Hot Redemption (2 page)

“Ink? That should be easy enough to find her. We could hit up one of our cousins in Decker Park. They'll know all the ink artists.” Toy stared at the aerial highway too. “Not many tattoo parlors still using ink, probably only five or so on the planet.”

“What is the tattoo of?” Shade asked, as if already designing a strategy in his head.

I zoomed into the image. The tattoo stretched over her whole back. Orange and scorching-red flames began at the center and licked up the sides. Thick feathers existed within the fire. A bird's wings expanded at the top, as if it were climbing out of the inferno. The tips of the wings' edge were close to her shoulders. The beak pointed up as if the bird were targeting the sky.

“Of course.” I laughed. “It's a phoenix flying out of flames.”

CHAPTER 2

Phoenix

As soon as I was behind the closed door of my shitty motel room, with all the locks securely in place, a huge grin spread across my face. Not even the rat nibbling a stale chip at the edge of the bed could blow my natural high. I reached down into the small bag my unwilling accomplices had provided me with and lovingly ran my fingers over the easiest money I'd ever made. The smooth surface of the disks slid against my skin. The smell of copper filled the air and overpowered the stink of filth in the room.

Pulling out a fist full of money, I let the rainbow of multi-planet currency fall over my body. It poured down on me. The hard metal disks and drives were welcome pain.
Make it rain, baby, make it rain
. That was the kind of rain a girl could get used to standing in. In no time I scooped the money up and tossed it back in the bag. Most of it had fallen to the green carpet. Dirt and something wet stuck to my hands as I scraped the money up.

“I'm moving into a new room tomorrow.” I kicked off my heels, imagining a better hotel where the mattress didn't boast of blood stains, rats didn't crawl around the room when I turned off the lights, and the hot water worked as well as the toilet flushed. “Just one more night of this shit palace.”

I laughed to myself as I remembered tall, blond, and horny's smug expression turn to total shock when I wrapped my string of jewels around his neck. Okay, there was no denying that in another time and place the night might have ended completely different for the two of us. I wasn't blind; the man had raw animal magnetism—the kind that made me want to climb on top of him just to see how long he'd let me stay there.
Alpha male meet me.
I would have loved the challenge of mastering him, even if it was for just one night, because someone like him was definitely the kind of guy a girl should throw back.

I'd learned that lesson the hard way from Teddy. Fear crept up my spine just from thinking of that name. My bottom lip quivered. My pulse raced. Even long gone, his name incited terror in my chest.

Stupid son of a bitch. I won't let thoughts of you ruin this high. You're dead. You can't hurt me ever again
.

Flipping on the air conditioner, I strolled by my bed to the wall across from me. The air conditioner rattled and shook the wall as it blew out air. Torn wallpaper flapped back and forth. A little smoke lifted out from the vent, but the hotel manager said that was no big deal. Not that he was a trustworthy person. He'd offered me the option to give him a daily blow job instead of paying the regular amount.
An upstanding guy, that one.
I'd declined. But lately as my funds dwindled into single digits, I'd been considering that option, to my upmost regret. I'd even gone back into exotic dancing, which was how I spotted those three groovy guys and came up with the awesome and yet completely uninspired plan to take the money from their next hit.

I'd been watching the gang ever since I'd seen them hit another club I worked in a few months back.

That night, they'd stomped in, wielding guns and blasting siphons. Everyone dove to the ground, including me. Dread had rocked me into compliance. Who knew what type of men were robbing the place—killers, rapists, sadistic assholes that got off on torture and tears. I remained on the floor and did what they asked, but I kept my gaze on them too, just in case there was a moment I could escape.

They had marched to the club's center stage and forced a dancer to hold the bag while men stuffed it with their money. The dancer had pissed on herself. Urine soaked her thong and streamed down her thighs. The handsome blond leader cursed, yanked off his shirt, and helped her with cleaning herself up. I'd known right then that the guys weren't killers. A psycho wouldn't have cared and I knew psychos. At the end, they grabbed the money and rushed out of there, harming no one but the patrons' wallets, who'd come in for a hot night with half-naked ladies.

The next morning, I checked the news droid, which reported the Unis gang had struck again. Their names were unknown. Their faces from the club's video plastered all over the screen, but I knew that anyone who knew the guys wouldn't rush up to the police station to tell on them. The Unis population held a tight bond. They stayed in their communities and kept to themselves.

The club I'd worked at closed down due to the robbery. It so happens that the second club I worked at, they robbed too. And just like before, they had the center stage girl gather the loot and hand it to them. No casualties came from the hit. They stormed in, grabbed the money, and dashed out.

An idea uncoiled in my mind like a satin ribbon being unwound from its spool.
I'll rob them.

So for weeks, I'd dance at night and research them during the day. They only robbed clubs not owned by Unis and they never hit the same club twice. That had narrowed it down to ten more clubs left for them to rob. Once I decoded their pattern, I had laughed about how simple it was—they hit clubs on busy nights and when not many bouncers were scheduled to work. I cased them for two months while they—completely unaware of me—robbed strip club after strip club, in and out. They were good. Each time they finished faster than before. I was impressed with their precision and skill, but unfortunately for them, I was better, or at least less predictable.

A woman always has the upper hand in those kinds of places. They never realized I'd been right there at the other clubs, even though I'd bumped into or stood right next to them many times. A woman has the ability to be invisible or be seen, depending on what she wants—she holds all the power.

Too bad for their bank accounts that they didn't get that memo.

After tonight I should have just enough money to buy the kinds of things I'd need to move on to bigger and better things.

Goodbye, earth with your chemical rains, mounting landfills that spread across countries, and pitiful excuse of a human job market.

My plan: find me a wealthy sugar daddy to pay my way off this shit-hole planet. The catch-22 of it was that most of the whales I had my eyes on weren't stupid. No, they'd see an ex-stripper like me coming a mile away. But…if I already had some money of my own…well, I'd be sitting pretty in no time.

My mind drifted back to the blond gang leader. Too bad I'd had to shoot him, but I knew I'd only get one chance at ripping them off. I'd spent too much of my time planning to be at the right strip club at the right time. I was tired of waiting. Besides, this planet was a study in Darwinism—he should have known better than to trust someone like me. And despite everything, I almost hadn't gotten away with it. It was those damn artificial eyes. I'd been prepared for them. I knew he would snap a few pictures of the dancers.
I mean, why wouldn't he?
It didn't matter. I'd still lost my shit for a moment—memories of Teddy with the same type of enhanced eyes battering at my nerves. Teddy would flash them right before he beat me. He loved to take pictures of his marks—the scars and burns, the gashes that were so deep at times I didn't think skin enhancements would heal them.

Forget about Teddy. He's gone, far away, at least six feet deep.

Taking off all my clothes, I collapsed onto the motel bed. The springs squeaked. Dust rose from the tattered sheets. The adrenaline of the evening was finally wearing off and exhaustion hit me hard. I crawled under the comforter and checked to make sure my extra gun rested under my pillow. A dirty mildew scent radiated from the fabric, but still, I sank into it as though the comforter were feathers encased in silk.
One day it will be.
I wrapped my arms around the bag that held the means to my future, clutching it to my chest. Tomorrow I would begin phase two of my plan. Tomorrow would be the beginning of my new life.

“Epic, isn't that fucking cute? She's all cuddled up with our money.” An angry voice pulled me suddenly from the fog of my sleep. I kept my eyes closed and tried to control my breathing. I had no doubt who was in my dingy little motel room.

How the hell did they find me? And so damn fast?

I'd have time to ponder that later. For now the only thing I had time to worry about was walking away in one piece, with
my
money. I inched my fingers under my pillow and slipped them around the gun. Once the cold metal smoothed against my fingers, I waited and listened for the opportunity to lodge siphons in their skulls.

“Well, what are we waiting for? Grab our money and let's go!” the same deep voice demanded, lathered with impatience.

“Let me wake her up first. I want her to see who took it and understand why.” The voice caused me to shiver. It had to be the blond leader.

“Is that even necessary?” A third voice sounded from the far right.

So all three of them are here. How did they get in without me hearing it? How did they bypass the locks?

The floor creaked, signaling someone was on the move. I mentally steeled myself and pushed up from my prone position as fast as I could, the gun extended in the general direction the creak had come from. The blond's face came into focus. In his right hand he held a gun. A metal bandage wrapped around his left arm where I'd shot him. Those artificial eyes flickered from blue to a reddish-orange color as they met mine. His lips turned up slightly at the corners. “Damn, if you're not a luscious sight in only a bra and G-string, holding
our
money.” Light flashed from his eyes as he took a picture of me. “Is that my gun?”

“I don't know—is it?” I hissed.

“Those hard nipples pressing up against your bra are messing with my focus.” He raked his gaze over my exposed skin as if daring me to stop him.

“It seems you're a little confused.” My hand shook, but hopefully not enough for anyone but me to notice. I arched my back ever so slightly to keep his focus on my breasts, just in case. “This is my money and my gun, lover boy. Don't let the door hit you on the way out.”

“Seriously, Epic. You're going let her talk to you like that?” the darkest guy asked.

Forming my lips into a smirk, I kept my gaze locked on Epic's face. I knew who was in charge in this crew and it wasn't the dark one with the temper or the red-headed guy at the door. It was blondie.

“So your name is Epic?” I leaned my head to the side.

“Heard your name was Phoenix due to the ink on your back. Nice to meet you.” He extended his hand toward me as if to give me a shake. Epic grinned when he saw me grimace.
Point for him.
That's how they'd found me so fast. They'd tracked me by my ink.
Fuck, fuck, fuck
. Although, the fact that they were willing to let me live meant they thought I'd simply seized a convenient opportunity presented to me, not that I'd been planning on ripping them off.

“I prefer Nix.”

“And I'd prefer you handing over my money,” the dark one grumbled.

“Not happening.”

“Come on, Nixie baby,” Epic stepped closer to the bed, “just give us back our money and we'll leave you alone. I hate shooting sexy women.”

They weren't killers, but I bet they'd kill me if I forced them. So easy. I could probably shove the money their way and they'd leave, no beating me up, choking, rape, or murder. All would be forgiven. I glanced down at the bag.
No way.
I was nothing if not stubborn. “Back up, Epic, or I'll shoot you again.”

“Friends don't shoot friends.” He pressed the button on his gun. It hummed as it charged.

“You're not my friend.”

“My brothers never miss a shot. Three guns to one. What you think your chances are?” the redhead asked with a smugness in his voice that I wanted to blast out of him with my gun.

“I need this money more than you do,” I responded between clenched teeth. Sweat trickled down my spine.

“I doubt that.” His face shifted to a serious expression.

“I'm not giving it back.”

“Yes. You are.”

“No.” I tightened my index finger on the trigger and Epic's face turned to stone. He glanced briefly at both brothers. Something passed between them as silence filled the air. My heart tripled in time. I knew they were about to make their move. All the guns charged in unison. They hummed and lit up at the tips.

“Don't,” I whispered.

“Don't what, Nixie baby?” Some unknown emotion rolled across Epic's face and his eyes wavered between colors—burnt orange to pea green, bright red to lemon yellow.

I chose that instant to pull the trigger. Unfortunately, my aim wasn't the best. The siphon hit the ceiling. I shot again. Instead of going in his chest, the next one blasted into the same arm I'd shot at the club. The metal bandage caught it. The siphon lodged halfway in and then exploded. Bits of glass sprayed around us. I ducked under the covers, but still, jagged shards sliced the skin on my arm.

A string of curses reached my ears just as another shot rang out in the room. Excruciating pain surged through my system, radiating from my right arm.
Someone shot me.
The siphon seared a path into my flesh, tearing tissue around it. My gun slipped from my numb fingers and I collapsed onto the bed, clutching at the bag of money with my good hand.

Epic tugged on the bag and I curled my fingers into it like claws. “You can pry it from my cold, dead hands.” I met Epic's astonished gaze and forced a smile. “Are you really going to kill me? I'm just a girl, after all.”

“Just a girl, huh?” He pressed the barrel of his gun to my forehead at the same time he cupped the side of my face with his large hand. The coppery smell of his blood burned my nostrils. I couldn't help the tear that slid from my eye. I really didn't want to die, but I wouldn't beg and I wouldn't apologize. I'd made a promise to myself after Teddy that I'd rather die on my own terms than live on anyone else's ever again. Epic ran his thumb slowly over my bottom lip. I fought the urge to bite it.