Station

  Fringe Campaign

  Fringe War

  Fringe Legacy

  Standalone Fiction

  The Colliding Worlds Trilogy

  Stealing Fate

  The Tidy Guides Series (Nonfiction)

  The Tidy Guide to Writing a Novel

  The Tidy Guide to Self-Editing Your Novel

  The Tidy Guide to Publishing Your Novel

  About the Author

  Rachel Aukes is the award-winning author of 100 Days in Deadland, which made Suspense Magazine’s Best of the Year list. She is also a Wattpad Star, her stories having over six million reads. When not writing, she can be found flying old airplanes across the Midwest countryside and catering to an exceptionally spoiled fifty-pound lap dog.

  Subscribe to Rachel’s spam-free newsletter to hear about new releases: www.rachelaukes.com/join

  Acknowledgments

  With many thanks to Ellen Campbell and Laurel Kriegler for making my stuff look good; to Brian for the hugs; to Ellie for the endless supply of doggie kisses; and to you for picking up this story and opening the world within it.